The evening’s light was fading quickly as the sun dipped below the horizon. The sky turned a colorful array of pinks, purples, and oranges.
"..."
Della was looking out of a tall window, looking at the sky, and at tis like this, she felt very much at peace.
It had been a stressful couple of days, and it wasn’t going to get any better any ti soon either.
’Everyone looks at for answers... But what if I don’t have any... What if I’m just as lost as they are?’
She clenched her hands tightly.
While she was the guild master, she was also only a 19-year-old young woman, and she’d never been in this kind of situation before.
She felt like she could barely breathe, as if an invisible hand was choking her constantly.
There were many tis today that she would’ve just wanted to log off, snuggle under a warm blanket, and fall into blissful sleep.
"I..."
She was about to say sothing, but then a soft knock ca on the door, and it opened with Miranda standing there.
"Miss Della, the team leaders are here as you requested. Do I bring them in?"
Miranda asked.
"...Yes, bring them in."
Della steeled her gaze, walked to the table, and sat down at the head of it, and watched as players entered the room.
"...Guild Master."
"...Lady Della."
"...Guild Master."
They all got seated around the table.
The team leaders—Fang Raon of the Fourth Liner, Owen of the Third Line, and Adam of the Second Line—had gathered by the orders of Della.
There was also Rock, Miranda, Waylen, and Rickard, as they were pretty much the core of Rose Records.
None of the other First-Liners were here at this ti, as they had the important duty of protecting the gate of Snowberry Village.
"I will keep this brief, as I am sure all of you are eager to head back to your teams. There is sothing I want to discuss with all of you."
Della said with a serious look on her face.
They all listened without saying a word and gave her their full attention.
"With the besieging, our enemies are planning to starve the locals and make them turn against us.
"Unfortunately for them, that won’t work."
Della said.
"...What do you an, Lady Della?"
Owen asked curiously.
He was the only team leader who wasn’t calling Della "Guild Master," because they were actually old childhood friends back in the real world.
They went to the sa school.
In the end, they happened to et each other in the Black Online, and he joined Della’s party that she had ford.
"Without telling anyone, I spent five million square coins of Rose Records funds to spend on food that I have hoarded inside a hidden basent—right here in Snowberry Village.
"That food will last five years, and even more if we ration it properly. I did that because of a fear of the Guild War and possibly a natural disaster that stops the rchants from reaching this village.
"We never had a food problem to begin with, and thus, Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascal is just wasting their ti with this."
Della said.
It brought shocked expressions to the faces of most of them, as they had no idea that she had done such a thing.
’Amazing that she thought that far... And five million... That’s insane amount of money. I guess those quarries of Winter Ore really pays!’
Fang Raon breathed cold air.
There was one person that wasn’t all that surprised and it was Miranda because she was responsible for the guild’s finances.
She helped Della to keep it a secret from everyone.
"I have the food hidden in the basent of the Old Bakery. It hasn’t been in use for a while, and it had a very large basent that was able to fit all inside.
"I am telling you all of this because we need to start soon giving food to the locals, as they are running out."
Della said.
Everyone nodded.
"...Della, what about the thing we talked about? Putting those locals to work? I can go with Miranda to talk with locals imdiately."
Rock asked.
"...Go ahead and do it."
Della said.
Rock nodded.
"For now, I ask everyone to keep the food a secret. If the information goes out, and our enemies find out about the food, they will change their plan.
"I’d like for them to keep thinking that we are running out of food, as it gives us more ti to think of counterasures."
Della said.
"Yes, guild master."
Everyone said.
"...You can all head back."
Della said.
They all nodded, stood back to their feet, and headed straight out of the eting room as they had things to do.
"Shall we go?"
Rock t with Miranda, and she said, "Yep," and they took off for the Snowberry Village to talk with the locals.
"..."
Della watched in silence as everyone left.
...
Outside Snowberry Village, in the camp of the two guilds.
Ding! Ding!
"...Hmm?"
Victor pulled out his chat window as he received a ssage and saw its contents that made his blood run cold.
"...And here..."
Derrick was pointing at the map for his two guild mbers inside a warm tent, and at that mont, Victor interrupted them.
"We have a problem."
"What is it?"
Derrick asked with a frown.
"My spy reported. It looks like Della is sneakier than I thought. She has a hidden food reserve in Snowberry Village—enough food to last years.
"Luckily, we now also know the location of it, so all we have do is go there and burn it down to the ground."
Victor said.
"...Devon, it does sound like this is a job right at your alley."
Derrick looked at his right-hand man, Devon, who grinned with a big smile.
"Where?"
Devon asked.
"Old Bakery... In the basent..."
Victor said.
With a grin, Devon stord out of the warm tent, as he had to go to work now, as he was both a very good infiltrator and also an arsonist.
"It is such a sha that I won’t be able to see that bitch’s look of desperation after watching her precious food get turn to ash."
Victor grinned.
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