The next day, Hermes had a difficult time entering the office as a crowd formed. It could fill a whole stadium, and they were all screaming as if they were in a concert.
"Excuse me... Ow! Excuse me..." Hermes grumbled as he kept getting stepped on or bumped with.
He already had an idea what the ruckus was all about.
"You were amazing last night, Mr. Glace!"
"How do you do it every time!? Magnarok is so scary!"
"He’s one of the top 10 S-class users of the year, why would you even ask that question? Powerful Threats like Magnarok are nothing to him."
A plus-sized woman with cow ears exclaimed: "Mr. Glace, can you freeze brand me on my shoulder!?"
A man gave the person who asked that a kind smile, wearing a pair of blue-tinted aviator glasses. His glacier blue hair was coiffed and styled to fall more gracefully up to under his ear.
"Are you sure about that, Miss Cow? Freeze branding is permanent and painful."
The woman nodded repeatedly. "Yes, please! I don’t mind the pain, I just want to have your mark on me!"
The man took off his glasses, revealing striking arctic eyes. It was the color of glaciers and unforgiving snow mountains.
Tiny sharp ice daggers came out of the eyes, and embedded themselves on the woman’s skin like needles.
It was so cold that smoke rose out from it, and the whole crowd shivered.
"Ahhh!!!" The cow woman shuddered violently and fall to her knees. But it didn’t sound like she hated it, In fact...
She seemed to have enjoyed it A LOT.
Hermes looked away as everyone noticed the wet spot on her pants. The cow woman hurriedly rush away, embarrassed but very happy.
Mr. Glace put on his glasses again. "And that is why freeze branding should not be done willy-nilly, my warm-blooded darlings. Warm bodies act violently to the cold. Frost bites, you know?"
The crowd went wild, begging him to do that to them too.
"I want it on my back!"
"No, do it on my face first, Please, Daddy?~"
Hermes just continued trying to get to his cubicle and hide there. These people were like zombies, mindless and drooling for a taste of Mr. Glace cold gaze.
But just as he had reached his cubicle.
"Mr. Potentia, are you really just going to walk past your superior like that?"
Hermes cursed softly while his back was still turned from this Ice King, and turned slowly to bow. "My apologies, Sir."
Mr. Glace left his fanatics, purely focused on this intern now. His purple uniform had light blue embellishments, like chains made of ice and snowflake embroidery.
With a wave of a hand, a cold gust closed the doors of the office. Leaving the two alone and unseen.
He walked towards Hermes with his hand on his hips. "I heard that you caused some trouble yesterday. Is that the only thing you’re good at, Mr. Potentia? Perhaps your true power is to be a nuisance to others."
"I-It w-was an accident, Sir— Ngh!"
The chains made of ice suddenly wrapped around his neck! They forced him to kneel down, his knees slamming to the ground.
"Did I tell you to explain, you tongue-tied brute?" Mr. Glace grabbed his chin. "The mistake of one is the responsibility of all here. You brought trouble not just to yourself but to this whole department. To me."
Hermes wanted to punch him so bad, but he’s literally the boss.
And... He does have a point. Even though he did not mean it, his power surge probably brought disgrace to the guild’s Sixth Department.
"I’m sorry, Sir.... It won’t happen again."
Mr. Glace chuckled sadistically. "It better not. I don’t know how you managed to command the whole building with that tongue of yours, but I can freeze it to not cause any more issues. You won’t be able to talk back to your superiors either."
Hermes kept down the anger brewing inside him, hotter than a thousand suns.
If frost bites, Hermes wanted to bite the head off this frost-hearted maniac! Everyone was cruel to him, but nobody does it like Mr. Ymir Glace.
He always acted like a gentleman in front of others, but behind closer doors, he would torture Hermes .
Hermes doesn’t even know why Mr. Glace hated him so much. He doesn’t know what he had done to deserve this much malice.
It had been this way since his first day in The Golden Apple.
"Thank you for accepting me as an intern, Mr. Ymir Glace. It has always been my dream to meet you someday! You never failed to save those in need, no matter the adversary! I’ve watched all your battles since you started your hero career!"
The man’s eyes were always hidden, giving a sense of mystique to him. Hermes could not tell what was behind that plastered smile.
"I am flattered, Mr. Potentia." He smiled. "Why don’t you tell me what your favorite battle is?"
Hermes thought about it. "I think... It would actually be your first solo mission."
"Oh?" Mr. Glace’s smile faltered a bit. "And why that one?"
The intern explained innocently. "You were so close to death that time. Yet you still managed to push through, calling out the names of your first team. It reminded me that we are nothing when we are alone. We always need someone to — or to inspire us when we’re left to our own devices."
Hermes just kept on going, not noticing the ice growing on the legs of his boss’ desk. Slowly reaching to his feet.
"You were crying that time, your legs crushed under heavy debris. And I felt for you. I thought to myself..."
He gave a sweet smile. "I want to be a hero someday who can help you. Who can lift you up and tell you that you don’t have to keep going alone. That’s my greatest wish!"
Hermes suddenly felt a searing pain as he was suddenly frozen from the knee down.
"W-What.... Mr. Glace...."
His new boss suddenly slapped him with his icy hand!
"I don’t need anyone’s help, especially from an F-class like you. Stop being delusional."