Hugging his backpack tightly, Lin Gui took the lead and squeezed into the narrow path the crowd had been forced to part.
Coming before the manager, he got straight to the point.
“I want to post a commission.”
The manager swallowed nervously, his gaze instinctively darting to Theia beside Lin Gui.
“M-My esteemed adventurer, if you're looking for a few runners, you just need to shout. A whole bunch of mud-legs will scramble to do it.”
“Is that so?”
Lin Gui blinked and looked around.
He looked at the cowering, fearful commoners.
He dragged a dusty stool out from a corner.
Disregarding his image entirely, he stepped onto it with one foot, put his hands on his hips, and shouted:
“Missing persons commission! Missing persons commission! Find a person, and the reward is one silver coin! Bring them here, and that's another silver coin!”
Amplification magic propelled his voice to every corner of the hall, echoing loudly.
The people exchanged looks, but no one dared to step forward first.
Because the half-demon, who symbolized misfortune, stood right beside him.
“Looking for someone? Lin Gui, who are you looking for? I don't have many friends, but I know a few people. Maybe one of them is who you're looking for.”
Theia leaned in and asked in a low voice.
Lin Gui didn't answer.
He walked straight to the mottled wooden wall of the dispatch hall and pulled out a thick stack of envelopes and adhesive tape.
Thwack!
Pressing the first letter against the wall, Lin Gui shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Price Bard! Male! Forty-seven years old! Short, curly brown hair, with three crisscrossing scars on his left hand! Bitten by Big Yellow from the neighboring village when he was a kid, with dog tooth marks still on his face! This letter is from your father, Price Locke, whom you've been separated from for ten years! Come and claim it!”
He didn't stop, pasting one after another! His voice grew louder and louder, like beating a drum that had been silent for far too long!
“Ella Bramble! Female! Twenty-nine years old! Has a tear mole under her right eye and a gap in her left eyebrow! Fell out of a tree when she was a kid, leaving a coin-sized scar on her right shin! This letter is from your mother, Mrs. Carol, whom you've been separated from for ten years! Come and claim it!”
“Anvil Heavyhammer! Male! Thirty-eight years old! Beard braided into three thick plaits, with a big, red nose! Got drunk and arm-wrestled a dwarf boss, and his right thumb is still crooked to this day! This letter is from your brother, Bronzebeard, from the depths of the mine, whom you've been separated from for ten years! Come and claim it!”
He caught his breath and continued to shout with powerful conviction.
The crisp sound of slapping the wall rang out continuously like a metronome, shattering the oppressive silence of the dispatch center.
Letters? What a foreign concept.
Ever since a staggering number of demons occupied the wilderness, contact between city-states had dwindled to almost nothing.
Post offices had long since faded into history, yet now, an adventurer had come specifically to deliver letters.
Lin Gui's shouts continued to ring out.
Many years later, when the people of that time looked back on this scene, they would still feel a heartfelt sense of awe.
A simply dressed mage, standing in a dilapidated slum.
Calling out those forgotten names, one by one.
Nailing the care from afar, and piece after piece of longing, onto a wall where hope still lingered.
Theia's mouth parted slightly.
She had always thought Lin Gui was looking for his own family, or at least someone he knew.
She had never expected this.
He had gone through immense hardships to cross forests and canyons, risking his life to come to this city, just to deliver letters?
To deliver letters to a bunch of strangers?
And not just one or two...
Under everyone's stunned gazes, Lin Gui plastered the entire wall.
Hundreds of letters layered over one another.
They covered the cold wooden boards like warm armor, bringing a nearly sacred sense of awe.
Having pasted the final letter, Lin Gui read aloud in a hoarse voice.
“Bruce... Male... Twenty-five years old... Muscular but afraid of dogs... Boasted last time that he could drink an entire squad of beastkin under the table, only to be knocked out by a single cup of cider and hung on the tavern sign overnight... This letter is from your former boss, Little Finger... Come and claim it.”
He slumped to the ground, feeling as if a fire were burning in his throat.
A total of 679 letters.
Now, he really regretted taking this job a little.
From the crowd, a woman in tattered clothes pushed past others and stepped forward.
Her hands trembled, her calloused fingers tightly clasped together. She stared blankly at Lin Gui, her voice shaking.
“I... I am Arcas's mother, Romy... The tavern manager didn't allow us to keep long hair, saying we'd be fined if hair fell into the food...”
She instinctively touched her uneven short hair, sobbing.
“I don't have long hair anymore... but the year my son and I were separated, I did... My child... Is he still alive?”
Lin Gui supported himself against the wall and stood up shakily.
Referencing his list, he took down a letter from the eighty-fourth column of the ninety-seventh row.
He walked over to the woman, looked into her eyes, which were filled with disbelief and a faint glimmer of hope, and asked:
“Your husband's name? Your former home?”
“Sawyer Bazel... Woodcreek Village.”
The information matched. Lin Gui handed the letter over.
Romy took it with trembling hands, tearing the envelope open in a panic.
With a slip of her hand, the sheets of paper scattered all over the floor.
She hurriedly got down to pick them up, and the moment her eyes caught the familiar greeting on the first page,
Tears instantly spilled down her weathered cheeks.
“Arcas... my child... sob...”
She clutched the letter tightly to her chest, weeping uncontrollably.
Lin Gui curled his lips into a faint smile. His gaze swept over the still-dazed crowd, and he suddenly raised his arm.
His voice was hoarse with fatigue, yet exceptionally clear:
“One silver coin for each letter! Bring the recipient to me, and that's another silver!”
“What are you all waiting for? An opportunity to earn two silver coins this easily might only come once in a lifetime!”
“Get moving—maybe someone right next to you is waiting for one of these letters!”
These words were like a thunderclap, instantly waking the stunned crowd.
“I think I heard Legos's name! He did say he fled here from New Covenant City!”
“Heavens! It's Egwin! The Egwin who was caught taking a dump in the woods by the girl he had a crush on? He actually wrote me a letter? He's not here to collect a debt, is he?”
“Grandma Moore! Your husband sent a letter!!”
In an instant, the crowd surged.
Some rushed out the door toward their acquaintances' homes.
Others squeezed toward the wall, carefully scanning the descriptions in hopes of earning the money.
Still others came running after hearing the commotion, gathering to watch this unprecedented spectacle.
Amidst the clamor, Theia was still staring blankly at Lin Gui.
Along the way, he had rarely smiled, his brow always furrowed.
But now, there seemed to be light in his eyes.
That helpless yet bright smile was like a ray of sunlight suddenly piercing through a swamp.
It was so dazzling that she couldn't tear her eyes away.
“Hey! What are you dazing off for over there? Come over and help!”
Lin Gui, who was struggling to maintain order, turned his head and shouted to Theia.
“Huh?”
She pointed to herself.
Before she could react, he grabbed her and pulled her into the surging, warm tide of people.
Rate on N.U.
