“What should we do? Should we leave Caran?”
Theia lowered her voice, her eyes sweeping over the knights standing behind the Seventh Princess, who radiated a terrifying aura.
“That Seventh Princess is probably at High Rank, but the other knights are all at least one minor rank stronger than me.”
“Two knights, three scouts, two mages, one priestess, one assassin, and a Legendary Holy Knight...”
“With a lineup like that, they could wander in and out of the Black Demon Forest as they please.”
Lin Gui let out a sigh and quickly questioned the system in his mind.
System, will there be a penalty if I abandon the letter delivery commission for Caran City?
【Ding! There is no penalty for abandoning the current region's Weekly Commission. The system will automatically search for and issue the next weekly quest (Target: Carter Royal Capital).】
【Note: If the Host delivers the already accepted letters addressed to Caran City on your own in the future, you will not receive system rewards.】
Helpless, Lin Gui could only prepare himself to abandon the quest.
But if they set off now without the Golden Chart, the journey to the Royal Capital would take an incredibly long time.
And snatching the chart from a Mid-tier Legendary Holy Knight?
Although Shroud of the Gloomy Night could conceal his presence, the closer he got to the target, the higher the risk of exposure.
The slain Legendary demon had almost discovered him when he was hiding nearby back then.
Against a Holy Knight who was even stronger... Lin Gui had no confidence.
As for delivering letters in Caran City...
The moment he dared to show his face to deliver a letter, he would definitely be targeted instantly.
He believed that the Seventh Princess, who appeared gentle on the surface but was actually ruthless in her methods, must have already extracted information.
She had surely pried information out of the City Lord about him—the “messenger who once went with Lyon's knights to subjugate the demons.”
Just as Lin Gui was about to make up his mind to flee this trouble-ridden place, a sudden turn of events caught him completely off guard.
Before the cheers in the plaza could even die down, the Legendary Holy Knight clad in starlight armor, leading his elite Royal Capital Knights, pushed through the crowd. Marching in heavy, synchronized steps, they headed straight toward the city gates.
Elvia stepped forward quickly, an impeccable, elegant smile on her face.
“Will you not stay for a few more days, Your Excellency? The reconstruction of Caran City still requires your prestigious presence.”
The Holy Knight didn't even slow down, merely letting out an undisguised sneer.
“No, I won't disturb Your Highness's... inauguration feast.”
The distance and sarcasm in his words were glaringly obvious.
He didn't even look back.
He simply led his knights in a grand procession straight through the massive city gates.
Stepping past the demon's corpse, their figures vanished into the dust kicked up outside the city.
The Seventh Princess maintained her smile, watching them depart until the last rider disappeared over the horizon.
The biggest obstacle had actually left on his own in such a dramatic fashion?
Hiding in the crowd, Lin Gui and Theia stared at each other in shock, finding it hard to believe.
Over the next two days, Lin Gui and Theia moved cautiously around Caran City.
They also thoroughly scouted the mandatory route from Caran to the Royal Capital.
Ultimately, they confirmed that the Legendary Holy Knight had indeed left.
Moreover, he had taken all the elites of the Royal Capital Knights with him, leaving the Seventh Princess... entirely alone.
Lin Gui narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the beautiful Seventh Princess.
He muttered under his breath, “Can we really be this lucky?”
Along with the departure of the Royal Capital Knights, the original great noble factions of Caran City had also left.
It was said that the top combat forces of the Defense Force had already fled during the early stages of the demon siege.
Now, the high-end combat power in Caran City was unprecedentedly vacant; on the surface, Theia was likely the only Transcendent Rank left.
Although he couldn't make heads or tails of the intricate political games and the history behind them, Lin Gui had no intention of letting this godsend opportunity slip away.
He spent almost all his money, including the commission he had just earned, to lease an abandoned stone shop at the intersection of the Citizen District and the main street.
After a period of intense preparation, the sign for the “7-Copper Post Office” was officially hung up in Caran City.
By the time the post office was fully prepared and officially began operating, two days had passed.
The scale of Caran City was far larger than that of New Covenant City, boasting a massive population and a vast territory.
Flyers announcing the opening of the 7-Copper Post Office were distributed through every street and alley of Caran by the homeless children Lin Gui had hired.
Coupled with Lin Gui's reputation as the “Messenger Mage” spreading among the refugees from New Covenant City and some of Caran's poor, the news of the post office's opening quickly caused a sensation.
In this dark era where cities were isolated by high walls and communication was severed, a post office that charged cheap fees and promised delivery was like a giant boulder thrown into stagnant water, sending massive ripples of hope through the populace.
The post office's popularity was exactly as Lin Gui had anticipated.
This time, learning from his experience in New Covenant City, he had made ample preparations.
To handle the massive influx of customers in a short period, he temporarily hired dozens of literate commoners and down-on-their-luck scholars to handle registration, sorting, and answering questions.
The post office's counters were set up directly on the street outside, with winding, endless queues stretching down the road.
To keep order and maintain control of the crowd, Lin Gui dispelled Theia's disguise magic.
Her silver hair, crimson eyes, and half-demon traits were fully revealed.
Her presence, a mix of peerless beauty and inhuman, demonic allure, along with the cold glances she occasionally swept over the crowd, worked wonders.
The initially excited and rowdy crowd instantly became much more behaved in her presence.
Theia was quite depressed about this.
She had never expected that Lin Gui, who had always forbidden her from showing her true face, would actually have her remove her disguise for such a reason.
Well, a large part of the reason was actually that most of Caran's citizens already recognized Theia anyway, so a disguise was somewhat pointless.
Amidst the bustle, the system's notification prompt finally rang in Lin Gui's mind.
【Ding! This week's Weekly Commission (Caran City) has been completed!】
【1,450 out of 1,600 letters have been signed for.】
【Rewards issued: Random Novice Magic x... (skipped), Levitation proficiency significantly increased.】
【Wind-element Novice Magic — Levitation * 153 → Levitation LV9】
【New Magic Acquired:】
【Earth-element Novice Magic — Earth Listening * 154 → Earth Listening LV6】
(Effect: Allows clearer perception of faint vibrations transmitted through the ground. The range of identifiable vibration sources is slightly increased, and interference is slightly reduced.)
【Light-element Novice Magic — Glimmer * 79 → Glimmer LV4】
(Effect: The brightness of the condensed light orb is slightly increased, the duration is slightly extended, and it can perform extremely slow movement.)
【Water-element Novice Magic — Condense Dew * 25 → Condense Dew LV3】
(Effect: Able to gather more moisture from the air. The speed of generating dewdrops is slightly accelerated, and the water volume is slightly increased.)
【Note: The Novice Light-element Magic, Illumination, has reached maximum proficiency LV10. It can now be cast without chanting.】
With a flick of his right hand, a warm halo of light enveloped his palm.
Lin Gui began to look forward to the day Levitation reached max proficiency.
And that day wouldn't be too far off. Looking up at the crowded queue 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 needed for the next stage breakthrough.】
【Ding! Weekly Commission generation has begun.】
【Beginning retrieval of the number of letters collected by the Host.】
【Remaining retrieval time... 6d 23h】
—— “May every thought cross the darkness and reach the other shore.”
Lin Gui quickly skimmed through the prompts and was about to get back to work.
Right at that moment, he failed to notice that the atmosphere around the outskirts of the post office had suddenly grown exceptionally quiet.
A young girl wearing a pristine white lace dress, with cascading golden hair, had appeared at the edge of the crowd at some point.
Instead of lining up, she squatted with great interest in front of the large route map posted on the post office's exterior wall.
Her slender fingers gently brushed over the lines and pushpins that represented the routes.
When she saw the pushpin stuck into “Carter Royal Capital,” the innocent smile on her face stiffened slightly.
Soon after, a deeper, more elusive smile spread across the corners of her lips.
She stood up and elegantly smoothed out her skirt.
Stepping past the commoners on either side who respectfully bowed their heads and instinctively made way for her, her high heels tapped clearly and rhythmically on the wooden steps.
She walked straight up to Lin Gui, who had just taken a moment to space out and hadn't fully snapped out of it yet.
Tilting her head slightly, she curled a lock of her brilliant golden hair and spoke in a sweet, unquestionable tone:
“Boss, can you rush-deliver a letter to the Royal Capital?”
Rate on N.U.
