Chapter 249 - What's Next?

"Jack..? Jack!"

"Huh? What?"

Confused, Jack looked over to the rest of the group, who had all assembled on the table.

"Pay attention, man."

Chris, who stood beside Jack, sent a small shock of electricity his way. It jolted Jack awake, forcing him to refocus on the conversation at hand.

"Ehem," Oliver cleared his throat, "Back to what I was saying; Rynold's current location is unknown. Whether we look for him or not, we won't find anything. With that in mind, what do you guys think we should do from here?"

"Well," Chris interjected, "Should we be doing something?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it," Chris explained, "Whenever Rynold was here, he shuts himself in that workshop of his. He's never really the one who went out and gave us stuff to do. It's always the opposite. To his credit, he is a good person. But, by no means is he a good leader."

With that said, the room fell quiet. The people in it couldn't say anything against Crimson's argument. Provided how good it was, none of them could refute it. It was accurate, scarily so.

"Fair enough," Oliver nodded, "I guess that's that then."

Turning around, Oliver intentionally left the room and adjourned the meeting. The others stayed, however, as they addressed some issues.

"What's his problem?" said Chris, scoffing.

"I don't know," Neana shook her head as she looked to the door, "Whatever it is, he's not going to talk about it. Hmm. Well, anyway, how is everyone?"

"I could ask the same for you," Jack answered, "It's only been four days since we got back. Are you sure you're alright, Nea? Ry-"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Neana answered, albeit somewhat defensively, "What I'm asking is how everyone else is doing. But, seeing as how you're in the mood to space out during a discussion, I'm sure you're alright."

"Heh," Jack gave Neana a weak chuckle, "Sorry about that. I remembered something."

"It's fine," Chris shook his head as he headed for the door next, "It's not like this was the first time you did something like that. Would you at least listen to what other people have to say? I'm sure you're used to a lot of fun and games, but would it kill for you to be serious once in a while?"

At the end of his statement, Chris left the room. He didn't bother waiting for an answer that came from the joker's mouth. Chris left Jack a rhetorical question that made him rethink his approach.

"Pay him no mind," Neana advised as she stood up next, "I'm sure you've got some things that you need to figure out. I think you should relax for a bit, Jack."

As Neana left Jack alone, he looked around the empty room. He then sighed and opened his inventory. From there, he pulled out a thin, rectangular item. Looking at it intensely, Jack switched it on and tapped the buttons.

Click. The device started playing.

"Hello? I'm back."

Click. Jack stopped the playback and leaned back against his chair.

He wasn't usually like this. Jack didn't have moments of vulnerability or anything that would make people take him seriously. No, he was upbeat and constantly making jokes. Right now, though, it felt like the direct opposite of that.

All this talk about what they wanted to do next seemed dissatisfying to Jack. He couldn't put his finger on it, but, for some reason, Jack didn't want to be a person who went with the flow anymore.

Since day one of the New World, Jack's motives were to fight in the front lines. But, more often than not, he was sidelined. Not by the fault of his own, though.

Other than that, Jack didn't have any vivid plans of his own. He had no desires or anything he wanted to do. He didn't have anyone to protect or a reason to fight. Jack's lack of any long-term goals didn't bother him until now. The sudden change of heart was something Jack felt but didn't notice. Not until he looked through the recordings and played another one.

Tsk.

The sound of his young, premature voice echoed from the recording device as he listened to the words he said. Why did he sound so happy? The kid didn't have any concrete plans — any will to dream of a life outside what he could reach.

Jack hadn't realized it, but the sound of his own voice humbled him. It was simpler then, very much so. He didn't go back on what he thought back then. Jack had even felt the same right now.

His father's death liberated him to a life that would've only locked him down. Jack's experiences in the orphanage with the mute girl furthered the limits of his compassion up until her death. His time spent working for the Ark City military.

None of these things were things he regretted. But, for the first time ever, he felt lost.

Click.

Standing up from the chair, Jack put away the recording device and walked out of the room. He walked at an amicable pace, but his expression was still deep in thought. Nonetheless, Jack headed towards where he had been working: The Rogue Elves Division.

Throughout his stay here, Jack spent his time leveling up and getting stronger. He focused all his efforts on conducting missions under the division. After each one, he came home a bit stronger than the last time. Jack had gotten stronger.

Jack decided to head there now and grab another mission. He wanted to clear his head, and conducting a solo mission was his only way of doing it.

Besides, after spending a few days in Ark City, Jack was more than eager to release some tension.

He arrived a few minutes later and headed straight towards the front desk. Jack then knocked on the glass and waved at the receptionist a few minutes later.

"Hey, Bee," Jack greeted, "Got anything for me?"

The elf behind the glass looked at Jack rather disappointingly. The two of them have had interactions before, but Jack's personality had annoyed the elf almost immediately after they met.

"Oh, it's you," Bee answered, disappointed to the very bone. "I told you not to call me that, right?"

"Come on, now. I think it's endearing. Plus, you're name's a mouthful. This way, it'll be a lot easier for people to call on you for help."

"Whatever," Bee rolled her eyes, "What do you want?"

"What else?" Jack playfully responded, "I need a mission. Is there anything out there? Particularly a solo one?"

"For you? A human with below-than-average success rates when it comes to missions? No."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Raising a brow, Jack looked at Bee with an expression that cast doubt, "You and I both know that my success rate is well above the average. Come on, Bee. I've been good to you before, and I can handle whatever you give me. So, please..?"

"No. I'm not messing with you. There really is no mission."

"That can't be true-"

Suddenly, the doors to the building swung open. Every person inside quickly looked over to see who it was, Jack and Bee included. And, much to everyone's surprise, the person who walked into the building was an elf nurse.

"I need to see the Division Head right away," the elf called out, gasping for air. It was as though he had run here to deliver something urgent. To which, Bee quickly left the reception desk and guided the nurse to where he needed to go.

Jack, on the other hand, sighed and left for the in-house bar. He sat on a stool and ordered a glass of root beer. As the crowd of elves went back to what they were doing, Jack just sat alone in silence as he drank his drink. The seconds passed by while Jack sat there, deep in thought.

It wasn't until later that someone tapped his shoulder.

"The Division Head asked to see you," Bee called to Jack. She didn't seem too pleased with what she said. In fact, it looked as though that she was worried for him.

"Okay, okay," Jack answered, unaware of what Bee felt. He then stood up and walked behind Bee, who was leading the way. Following which, it didn't take long for them to reach their destination.

Bee knocked and entered the room. She introduced the Division Head to Jack and didn't bother to do the same for him. After which, the receptionist left for her job, leaving Jack alone with the elderly elf sitting behind the desk.

"You called for me, sir?" Jack addressed the situation at hand, his tone polite as it came. He had experience with dealing with superiors in the military and thought that this would be the same.

"You're looking for a mission, yes?" the Division Head asked straightforwardly, to which Jack answered with a nod. "Good. Grab you're gear. You're leaving right away."