Chapter 292 – A Pretty Picture (1/2)

Unlike how messy and chaotic the mercenary offices are, the alliance office was a respectful government office so the inside was neat and orderly. The walls were filled with swords and armors, and a middle-aged man was sitting lazily at the counter while flipping through a heavy book. There were several tables next to him with fresh fruits and desserts prepared on top. The wall on the other side was filled with posters, other than a lot of densely packed characters, several large characters, like E and D, stood out.

Was that the place to take missions?

Lin Tian guessed as he watched the men standing around the posters, then his train of thought was suddenly interrupted by somebody.

“Hey, what are you brats doing here? Don’t cause trouble here, go play somewhere else!” The middle-aged man at the counter harshly scolded them and thought they were some mischievous brats and was going to chase them out.

No one could blame him, after all, Lin Tian and Yao Zi were still students and looked immature, it wasn’t strange they were taken to be brats.

“W-we’re not here to play… uncle, is this the alliance office?” Lin Tian asked.

“That’s right, so scram!”

“Uh… uncle, we’re actually here to get certified.”

“Certified?”

The man stopped and shut the thick book and walked out from the counter to size them up.

“Look, this is our badge!” Lin Tian quickly fished out his badge and handed it over, and at the same time urged the slow Yao Zi to do the same.

The middle-aged man thought they were joking at first and was shocked when he saw the genuine badge.

“I’m the manager here, Hebrew, you two?”

“I’m Lin Tian, she’s my sister Yao Zi, we’re students from Bamboo Academy!”

“Bamboo Academy? … Oh, you guys.”

He already heard that the winners of this year’s academy tournament was some small no-name academy. The team also had no one special, they might have been slightly better than others of the same age, but they were no were close to being geniuses. The only reason they were able to win was because of their insane luck.

Not only did something happen during the middle of the tournament, the final winners were also harshly criticized. To everyone, this was a failed year that no one took seriously.

“Since you recognize us, then quickly certify us! There was an S-ranked mission issued recently, right? Let me take a look!”

“There was an S-ranked mission issued, but you guys think you can complete an S-ranked mission?” Hebrew disdainfully snorted and played with Lin Tian’s badge in his hands and said, “Don’t tell me you thought that you would successfully be certified, right?”

“Ah? W-what do you mean?”

Lin Tian felt like a bucket of cold water was tossed over him.

“Previously, a lot of alliance investigators sneaked their relatives in, so there’s a lot of trash that just takes money without doing any work… In order to prevent that, since five years ago, all new investigators have to pass a ‘Strength Challenge’ before they can get certified. Otherwise, they can’t get paid or take missions.” Hebrew squinted at them while explaining, already scheming up something inside.