Sherly led them out of the guild hall. She didn't take them to the front gate of the LionArk headquarters, but instead guided them to the location of the guest houses.

The journey from Northwein and Kuniko had been long and exhausting. Ethan would look like a terrible alliance leader if he let them go home right after the meeting.

They looked happy and excited about what Ethan had offered them. When they stepped inside, the furniture and everything else in the guest house looked clean and well-maintained.

Sherly first brought Rion and the representatives of the Star Shield Guild to their guest house.

After she finished, she walked again to guide Ayaka and the representatives of the Yotsuba Guild to their designated place.

"Sir Ethan is allowing you to stay here for one day. You can return the day after tomorrow," Sherly said.

Ayaka turned her head, amazed by the condition of the guest house. Even though it was just a guest house, a home prepared specifically for visiting guests, she expected it to be dusty and worn out.

But she was completely wrong. There wasn't a single piece of trash or dust inside; the furniture was spotless, the paint wasn't peeling, and the entire place felt perfectly maintained.

"Please give my thanks to Sir Ethan," Ayaka said.

"Of course. I'll tell him."

With that done, Sherly said goodbye. She left the place and returned to the LionArk headquarters.

It was eight at night, and there weren't many people inside the LionArk headquarters. Everyone had finished working since four in the afternoon.

No one was in the guild hall—neither Ethan, the guild hall guards, nor the receptionist. Sherly decided to go up to the third floor, heading toward Ethan's office.

The door to Ethan's office was open, and Sherly immediately saw Ashley inside, sitting in front of Ethan's desk. Jill wasn't there.

When Sherly arrived, both Ethan and Ashley turned toward her. Ethan stood and walked toward Sherly, inviting her inside to relax with them.

But Sherly knew exactly what Ashley and Ethan were to each other. She clearly didn't want to interrupt, didn't want Ashley to look at her sharply, and didn't want to stir up jealousy inside her own heart.

"I—I'm a little tired and sleepy, Sir Ethan. I think I'll go rest for a bit," Sherly said.

Hearing that, Ethan cleared his throat and nodded, not wanting to force her to join them.

"Thank you for today, Sherly."

"Of course, Sir Ethan," Sherly replied.

The woman walked out of Ethan's office. When the door closed, Ethan returned to his desk. Ashley suddenly said something that caught him off guard.

"You're really close to her, aren't you?" Ashley said sharply.

"She's just my aide. You're the one who chose her for me from the beginning, right?"

Ashley stood up and blocked Ethan's path, raising her right hand and pointing at his face with a firm expression. It was more than enough to surprise him.

"You… haven't done anything strange with her, right?"

"Of course not," Ethan said firmly.

She kept staring sharply at him, then finally sighed and nodded, choosing to believe his words.

They both returned to their seats and held their wine glasses. They relaxed together that night, drinking wine.

They talked about many things that had happened lately. Ashley had received a report from the city of Porco saying that the repair work was going well.

She had assigned several people from the financial authority to make sure LionArk's funds were used solely for rebuilding the city.

Not only that, they also talked about the fourth batch of new member recruitment. From the previous three batches, around 1,850 people had joined LionArk.

But since LionArk's popularity had risen sharply lately, many more people wanted to join. Ashley opened a fourth batch because she personally received requests from several refugees from Porco.

They were amazed by LionArk. They wanted to be part of LionArk. They wanted to help protect people in need.

"If that's the case, then we can start preparing for the Raid Tower Expedition," Ethan said.

"What do you think?" Ashley asked.

Ethan grew silent, lifted his glass, and drank. At the moment, city security was still handled by the guilds allied with LionArk, led by Twin Sun.

They were doing a good job, although Ethan often heard about small conflicts caused by Twin Sun's leadership.

"We can't keep relying on Twin Sun for city security. We should start dividing our members into different sectors."

"Some will go on the Raid Tower Expedition, and some will handle city security."

Ashley nodded. Ethan stopped pouring wine for her to keep her from getting drunk. He still needed her sober enough to give proper opinions.

"If that's what you plan, then I suggest the Raid Tower Expedition team be made of people who are experienced and have been permanent LionArk members for a long time," Ashley said.

"Do you know who they are?"

"I do. I keep a database on all of them. I'll have Jill prepare it tomorrow," Ashley said.

"Alright."

"For the city security team, I think we can use the new members from batch one and two."

Ashley didn't object. She agreed that it was the best option for LionArk to focus on both sectors at the same time. She didn't argue at all. As the Guild Master of LionArk, she fully supported the plan.

"Tomorrow, I'll have Sherly meet Officer Hanss to prepare the new members for the security team," Ethan said.

"Can I have more wine?"

Ethan smiled lightly and reached forward, letting Ashley drink until she got tipsy. He didn't mind carrying her back to her room again if she ended up completely drunk.

After finishing their talk about the Raid Tower Expedition and city security, the two of them continued talking about many other things until they realized it was already eleven at night.

The quiet night outside the LionArk headquarters, combined with the effects of the wine, made Ashley look sleepy. Her head kept nodding from drowsiness.

Within minutes, Ashley had completely fallen asleep, mumbling nonsense now and then from the alcohol. Ethan, once again, wasn't affected by the wine at all.

"Time to bring her back to her room."

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