A Trash Novel's Only Reader-Chapter 24: Summons

Raniel sat on her bed with her legs crossed, staring at the wall.

’Why did I say that?’ she thought, pressing her palms against her cheeks. ’Boyfriend? In front of the whole hall? What was wrong with me?’

The embarrassment hit harder now than it did in the moment. Back then she was too busy watching his reaction to care, but now, alone in her room, the memory kept replaying on loop.

’The way he looked at me too,’ she thought, falling backward onto the bed. ’He probably thinks I am so weird after all that.’

She covered her face with both hands and let out a dramatic groan, ’but it worked though,’ she thought, peeking through her fingers at the ceiling, ’I managed to diffuse the situation before things got messy.’

’It’s not like I doubt his skills, but from what I saw from him, that fight was not one he could win,’ she continued looking at the ceiling as thoughts just continued coming.

’Still,’ she thought, turning onto her side and pulling one pillow into her arms, ’calling him my boyfriend was way too much. I could have said partner, teammate, guild contact or literally anything else.’

That only made the embarrassment worse.

Her mind kept dragging her back to his annoyed face after she said it, ’ugh,’ she thought, burying half her face in the pillow. ’Why am I thinking about this so hard?’

An answer showed up so fast it made her sit up instantly, ’hehe... no way... I mean, sure, he is handsome but... t-that’s not the point here,’ she thought, her cheeks turning red.

Her hands immediately flew to her face, as panic started settling in more, ’why am I even blushing right now?’ she thought, shaking her head a little. ’It was just a joke to get him out of trouble, that is all.’

That explanation sounded nice, but her brain was clearly not buying it.

The more she tried to act like it meant nothing, the more his face kept coming back to mind, his annoyed eyes, the way he looked caught off guard for once, and that awkward twitch at the corner of his mouth when the whole room started reacting.

’Ugh, stop,’ she thought, dropping back onto the bed. ’This is so embarrassing.’ She was rolling over the bed when a knock suddenly came from the door.

She froze for a second, then quickly sat up and cleared her throat, "come in," she called, trying her best to sound normal.

The door opened a little, and one of the guild members stepped inside just enough to look at her.

"Raniel, the leader is asking for you," he said.

Her brows lifted a little, "right now?"

He nodded once, "yeah, right now, she said it’s urgent and you should hurry."

That made her straighten, ’she is asking for me personally? Did something perhaps happen?’ she thought, standing up from the bed.

She grabbed her jacket off the chair and slipped it on, though, annoyingly enough, Shu’s face was still sitting in the back of her mind while she walked toward the door.

’L-Let’s hurry up, better not keep the leader waiting,’ she stormed out of the room blushing.

She made her way through the guild hall at a quick pace, her earlier embarrassment finally cooling off the closer she got to the upper floors. By the time she reached the leader’s office, her face finally went back to normal.

Two guards stood outside the large double doors, opening them when they saw her coming, "go in," he said. "They are already waiting."

’They? Don’t tell me...’ she stepped inside and immediately felt several eyes turn toward her.

The office was bigger than most apartments, with a long meeting table in the center and wide windows looking out over the guild walls. Seated around that table were the guild’s top hunters, people strong enough that even being near them made the air feel heavier.

Every single one of them looked older than her.

There were A-Ranks, B-Ranks, and a few high-stage C-Ranks with enough achievements behind them to think very highly of themselves. The moment she walked in, more than one expression changed.

One man near the end of the table leaned back in his chair and looked her over with open annoyance.

"A C-Rank?" he said, not even trying to lower his voice. "Why is a C-Rank attending this meeting?"

Another hunter let out a short laugh, crossing his arms over a broad chest. "That is what I want to know too," he said. "Did the leader call her by mistake, or are we lowering the standard for these meetings now?"

Raniel said nothing and just looked at them.

’Ah, so it’s going to be this kind of mood,’ she thought, walking farther into the room without changing her expression.

A woman sitting closer to the front tapped one finger against the table and gave Raniel a cool glance.

"No matter how talented she is, rank is still C-rank," she said. "This meeting is supposed to be for top hunters only."

That got a few nods from around the room.

One of the older men looked at her, then scoffed through his nose. "Kids these days really do get spoiled fast," he muttered. "Win a few fights, get praised a little, and suddenly they think they belong in high-level discussions."

Raniel’s eye twitched very slightly.

’Right,’ she thought, stopping beside one of the empty seats. ’Because obviously I forced my way in here and wasn’t called personally.’

She was about to say something when a younger B-Rank hunter with slicked-white hair smirked at her from across the table.

"Well?" he asked, resting his chin on one hand. "Are you just going to stand there, or do you actually have a reason for being here?"

Raniel pulled out the empty chair and sat down without asking anyone for permission.

"I was called here," she said simply. "If that is somehow confusing, you can ask the leader when she gets here."

The man’s smirk twitched.

Another hunter near the window laughed under his breath. "Cocky too," he said. "These younger hunters really don’t know how to act anymore."

Raniel turned her head toward him. "And yet I am still acting better than people whining over me being here despite not knowing the reason."

That got a few reactions right away.

The woman near the front narrowed her eyes a little, while one of the older men clicked his tongue and folded his arms.

"Watch how you speak," he said. "Ranks exists for a reason."

Raniel rested one arm on the chair and looked at him with a calm face. "Then maybe trust the person who called me here to know what she is doing."

The younger B-Rank with the white hair leaned forward this time, his smile already gone, "you really think talent gives you the right to sit with people above you?" he asked.

"No," she said. "But an invitation usually helps, are you trying to say the leader is wrong for calling me here?" She asked, a knowing smirk on her face.

The white-haired hunter’s face stiffened because he knew, no matter how annoyed he was, putting words like that in his mouth in front of the whole room was the last thing he wanted.

"Don’t twist my words," he said, his tone sharpening. "You know exactly what I mean."

Raniel leaned back in her chair a little. "Then say it properly."

A few people around the table exchanged looks, clearly enjoying the shift now that the younger B-Rank was the one getting cornered. The older man from earlier tried to pull the conversation back.

"Enough," he said. "This is childish, whether she was invited or not, a C-Rank still has no place in a meeting like this."

Her eyes moved to him. "Then maybe ask why I was invited instead of crying about it for ten minutes."

The woman near the front let out a quiet breath, "you really do have a mouth on you."

"And you all really do care a lot about me being here," she said in an arrogant tone. "That is kind of flattering."

The man near the window laughed this time, while the white-haired hunter looked like he wanted to slam his fist into the table.

"You think this is funny?" he asked.

Raniel shrugged, "A room full of high ranks getting worked up over a something so pointless, seems to me like you are all being childish and unprofessional."

"You brat-"

The office doors opened before he could finish, making the whole room go silent instantly.

The guild leader stepped inside with a calm expression, her presence alone was enough to keep their mouths shut. Her heels clicked lightly against the floor as she walked toward the head of the table, eyes moving across each face once before stopping on the white-haired hunter.

"Sit down," she said.

He froze, then slowly lowered himself back into his chair without another word.

"Now then, thank you all for answering my summons," she said, sitting down and crossing her legs, "let’s get started with the meeting."