Theia's accidental grab for extra cash completely shattered Lin Gui's perfect plan to pull a fast one and stroll away with easy money.
Now, things were complicated.
Regardless of which one of them threw the next "test," the other would be forcibly shoved into that troublesome escort task by the City Lord.
Lin Gui massaged his forehead, feeling a deep sense of helplessness.
"Is there a possibility..."
He lowered his voice and spoke helplessly to Theia as she leaned in.
"...that I was planning to do the exact same thing as you? To hold back, snag those five gold coins, and then bail?"
The excitement on Theia's face froze instantly, her emerald eyes blinking.
Finally, she realized belatedly.
It seemed like... she had messed everything up.
"Uh... well... you can't blame this entirely on me..."
Theia gave an awkward smile, her fingers unconsciously twirling her silver hair.
"I didn't expect to see you here either... so, so what do we do now?"
Lin Gui furrowed his brows, his mind racing at high speed.
Seeing the guards gesture for the two to begin their "spar," he took a deep breath and suddenly strode toward the high platform, bowing respectfully to the City Lord above.
"Respected City Lord!"
Lin Gui's voice was resonant and filled with "sincerity."
"Please allow me to make a request! Could you change my test opponent?"
The City Lord and the Knight Commander both cast questioning looks.
Lin Gui pointed at Theia and said with a "candid" face.
"This elven ranger, Theia, is actually a member of my adventuring party!"
"I am very familiar with her strength. Although she is quite agile, she is absolutely no match for me and has always been my subordinate!"
"I believe testing against such an opponent won't demonstrate my true power at all."
"Nor can it prove to you that I have sufficient capability to protect the young lady through the dangerous wilderness!"
His tone was impassioned, as if being chosen to protect the City Lord's daughter was the ultimate honor.
"Please give me a chance to prove myself! Please select a stronger opponent for me!"
"I will surely satisfy you with my strength and prove that I am fully capable of escorting your noble and supreme daughter safely to Caran City!"
His performance was heartfelt, molding himself into the image of a powerful and loyal guard desperate for recognition.
However, on the platform, the Knight Commander's eyebrow shot up as he asked back with a hint of amusement.
"Oh? Are you saying that you can also easily defeat Ross, the leader of the Lion Party?"
Lin Gui's expression faltered in confusion.
"Leader Ross? What does he have to do with this?"
A strange smile appeared on the Knight Commander's face.
"Because just an hour ago, this 'subordinate' elven lady of yours..."
"...gave Ross, the leader of the Lion Party, a sound thrashing in front of everyone in the Adventurer's Guild hall."
"She beat him so badly that Leader Ross had no power to strike back..."
Lin Gui snapped his head back, looking at Theia in disbelief.
Theia turned her face away, wearing a smile that was heart-stoppingly beautiful but filled with obvious guilt.
Her two slender fingers poked each other as she spoke in a soft, sweet voice.
"Oh, goodness... th-this is all because of my beautiful and charming face. It always attracts groups of annoying men..."
"I told him I wasn't interested, but he kept hounding me... so I... I just disciplined him a tiny little bit..."
She made an extremely small gesture with her fingers toward Lin Gui.
The Knight Commander ruthlessly exposed the truth.
"A tiny bit? According to witnesses, Leader Ross has sixteen bone fractures and minor internal organ vibrations. He definitely won't be getting out of bed for at least a month. That's no small injury."
Theia laughed awkwardly, trying to pass it off with cuteness.
"Bone fractures~ No big deal, just a small matter~ For an adventurer, those are all minor injuries~"
Lin Gui silently covered his face and let out a long sigh.
It was over. Completely over. There was no way to fix this lie.
In the end, amidst the City Lord's praises of "so experts really are among the common people" and "your adventuring party is truly a place of hidden talents," Lin Gui and Theia were "inevitably" shoved together into the escort mission team to Caran City.
According to the Knight Commander's suggestion, the sooner the team departed, the better.
Because according to the latest scout reports, for some reason, the number of demons in the Black Demon Forest had suddenly dropped sharply.
In particular, the middle and High Rank demons had almost vanished.
Only a few low-rank imps remained wandering about. This was undoubtedly a godsend of an opportunity to cross the forest!
Listening to this "good news" from the side, Lin Gui could only sneer coldly in his heart.
'Demon reduction? That's because their bosses have all run off to blockade the gates of Caran City!'
'I hope you can still smile once you reach the gates of Caran City and see that scene.'
The departure time was finally set for the following morning.
Coming out of the military camp, Lin Gui immediately rushed toward New Covenant City's real estate exchange without stopping.
Theia followed behind him, still constantly apologizing and explaining her "mistake."
However, Lin Gui had no time to listen to her nonsense; he had to race against the clock.
He got straight to the point, tossing out a heavy bag of gold coins and quickly completing the formalities.
Holding the deed for a piece of land about a hundred square meters in size located next to the main street, he ran off to recruit craftsmen.
Under the temptation of high daily wages, a team of craftsmen quickly gathered on that plot of land with materials.
Lin Gui even rolled up his sleeves and personally joined the craftsmen in the construction.
To "make up for her mistake," Theia also participated.
She flew back and forth across the roof, passing building materials and securing beams.
Her dashing and agile figure attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
The people stole glances at Theia's peerless silhouette and incredible skill.
But in the end, their curious gazes converged on Lin Gui, who was equally busy.
Many people recognized this famous "messenger mage."
And they could see that he seemed to be planning to open a shop here.
"Master Mage Lin Gui is opening a shop?"
"What kind of shop will he open? A magic item shop? Or a potion shop?"
"With his skills, the shop he opens certainly won't be ordinary!"
Soon, a simply structured, slightly rough three-story wooden house rose from the ground.
When Lin Gui personally hung a handmade plaque over the lintel, all the onlookers froze.
On the plaque, a few large characters were clearly written—【7-Copper Post Office】.
A post office?! Master Mage Lin Gui actually wanted to open a... post office?!
Amidst the confused and curious gazes of the crowd, Lin Gui walked into the shop and pasted a massive map of the southwestern borderlands onto the wall.
He pulled out some self-made thumbtacks and string.
He connected the several major city-states marked on the map:
New Covenant City → Caran City → Withered Rift → Carter Royal Capital → Silent Sea (Forbidden Zone) → Fortress City of Shield → Wall of Sighs (Forbidden Zone) → Avalon, the City of Freedom.
Then, he set up a whiteboard announcement next to it, writing in eye-catching letters:
【Starting today, this post office accepts mail bound for any city-state along the routes above! Unified fee: 7 copper coins per letter!】
【Deadline for this collection: Tomorrow at 9:00 AM sharp!】
Looking at his "masterpiece," Lin Gui silently questioned the system in his heart.
'System, if I collect letters for different locations, how will the commissions be counted? Do they count?'
【Ding! The commissions will prioritize letters bound for the nearest city-state.】
【Letters for other city-states along the route will automatically slide into the next commission.】
"In other words, for this week's commission, the letters bound for Caran City will be recorded. Letters bound for the Royal Capital will be recorded for the next commission after this one is completed."
【Correct. The recording limit for letters is within one week.】
【Once the time is exceeded, the recorded letters will not count toward system rewards.】
"But I don't have enough time. The City Lord's commission starts tomorrow morning."
Lin Gui sighed, hoping that in these few hours, he could collect a few more letters.
As he was thinking, Lin Gui turned around only to find that his post office had been surrounded by people...
Rate on N.U.
