Sinner System-Chapter 426: Cleo’s Graduation

"Hey, congrats on graduating," I remarked with a smile.

"And Happy New Year too," Added Aria with a grin.

"Thanks, you guys. I really appreciate it," Responded Cleo, looking pretty cheerful.

Today’s the 1st of January, 2171. Her graduation was held yesterday evening, and she was officially made a part of the Sinners Guild.

That isn’t public knowledge yet, and besides the few classmates who saw her fight in her last raid, the other students and instructors probably think she’s going to be Freelance Hunter.

She wanted to celebrate graduating last night, so we decided to hold off on introducing her to the Guild till today.

Though, we aren’t at the Guild right now. We’re at the Union instead.

Last night, Lachlan contacted me and Aria, he asked us to come to the Union around this time, it’s a few minutes to 11 AM right now. He’d also contacted Cleo with the same thing, and she’d just arrived.

He didn’t tell us what it’s about though, he just kept saying ’you’ll see tomorrow’ when I pressed him last night.

Kinda felt like Deja Vu...

"So, why are we the Union instead of the Sinners Guild? Is this normal?" Cleo asked us.

"No, it definitely isn’t. I guess that means the Chairman didn’t tell you what this is about either, huh?" Responded Aria with a wry smile.

"Nope, I did ask, but he was pretty cryptic. But it sounded like something good, he had a pretty upbeat tone," She recalled thoughtfully.

"Ah, looks like you’re all here, I appreciate you being here on time," Lachlan greeted us with a smile, as he walked over and gave us a wave.

"Sure, don’t mention it. So, can you tell us why you asked us to come here now?" I inquired in response.

"Oh, you’ll see soon enough. Very soon, actually...follow me," He responded with a gleam in his eyes.

"Gotta say, you didn’t really strike me as the type to have a flair for theatrics," Remarked Aria in bemusement.

"Hm? Well, I suppose I might have picked it up from my predecessor, she must have rubbed off on me...but I’d like to think I don’t go overboard the way she often did," He laughed sheepishly.

Yeah, I guess it’s fine if it isn’t a constant thing. Also, on another note...is it just me, or is the phrase ’rubbed off on’ really, really sus?

Seriously, every time I’ve ever heard someone use that phrase, it always sounds sexual to me, even if it wasn’t meant to.

Whenever someone says it, I just end up imagining whoever they’re talking about, like, dry-humping them from the side.

Not sure why it’s the side, but for some reason, that’s how my brain makes sense of that phrase. Is it really just me?

I brought it up to Aria once, and she just shrugged and said something along the lines of ’kinda, I guess’.

Well, whatever, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

Anyway, as we followed after Lachlan, he led us down to the basement, heading through the corridor before coming to a stop in front of a door.

Hm, I’m pretty sure this is the room where I trained to use Enrage way back when. It has been a while since I’ve been down here though, so I could be wrong.

"Alright, before we enter...close your eyes, all of you. And no peeking," Smiled Lachlan, clearly enjoying himself.

Yup, Superbia definitely rubbed o-...influenced him a fair bit.

"Seriously?" Muttered Cleo in bemusement.

"Let’s just humor him and play along, that’s the fastest way to get through it," I responded quietly, before shutting my eyes.

A few seconds passed, before the sound of the door opening rang out, footsteps echoing out as Lachlan entered the room.

"Alright, come on in! Careful, watch your step."

You’re the one who told us to close our eyes, man...

The three of us somehow managed to enter the room blind without crashing into each other, before I heard Lachlan moving behind us and shutting the door.

"Okay, open your eyes in three, two...one!"

Alright, let’s see what he’s-...

"Holy shit," I blurted out in disbelief, at the sight before me.

"Woah, for real?" Added Aria in bewilderment, before approaching the railing and peering over to get a better look.

"O-Oh...," Uttered Cleo, a stunned look on her face as she gulped slightly.

Below us, all around the wide training space, were piled upon piles of Monster Cores.

"I’ve certainly started to understand why the former Chairwoman was so fond of surprising people, your expressions are priceless," Laughed Lachlan cheerfully.

<I woke Superbia up, by the way, I figured she’d want to see this>

<And she’s pretty pumped>

Yeah, she would be.

"Uh...exactly how many Cores are down there?" I responded in bemusement.

"Don’t know. But after you told me about Miss Cleo here, I informed the HUC, though I didn’t mention her name. I simply told them that another case similar to yours has popped up. The appearance of an an aspiring Hunter with the ability to keep growing more powerful, by absorbing Monster Cores.

So, the HUC has been stockpiling every single Core gathered in the Dungeons since then. Since the Dungeons have been less intense, there’s been less demand for weapons and gear lately, so there’s actually been a surplus of Monster materials in stock, including the Cores.

We already had a good amount of Cores stored prior to that, and with these, I’d say there’s enough to give you a pretty significant boost, wouldn’t you agree?" He smiled as he glanced at Rio, who was practically drooling as she stared at the mountains of Monster Cores before her.

"H-Huh? Uh, sorry, wh-what was the question?" Responded Rio, practically in a trance.

I mean, understandable, I’d probably have reacted the same way if I’d been presented with several thousand Monster corpses before I reached my upper limit.

Hey, Ai, could you give me a count on the number of Cores down there?

<Sounds tedious, but I suppose I can...>

<Okay, there’s a little over two hundred thousand>

<Want an exact count?>

Two hund-...?! Fuck, that’s a lot...