The best first meeting

What is going on? Who is this girl? Shit, what am I going to do now?

I didn't expect this. Not even a bit. It's really foolish of me. I know that people here have different powers, so I should have known a person like this existed. This is the result of my foolishness so I need to get out of it. If I don't, I probably have to make use of my loop skill. It's a last resort.

Let's see how this plays out.

All of the people present are quiet.

"What's wrong Andrea?" Said Maxwell.

I see, so this girl, Andrea, must be related to him somehow.

Andrea stares at me for a second. She then turns back to Maxwell with a smile and says:" Don't worry grandpa, it's nothing."

She then whispers in my ear:" Let's talk after this."

Why? Why didn't she expose me in front of all the leaders? Could it be possible that she has a plan in mind? Damn it, I need to keep calm for now. Now that I know he is her grandfather, I can make up a plan if needed.

Eventually, the remaining people started to show up and with that, the meeting began.

We began by introducing ourselves. As expected, the leaders introduced themselves first and after that, it was the others' turn.

At first, Andrea introduced herself: "Hello everyone. I'm Andrea Sanders from the lost treasures group. It's nice to meet all of you."

Next, a man in his twenties stood up from the chair and introduced himself: "Hey. The name's Abir Bach. You're welcome."

What is the deal with this guy? He really seems aggressive and selfish.

He sat down, but I saw him looking at someone, and that someone was Paul. Paul just stared at him. He then got shaken up a little bit and got up again.

"Sorry for my rudeness. I can… lose control of myself sometimes. Let's start again. I'm Abir Bach. It's really a pleasure to meet all of you" he said. After that, he bowed for a few seconds and sat down. It really was strange, his attitude completely changed all of a sudden. I think Paul has some kind of connection to him. And I bet it's not a good one either.

The final person, a young man in his twenties, stood up from his seat.

"Hello everyone. My name is Cannon Botros. It's a pleasure to greet all of you and I hope we can all escape this disastrous situation."

I have got to say. He really is calm in a situation like this. Controlling your emotions is not easy at all, so props to him.

With all the members in the meeting introduced, we moved on to the main topic which is how to handle the yet to come second stage. Actually, we can't discuss how we can pass the second stage because we don't know what it's going to be about.

"Since we don't yet know how the second stage will progress, we can't make any decisions regarding that."

"Yes, but we need to do something. The second stage can befall us anytime. We can't squabble around."

"You are right Maxwell. But what can we do?"

"I suggest each faction watches over a part of this mysterious forest. We can use these four younglings as connections to communicate with each other."

"Hmmm, good thinking Paul."

"Yeah, I also think this is a good suggestion."

"Alright. Let's hold up a vote. Whoever agrees with Mr. Robertson's suggestion raise their hands up."

I have to admit, his suggestion really is the best way to go about this. I'm kind of irritated at the thought of being tossed around as a messenger, but I have to go along with it. Being useful to these people will increase my chance of survival.

All of us raise our hands up. Wow, I'm kind of surprised the first part of the meeting went well. I was sure we'd at least run into one disagreement, but I guess I underestimated Paul. He really is a good and talented person. But my gut feeling is telling me he's hiding something unpleasant.

"Now, I think we should move on to how we are going to split the forest."

"Yes, I have already thought about that. At first I thought the barrier had completely vanished, but after sending out a few of my subordinates to uncover more parts of the forest, it seemed that the barrier had extended about three kilometers."

Wait, really?

"I see. Good job Paul. You really have proven how thoughtful and fast you are in acting out."

"Thank you, Mr. Abdullah. Because of this, I divided the current surface of the forest into four parts: North east, north west, south east and south west. From what my comrades discovered, the north east and north west areas have lots of ruins and less trees. The south east and west are the opposite. We have a total of four teams, so each team can take over one area. I suggest the factions lost treasures and survival rangers lead the northern areas since it's more exposed than the southern areas. The rest of us can lead the southern areas."

"Ok, I'm fine with that. But in order to fully accept this, I need you to answer a question in exchange."

"Alright, Miss. Hooke. Please ask me your question."

"How do we not believe that you are setting a trap for us?"

"What do you mean, Miss. Hooke?" Said Paul calmly.

Well, I didn't believe someone would be sane enough to ask this question.

People only care about survival now. It's obvious, at least for me. I can see it on their faces. They are not putting their minds into this. They don't care about anyone else but themselves. But I can't blame them. It's natural. It's a human survival instinct after all.

This Violet Hooke is really calm and composed just like Paul. She hasn't talked more than a few sentences until now. Well, now that she is asking the most important question at the moment, I hope it makes Abdullah and Sanders' brains start to work a little.

"You said your subordinates investigated the entire part of the forest right?"

"Yes, that is true."

"Then it is possible that you are sending the other teams to dangerous areas so your team can only remain, right?"

"I don't understand, Miss. Hooke. How can I do that? We need a lot of people to pass these stages. If I did that, we would lose talented people and that would lead us all to die."

"Don't play dumb with me, Robertson. Do you think that trick is going to work on me? Your team is the biggest amongst other teams. Besides that, you're a smart man. I bet you already have talented people by your side. So, how about answering my question."

Most of the faces I see are surprised. Their lives are at risk right now, of course they are going to freak out. Paul, I'm interested in seeing how you can survive this.

"Each team can investigate the area that they are going to lead, they can even have some people from my team as support. I have no objection to that."

Well, he has a point. If Violet considered that she could investigate the area before she asked the question, our time wouldn't have been wasted.

Everyone, including me, looked at Violet with a face saying "Are you an idiot?". I was faking the face, obviously. I didn't consider that either.

She realized how stupid she acted and ran off from the meeting.

Looks like she is the most stupid one out of all the people present (besides me). I pray for the teens and kids in her party.

"Well, If we are fine with this, I think this meeting can come to an end. If you don't have any other matters to state, of course. "

"Right. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Robertson."

And after saying farewell, we departed from the meeting. Each team went ahead to their camps.

I have to say, Paul is currently a blessing to us. Getting him on my good side will benefit me a lot.

Oh, I was supposed to have a meeting with Andrea right about know, but she is nowhere to be found.

Where could she have gone?

[System Massage]

Party skill level.1 has detected feelings of pain and sadness from your partner, Silvia Silverlane.

[Massage End]

Shit, Silvia, what is happening to you right now? Don't worry, I'm on my way. I swear, I will save you if I can.