Guild Boss's Ambition

"Xiao Lan, what do you mean?"

Senior Annie, who was in a daze, gave me a puzzled look.

I took a deep breath, prepared myself for the final moment, and said, "I'd like to state in advance that I'm not an expert on mental illness, and I don't even have any in-depth understanding of it. But as far as I know, even without medication, mental illness is not incurable. In other words, our human body itself is the best medicine, provided that we can provide it with a proper environment."

Hearing my reserved words, Annie blinked calmly, smiled gently and said, "Tell me in detail, I am willing to listen, and I am willing to try all possibilities. Even if I fail in the end, I will not ask anyone to be responsible for me. Anyway, my current situation is bad enough, just like a cracked mirror does not care whether it will add more ugly scars."

Under normal circumstances, how bad is the "bad" thing people say?

Maybe it's the extreme case of the bread being accidentally burnt?

But the "bad" that Anne described was sad and heavy. Even though she had deliberately used a light tone, it still carried the weight of life and years. It had been almost three years. She had been facing this situation alone for almost three years since the death of the president and his wife. Although it could not be said that she had concealed it perfectly, it was also something that most people could not notice.

"Come to think of it, if it weren't for Furuyama's inquisitive nature, Annie would have kept it a secret from me, right?"

"Um, Furuyama?"

I stroked my chin and thought about it, and then I came up with an interesting idea.

"Pfft..."

As I thought about it, I couldn't help but laugh.

Anne, who didn't know what was going on, naturally looked confused: "What's wrong? Is there anything funny?"

I held back my laughter, shook my head, drank the tea in the cup, and stood up.

"No, I just thought of a way to treat you, Annie."

"What method?" Annie asked curiously.

"You don't need to know the method, and it's not a great method."

After keeping her in suspense for a while, I bowed and said goodbye to Anne.

I originally wanted to say goodbye to Anne──

But a question suddenly occurred to me and stopped me from turning around.

I hesitated for a moment, and finally asked Senior Annie solemnly: "It may be a little abrupt to ask this, but as a reference for treatment, I would like to ask Senior, in addition to losing the president and his wife two years ago, did you also lose someone more important, such as your blood relatives, or your beloved lover?"

"..."

Hearing this, the expression on Annie's face froze for a moment, and then she slowly smiled, wanting to let go but unable to.

"Yes, I once had a crush on someone, but after a certain day two years ago, I couldn't even keep my eyes on her."

she?

I was slightly surprised, but soon lost my surprise.

After all, love is real and natural.

If I were surprised by this in the context of this era, it would make me appear pedantic and ignorant.

And since one is hurt by love and suffers because of love, isn’t there only one method of treatment left?

……

……

59. Treatment methods (Gushan)

(Ancient Mountain)

"Sorry, I didn't order coffee..."

"Eh? Oh! I'm so sorry! I sent it to the wrong table!"

This is the third time I've made this mistake today.

Because of Senior Annie, I was absent-minded the whole day.

Although I kept telling myself to concentrate on my work, every time I thought of the cup, I thought of the wine glass, the leopard man's stripes, and the half-elf's teardrop mole. I thought of her lonely voice and the injured posture that night.

I really want to help her.

It's as heartbreaking as seeing a small animal get hurt.

But there was also an overwhelming feeling of longing.

I waited and waited, and finally she got spotted.

From a distance, she still had that faint smile on her face.

This smile is not false, but the best distance between oneself and the guests.

I wanted to go over and say something to her, but I couldn't think of what to say. When I found out about what happened to my senior, it was as if there was an invisible barrier between her and me, making it impossible for me to put on a silly smile like I usually did, run over to her and act cute and coquettish, and invisibly hurt her wounds with that kind of intimate behavior.

This day, I rarely chatted with anyone about gossip during work.

I even forgot whether I was maintaining my smile.

Senior Annie...

Senior Annie...

My heart is filled with the sad face of Senior Annie.

so painful...

Why do I feel pain too...

Is it because I have also experienced the pain of losing a loved one?

Is it because I, too, have cried for human frailty?

Or is it because of something else?

do not know.

do not know.

I just feel like there's something stuck in my heart...

I feel like something is about to come out of my eyes...

why?

Why do I get so upset about other people's things?

I began to lose myself.

"Foreman, what time is it already? Why aren't you off work yet? Just leave this to us."

"Oh, it's seven o'clock..."

I returned to the locker room in a daze, and numbly took off my uniform and changed into casual clothes subconsciously. My mind was filled with all kinds of images, including my deceased parents, my younger brothers and sisters, and Annie-senpai...

"Hello, what are you thinking about so intently? You're totally ignoring me."

Suddenly, a small hand came into my sight and began to wave.

Little Blue!!!

This little hand immediately touched my heartstrings and made my whole body tense up.

I turned around suddenly and grabbed her shoulders tightly.

"What's wrong? Did it scare you?"

The black-haired girl showed a painful expression, probably because I hurt her by squeezing her with too strong hands.

"Hold... I'm sorry."

I let go of her hand awkwardly, then asked, "By the way, how did you handle Senior Annie's matter?"

"Well, how should I put this? Let's sit down and talk about it."

She sat down with a small bag of red bean buns in her arms, took out one of them, and while chewing on it, she said, "I have met with Senior Annie today. To be honest, none of us know how to deal with her situation, but Senior Annie said she is willing to try and let us help her get rid of the haze of the past... Ugh? Cough cough cough! Cough cough cough!"

Halfway through her speech, Xiao Lan started coughing violently, tears streaming down her eyes uncontrollably. This was not because she was sad, but because she had eaten the mustard-flavored red bean buns specially made by Miss Kalolo, which fully stimulated her taste buds and nasal cavity, resulting in this natural physiological reaction.

I pretended to be clueless and asked hypocritically, "What's wrong, Xiaolan?"

Xiao Lan shook her hands and just kept coughing, she was so moved that she couldn't speak.

I patted her back and her coughing gradually subsided.

However, Xiao Lan, who was tricked, didn't say anything. She just put the half-eaten red bean bun back into the bag and continued the previous topic: "Well, in short, you don't have to worry too much about Senior Annie. Senior Annie won't want you to care too much. As long as you maintain the usual way of communicating with her, it will be a help to her."

"Lan, who showed no reaction to a prank, is so scary..."

"But what do you mean by not worrying too much and maintaining the usual way of communication?"

It's hard to describe. Suddenly, an inexplicable emotion burst out in my heart. I stood up rudely, making the table and the floor rub against each other with a violent sound. At the same time, I shouted out my objection unwillingly: "No! Xiaolan, I don't want to just stand by and watch! I want to know what you are actually going to do? Don't treat me as an outsider!"

"Ancient Mountain..."

Seeing me so excited, Xiao Lan seemed a little dumbfounded. After a moment of consideration, she shook her head with regret: "Actually, I wanted to tell you my plan, but then I thought about it carefully and felt that it was not appropriate to publicize it too much. After all, this is Annie's private matter, not something we can arbitrarily touch."

"I already know it anyway! What's the harm in you telling me more, Xiaolan?" I questioned.

"The problem is that this treatment method is not suitable for you to know." Xiao Lan said embarrassedly.

"why?"

"Because if you knew, you would definitely - oh, Gu Shan, please stop asking, okay?"

If it were something else, I might have been able to back off, but now my mind was full of Senior Annie: "No, no! I was the first one to tell you about Senior Annie's abnormality! As a good partner for information exchange, you should also provide me with information in return, not keep it for yourself, and not kick me away when you don't need me anymore!"

However, Xiao Lan was unusually persistent today, and refused to give in no matter what: "What cannot be said is what cannot be said. Even if you are angry, Gu Shan, I will not tell you what you should know!"

"Xiao Lan, please don't force me──" I said with gritted teeth.

"I won't tell you, but you can still bite me, right?"

"Woo..."

At this point, it was clear that Xiao Lan would not give in easily, but she had her own persistence, and I also had my own persistence. While I was mad and annoyed, I quickly thought of a way to force Xiao Lan to surrender. I angrily opened the locker and took out a stack of colorful photos: "If you don't tell me what happened, I will take them out and sell them to those weird uncles!"

What was printed on it was nothing but the daily scenes of everyone in the Stone House, which naturally included Xiao Lan's photo.

If possible, I really don't want to use such despicable means.

"Hey, hey, hey, why do you have a picture of me? When did you take it secretly?!"

"As a professional intelligence collector, isn't it common sense to carry one or two recording crystals with you? Tell me! How do you want to treat Senior Annie? Is there anything I can't know?!"

Because of the recording crystal, Xiao Lan's expression wavered.

"Gu Shan, why are you so persistent?"

"Because that's Senior Annie! If a senior is unhappy, isn't it my responsibility as a junior to care about her?"

"Is it really just like this?"

“It’s really the only way!”

After getting my serious answer, Xiao Lan bit her lower lip and said helplessly, "Okay, okay, anyway, if I don't tell you now, you will bother Senior Annie sooner or later. However, I have to state in advance that I am not telling you the treatment method to explicitly or implicitly ask you to do anything. You are still young now and don't understand many things, let alone understand them too early."

"Don't act like you're not a kid, okay?"

I rolled my eyes and made a small comment about her age.

In response to my complaints, Xiao Lan showed a funny expression of silence.

She shouted in self-abandonment, "Okay, okay, I'm a child! I'm a child! Do you still want to listen?"

"Listen! Listen! Blue is the best!"

I quickly flattered her.

She slowly explained, "Annie was hurt because of love. The love she had included many levels of love, and at the same time, she was separated from all kinds of friends, relatives, and love. However, if one day we are in pain because of love, how should we heal the injuries it caused? Or reduce the pain it brings?"

"Let time help me forget them?"

Back then, I used time to heal the pain after my parents' death.

Hearing this, Xiao Lan let out a long breath and sighed, "No matter how powerful time is, it is not a panacea. There are always some deep pains that time cannot eliminate. However, since a person is in pain and sick, he must find a way to make himself feel better."

"So, what is the method?"

I couldn't help but get worried about Xiao Lan who was taking a long time to get to the point.

Xiao Lan shrugged and said, "It's not a method. It's just a guess, a method I usually use."