Joaquin sat bolt upright.
Across from him sat Arthur, who had guided Xu Yuan here, along with a dozen or so men and women.
The sight of them was enough to make anyone's eyes spin.
Some wore military uniforms, some wore armor, and one had even squeezed into a portable mech and stood against the wall at the back of the conference room.
Others wore white robes, leaves, or outfits made entirely of bright feathers.
They all looked as though they had been pulled away from somewhere at a moment's notice, without even time to change.
Only a handful wore casual clothes.
"Let's begin."
Arthur spoke.
"All right. We're all busy," said a man in uniform, glancing around with a smile. "If an S-rank newcomer hadn't arrived, I doubt we'd have so many committee members here—"
"Joaquin, you're a veteran everyone trusts. Tell us how the newcomer performed."
Joaquin thought for several seconds before speaking.
"I deliberately held back to see what the newcomer could do."
"He used his Teleportation ability exceptionally well. He even worked tactics into his Teleportation."
"Thanks to him, the team came back without a scratch."
"Otherwise, given what we faced, the team couldn't possibly have returned safely. I expect Marcelo would have died."
"He exceeded my expectations."
"An outstanding performance."
"—And I suspect he has more tricks up his sleeve. He never showed a trace of panic from start to finish. One look at him, and you could tell he was a battlefield veteran."
"Please give your final assessment," Arthur said.
"I don't think we should lower his rating just because he's new. His ability fully merits an S-rank rating."
"Even though he hasn't been exposed to any of this yet, he's absolutely at that level."
Joaquin said it all in one breath.
"That's high