“What should we do? Should we leave Caran?”
Theia lowered her voice, her eyes scanning the knight order behind the Seventh Princess, which radiated a terrifying pressure.
“That Seventh Princess is probably at the High Rank level, but the other knights are all at least one sub-rank stronger than me.”
“Two knights, three scouts, two mages, one priestess, one assassin, and one Legendary Holy Knight...”
“With a composition like this, they could move in and out of the Black Demon Forest at will.”
Lin Gui sighed and quickly inquired within his mind.
‘System, is there a penalty if I abandon the letter delivery commission for Caran?’
【Ding! There is no penalty for abandoning the current region's Weekly Commission. The system will automatically search for and issue the next weekly task (Target: Carter Royal Capital).】
【Note: If the Host later delivers the accepted letters addressed to Caran City on his own, he will not receive system rewards for them.】
Helplessly, Lin Gui could only prepare himself to abandon the task.
But if he were to set out now, the time it would take to reach the Royal Capital would be significantly extended without the Golden Chart.
And snatching the chart from the hands of a Mid-tier Legendary Holy Knight?
The Shroud of the Gloomy Night could conceal his presence, but the closer he got to the target, the higher the risk of exposure.
Even that decapitated Legendary demon had nearly discovered him when he was hiding nearby earlier.
Against a Holy Knight even stronger than that demon... Lin Gui lacked confidence.
As for delivering letters within Caran City...
The moment he dared to show his face to deliver a letter, he would absolutely be locked onto instantly.
He believed that the Seventh Princess—who appeared kind on the surface but was actually ruthless—must have already dug up information from the former City Lord about a certain “messenger who once suppressed demons alongside the Lyon Knights.”
Just as Lin Gui was almost ready to resolve himself to flee this den of trouble, a turning point arrived unexpectedly.
The cheers in the square had yet to subside.
However, the Legendary Holy Knight, clad in his Stellar-tier Armor, had already begun leading his elite Royal Capital Knights away.
They pushed through the crowd, marching straight toward the city gates with heavy, synchronized steps.
Elvia stepped forward quickly, an impeccable and elegant smile on her face.
“Will you not stay for a few more days, Your Excellency? The reconstruction of Caran City still requires the protection of your prestige.”
The Holy Knight did not stop, merely letting out an undisguised sneer.
“No. I won't stay to interrupt your... inauguration feast, Princess.”
The detachment and mockery in his words were obvious.
He didn't even look back.
Leading his knights, he swept through the massive city gates in a grand procession.
Passing by the demon's corpse, their figures vanished into the dust kicked up outside the city.
Maintaining her smile, the Seventh Princess watched them leave until the last rider disappeared over the horizon.
The greatest obstacle had actually departed of its own accord in such a dramatic fashion?
Hiding in the crowd, Lin Gui and Theia stared at each other in shock, both finding it somewhat hard to believe.
Over the next two days, Lin Gui and Theia operated cautiously within Caran City.
They also conducted an in-depth investigation of the mandatory path leading from Caran to the Royal Capital.
Ultimately, they confirmed it.
That Legendary Holy Knight truly had left.
Furthermore, he had taken all the elites of the Royal Capital Knights with him, leaving the Seventh Princess... alone.
Lin Gui narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the beautiful Seventh Princess.
“Could we really be this lucky?” he muttered.
Departing alongside the Royal Capital Knights were the original major noble factions of Caran City.
It was said that the top combat power of the Defense Force had already fled early in the demon siege.
Now, the high-end combat power of Caran City was unprecedentedly vacant; on the surface, only Theia remained as a Transcendent Rank powerhouse.
Although he didn't fully understand the intricate political maneuvering or the ins and outs behind this, Lin Gui did not intend to let this godsent opportunity slip by.
He spent nearly all the wealth on him, including the commission fee he had just earned.
At an intersection between the commoner district and the main street, he took over an abandoned stone-structured shop.
After a period of frantic preparation, a plaque reading “7-Copper Post Office” was officially hung in Caran City.
By the time the post office was ready and operations officially began, two days had passed.
Caran City’s scale was far beyond that of New Covenant City, with a large population and vast territory.
Leaflets announcing the opening of the “7-Copper Post Office” were scattered through every street and alley of Caran like snowflakes, thanks to the tireless efforts of the street urchins Lin Gui had hired.
Combined with the reputation of the “Messenger Mage” spreading among the refugees from New Covenant City and some of Caran’s poor, news of the post office's opening quickly caused a sensation.
In this Dark Age, where high walls cut off contact and communication was severed, a post office that charged low fees and promised delivery was like a giant boulder thrown into stagnant water, stirring up massive ripples of hope.
The level of popularity was exactly as Lin Gui had expected.
This time, he had learned his lesson from New Covenant City and made ample preparations.
To handle the massive influx of customers in such a short time, he temporarily hired dozens of literate paupers and down-and-out scholars to handle registration, organization, and inquiries.
The post office counter was even moved directly out onto the street.
The queues were winding and endless.
To control the scene and maintain order, Lin Gui simply dispelled Theia’s disguise magic.
Her silver hair, crimson eyes, and half-demon traits were revealed in full.
The aura mixing peerless beauty with inhuman, eerie charm, along with the cold gazes she occasionally cast, proved exceptionally effective.
The originally excited and noisy crowd instantly became much more behaved in front of her.
Theia was quite depressed about this.
She had never expected that Lin Gui, who had always forbidden her from revealing her true face, would actually have her remove her disguise for this reason.
Well, a major reason was actually that most of the citizens of Caran already recognized Theia, so a disguise would have been pointless.
Amidst the busy work, the system’s prompt finally echoed in Lin Gui’s mind.
【Ding! This Weekly Commission (Caran City) has been completed!】
【1,600 letters have been signed for—1,450 letters.】
【Rewards Issued: Random Novice Magic x... (Skipped). Proficiency in Levitation has significantly increased.】
【Novice Wind Magic—Levitation * 153 → Levitation LV9】
【New Magic Acquired:】
【Novice Earth Magic—Earth Listening * 154 → Earth Listening LV6】
(Effect: Can more clearly perceive weak vibrations conducted through the ground; the distance of identifiable vibration sources has slightly increased, and interference is slightly reduced.)
【Novice Light Magic—Glimmer * 79 → Glimmer LV4】
(Effect: The brightness of the condensed light orb has slightly improved, its duration is slightly extended, and it can move at an extremely slow speed.)
【Novice Water Magic—Condense Dew * 25 → Condense Dew LV3】
(Effect: Can gather more moisture from the air; the speed of generating dewdrops has slightly increased, and the volume of water is slightly greater.)
【Note: The Novice Light Magic, Illumination, has reached maximum proficiency at LV10. It can now be used with chantless casting.】
With a flick of his right hand, a halo of light covered his palm, feeling warm.
Lin Gui began to look forward to the day Levitation reached maximum proficiency.
And that day wouldn't be far off. Looking at the crowd outside, Lin Gui sighed.
【Extra Reward: Mana Reserve +150】
【Host: Lin Gui】
【Rank: Low-tier High Rank Mage】
【Mana Reserve: (101/1664) 336 mana points remaining until the next stage breakthrough.】
【Ding! A Weekly Commission has begun to generate.】
【Commencing retrieval of the number of letters collected by the Host.】
【Search time remaining... 6d 23h】
——「May every thought cross the darkness and reach the other shore」
Lin Gui hurriedly scanned the prompts, preparing to continue his work.
At that moment, he failed to notice that the atmosphere at the periphery of the post office had suddenly grown exceptionally quiet.
A young girl dressed in a long, pure white lace dress, her golden hair flowing like a waterfall, had appeared on the edge of the crowd at some point.
She didn't join the queue. Instead, she squatted with great interest in front of the giant route announcement board posted on the outer wall of the post office.
Her slender fingers gently brushed over the lines representing paths and the thumbtacks.
When she saw the thumbtack pinned on “Carter Royal Capital,” the innocent and romantic smile on her face faltered for a moment.
Immediately after, a deeper, more elusive smile spread across the corners of her lips.
She stood up and elegantly smoothed out her skirt.
Passing by the commoners, who all respectfully lowered their heads and instinctively made way for her, the heels of her shoes made a clear, rhythmic clattering sound on the wooden steps.
She walked straight up to Lin Gui, who had just found a moment to space out and hadn't fully recovered his senses yet.
Tilting her head slightly, she twirled a strand of her brilliant golden hair and spoke in a sweet yet commanding tone.
“Boss, can you express-deliver a letter to the Royal Capital?”
Rate on N.U.
