SPIRIT SOUL

Selene seemed to be completely blank, and Kyle simply decided to bring her away from the table.

After Gaby had revealed everything to them, it made more sense as to why both the Guild and the Lohar wanted Selene's help.

With a noble by their side, it would make everything much easier.

Simultaneously, it will also prevent the situation between the Thunderclaw kingdom and Lahin kingdom from escalating further.

After all, the Guild showed efforts in clearing the issues between the races, which was quite interesting upon thinking about it for a moment.

But on the other hand, it worsened Selene's condition which had just started to improve.

The unexpected situation was truly…unexpected for everyone, including Gaby.

Even Laila seemed to have only found out about Selene's situation recently.

Ever since spotting her in the Guildhall, Laila had done some research about the Lahin kingdom's heritage.

The Guildmaster had only done so because she had been curious about Selene.

The fact that she was still healthy despite having cultivated in two repulsive cultivation paths had made Laila want to know more about her.

Ideally, doing so was not supposed to work for a commoner of the Lohar race.

Kyle found that this was good for the Guild as it could solve many issues.

Still, it was extremely frustrating for him, and even more so for Selene.

In the end, after he had put her to sleep, Kyle wanted to return to his room.

He wanted to clear his mind and sort his jumbled thoughts, only to notice that Selene was still holding him tightly.

As such, he stayed with her while Arashi emerged from his body to help Selene calm down.

The night turned into dawn and before Kyle realized it, the first rays of the rising sun filtered in through the open window.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to wriggle his hand out of Selene's tight grasp.

It had fallen numb and he rubbed his hand a little before he was able to stand up.

After that, he quickly took a bath before Arashi merged with his body once again.

Shooting a short glance at Selene, he smiled faintly.

Last night's discussion had been quite serious and heavy for the little Lohar, and Kyle felt a little bit sorry for her.

She had been forced to fight her inner demons and the fact that it was almost certain for the Lohar's behavior to change almost completely when they were to face her.

This would definitely be uncomfortable for her, and Kyle decided to cultivate a little bit until Selene would wake up.

A few hours passed and it was already afternoon when Kyle opened his eyes after hearing Selene's movement.

She stretched her body and looked at him with newfound vigor as if nothing had happened.

Kyle was astonished by the sudden change in her behavior.

But instead of asking anything about her opinion of what had happened the day before, he smiled lightly.

"Did you sleep well?"

Returning his smile, she gave him a faint thumbs-up before replying to him with a serious voice.

"Let's exploit the Guild and the Lohars!!"

He shot her a disbelieving look and couldn't quite believe his ears.

Kyle was doubtful if she was the same terrified girl he had rescued from Zwark, making him question everything.

Selene had turned a new leaf and he couldn't find a trace of reluctance or hesitance in her voice.

Was she serious?

As he carefully evaluated Selene's facial expression and the emotions that shone through the depths of her eyes, he realized that there was no trace of anger, wrath, let alone sorrow of her past.

However, that was exactly what made Kyle wonder.

Her eyes were eerily calm made him imagine even worse things that she might do.

A growing sense of unease was beginning to haunt him as Selene repeated herself.

"If the Guild and Lohars want my help, let's exploit them!! They should pay us handsomely!"

While nodding his head, Kyle couldn't help but squint his eyes.

'She can't be serious right now...or is she?...'

It was extremely difficult to figure out what was going on in her mind. But, after she got out of bed, she also took a quick bath.

Seeing her ready to step out made him bluntly ask.

"You don't know what the Lohar's golden seal of chivalry is, do you?"

He wanted to figure out whether Selene was truly fine or not which made him ask again.

But, there was no trace of hesitation in her voice as she replied,

"No, I don't know what that is...well, except what Gaby told us- that I get the permission to order commoners of the Lohar race...or something like that."

Her voice was void of emotions and it was hard for him to gauge what she was planning if anything at all.

Kyle's confusion increased after noticing that.

He had always been able to sense her reaction or feelings so far.

But right now, he was not sure whether Selene's behavior and sudden change was good or bad.

In the end, he couldn't always babysit her. Thus, instead of being too worried about it, showing her that she was not alone was probably the best.

Thus, he stood up and added in a confident voice,

"Let's empty their pockets!"

Smiling, Kyle turned around to see Selene returning the smile.

Determination flickered in her eyes as she nodded her head vigorously.

Now that they had come to a conclusion, they walked downstairs.

The Jars and Gaby were already seated at the dining table.

It looked like they hadn't stopped discussing through the night.

This made Kyle nod his head, thinking that they were also progressing.

At that moment, he realized that everyone around him had their own issues to deal with.

The only difference was that not everyone publicly displayed them.

Clearing his throat, he approached them so as to not make it look like he was eavesdropping.

Hearing him, their teachers and Gaby turned around.

Their eyes automatically flitted to Selene, who looked better than the three had expected.

Getting up from the chair, Gaby immediately repeated her request in a serious voice.

"In the name of the Guild, I want to officially request the help of adventurer Selene once again! You can refuse to cooperate, but I hope you can help us out.

Don't do it for the Lohars, or even us, Aldras, but for the peace around you. Protect those who are important to you!"

Gaby tried her best one last time to make Selene pay heed to her request.

Without Mell or Gard intervening, Selene was not able to make her own choice.

However, before she could do so, Kyle had already come up with a plan.

While Selene had gone to take a bath, he had thought of something.

Because she said that she wanted to exploit the Guild, and if possible the Lohar race too, Kyle wanted to pave a way for Selene to earn a huge fortune.

"I don't want to sound too harsh, but you're requesting something from my partner without stating what the reward will be.

Every mission given by the Guild has a certain level of difficulty and comes with its own set of dangers too...

A mission to rescue someone, okay…but to prevent the Lohar and Nasga race from creating hostility with the Thunderclaw kingdom because of their, or rather their merchant's foolish action…should be quite difficult, shouldn't it?

Furthermore, you are requesting a specific individual to do something…. Selene is now a noble, right? Given her cultivation base and the mission's difficulty, I don't think it's easy to save the other abducted Lohars after all!"

The moment Gaby noticed that Kyle took a step forward to speak to her, she knew what he was about to do.

Kyle's body language seldom betrayed him.

Thus, it was difficult to figure out what he was thinking in most cases.

However, when he sensed an opportunity, he would try to make the most out of it.

This was something Gaby had understood in their first meeting itself.

He had tactfully played with words and led her on.

Gaby had not even realized that he had successfully received whatever he wanted with just a few clever words and actions.

Fortunately, this time she was prepared to meet Kyle.

Knowing that he would be around made her sense that it would be a difficult negotiation!

Nevertheless, she tried something despite knowing that it was useless and Kyle would see right through her.

With a deep breath, she turned towards Selene.

"Kyle is right with everything he said, but the mission is targeted at you. Do you want to lead the negotiation, or is Kyle your spokesperson?"

Gaby smiled, fully aware of the answer she was about to receive. In the end, there was no harm in trying.

At least she could tell Laila that she had given her best.

"Of course, he is!" Selene retorted with a faint smirk without the slightest hesitation.

The smirk was unexpected, but the answer wasn't.

So, instead of trying to figure out how Selene had changed in a matter of one night, she nodded her head.

Then she turned her attention to Kyle, who was standing only a few meters away from her.

Not wanting to beat around the bush, she asked straightforwardly,

"Alright then, what do you want? Please bear in mind that you are still gaining the Guild's benefits and that exploiting us won't benefit you on a long-term basis!"

Gaby's words were not exactly the truth because there was no official document to validate this.

But at the same time, it was a widely known fact.

Unofficially, everyone who was greedy and trying to exploit the Guild would receive a secret note.

This note would state that every Guild would return the favor.

If someone were to exploit the Guild, they would do the same when the said person was in dire need of the Guild's help.

Not sure whether Kyle was aware of this or not, she simply stated it so that he would know this fact

However, seeing his crafty smile, Gaby couldn't help but shudder.

She had a feeling of deja vu, thinking that she had just walked into Kyle's trap yet again.

'Maybe he doesn't even plan to have a long-term bond with the Guild...or...wait!'

Yet, before she could say something, Kyle had already dropped a bomb the moment he began to speak,

"There are quite a few things we want, but the most important would be that the Guild widely publicizes the news about Selene's existence and her contribution to the mission.

They also have to clearly state that she was abandoned after her birth!"

The moment he said this, even Selene looked at him with wide eyes. Kyle's first sentence was already a shocker and caused Gaby to almost instinctively kick out.

Meanwhile, the others looked at him in utter dumbfoundedness, but before anyone could speak, Kyle continued.

"If nobody knows about Selene's existence, how can the Lahin kingdom reach out to her?

I suppose they would award her handsomely for helping the very people who had abandoned her.

The Guild shouldn't have many issues with that, right? Selene's existence would be known sooner or later, either way, so the sooner the better!

As for the rewards the Guild should give her for doing such a difficult mission while being considered a noble…let me think."

Kyle made a big show of tapping his finger on his chin while appearing to be deep in thought.

Gaby only looked at him with a raised eyebrow before he added,

How about the Guild providing Selene with the best cultivation technique suitable for someone with dual awakened cultivation veins?

They can arrange for the same through the other Guild branches in the surrounding territory, right?

Other than that, would it be reasonable if the Guild gives us an unlimited supply of materials to support our apprenticeship? For about one year?

I think that is more than fair, isn't it?"