THE NINTH GUILD | skz

PROLOGUE!

"MY LORD, i've just received the latest roster for the ninth guild." the servant slipped a stack of papers onto the king's desk. "are you sure that approving the request for a new guild will be beneficial to the land of wind? guilds are supposed to be revered and filled with respected heroes, not formed by some— excuse my language, sire— hillbilly who lacks magic and expertise."

the king gave a hearty chuckle. "bang chan isn't just a hillbilly. he's a hillbilly with a dream." a gleam came into his eye as he spoke. "sometimes, they make for the most dangerous people around."

the servant gave a slight sigh. "my lord, please don't—"

"when i was his age," the king interrupted, much to the servant's chagrin, "i was just like him. a so-called 'hillbilly' with nothing but my horse and my dignity. no magic or expertise whatsoever." the servant's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "but i had something better: a dream. a dream that would one day help me to overthrow the old monarch of the land of wind and make me the new king. bang chan has dreams as wild and fantastical as mine when i was a young lad. that's why i'm allowing him to form his own guild."

the king's servant had heard this same story many times before, so he was completely unphased by it. "yes, yes, i know, sire," he said with a wave of his hand. "but you can't deny the facts: the ninth guild is destined to go under! i mean—" he picked up a random piece of paper— "their asura can't even place curses on people! and their ranger can't raise the dead!" he gave an exasperated huff. "may i speak informally?"

"jungwook, you've been speaking informally this entire time, but alright."

"you are positively insane! if outer kingdoms find out that we have such an inferior guild in our midst, then we could be attacked! jinyoung, this decision of your could be detrimental to the future of the land of wind!"

at that point, king jinyoung had stopped listening and was peering intently at the information sheets his trusty servant had given him. "interesting people in this one," he muttered. "not very experienced... the warriors seem good, but the berserker is a little reckless... most have only known each other for a year..." he paused. "jungwook, where is the profile for their ninja? it says here that they have one, but it doesn't have a name or picture for them."

jungwook hummed. "yes, well, the ninth guild refused to provide one. apparently their ninja comes from a legitimate clan and values secrecy above all else."

"i see. and it says here that one of their members— lee minho— was once part of the first guild but chose to move down to the ninth." the king rubbed his chin in thought. "i remember seeing his profile before. i wonder why he gave that up? what do you think, jungwook?"

"i still think you're insane," jungwook stated bluntly.

"fair enough," jinyoung responded with a laugh. "in all honesty, i can't wait to see how things turn out with our new guild. they've actually got a well-balanced team, but in terms of skills, who knows how they'll fare?" he leafed through the papers haphazardly. "a hillbilly leader; two dysfunctional warriors; mages with completely different skill sets; an odd pair of assassins; and a cleric that lacks training." the king grinned. "a good bunch, don't you think?"

"no. not at all."

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THE NINTH GUILD!
A STRAY KIDS FANFICTION BY BREADOTAKU.
[REBOOTED FROM 2019]