Chapter 457 Fantasy Key (2/2)

After all, every mercenary group had their own interests. There were some who contested against Barter's powerful Purple Lily Guild. As for Rhode, his Starlight had just been established while plenty of mercenary groups had been around for a much longer time. It was impossible for Starlight to impose prestige and cohesion. Therefore, Rhode predicted that there would be some mercenary groups in the Paphield that joined the Liberty Mercenary Alliance before he returned to the Fortress. However, Marlene's answer surprised him. It seemed that things were developing much smoother than he had thought. ”Do they really have no interest in joining them?”

”I think they have definitely considered it. But there indeed wasn't a single mercenary group that ended up joining the alliance. After all, they are really afraid of you, Rhode.” Marlene chuckled and even though she maintained a calm expression, she wasn't able to cover up the smugness on her face. ”I think you still remember the plight of the Jade Tears? At this point in time, no one is willing to follow in their footsteps.”

”I see.” Rhode came to a realization due to Marlene's words. Indeed, Starlight might not have been established for longer than most of the other guilds, but they had something the guilds were inferior to: the threat of Starlight.

Over the past century, there were very few large-scale battles between mercenary groups. However, Rhode's Starlight wiped out Jade Tears cleanly before it was even established as a guild and shot to fame because of it.

What instilled the most fear in other mercenary groups wasn't Starlight's powerful strength in destroying the Jade Tears. Instead, it was because a huge mercenary group like the Jade Tears was wiped out secretly and all the Elites ranked below their leader, Frank, were annihilated. Moreover, nobody knew how and where they all died. Even now, the status of these Jade Tears members was still marked as missing in official records and there was no evidence to prove where they had gone.

Because of this, many other mercenary groups feared Starlight. They wouldn't be this afraid if Rhode relied on brute force to eliminate the Jade Tears directly. However, everyone knew that Rhode's Starlight wiped out the Jade Tears, yet, they weren't able to provide any evidence nor eye-witnesses… This discovery left the other mercenary groups shuddering. Furthermore, Starlight had been promoted to a Guild and now their actions were equipped with more rationale and legitimacy. No one wished to become the second Jade Tears and go 'missing' without leaving any traces.

Everyone knew about Rhode's conflict with the two guilds from the South. Although there were a whole lot of benefits for small operating mercenary groups who joined the alliance, those shiny gold coins waiting for them seemed a little too hot for their hands compared to the risk of going 'missing'.

The mercenary groups under Barter and Viktor's control dared to sneak off and join the alliance because Purple Lily and Cole Falcon hadn't eliminated any mercenary group for a long time. This was why mercenary groups under their watch dared to gamble. Well, this was human nature and it was easier for them to accept tangible benefits than refuse illusory dangers. However, it wasn't delusion or guesswork that the mercenary groups in Paphield were facing. It was the bloody truth: the Jade Tears was still undiscovered to date.

But Marlene presented not only the good news as she began her lengthy grumble on a huge list of problems. The tens of thousands of words that she spewed could be summarized into one sentence: insufficient manpower.

It was naturally a good decision that Rhode had constructed the Fortress efficiently. After moving into the Fortress, a huge problem revealed itself immediately, and that was the lack of manpower to manage the entire operations of this Fortress. This Fortress was humongous and the daily chores for cleaning and maintenance required about a hundred people. Even though most of the villagers in Deep Creek Village had moved into the Fortress, it still wasn't enough. After all, the Land of Atonement was too far away from the other hamlets and even interested parties faced the difficulties of moving in. On the other hand, Rhode clearly instructed that the Summon Gate was a top secret of the guild and shouldn't be used to transport manpower. Therefore, Marlene had limited manpower on her side apart from the help of the civilians that moved in to work. She had to rotate the mercenaries and the church Clerics to tide over the daily operations of the Fortress. Yet the mercenaries and Clerics weren't full-time servants, so this wasn't a permanent solution.

”I hope you can come up with a solution, Rhode. This lack of manpower will definitely affect the guild's development if it continues. The Fortress needs someone to specially manage it and it will be good if that person is trustworthy… Hmm?” Marlene thought that she was hallucinating because there weren't any signs of nervousness on Rhode's face. Instead, she felt that Rhode seemed unconcerned…

”A trustworthy servant… Maybe I can introduce one to you.” Rhode stood on his feet and beckoned to Marlene. ”Come, follow me.”

”??” Marlene and Lize exchanged curious glances and followed Rhode out of the room to the hall on the first floor.

The hall was empty and cheerless which showed how serious the shortage of manpower was in here: even this place to receive visitors didn't have anyone on standby.

”I got my hands on something good in the Castel Plateau Ruins.” Rhode retrieved a hexagonal crystal from his waist pouch. The clear, transparent crystal glittered in colorful radiance and small circles of mysterious magical runes could be seen floating on its surface. A small ball of light sat in the center of the crystal while radiating a strange light.

”What's this?” Lize asked curiously while Marlene widened her eyes and focused her attention on the crystal as though she were waiting for something to spring out of it.

”This is the Fantasy Key.” Rhode tossed the crystal in his hand while gazing at Marlene.

”Borrowing magical powers from its source, it can open paths that link to the Seven Fantasy Boundaries and summon creatures from the Plane of Existence. These creatures will serve the summoner and could be a great help for the Fortress.”

”Seven Fantasy Boundaries?!” Marlene cried out in surprise.