Guild Boss's Ambition

(Branny Erhard)

Annie and Xiaolan were left in the president's room.

But as her stepsister, I was turned away.

War is coming, and I understand the taste of war. It will remove many familiar people from our lives.

——Especially in our city.

The city of Mopolis existed to fight against the high elves. Because it was close to the wilderness and rich in monster resources, it was very conducive to attracting a large number of elite adventurers. But whenever a war broke out, these unconscious adventurers would be forced to become the helpers against the high elves. Throughout history, there were many times when the wrath of nature could be resisted precisely because of these adventurers.

However, even though I was caught in this war, I didn't have any strength to stand on the battlefield.

Sister Meng'er didn't want me to get involved, just like our parents did back then, so she just left me in the safest place.

I could only stay in the safest place so that they wouldn't have to worry about me too much.

The last time nature's wrath struck was eleven years ago.

At that time, I was three years old.

At that time, I had not yet met my father and mother.

At that time, I had another person I could rely on.

Time gradually made me forget that background, and the war brought me to the stone house.

Berlane is my old name and Erhard is our last name.

As I am now, war reminds us of the people we have neglected and cherished in the past.

I asked the soldiers on patrol and they said there was a service that would deliver letters for residents free of charge.

Therefore, with the help of Mr. Strom, I set up a mailbox in the lobby of the guild to help the guild staff and adventurers sort out the letters and send them to the nearby post office at once. As I expected, after seeing the appearance of the mailbox, everyone began to write their own letters. In just one afternoon, the mailbox was filled twice, and it is estimated that at least more than 200 letters were collected.

Just before the 6 o'clock curfew, Stallone and Kololo, who had been out, returned on time.

After learning that the war had broken out, they went home together to check the situation.

"Have you found your uncle and aunt?" I asked.

Hearing this, Sterlon revealed a joyful smile. "My parents accepted the invitation from Toraikololo's parents who love traveling, and left for the imperial capital two days ago. According to their itinerary, they should still be traveling thousands of miles away from us, and they may not even know the news from our side."

Then, with a smile on her face, Korolo took out two letters: "Stroun's father has a house in the capital. I believe the four elders will stay there for a while. These are our letters. Please, Berlane."

"I'll take care of them with the rest of the correspondence," I said.

"Then I'll bother you."

After feeling relieved, Korolo dropped the letter into the mailbox, then took Stallone's arm and walked towards the kitchen.

As the head chef and deputy chef of the Stone House, they will be responsible for providing three meals a day for six hundred people in the future. They must use limited ingredients to cook delicious and filling meals, otherwise those nervous adventurers will definitely cause some unpleasant things──

For example, during the day, Sister Meng'er almost let Aifuri and his men join forces to force the emperor to abdicate.

"War is so boring."

I was standing next to the mailbox bored, and a lion man named Otto walked towards me.

He stood in front of me but didn't say anything.

"Send a letter?" I asked.

He said with some difficulty: "I... I don't know how to write. Miss Berlane, could you help me write a letter?"

So you wanted to find someone to write the letter for you──

Although the Alliance has compulsory education, it is not actually enforced. Many families sometimes do not send their children to school due to certain special circumstances, resulting in some illiterate people who cannot read. In the city of Mopolis, there are naturally more adventurers who focus on martial arts and neglect their studies. It seems that Mr. Oddo in front of him is probably one of them.

"Okay, please sit down."

I found a table and chair next to the mailbox and sat down, and asked the lion man Otto to sit opposite me.

After sitting down, Mr. Oddo explained, "I want to explain something to the people in my hometown."

I took out a piece of paper and a pen from my bag and said, "Is that why you specifically looked for me, a stranger?"

Odo the Lion nodded and said frankly, "They will be unhappy if they are asked to write such letters. Besides, it will be very strange for a dull person to suddenly become sentimental. There are many things I cannot say in front of them."

The letter begins with the address.

I asked, "May I ask where your hometown is?"

"The Lov Steppes of West Africa."

The hairy lion-man forced a nostalgic smile on his face. "That is the most ideal land for the orcs. The air is not polluted by coal at all. The vegetation is green and suitable for running. It is a hunting season all year round. When the dwarves built their own town in West Africa, we lived such a simple life."

"You mean the dwarven industry destroyed your original life?"

The lionman Odo shook his head and said with emotion: "In fact, we can't blame our stubborn dwarf friends. It's just that the heavens have given us too little land. If we have to blame someone, we should blame the high elves for blocking us. If they hadn't controlled our land expansion, the orcs wouldn't have to squeeze the life of the land with the dwarves, and the land would have had more time to rest."

Oddo's words made me curious about the land of Sifria.

There are many things that cannot be learned through books.

Sometimes, a short conversation between people can be more beneficial than a scholar's monograph.

At least, from the rough expression of the lion man Oddo, I clearly saw the beauty of Sifria.

I suppressed my yearning for foreign lands, returned to my work, and asked, "What should I write in the letter?"

"Some last words, huh?"

The lion man Otto laughed at himself, and then began to say word by word what he wanted to convey to the people in his hometown. He had a lot of letters to write, including farewell letters to his parents, advice to the village chief, and warm reminders to his brothers and sisters. Every word was filled with sad words, the last kind words and regrets of a dying man.

As he spoke, Mr. Oddo could no longer control his grief, tears dripped from his chin, and his voice choked.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Miss Brani." He said with a wry smile, wiping his tears.

I pretended not to notice the tears and asked, "Did you come to the Stone House to revive the tribe?"

The lion man Odo shook his head modestly and smiled, "In fact, it's not about reviving the tribe. I just want to make some money to send back to my hometown and invest in them to do some business with the dwarves. Otherwise, it's not a good idea for them to fight against the dwarves all day long──"

I nodded thoughtfully, put Mr. Oddo's letter into the envelope, and stamped each of the private contents with a wax seal. After completing all the steps, I asked Oddo to check them personally before finally putting them in the mailbox.

"Thank you, Miss Berlane."

"It's just a little effort."

After a few quick pleasantries, Mr. O'Do went off to do his own thing.

After Mr. Odo left, the next adventurer immediately came to ask me to write a letter for him.

There was the first one, the second one, and then the third one, the fourth one…

Gradually, the adventurers in the Stone House seemed to misunderstand me as an employee who helped write letters unconditionally.

Those who come to me for help are not only illiterate people who don't know how to read, but also some adventurer friends who despise their poor writing skills. Even though everyone is in the same atmosphere of war, everyone's mental state is different. There are negative people and positive people, there are sad sighs and there are grand speeches.

I wrote their letters and read their stories, and my heart was filled with emotion.

Even though they are not famous poets, at this moment, their every word is refined by their own methods. They are not those kind of whining about the passing of time, but the true feelings of mankind at the last moment.

“So sad…”

"But I like it so much..."

"I really like these people, events and words in the midst of war..."

The red painted mailbox swallowed up letter after letter. Tonight, my quill pen didn't feel tired no matter how much ink it wrote. Even though I had read all the classics that teacher Isabella gave me, no words had ever given me such a throbbing feeling. It was my experience and temperament that resonated with them, and my life and ink had the pulse of an adventurer.

Found it.

After being lost for a long time, I finally found it...

My mission...

My father always said that everyone has a mission in life...

And my mission is here and now.

"My dear little girl, the war has begun. Is it convenient for me to disturb your guild?"

Just when I was full of ambition, a person who shouldn't be in the stone house appeared in front of me.

I was so anxious that I stood up straight—

I asked the old man in front of me in a cold tone: "Teacher Isabella, why are you here with us?"

The old woman smiled and said, "I still have to teach you and Lian'er to read."

The war is about to start! Why are you still reading?

I said in a tepid but actually angry tone: "During the war, our Adventurer's Guild is the second priority target of the high elves. In the eyes of Berlani, your bell tower will be a very safe place, so please go home tomorrow morning and don't stay in this troubled place."

Teacher Isabella said: "In fact, my clock tower has been temporarily rented to the Tree of Life and the others."

I quickly asked, "What's going on?"

Teacher Isabella smiled nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry about what's going on. Anyway, I'm homeless now. If even Berlane won't take me in, I don't know where to go."

"But our rooms are full..."

She clasped her hands together and asked gently, "Can I sleep with Berlane?"

Sleeping with teacher Isabella?!

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded and agreed with a strange feeling.

"Great, then I don't have to move out the bed and quilt I just moved into your room..."

"..."

Sometimes, Teacher Isabella is quite speechless.

……

……

17. Preparation before the War (Meng Er)

(Mener-Ehard)

In the midst of great crisis, I slept soundly.

Anxiety, uneasiness, doubt, resentment, fear, expectation...

All these various emotions were stirred into a turbid mass in my heart, yet it was unexpectedly calm.

Even though I was quarreling with the troublemakers in the guild, my heart was still in an orderly rhythm. With the calm thoughts in my head, the plan took shape in my mind step by step, and then gradually deepened and refined, and then evolved into my actions. And because of this peace that came from the heart, I also saw more details that I could not see before.

For example...

Corvina's good intentions and bad intentions...

Ebi’s self-positioning…

Avri's look was both a challenge and a judgement...

It was as if I was looking at myself and my surroundings from the perspective of a third party. It was as if everything around me had slowed down, but my thoughts were running very fast. Even if I let my mind go empty, many thoughts naturally ran into my mind. It was a mysterious state, like the dizziness of having a bad cold.

In the past, I would occasionally enter this excellent state, but now this state has not dissipated for a long time.

Thanks to this wonderful state, I can command the adventurers under my command just like I commanded other apprentice knights in the past. Even when faced with the most harsh doubts and ridicules, I can answer them fluently at the moment, instead of waiting until after the event, then regretfully recalling those remarks that could have hit the other party hard and missing the only chance to refute and defend myself.

Speaking of which, this state was caused by the battle with Raftan.

I don’t know the reason for this, but I do enjoy my current state very much.

The morning after my meeting with Corvina, I made a drastic decision: to send troops.

With the High Elves about to attack, there is no reason for us to stay in Mopolis.

Firstly, if we want to burn the enemy's food supplies, then a sneak attack will be our most ideal course of action. However, once the high elves are at the gates of the city, let alone burning the food supplies in the Panlong Forest, in fact we may not even be able to leave the city gate. Even if we are lucky enough to leave the city gate, there is no guarantee that the high elves nearby will not discover my whereabouts.

If discovered by the enemy, the sneak attack will fail.

Therefore, based on the results of yesterday's discussion, we'd better arrive at the Panlong Forest earlier than the high elves.

At the same time, we also have to come up with a way to avoid the eyes and ears of the high elves so that they cannot find us in the Panlong Forest.

But no matter what, it is difficult for us to make a prepared prediction based on Corvina's map alone. Only by going to the Panlong Forest in person can we formulate a practical strategy based on the on-site environment.

At noon that day, we packed our luggage, got our passes, and exited the East City Gate.

The journey to Panlong Forest is not far and only takes a day.