Lin Gui rolled his eyes at Hannah.
After leading Eve into the post office, he went straight to the counter.
He pulled a wooden box filled with return letters from his storage space.
The two of them skillfully organized and arranged the items.
The moment the wooden box appeared out of thin air, Hannah's red eyes narrowed slightly.
There were no mana fluctuations, no spatial ripples, and no warning whatsoever.
It just... appeared directly.
She recalled the previous speculation made by the Sage, Kilian.
That "concealment magic" that the Avalon higher-ups had mistaken for a divine artifact.
It should be this trick.
At the same time, she also remembered when they first met in the Blackwater Cathedral.
Lin Gui had also appeared out of thin air just like this.
In Hannah's heart, a trace of doubt arose.
In all her years of traveling...
Had the magic of the outside world already advanced to such a level?
Lin Gui was unaware of Hannah's thoughts.
He sat down behind the counter.
Soon, glass beads crowded around, peeking in with anticipation.
Lin Gui looked at Troy, who was squeezing at the very front with an expectant face, and said helplessly, "You didn't even send a letter, why are you joining the commotion?"
Troy grinned. "I can pick it up for my old uncle!"
Lin Gui shook his head. "Then wait until next time."
"I haven't gone to Silverstream Town yet; I've only delivered to half the city-states on the route."
"As far as Gloomlight Forest."
However...
He glanced at the glass bead quietly observing from his pocket.
He thought to himself that perhaps there would be no need to wait for "next time."
Looking at the eager gazes around him, Lin Gui raised his voice, "Everyone, please do me a favor and spread the word."
"Tell everyone who has sent a letter through me..."
"Tell them I'm back."
A spirit asked, "Should we also call those who sent letters to city-states after Gloomlight Forest?"
Lin Gui sighed. "Yes."
"Also, please call over those few warriors who helped write the letters at the start."
"The post office is about to get busy again."
The spirits' "notification" speed was startlingly fast.
In this dead city-state where entertainment was extremely scarce and even a small bit of gossip about a bounty hunter could be discussed for years...
The efficiency of information transmission was beyond imagination.
In less than a few minutes.
Outside the post office door, glass beads were already packed densely together.
Their faint blue glimmers joined into a single sheet, flashing silently in the night.
Lin Gui walked onto the steps in front of the door.
He looked down at the spirits who were all speaking at once, their mental fluctuations chaotic.
He raised his hand and pressed down.
"Alright!"
"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment!"
His voice wasn't loud, yet it possessed a strange piercing quality.
The surroundings fell silent instantly.
Countless pairs of "gazes" focused expectantly on him.
Lin Gui cleared his throat.
"First, let me find someone."
His gaze swept across the faint blue "sea of stars" below.
He raised his voice and said clearly, "The elf who sent a letter to Deepwood Outpost, and the recipient is Clotina Shadow..."
"Her father."
"Are you here?"
After a brief silence.
A slight commotion broke out among the spirits.
A few elven spirits who knew Clotina began calling her father's name in low voices:
"Moro! Is Moro here?"
"The little messenger is looking for you!"
Soon, a male elven spirit with a clear outline and handsome features...
Slowly floated forward from the crowd of spirits.
He stopped beneath the steps, looking up at Lin Gui.
There was hope in his eyes, but also a hint of tension.
"Mr. Messenger..."
His voice was very soft.
"I am Clotina's father, Moro Shadow."
"Was my letter... delivered to my daughter?"
Lin Gui looked at him with a complex expression.
He remained silent for two seconds before nodding.
"It was delivered."
Moro's soul body suddenly brightened!
"Then... is she doing well?"
"Did she... write a return letter for me?"
"Did she say anything..."
Lin Gui interrupted him.
"Ask her yourself."
After speaking.
He pulled that pale blue glass bead from his pocket.
He cradled it gently in his palm.
Moro's soul body jolted violently.
He floated a bit closer, his gaze fixed firmly on that glass bead.
Inside the bead, a pale purple soul-shadow was curled up.
Pointed ears, a youthful face—it was exactly like the daughter in his memory.
"Clotina...?"
Moro's voice trembled, and his soul light fluctuated intensely.
"Is it you... my child?"
The glass bead rocked gently.
Clotina's soul-shadow slowly unfurled, looking at her father outside through the wall of the bead.
It had been sixteen years.
Her father's appearance hadn't changed; he was still the same as in her memory.
It was only that his soul body was a bit fainter than she had imagined.
She opened her mouth, but could not make a sound.
She could only nod vigorously, her soul light flashing rapidly.
Moro reached out his hands, hollowly cradling the bead.
His movement was as gentle as if he were touching a fragile dream.
"It's good that you're back..."
His voice was raspy, and the halo at the position of his eye sockets was slightly blurred.
"It's good that you're back..."
There was no bitter weeping, no loud wailing.
There was only a repeated, heavy word of...
Relief.
Clotina's soul-shadow floated out from the bead.
She hovered in front of her father and reached out her hand.
Her fingertips hollowly touched the cheek of Moro's soul body.
Cold and transparent.
Yet that familiar tenderness traversed sixteen years of dead silence.
It was conveyed truly.
The father and daughter stared at each other for a long time.
Then, Clotina floated forward slightly, and her soul body hollowly...
Embraced her father.
Moro closed his eyes, and his soul light tenderly enveloped his daughter.
A heavy silence fell over the surroundings.
All the spirits watched this scene quietly.
Faint blue glimmers flickered in their eyes, reflecting one complex face after another.
Envy, blessings, reminiscence, sadness.
Various emotions were woven together silently.
A few elven spirits quietly turned their heads away, their soul lights trembling slightly.
They thought of their own lost kin.
They thought of those faces...
That they could never see again.
Meanwhile, the spirits who were quick-witted gradually moved their gazes from the reunited father and daughter.
They landed on Lin Gui.
Their eyes grew brighter and brighter, more and more...
Fervent.
Lin Gui's scalp felt numb from the staring.
He silently retreated half a step and pulled out a wooden plaque he had prepared long ago from his storage space.
He held it before his chest.
On the plaque, he had written clearly with a charcoal pen:
【The post office is launching a Glass Bead Transfer Service.】
【One-way tickets only.】
【Option One: Send you to other city-states to reunite with your kin.】
【Option Two: Bring your kin to Blackwater City to settle here.】
His handwriting was neat and the logic was clear.
Eve smiled faintly at his side and also pulled out another wooden board.
On it was her elegant handwriting:
【But before that.】
【Could everyone please sign for the return letters from the city-states I've visited.】
【Thank you!】
She bowed slightly, making a pleading gesture.
Her face carried a perfectly timed, innocent smile.
The spirits were stunned at first.
Immediately after, an explosion of ecstatic mental fluctuations broke out!
"Little messenger! Is it true?!"
"Can you send me back to Stonestrand Town? My old mother is still there!"
"I want to bring my little brother here! He's been floating alone in Longbridge Fort for more than ten years..."
A babble of voices surged toward him, so noisy it made Lin Gui's head throb.
He held the sign with an expressionless face, but in his heart, he felt a sense of relief.
In truth, as early as when he accepted Clotina's commission, he had anticipated this situation.
He could have totally sent Clotina to Moro in secret.
Then he could have asked them to keep it a secret, or claimed that some other elven warriors had escorted her here.
That way, he could have completed the commission without adding unnecessary tasks for himself.
But he didn't.
Although his professional ethics as a messenger and post office owner...
After "sneaking peaks" at letters time and again, not much was left.
Although publicly reuniting Clotina and her father would inevitably lead to an explosion in his future workload.
And most likely...
Transferring the glass beads would yield no system rewards.
It might even affect his letter rewards for the upcoming city-states.
If people could reunite, what would be the point of sending letters?
Lin Gui's move had caused the rewards for several thousand letters destined for other city-states to be wasted.
But Lin Gui had still done it.
He looked at the spirits around him who were wild with joy because of the words on the wooden plaque.
He looked at the hope reignited in their eyes.
He slightly curled the corner of his mouth.
...Whatever.
He would just consider this a personal reward...
For his advancement as a Messenger.
【Ding!】
【Special Commission Completed.】
【Content: Safely escort Clotina Shadow to Blackwater City.】
【Actual Route: Deepwood Outpost → Shadowmoon City → Gloomlight Forest → Blackwater City.】
【Reward: Random Mysterious Potion x1.】
【Reward is being issued.......】
【Congratulations to the Host for obtaining a Potent Poison—Demon's Poisonous Kiss.】
【I presume I don't need to introduce this to you, Host. By the way, this is the real deal.】
Rate on N.U.
