***

Two days later.

LionArk Headquarters.

Because of Sherly's own wish, the woman returned to work like usual. She said she would only ask for time off if her body felt sick.

So as long as she was healthy, Sherly would keep working as Ethan's aide. She didn't want to let Ethan drown in his tasks. She wanted to be there to help him.

The closeness between Ethan and Sherly was obviously noticed by Ashley. There was a bit of jealousy seeing Sherly able to help Ethan and discuss so many things with him.

Ashley wanted that too, but her important role as the guild leader forced her to handle many things every day.

She was already lucky if she could relax with Ethan at night, but doing that the whole day was difficult, she thought.

All the letters ordering the arrest of the suspects had been sent to every guild, both the Big Three and the others.

Since those letters carried the names LionArk and EthanArk, many smaller guilds were afraid of getting involved with them.

They sent reply letters asking EthanArk to send envoys to settle the matter with their members. Ethan approved it.

He sent one member from the Law Authority and two members from the Security and Military Authority.

Their only goal was to retrieve the LionArk assets that had been embezzled, without forcing the suspects to leave their guilds to stand trial.

They left with files containing proof of the suspects' involvement. It was proof of LionArk's transparency, so people wouldn't accuse Ethan of extorting them.

Out of the 56 guilds the letters were sent to, 27 agreed to negotiate. Ethan sent 27 teams out of LionArk headquarters to meet them and start negotiations.

Sherly came to Ethan's office with information about the 27 teams that had been dispatched. Twelve teams arrived at the guilds, while the rest were still traveling.

"No news from the Big Three Guilds yet?" Ethan asked.

"Not yet, Sir Ethan."

Ethan let out a breath and turned his office chair toward the back courtyard of LionArk headquarters, where the training field and the cafeteria were located.

"We'll wait for a week. If there's no reply, I'll go myself," Ethan said.

"Alright, Sir Ethan."

While the two were talking, the office door opened, revealing a woman from the reception staff. She came to inform Ethan about envoys who had arrived.

"Guild envoys?" Ethan asked.

"Yes. They're from Star Shield and Yotsuba!"

"Star Shield and Yotsuba?" Ethan narrowed his eyes.

Sherly turned and told Ethan about their identities. They were the ruling guilds of the cities of Northwein and Kuniko.

Hearing that made Ethan enthusiastic and pleased. He stood up and told them to wait in the Guild Hall. The receptionist nodded and went to carry out Ethan's order.

Sherly looked busy preparing the documents needed by the representatives from Star Shield and Yotsuba for this meeting.

Two days had passed since the letters were sent, and only representatives from Northwein and Kuniko came to answer Mavelard's invitation.

After everything was ready, Ethan and Sherly left his office on the second floor. They needed about fifteen to twenty minutes to prepare everything, simply so the representatives from Star Shield and Yotsuba could understand the context of the meeting later.

They went down the stairs to the first floor. The receptionist woman was standing in front of the guild hall doors, waiting for Ethan.

When Ethan arrived, she smiled and clearly said they were already waiting inside. Ethan nodded.

The guild hall doors opened, showing Ethan entering with Sherly at his side. They came alone, without anyone else, including Ashley or the Guild Officers.

The representatives of Star Shield and Yotsuba turned, stood, and bowed their heads respectfully to Ethan.

"Sorry for making you wait," Ethan said.

Ethan sat on the guild hall's throne-like chair while Sherly began handing out documents containing the matters of their meeting.

Ethan was glad that the ruling guilds had come, even if one of them didn't send their guild leader.

"I'm Rion, Vice Leader of Star Shield. I bring greetings from our Guild Leader. We feel honored that LionArk wants to build good cooperation with us," said the man named Rion, smiling with his armor secured on his body.

"Thank you, Mr. Rion. Please send my regards to your Guild Leader. He must be very busy if he had to send you instead," Ethan replied.

"We apologize for the discourtesy. We will come with our Guild Leader next time," Rion said nervously.

"I'll arrange the schedule for that."

The man then looked toward the woman standing with her group. She came as the Guild Leader of Yotsuba.

Her beautiful face, smooth fair skin, long black hair, and the typical mage uniform suited her well.

"I'm Ayaka, Guild Leader of Yotsuba from Kuniko City. My officers and I have come to answer your invitation," Ayaka said.

Ethan smiled, feeling pleased and honored to welcome the Guild Leader of Yotsuba. He said he was glad they were willing to listen to his proposal.

Only the representatives of Arkban hadn't come, or maybe would never come because of their hatred toward LionArk.

"The reason I invited you is to prepare our guilds for the Guild War Event," Ethan said.

Rion and Ayaka looked at each other. Ayaka raised her hand and spoke to Ethan, telling him something he needed to know.

"LionArk and Star Shield may have experience with that event, but we don't. We're a new guild and have never joined a Guild War Event," Ayaka said.

"Because of the VR Full-Drive tragedy, I can't confirm what the Guild War system will look like. So we're all new here," Ethan replied.

"It's better to prepare early rather than struggle later," Ethan explained.

"Don't worry. We'll help you later," Rion added.

Hearing both Rion and Ethan say that made Ayaka happy. She nodded and smiled before sitting down again.

They didn't only talk about the Guild War Event. Ethan also focused on city development and economic cooperation.

Ayaka became more enthusiastic. She had commodities she wanted to sell, but she didn't have a suitable platform to sell them.

They discussed cooperation and similar matters. Ethan, as the Vice Leader of LionArk, promised to help them trade their goods in LionArk.

They talked and held their meeting for three hours. In the end, Ethan and the representatives from both guilds reached their own conclusions.

"Alright. I'll contact you again later," Ethan said.

Rion and Ayaka nodded. They said their farewells and prepared to return to their cities, but Ethan invited them to stay the night in LionArk.

Sherly would gladly show them the guest house, and of course Rion and Ayaka didn't want to turn down the offer.

"Business with Northwein and Kuniko is done. Now it's my turn to focus on Arkban."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.