After seeing off Elvia, Lin Gui stayed in Dragonbone City for a week.
By the fourth day, no one else had come to send letters.
However, he stayed for an additional three days nonetheless.
The flyers had clearly stated that the post office's deadline for receiving letters was seven days.
Since he had written it, he would not go back on his word.
During those three days, he was not idle.
During the day, he inspected the large warehouses he had purchased earlier.
Three were in the East District, two in the South District, and the largest one was in the West District.
It was so large it occupied one percent of Dragonbone City's total area.
He had bought them all when property prices were plummeting, so they had cost very little.
The warehouses were empty, with a thick layer of dust covering the floors.
Lin Gui stood at the entrance for a moment, then turned and locked the door without saying a word.
In the afternoon, he would go to the Dragonbone Mountains.
He walked the route he had scouted previously, recording the movements of demons and checking for any new developments.
The winding line on the Messenger's Chart was corrected and supplemented by him time and again, and the annotations grew denser.
After three days, he knew the surrounding peaks, valleys, streams, and even every boulder large enough to hide a person by heart.
Meanwhile, within Dragonbone City, the customers who had sent letters were also silently watching the post office.
The flyer had said that the deliveries would begin after seven days.
When would that powerful transport team arrive?
What would that Legendary mage—a powerhouse who had risen from the bottom just like them—look like?
Some people glanced at the post office every day as they passed by.
Others stood across the street, pretending to buy things while their peripheral vision remained fixed on the shop.
Everyone was curious about the appearance of that powerful mage.
However, on the morning of the seventh day, when they turned their gazes toward the post office again...
There was no transport team.
There was no Legendary mage.
There was no Transcendent powerhouse.
Even that little mage, the one who took the letters and whom they assumed was just a lackey for the transport team, was gone.
Only a sign had been added to the entrance.
It was wooden and handwritten, with messy but clear handwriting:
【Departed for delivery; expected return in six months.】
【If you need to send a letter, please deposit it in the mailboxes at the entrance.】
Beside the sign stood a dozen or so mailboxes.
The watching customers were stunned for a good while.
More and more people looked over curiously, standing around the sign in silence.
A middle-aged man scratched his head and broke the silence.
"So... he's gone?"
"Where's the powerful transport team?"
A young man nearby replied, "Maybe they entered the city last night and took the letters and the young man with them."
An adventurer-looking person stared at the words on the wooden sign, their tone a bit odd.
"A six-month round trip is quite normal; it's about the same as a Gold Rank adventure group. I thought the transport team would be a bit faster."
"You can't say that," a more knowledgeable-looking man said, shaking his head.
"The speed of a transport team is usually slower than a Gold Rank adventure group. After all, the cargo they carry is extremely heavy—hundreds of tons of goods. It's impossible to be fast."
"Then... when will the letter I sent to my brother—the one to Whitecliff City—arrive?"
"Eh, usually a Gold Rank adventure group takes about seven days, so for a transport team, it might take fourteen days."
The crowd murmured, their voices low, their tones filled with anticipation mixed with a trace of uncertainty.
What they did not know was that at the very moment they were discussing how long it would take for the letters to be delivered, the first batch had already arrived.
...
Whitecliff City.
Adventurer's Guild.
Compared to that dilapidated guild hall in Dragonbone City, the one in Whitecliff City was much larger.
As a transit hub for the transport network, caravans and adventurers were constantly coming and going in a never-ending stream.
The guild hall even spanned three floors.
But at this moment, the first-floor hall was packed to capacity.
A group of rookie adventurers was leading terrified refugees and commoners through the entrance.
They filled the once spacious hall like sardines in a tin.
Outside the guild's doors, a female mage with a sultry figure frowned and avoided a rookie who squeezed past her with a look of disgust.
The fellow had just dragged a filthy beggar from a street corner and was excitedly pushing him into the hall.
The female mage stepped aside, covered her nose with a handkerchief, and climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Her companion, a tall warrior, was leaning against the railing.
A cigarette was perched in his mouth, and smoke drifted above his head.
The female mage walked over, placed her hands on the railing, and looked down.
"What's going on?"
The warrior exhaled a puff of smoke and gestured toward the first floor with his chin.
"Some guy throwing money around arrived."
"He's got those rookies ecstatic."
The female mage followed his gaze.
In the center of the first-floor hall, a black-haired mage sat behind a temporary makeshift table.
Paper and a pen were spread out before him, and a stack of letters sat at his elbow.
Every time he called a name, a rookie adventurer would drag a bewildered old person from the crowd and push them to the table.
The black-haired mage would ask a few questions and register them.
Then, he would thrust a letter and a flyer into the old person's hand.
A silver coin was then pressed into the rookie adventurer's palm.
The rookie adventurer would grin, pull the old person away, and disappear through the door.
Name after name.
One combination of rookie adventurer and elderly person after another.
Silver coins, letters, and flyers were being handed out one by one.
The female mage raised an eyebrow and tapped her fingers lightly on the railing.
She had been an adventurer here for many years, yet she had never seen such a scene before.
It was... a bit eerie.
"What are they doing?"
"Looking for people, apparently," the warrior said, flicking ash and leaning back in a different posture.
"That guy came from Dragonbone City; he's here to deliver letters."
"He gives one silver coin for every recipient found."
The female mage whistled, a playful smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
"Hoh, no wonder those rookies are so excited."
"One silver coin just for finding someone—finding ten would be enough for them to have a feast."
"It's more than that."
The warrior pulled a flyer from his chest and handed it to her.
"He also plans to open a post office here—seven coppers a letter."
The female mage took the flyer and scanned it. When she saw the large characters reading "7 Coppers," her eyebrows shot up even higher.
She looked down at the black-haired mage on the first floor again, her gaze now carrying a bit more scrutiny.
"What kind of new scam is this?"
The warrior shook his head, a look of someone expecting a show appearing on his face as he put the cigarette back in his mouth.
"No idea, but this guy isn't going to have a happy ending."
He gestured with his chin toward a corner of the hall.
"That fellow Maren has already gone to tattle. Just wait for the show."
The female mage looked in that direction and smiled as well.
She leaned forward slightly, her hands on the railing, her tone laced with a bit of schadenfreude.
"True. By doing this, he's taking the food right out of other people's mouths."
Letter delivery commissions had always been highly sought-after among transport commissions.
The price was high, and the risk was much lower compared to transporting materials or people.
Any Gold Rank adventure group capable of handling transport commissions would never refuse a letter delivery commission.
That included the female mage.
But despite being an adventurer in Whitecliff City for so many years and having handled three transport commissions herself, she had never once received a letter delivery commission.
This was because the letter delivery commissions in Whitecliff City had long been monopolized by a single Gold Rank adventure group.
Behind that adventure group stood several of the city's high nobles.
It was said they even had the backing of the City Lord.
An outside mage, delivering letters for seven coppers?
This wasn't delivering letters—this was throwing stones into someone else's rice bowl.
The female mage watched the black-haired mage below, who was still busy with his registrations, with great interest.
It was as if she could already imagine his future—getting a sound thrashing before being tossed out of Whitecliff City.
Rate on N.U.
