Elvia walked up to the counter.
Lin Gui glanced up at her, his pen never stopping.
"Do you need to send a letter too?"
Elvia shook her head.
"No. I've thought of a way out for myself, but I need your help."
"Oh..."
Lin Gui drew out the syllable, gesturing toward the side of the counter with his chin, inviting her in.
He continued looking down to process the letters from the customers behind her, asking as he registered them, "A way out? Planning to become an adventurer? Making a career in this line of work?"
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the crudely made leather armor Elvia was wearing.
It was dusty and gray, with the pauldrons sitting lopsided and the breastplate buckles fastened incorrectly. It was clearly the cheapest kind of gear from the second-hand market.
Elvia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"A job that earns a mere thirty-six silver coins after several days of exhausting work... leave that for someone else."
"I'd rather be a merchant than an adventurer."
Lin Gui paused, his pen stopping mid-stroke.
"Thirty-six silver coins?"
He put down the pen, turned around, and looked her up and down.
"As a High-tier High Rank knight, why didn't you take any of those Silver Rank commissions that start at a gold coin minimum?"
He had been an adventurer before and was very clear about the rewards for various commissions. It was impossible for the rewards a High-tier High Rank knight could obtain to be that meager.
Elvia coughed awkwardly, her gaze drifting elsewhere.
"Um... commissions like subjugating demons are far too dangerous."
"The commissions for training the Defense Force have all been invalidated because the nobles fled."
"The ones left were just things like cleaning sewers, which pay next to nothing."
Lin Gui realized why and shrugged, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.
"Right. With your death-fearing nature, you really aren't suited for a high-risk trade like adventuring."
Elvia didn't argue; she just pursed her lips.
In truth, it wasn't just that she didn't want to be an adventurer. In Akara, few people chose this line of work unless they were pushed into a corner.
Many commoners were unwilling to let their children become adventurers, even though a single commission reward could be equal to several months of a commoner's labor.
The reason was simple.
The mortality rate for adventurers was terrifyingly high.
Out of a batch of newcomers, if one in ten was still alive after a year, they were considered lucky. This was especially true for adventure groups that carried out high-risk, high-reward missions in the wilderness.
A single mistake could result in the death of the entire nest.
In New Covenant City, there were over eight hundred people who had become adventurers in the same year as Lin Gui. By the time he accepted the messenger commission to Caran City, only thirty-four remained.
And half of those thirty-four had quit halfway through. Others had been permanently disabled by their adventures and could only beg on the streets.
So, Lin Gui didn't despise Elvia for her resistance.
Who doesn't want to live a good life?
If given a choice, no one would want to be an adventurer.
He finished processing the letter in his hand, tossed the copper coins into the drawer, and looked up.
"So, what is this way out you've thought of?"
Elvia's eyes lit up. She leaned forward slightly and whispered into Lin Gui's ear.
"I want to go to the City of a Thousand Towers and seek refuge with Count Alexis."
"He was once a pillar of the Carter Royal Capital, a High-tier Legendary fire mage."
Lin Gui nodded, tapping his fingers twice on the desk.
"So, you want to set out with me?"
Elvia nodded hurriedly, her hands bracing against the counter.
"Since you're going that way anyway, why not just help me all the way?"
She paused and added with a hint of craftiness in her smile, "That way, if you fail one day, at least there will be someone to mourn you, right?"
Lin Gui's pen hesitated for a moment.
He finished registering the letter in his hand, collected seven copper coins, and tossed them into the drawer.
Then he looked up at Elvia.
His face remained expressionless as he said calmly, "Save that line for my enemies."
Elvia froze.
As she looked at Lin Gui's indifferent face, something she had intentionally ignored suddenly bubbled to the surface.
She knew how powerful the enemies Lin Gui intended to face were.
It was no exaggeration to say that he intended to take on the entire Alliance. If he succeeded, it would be no different from a Demon God descending upon Akara.
Yes, the enemies he faced were so powerful, so terrifying. Elvia knew this; so how could Lin Gui, at the center of the vortex, not know?
She furrowed her brows, her fingers unconsciously gripping the edge of the counter.
Lin Gui's actions were too bizarre.
He was attempting something so massive that it could almost be concluded as impossible, yet Lin Gui seemed entirely unaware of it.
What gave him the confidence to complete something significant enough to overturn the entire continent?
She opened her mouth and stayed dazed for a long while.
She couldn't help but ask, her voice kept very low, "Just... how much certainty do you have regarding your revenge?"
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow, spinning the pen in his hand.
Elvia stared at him intently, her eyes not even blinking.
Finally, Lin Gui replied, "I don't know."
Elvia was stunned, her shoulders slumping slightly.
That answer... was subtle.
He wasn't pessimistically thinking his actions were like a moth to a flame, nor was he arrogant enough to think he could crush the other side. Instead, he pragmatically said he didn't know?
Lin Gui explained in a flat tone, "After all, no one knows just how deep their foundational strength truly is."
Elvia's mouth twitched.
Why bother with hidden depths? Wasn't the terrifying strength they showed on the surface enough to make him retreat?
"What if we go by the Alliance's strength on paper?"
Lin Gui didn't answer directly.
He smiled.
The smile was very faint, as if he were just commenting that the weather was nice today.
But Elvia's heart skipped a beat.
As a former social butterfly, Elvia was particularly skilled at reading people. She could see the confidence in that smile.
And... the contempt.
If this smile had come from some greenhorn rookie adventurer who didn't know any better, Elvia wouldn't have reacted this way. She would have just assumed the person had had too much to drink and was bragging.
But it came from Lin Gui.
A guy who didn't fit the description of "someone who doesn't know any better" at all.
Elvia couldn't help but lean into Lin Gui's ear and ask in a hushed voice, "What exactly is your plan, you bastard?"
She leaned back, her hands on the counter as she leaned forward, looking at Lin Gui expectantly.
Lin Gui gave her a strange look, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.
"What, the Lioness Princess of the Carter Royal Capital wants a piece of the action too?"
"Need me to close up shop tonight so we can get a room and continue what we didn't finish a few days ago?"
"Coming to sign the confirmation of our shared-death relationship?"
Elvia's mouth twitched. She straightened up and pulled her hands back from the counter.
She was sensible enough not to press further. However, Lin Gui's confidence left her unable to feel at ease.
She could feel her heart pounding, beat after beat, making her chest feel tight.
Having long held a high position and survived the bloody struggle for the throne until now, Elvia keenly sensed something.
An opportunity lay before her.
And it might eventually lead her to power and status that far exceeded that of a border monarch back in the Carter Royal Capital.
To her, someone who had just fallen from a high position, this was incredibly attractive.
But her reason told her that there was a 99% chance that she would ultimately be dragged down and end up on the gallows.
Rate on N.U.
