Published at 9th of July 2024 2:36 am

Chapter 1071 A Change Of Pace For Keith

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Keith took out her hairpin and let her lush red hair flow freely, covering the back of her wooden chair.

Although she was in a luxurious office, the chair and table were simplistic. She preferred such settings over shines and blings as they gave her a sense of peace and calm.

Knock! Knock!

"Come in." Keith said in her melodic voice.

A red-haired woman in a combat suit, wearing high heels, having her hair tied in a ponytail, walked into the room.

Her eyes were slightly slanted and her eyebrows were sharp like swords, matching her serious demeanor.

The woman held a file in her hands as she walked in. She bowed in front of Keith and said, "Association Master, this is the list of spies we found so far. Your estimations have resulted in a 200% capture rate."

"200%?" Keith looked up and asked, confused.

The woman nodded her head. "The captured spies confessed that more were going to invade the association, so the association captured them in advance, resulting in a 200% capture rate."

"…"

Keith did not know what to say to that. It was her first time having people work under her, willingly obey all her commands, and even exceed her expectations.

A strange emotion slowly swelled in her heart. She couldn't describe it, but it sure felt warm.

"And?" Keith was a woman of few words and asked after acknowledging the lady's previous response with a nod.

"…and it is found that the WAA headquarters in Lenz City have called for reinforcements from around the continent. Many adventurers are also given quests with good rewards and in due time, once the strange phenomenon in the sky is gone, we are expecting attacks from all sides in all our territories."

Keith knitted her brows and massaged her temples. Things were becoming messier with every move she made. There were no signs of the World Adventurer's Association backing away or getting intimidated, thereby calling for a truce or temporary halt on this conflict.

Keith was not allowed to kill off the enemy. She was not allowed to use her physical strength to solve the problematic matters, and it was taking a toll on her.

Problems kept piling up one after another and she barely got any rest these days.

A lot of brain power was needed to come up with proper strategies to counterattack and take down the opponent. If the people on her side were strong, strategies and everything wouldn't have mattered as they could simply force their way in.

However, all the ones in the Free Adventurer's Association were comparatively weaker in comparison to the ones in the WAA. They were also outnumbered and had lesser resources.

The WAA had branches in all parts of the world. It was so big that it wouldn't run out of supplies or resources even if the FAA were to have a hundred times the stuff of what they already possessed.

Everything was purely based on attrition and Keith did not specialize in it, thereby having some problems.

After some thinking, Keith replied to the lady in front, "instead of waiting for them to attack, you should initiate one yourself. Sometimes, the best defense is an attack. Don't worry about the phenomena in the sky. It would not affect you or your movements."

Keith then propped her hands on the table and rested her chin on it.

"Focus on sealing the headquarters. Maybe make a barrier or something around the city that would block interference from all outside forces. This way the chances of winning against the main headquarters would rise sharply. You could then gain immense data of adventurer's and hidden files."

The lady nodded her head and bowed. "I'll inform the Guildmaster and Vice-Guildmaster about it. Please excuse me."

She left after a polite bow and gave Keith some time to relax. Sadly, the break didn't last for long as she heard another knock on the door.

"Come in," Keith said and sighed somewhat. Is this how a peaceful and normal life actually is? Buried under a pile of paperwork and attending meetings one after another…

It was definitely better than fighting wars and cultivating hard to protect herself and survive, but it was somewhat draining, mentally.

The door of the office opened and two men wearing rugged clothing with a common crest on their chests walked inside.

The two kneeled and bowed in front of Keith.

"Greetings to the Association Master from the Guildmaster of the Jingmei Guild, Levi."

"Greetings to the Association Master from the Vice- Guildmaster of the Jingmei Guild, Levesky."

Keith looked at them and asked in a neutral tone, "Why are you two here?"

The Jingmei Guild's officials were important people. From these two guys to the woman that had reported a while ago… everyone was important for the future of this conflict.

Jingmei Guild was the face of the FAA. If anything happened to them, it would spell disaster to everyone associated with them.

Keith thus had to talk to these guys despite not wanting to.

"Reporting to the Association Master — the Chief Secretary Lady Hei had briefed us a while ago on the suggestions made by the Association Master. There are a few problems that have come up and subordinate here is incapable of fixing it."

"This subordinate humbly apologizes to the Association Master for his incompetence as well." Levesky, the Vice-

Guildmaster, answered.

"What's the problem?" Keith went straight to the point. She wanted to wind this up as soon as possible so that she could relax properly.

"Many Light and Life users are afraid of going out. They feel an ill omen looking at the thundering sky. There's also rumors circulating of the world's end nearing. Hence, a lot of adventurer's have left the guild to spend time with their loved ones," said Levesky.

Keith felt a vein pop on her forehead. She gripped the armrest of her chair tightly, almost breaking her, and thought,

'What level of stupidity is this? What rumors? What world's end? Is there no sane person in this world that could make a deduction stating an ascension is going on?'

Keith thought about this matter for a while and then, turning to Levi, asked, "Are you sure? What if it's just an excuse to temporarily escape?"

Levi and Levesky both failed to understand why the adventurers would make excuses like a child. What need did they even have to do so?

Keith, having a guess on what they could be thinking, said, "Lately, due to the shortage of manpower, the existing personnels are being worked to the bone. Don't you think it's only natural that they would use any excuse they can find to take a break?"

Levi and Levesky fell silent. Now that they thought about this… the Association Master's words did make sense and felt right.

They were making prideful cultivators overwork themselves for few benefits and quest rewards. There was bound to come a time when they would somewhat rebel for a better quality of life,

Levesky lowered his head and replied, "The Association Master is right. Such could indeed be the case."

Keith gave him a slight nod. "If you want them back, give them better quest rewards. Make sure to loot the WAA for extra resources. They have an exhaustible supply of things. A little bit of stealing won't hurt them."

"The Association Master's will is our command!" The two exclaimed in a subservient voice.

After talking to Keith a little bit more on the potential problems they were facing and finding solutions, the two left the room.

Keith reclined back on her chair and let out an exhausted sigh.

'So much talking is done. So many schemes have been made, and so many tricks have been used to get an upper hand in this war between two guilds.'

'I don't hate what I am doing right now, but it is exhausting. However, whenever my subordinates achieve something major, it makes me feel warm. Is this what a normal life is? Is this how it feels to be in a position of power?'

Keith had many thoughts in her mind while a small smile crept her face, indicating the good time she was having here.

To an outsider, her thoughts were not known, but the way her body language was, anyone could tell that she was enjoying it.

Lith took a sip of tea and thought while watching her, 'She doesn't seem annoyed by so many interruptions. She's also doing a good job and taking this seriously. Good. She's slowly experiencing new things and opening up.'

Lith's goal was to simply give Keith a good opportunity to do something new. He wanted her to have a good time and relax for once. Being a maid in the castle, she was getting bored as there was nothing to do.

The Royal Clan only had three members and due to magic, the maids did not need to do menial jobs like cleaning and all. Keith was thus free and bored in the castle, which was why she was sent to the Neutral Continent.

'By the end of this, I hope to see a new Keith. With her case sorted, I should now check the affairs of the other continents…'

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