The crowd began to thin gradually. With their rewards already collected, there was no further reason to stay. Thus, most of their minds were already thinking about skill point allocation and debating which stats to prioritize with their new levels.
As the last of them filtered away down Elenora’s bridges, one player moved against the current, coming toward Lumi rather than away. He recognized her before she was close enough to speak.
How could he not? Though he had only encountered her once, he couldn’t forget a player as skilled and ballsy as Lucy Lee.
Lena recognized her at the sa mont. She stepped forward imdiately, putting herself slightly between Lucy and Lumi, gripping her wand tighter. She put on a large smile and was about to speak.
Lumi put a hand out to the side, stopping her. Then he perford a small nod towards Eden. Lena froze for a re second, before stepping to the left, positioning herself to shield Eden himself.
Lucy stopped a reasonable distance away. Though she wore the sa equipnt, the vibe she put off was entirely different as she gave him a light smile, lightly twirling.
"I thought about your offer," she said.
Lumi waited.
Seeing no response, Lucy continued. "My condition is simple. All I want is for the pay to be consistent, and to match what I was receiving through Micheal’s contracts. As long as you can match that, then I will entirely abandon taking his contracts, as you asked, and do as you wish."
Those were the words she spoke outloud. Though she said that, her deeper, internal thoughts were obvious enough to Lumi without her needing to voice it.
She had not been here for the raid. How could she? She had attacked Lumi in broad daylight and gotten herself killed. Even if she had respawned in ti, which she hadn’t, she never would have been let in.
So imagine her reaction when she saw the system announcent of the raid being complete. If it had rely been that, then she would have rely felt a small sense of regret.
Yet it wasn’t rely that. Soon enough, she began to get information about what exactly had gone on. She learned that over a thousand players had killed a demon alongside Lumi and gained more levels in a single fight than most players accumulated in weeks.
That was NOT a preferable outco.
That was because at the end of the day, her profits were tied to her capability. For example, with Micheal, all that mattered was that she was strong enough to complete the contract and get paid. If she couldn’t complete a contract, then getting paid was a re dream.
The floor and ceiling of her paynt relied entirely on her power. Which she just lost out on. No matter Micheal or Lumi, the only reason she would get paid was because she was useful.
If following him ant raids like this one, if it ant opportunities that actively made her stronger while also paying her, then the comparison wasn’t complicated. The pay just had to be reasonable enough to justify the switch.
Lumi didn’t ntion any of that. He simply nodded. "I accept. Of course, assuming you stay capable."
Lucy’s expression remained even, but sothing in her posture settled slightly.
Lumi continued. "I’ll have a proper contract drafted for you. It’ll outline the terms, paynt structure, and expectations on both sides. Until then you’re free, but stay within Elenora. When I leave, you’ll be coming with ."
"Understood." Lucy said simply.
She didn’t press for further details. She didn’t ask where they were going or what the contract would specify. She had made her decision and she was comfortable with it, which told Lumi sothing useful about how she operated.
Lucy gave a short nod, then turned and walked back toward the town.
As the woman left, Lena was watching her go with her arms folded. She tilted her head towards Lumi. "You trust her?"
Lumi shrugged. "She could be a spy from Micheal for all I care. As long as she performs and gives accurate information. There’s sothing I’ll do with her later.
Lena considered that, then nodded as she accepted it, though the look she gave Lucy’s retreating back didn’t entirely soften.
Lumi pulled up his interface and opened a ssage to Lucas.
Lucas had been running his business operations within Masteria. He had long since bought his own pod, and now he was a player, though calling him that felt increasingly inaccurate.
He didn’t hunt, level, nor excessively think about stats or skills. He thought about supply chains, profit margins, and who owed whom what favor. By leveraging Lumi’s na and connections, Lucas managed the business side of things reliably.
His ssage to Lucas covered two things. First, he needed soone stationed at the library entrance for the foreseeable future. There was no way he’d stay at Elonora wasting ti himself. He needed to set up a contact point for the players who had died during the raid and were currently sitting through their respawn tir.
They’d be showing up in town over the next several hours, confused and looking for their reward, and soone needed to be there to give them their money. And for a lucky dozen, note down what type of item they wanted as a reward.
Second, he needed Lucas to draft a contract for Lucy. He had inford him of the general situation, and Lucas would fill in the specifics. Though he did note that he would begin doing many of these for future guild mbers, so he should get started on a standardized agreent now.
Lucas replied quickly, confirming both orders as received.
That was the thing about working with people like Lucas. They weren’t adventurers playing at business. They were businessn who happened to exist in this world, and they treated their work accordingly.
With that handled, Lumi let out a small breath and leaned against the library wall. He took a look around. Most of the players had left, and even the closest ones were decently far. That was, except, Tora.
Lumi nodded at the man gently. "Your work is done."
Tora imdiately gave a visible sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. Though Currway never ca our way, that was stressful as hell."
"I bet." Lumi completely understood. He had thousands on the line.
The two stood awkwardly, looking at each other. Finally, Tora continued, "So, about..."
"Don’t worry." Lumi knew what the man was worried about. "I’ll give you the rest of your paynt the mont I leave Masteria."
"Thank you!" Tora bowed to Lumi. "Seriously, thank you! That amount of money is... life-changing! I don’t even know what to say!"
"No thanks necessary." Lumi put his hand on Tora’s shoulder, giving him a smile. "I’ll make my guild soon, so rember to join."
"Right!" Tora enthusiastically nodded. "Of course!" He was eager to continue. "What should I do now?"
Lumi gave him a good-natured grin. "Whatever you want. See, I need a little bit of privacy..."
"Oh!" Tora straightened his back and saluted. "I’ll get going then, boss!"
With that, he was on his way.
Lumi couldn’t help but lightly chuckle. Money... really changed a man’s personality.
He glanced over at Lena, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground a few feet off, spinning her wand in her fingers and humming sothing to herself. Eden stood nearby with Sol perched on his shoulder, looking unsure.
The library doors were still open. rath stood at the entrance, not quite inside and not quite outside, having been watching the dispersing crowd with his hands folded behind his back.
After a mont, the old mage spoke. "Lumi."
Lumi glanced over. rath was quiet for a mont longer, seeming to gather his words carefully, which was unusual for him. rath was not a man who needed to search for words.
After a mont, rath finally spoke. "I need to thank you."
Lumi blinked. "For?"
rath was quiet again, though this ti the pause felt deliberate. He looked out at Elenora’s bridges and trees, at the familiar faint light, at a town he had lived in for decades. "For piling work on ," he said, and there was no sarcasm in it. "For treating as though I have sothing useful to contribute. For asking things of without hesitation."
Lumi gave the slightest nod, but said nothing, sensing there was more.
rath continued his words. "I taught the new generation. I maintained the seals. I answered questions. I preserved knowledge. What I told myself was diligence had, sowhere along the way, beco sothing else. Sloth."
He lightly shook his head. "The old war had ended, and I stepped back. It would rely be a small break after that intense period, or so I told myself. I thought I would rest, pass on what I knew, and eventually return to active contribution."
He exhaled slowly, the smallest bit of mirth coming through. "A small break that stretched into decades."
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