Victor forced himself to calm down.
He looked at Lin Gui and asked in a low voice, “Are you from Dawn? Are you an Alliance Inspector?”
Lin Gui let out a light chuckle and leaned back in his chair.
“Even if I say I’m not, would you believe me?”
From the moment he struck those people, he had anticipated that the powers behind Hyena’s Fang would emerge.
He had prepared accordingly.
“I am not your enemy.”
His tone softened.
“My actions pose no threat to your interests.”
“The 7-Copper letter commissions might have disrupted the market, but the clientele consists almost entirely of bottom-tier commoners, refugees, and street peddlers.”
“It does not involve nobles, knights, or wealthy merchants.”
“Do you think those nobles, who usually spend hundreds of gold coins to send a letter, would degrade themselves to come here? Would they send letters alongside commoners whom they despise and whose very presence they consider an insult?”
Lin Gui shifted his tone, pitching his voice higher and adopting a look of perfect arrogance.
“Oh, heavens, the mere thought that my letters—vessels for my precious sentiments—would be kept alongside the letters of these filthy refugees... it would keep me awake all night.”
“Should my beloved friends and relatives in the distance receive such a letter, would they not sever all ties with me?”
He played the part vividly, even his gestures carrying a touch of that affectation unique to the nobility.
The knights behind Victor twitched at the corners of their mouths as the images that would surely manifest soon surfaced in their minds.
They had to admit that Lin Gui’s acting was realistic.
He had almost perfectly replicated the coming reality.
Lin Gui dropped the act and leaned back once more.
“Furthermore, I will stay here for three days at most.”
His finger tapped gently on the table.
“Our journey is long; we might not return for half a year.”
“Therefore, I will not be a nuisance to your lives, power, or interests.”
His gaze met Victor’s calmly.
“So... shall we spend these three days in peace?”
His finger pointed to the route map pinned to the counter.
Victor followed his gaze.
On that map, a route marked with a red line started from Dragonbone City.
It passed through the Southern Tundra, Whitecliff City, Wind-Whisper Canyon, and Watchtower Keep before plunging straight into the Withered Wood Wasteland.
It emerged from the Withered Wood Wasteland only to plunge back in again.
Then came the Cursed Swamp, Bone Highlands, Ash Rift, and Red Clay Desert.
Every name that followed was a deadland that would make any adventurer pale at the mention of it.
Victor’s pupils contracted slightly.
A route like this... forget about himself.
Even if a Legendary expert led the team, there would be an immense risk of total annihilation.
And this... this was the delivery route of this post office.
The man’s confidence before him made Victor feel a trace of fear.
He wasn’t afraid of the High Rank mage in front of him.
He was afraid of the person behind him—someone whose strength was immeasurable enough to chart such a route.
A knight behind him leaned in and handed him a Transmission Stone.
Victor took it, and a man’s voice came from the other side.
The voice was very faint; Lin Gui couldn't hear it clearly.
After a few brief responses, Victor handed the stone back and looked at Lin Gui again.
After a moment of silence, he spoke.
“What you say is indeed reasonable. I apologize for my previous rudeness.”
“Finally, I wish you...”
Victor performed a knight’s salute. His gaze drifted past the window to the customers in ragged clothes outside as he continued.
“A... prosperous business.”
Victor looked up and finally left with the knights.
Before stepping out the door, Victor asked in a low voice:
“Was Hyena’s Fang truly not your handiwork?”
Lin Gui smiled faintly and looked down at the map on the desk, his finger tracing the red line.
“At least, it wasn’t me.”
He raised his head and looked at Victor.
“You should know.”
“The person who can annihilate them certainly cannot be a mere High Rank.”
Victor narrowed his eyes and stared at him for a few seconds.
Then, he nodded.
“My master asked me to tell the person behind you that they are welcome at his mansion anytime.”
Lin Gui nodded, the corner of his mouth curling into an inscrutable arc.
“The opportunity will come.”
Victor said no more and turned to walk out of the post office.
His iron boots clattered against the stone floor, the sound of his footsteps growing distant.
The knights behind him followed him out, and the post office became quiet once more.
After Victor left, the smile on Lin Gui’s face gradually vanished.
He leaned against the back of his chair, his gaze becoming cool.
Whitecliff City’s strength was not particularly great.
It didn't even have a single Legendary pillar, making it inferior even to the Bounty City.
This was the source of his confidence in acting against them and facing Victor.
The existence of the Flame Blade had compensated for Lin Gui’s biggest shortcoming.
A lack of offensive power.
Last night’s battle was the most direct evidence of his current combat capabilities.
It had also cleared the obstacles to his letter delivery business here.
And it had helped him craft a mysterious, non-existent background.
However, this trick...
In the more powerful central city-states governed more strictly by the City-State Alliance, the probability of it working was very low. It might even invite trouble.
After all, this mysterious background was fake.
He had no powerful backer; he only had himself.
But... Lin Gui could make it real.
Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at the Alliance newspaper he had tucked into the cabinet.
The lead headline was the news of the upcoming transport team selection.
It was scheduled for a month from now in Coppergate City.
Arriving there on time wouldn't be difficult for Lin Gui.
The difficult part was the registration requirements.
The conditions were very simple.
A Legendary leader.
This almost cut off Lin Gui’s possibility of creating his own transport team.
Unless he could get a Legendary expert to put their name down for him.
Just as Lin Gui was wondering where to drag a Legendary person from, customers began pouring into the post office again.
Lin Gui set aside his thoughts to attend to them, only to find that the customers were looking at him with eyes full of awe.
He didn't know that while he was confronting Victor...
The customers who were hiding far away had seen his mocking sneer through the window.
He had mocked a knightly order that they viewed as god-like, and he was still very much alive.
Lin Gui’s status had been elevated infinitely in their eyes.
Initially, the people who came to send letters felt fearful of Lin Gui’s identity as a mage, but brief conversations had quickly lowered their guard.
But now... Lin Gui saw their detachment and awe.
This was not a good thing for him.
These looked-down-upon customers were the most central link in his revenge.
With no other choice, Lin Gui had to pull out that story of the tragic transport team.
He let them know that Victor didn't fear him.
Rather, Victor feared the Legendary mage behind him—someone who had come from the bottom and was now working for those at the bottom.
As Lin Gui spoke, the people around him began to feel moved.
There were even those who had first received letters from Dragonbone City.
The descriptions in those letters matched his story, greatly increasing its credibility.
Moved and empathetic, they eventually lowered their guard.
The post office became lively once more.
While sending their letters, the customers asked Lin Gui about that kindhearted Legendary lord who had clawed his way up from the bottom to deliver letters for commoners.
Lin Gui made things up as he went, subtly guiding the conversation toward Whitecliff City.
Its factions, its history, and that Whitecliff stone which had become stuck in its sales.
Nobles and the powerful controlled the workings of this city-state.
But if one wanted to know who understood this city-state best...
It was none other than the people at the bottom struggling to survive here.
Rate on N.U.
