It was the fifth day of Lin Gui’s stay in Caran City.
In front of the post office counter, a rare moment of leisure had arrived.
The surging crowd had already receded, leaving only two or three scattered customers.
He handed over the daily registration and storage tasks to several temporary literate shop assistants.
He took the time to step into the inner room.
Elvia sat in the corner, the heavy atmosphere around her almost damp enough to wring water from.
Lin Gui looked at her and spoke.
“I say, as the new City Lord, aren’t you going to manage Caran?”
“Your absence lately has left the city’s order showing signs of chaos.”
“Wealthy merchants are seizing farmland while they can, and thefts are becoming more frequent.”
These were all things he had heard from the customers coming and going to send mail.
Elvia looked up and gave a dry laugh, her smile filled with mockery and self-abandonment.
“My own life is in your hands, yet I should care about the pariahs?”
Lin Gui’s tone was flat, but it carried an unquestionable weight.
“What if this is my order?”
He tossed an old book into Elvia’s lap.
“If you still want to live, follow this book and reform all of Caran.”
“In about six days, I’ll be departing for the Royal Capital.”
“Before then, at least restore basic order to Caran and maintain its fundamental operations.”
He paused for a moment and added.
“After that, you will follow me to the Royal Capital.”
Before leaving, Lin Gui glanced back at Elvia, whose expression was shifting indeterminately, and left her with one final sentence.
“You don’t have much time left.”
Returning to the counter, Lin Gui thought in silence.
If possible, he didn’t want Elvia to sink into complete despondency.
In many ways, he desperately needed her.
She was of noble birth, possessed impressive strength, and had come to Caran from the Royal Capital.
He began to chant a low incantation.
The faint glow of Levitation flowed.
Under the counter, envelopes began to float up one by one.
As if guided by invisible hands, they fell precisely into various wooden sorting boxes.
As his proficiency with the Levitation spell increased.
His control over floating various objects had improved by more than just a single level.
Back in New Covenant City, he could only barely manage to keep multiple items afloat simultaneously.
Now, he could finely control their flight paths and landing points.
The number of letters collected in Caran City far exceeded that of New Covenant City; they could no longer fit in a single large package.
The rise in Levitation proficiency solved this problem once and for all.
However, this also meant that the mana consumption he had to bear increased accordingly.
The safety risks were higher now.
Theia could compensate for this risk, but Lin Gui didn't want to rely on her excessively.
After all, she would eventually leave once they reached the end of this long journey.
Therefore, Elvia’s inclusion had become a necessity.
With the presence of the “Demon's Poisonous Kiss,” he felt safe enough to reveal a portion of his hidden trump cards to her.
Theia walked in from outside the post office.
These past few days, she had been busy preparing the supplies needed for the long trip.
In this regard, she was far more capable than Lin Gui.
When Lin Gui traveled to the Magic City, he had relied on the concealment and extreme speed of the Shroud of the Gloomy Night.
But for Theia to be exiled from the distant Elven Forest all the way here.
She had survived the journey by relying on genuinely rich wilderness survival experience.
She dropped the large, heavy travel pack on the floor and asked.
“Can you do it alone?”
Lin Gui sighed and focused his mind.
The buckles of the travel pack popped open automatically, and one item after another inside rose up.
Dried meat, water skins, ropes, spare arrows, a simple tent, a medical kit, and so on.
They floated out and finally tucked themselves into several reinforced wooden crates categorized by type.
He controlled the wooden crates to float once more.
Several crates filled with supplies and thousands of letters stacked themselves steadily together.
Theia let out a whistle and praised him.
“Lin Gui, your Levitation is becoming more and more proficient.”
“I remember when we escaped the Black Demon Forest riot; you were carrying me and nearly plunged straight into a demon nest.”
There was a trace of undetectable envy in her tone.
If possible, who wouldn't long to fly?
“My apologies for that,” Lin Gui replied nonchalantly.
As the number of controlled items increased, the mana consumption of the Levitation spell also grew exponentially.
Fortunately, it hadn't reached the terrifying levels of maintaining the Shroud of the Gloomy Night.
He could probably maintain this state at full capacity for about four hours.
He stowed his staff and looked at Theia.
“I’ll have to rely on you for security on the road from Caran to the Royal Capital.”
Theia smiled and patted the elven longbow on her back.
“Leave it to me.”
While the two were chatting, the inner door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.
Elvia had a dark face as she tightly clutched the book Lin Gui had given her, walking quickly toward him.
Under the threat of life and death, her so-called royal pretense had long since lost its meaning.
She gritted her teeth and growled at Lin Gui, enunciating every word.
“Just how far do I have to go? When will you let me go? Five years of service? Ten years?”
Facing Elvia’s interrogation that was practically spitting fire, Lin Gui merely smiled faintly.
“Even if I gave you any guarantees now, would you believe them?”
Elvia’s face darkened, her eyes filled with undisguised killing intent as she fell silent.
She turned to leave abruptly, leaving only cold words behind.
“I will do as you say. But remember, I will try every possible way to neutralize this damned poison.”
“And then I’ll kill you.”
The door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
“Isn't that a bit excessive?” Theia looked at Lin Gui.
Lin Gui gave her a flat look.
“Who was it that told me ‘good people don't live long’ and advised me not to deliver letters for these commoners for free?”
Theia shrugged and smiled.
“Aren't you afraid she’ll actually try to take you down with her?”
“Rest assured,” Lin Gui said with certainty.
“Her Highness Elvia is very afraid of death.”
“To survive, she was willing to cast aside her dignity and beg for mercy from a non-existent assassin.”
“She won't do that if it means staying alive. In fact...”
A hint of irony curled at the corner of his mouth.
“She probably wishes she could protect me around the clock now. Because if anything happens to me, she won't live much longer either.”
A cautious knock suddenly sounded outside the post office.
Lin Gui and Theia glanced at each other, thinking Elvia had returned.
However, it was a temporary shop assistant from outside who entered.
Behind him followed a burly warrior clad in leather armor.
The assistant spoke somewhat nervously.
“Lord Mage, this adventurer gentleman says he has something he’d like to discuss with you.”
Lin Gui’s face remained expressionless as his staff silently floated into his hand.
Theia also tacitly knocked an arrow to her string, her blood-red eyes narrowing slightly.
Seeing this defensive posture, the warrior’s forehead instantly broke into a sweat, and he waved his hands hurriedly while letting out a dry laugh.
“Th-that! Please don’t misunderstand! I’m not here to look for trouble!”
In his quest to deliver that testament, Lin Gui had endured no small amount of harassment from the adventurers of Caran.
Although he had done it to complete the task, having a kind act met with betrayal nonetheless left him feeling quite displeased.
Gulp.
The warrior swallowed hard, cold sweat pouring down even more.
Lin Gui was one thing; the threat of a Low-tier High Rank Mage wasn't that significant.
But Theia was different.
He had no doubt that even as a High Rank Shield Warrior specialized in defense, he could never withstand a few of Theia’s arrows.
“Ahem! Calm down, Red-eye—ahem! No, Miss Windrunner!” He hurriedly changed his wording.
“I’m here to deliver a letter!”
“Deliver a letter?” Lin Gui frowned.
“Can’t you just drop it off outside?”
“Er...” The warrior rubbed his hands.
“Because the destination of this letter isn't in any of the city-states marked on your map.”
“Then I’m sorry,” Lin Gui rejected him flatly.
“I do not accept letter commissions outside of my planned destination path.”
“B-but!” the warrior said urgently.
“The place I want to send... or rather, the place the guild wants it delivered to, should be right on your essential path! In fact, it’s a location you must pass through!”
“Where?”
“The scout outpost at the entrance of the Withered Rift!”
Seeing that Lin Gui didn’t immediately object, the warrior hurried to continue.
“As you know, the Black Demon Forest operation caused the guild heavy losses... Even the Transcendent rank scout responsible for guarding it died in the subsequent campaign.”
“Currently, the Adventurer's Guild has no Transcendent experts left to maintain order.”
“Except for the Gold Rank adventure group that went to complete a mapping commission three months ago, the Dreamweaver.”
“Their leader is Rona, a Transcendent Assassin.”
“To chart the Golden Route from Caran to the Royal Capital, she led her members out of Caran three months ago.”
“The guild urgently needs to call her back to handle the situation!”
Just as the warrior finished speaking.
The crisp chime of a system prompt suddenly rang out in Lin Gui’s mind.
[Ding! Special Commission triggered!]
[Content: Deliver the Emergency Recall Order of the Caran Adventurer's Guild to the scout outpost at the entrance of the Withered Rift and hand it to Rona, the leader of the Gold Rank adventure group, Dreamweaver.]
[Reward: 500 mana points.]
[Risk Hint: The energy field in the Withered Rift is unstable, with demon activity exceeding 90%.]
[Note: Rona the Assassin may not necessarily be at the scout outpost; you will only complete the commission by handing the letter directly to her.]
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow. 500 mana points? That was quite a lot.
It was enough for him to advance from the Low Rank to the Mid Rank.
It was also enough... to increase his magic proficiency by a whole tier, including... his Level 9 Shroud of the Gloomy Night.
Without showing any of his joy, Lin Gui extended his hand and stated a figure.
“10,000 gold coins.”
“What?” The warrior failed to react for a moment.
“I said give me 10,000 gold coins, and I’ll help you deliver this letter.”
“But doesn’t it say outside that it’s only 7 copper per letter?”
“The location you’re sending it to isn't among the city-states on the map.”
“This counts as a commission outside of my plan.”
Lin Gui extended his hand and said flatly.
“So, 10,000 gold coins, or deliver it yourselves.”
The warrior was speechless. If they could deliver it themselves, why would they have come looking for Lin Gui?
Now that their Gold Rank adventure groups had been wiped out, the only one who could cross such a vast distance in the wilderness was this half-demon, Theia.
The warrior left a message saying he had to discuss it with the rest of the guild and then departed.
Lin Gui was in no hurry, because he knew very well that they had no other choice.
Rate on N.U.
