Early the next morning, a crowd gathered at the gates of Dragonbone City.
The sunlight had just begun to peek through the gaps in the Dragonbone Mountains.
It shone upon the pale gray city walls, illuminating every crack and dent with harsh clarity.
The crowd stretched from the inner side of the gates all the way back to the main street, a dense, dark mass of people.
Most were dressed as commoners in clothes of coarse cloth, and some still wore aprons, as if they had run straight there from their workshops.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the Gold Rank adventure groups to return.
Lin Gui stood by the door of the post office, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed as he watched them.
Beside him, Elvia watched in that direction as well, her face etched with conflict.
Her gaze wasn’t even fixed on the gates; she seemed lost in thought, dazed.
Occasionally, as if she had lost her mind, she would pull at her hair in distress.
On the other side of the square...
Before long, heavy footsteps echoed from outside the city gates.
Four parties appeared in their field of vision one after another.
The party in the lead was the largest, but also the most battered.
There were a dozen or so adventurers, their armor riddled with pits and gouges.
Some were wrapped in bandages, with blood seeping through the cloth, having already dried and turned black.
They carried several large crates, stained with dark marks that could have been either mud or blood.
The parties behind them were in no better state.
Each person was covered in dust and grime; some had weapons that were broken in half, which were simply left hanging on their backs.
Yet, not a single one of them collapsed.
Their strides remained steady, and their pace stayed disciplined.
These were the Gold Rank adventure groups.
Battered, yet powerful.
The crowd automatically parted to create a path as the adventurers passed through the gates and entered the city.
Staff from the guild had long been waiting at the entrance.
Several clerks in gray robes stepped forward.
They led the other three parties aside to begin the registration process.
The members of the third party set down their crates, wiped away their sweat, and immediately began shouting their price.
“To Whitecliff City! Thirty thousand gold coins per person!”
The voice wasn't particularly loud, yet it rang out with exceptional clarity in the quiet gateway.
A collective gasp rose from the crowd.
“Thirty thousand...”
“Didn't it used to be only five hundred?”
“That was then,” someone whispered.
“Now that the Dark Tide is here, who would dare to head out?”
The members of that party ignored the murmurs and simply stood their ground, waiting.
Within the crowd, several people glanced at each other, lowered their heads, and slowly retreated.
Even more people remained where they were, their faces filled with utter despair.
Thirty thousand gold coins.
A normal family earned only a dozen or so gold coins in an entire year.
Thirty thousand gold coins were enough for them to live on for several lifetimes.
In the crowd, a man dressed in coarse cloth stepped forward.
He pulled a cloth bundle from his chest and unfolded it layer by layer, revealing a handful of silver coins and a few gold coins.
“This is what several of our families managed to pool together... Could you...”
His voice was very soft, as if he were afraid of disturbing something.
The leader of that Gold Rank adventure group glanced at him but did not take the money.
“Thirty thousand gold coins per person.”
His voice was calm, as if he were stating a very ordinary fact.
“If you can’t scrape it together, there’s nothing to talk about.”
The man’s hand froze mid-air.
Behind him, several people similarly dressed in coarse cloth lowered their heads, their shoulders trembling.
In the end, they still managed to pay.
They didn’t just scrape together thirty thousand gold coins.
They had managed a staggering one hundred and eighty thousand gold coins.
Along with the gold, several children were sent forward.
Those children stood beside the party.
The youngest looked only seven or eight, while the oldest was perhaps fifteen or sixteen.
They carried bags larger than themselves, their faces masks of utter confusion.
One of the members of the Gold Rank adventure group finished counting the gold coins, clicked his tongue, and turned to his companion.
“That’s a bit more than expected.”
The companion glanced at the commoners and lowered his voice.
“I heard that the craftsmen and masons of Dragonbone City have taken on several large projects recently and earned a lot.”
“The people building the warehouses are extremely generous.”
“That’s why they were able to pool more together.”
The leader didn’t respond, simply waving his hand to signal for the children to be brought over.
Lin Gui stood by the post office door, watching as the children were led to the back of the party.
A customer was waiting in line before him—an elderly man gripping a letter, who was also watching the scene.
“Why didn't they keep the children?” Lin Gui asked.
“The probability of the Dark Tide passing through Dragonbone City is about the same as the risk of a Gold Rank adventure group crossing the wilderness.”
“Especially for an adventure group transporting people; the risk is significant.”
After all, even the simplest transport commission was an A-rank at the very least.
The customer sighed and shook his head.
“Lord Mage, you’re from the outside, so you don’t know the situation here.”
“The transport network of the City-State Alliance delivers the city-state monthly report every month.”
“We can see for ourselves how terrifying the Dark Tide is.”
“One by one, city-states far stronger than Dragonbone City have been trampled and razed.”
“When the Dark Tide comes, what could Dragonbone City possibly use to resist?”
He tightened his grip on the letter.
“Staying behind means waiting to die.”
“Sending them away at least gives them a chance to live.”
Lin Gui said nothing more.
He took the customer's letter, collected seven copper coins, and registered it.
Monica squeezed out from the crowd and trotted over to the post office door.
“Lord Mage, I’m here to give you one last treatment.”
Her complexion looked slightly better than a few days ago, but a layer of exhaustion lingered in the depths of her eyes that refused to dissipate.
It wasn't because of the healing.
It was because of the Thousand Towers group.
Last night, the Thousand Towers group officially disbanded.
Ada joined the Defense Force, Old Tom returned to his hometown, and Lily went to work as a waitress in a tavern.
Monica’s voice was calm as she spoke, but her fingers gripped her staff so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
Lin Gui didn’t try to comfort her; he simply nodded.
Leaving the adventurer trade early was probably for the best.
The treatment ended quickly.
As the Water Healing spell wrapped around him, a tingling itch spread from the site of his fractured bone.
Lin Gui tested his left arm. Although it still pained him slightly, he could already raise it normally.
Once the treatment was done, Lin Gui told Monica that he hoped she would take him to meet the adventure group that would be taking her to the Magic City.
Monica hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed.
Soon, led by Monica, he met the adventure group heading to the City of a Thousand Towers.
The adventure group was named Red Iron.
They had successfully made five round trips between Dragonbone City and the City of a Thousand Towers.
Unlike the other Gold Rank adventure groups, they had not taken on any transport commissions.
According to Monica, they had only returned this time to pick up their families.
And, while they were at it, to pick up Monica herself.
The young woman was a somewhat famous genius in Dragonbone City.
Rate on N.U.
