He didn't need to tell Mina exactly what to say; he just had to anticipate that she would "add spice," because that was her nature.

The child didn't merely hold the knob of that first escape door, she slammed it shut behind her sister with a grin, treating it like a joke. To Mina, it was all in good fun. To Valeria, however, it felt like war.

As soon as the sister arrived at the Guild, that first exit vanished. Then came the second door: force. If she had been alone or only had Mina to think about, she might have opted for violence anyway.

She could have shrugged off her reputation and simply walked away over ashes. But Valeria wasn't alone.

She had a group, a dozen lives tied to her choices. That was both her greatest weakness and her greatest strength. She couldn't act solely as a sister; she had to step up as a leader.

Sage locked that second door the moment the rule was read aloud, not by his voice, but by another man's voice, an Adventurer trembling as he read the clause for everyone in the hall to hear.

That detail mattered because now it wasn't Sage imposing his will; it was the Guild establishing its law, witnessed by many.

And once an institution publicly declared a law, rejecting it transformed from private rebellion into a story that spread far and wide.

Sage even ensured there were witnesses at the entrance, a crowd of curious faces who would carry this tale into the city within an hour.

He orchestrated this with just one nod, one ordinary man in worn clothes disappearing into the throng while information flowed like ink in water.

With that move, the sister's second door became padlocked by reputation. Now only one door remained: the third, the one Sage had "offered" with calm inevitability.

Join.

Not because she wanted to, but because it was the only option that wouldn't destroy what she was sworn to protect.

Sage observed her standing there, rigid with contained rage, and an odd sensation welled up in his chest, something akin to pity or guilt. He didn't take pleasure in breaking people.

This wasn't entertainment for him; he wasn't even motivated by pride. He did this because he had finally tasted strength in this world, and that taste changed him profoundly.

Before becoming a Warrior, he viewed this new life like someone trying to survive a storm while hiding under a table.

He craved peace and wanted gradual growth, time passing naturally for the Guild's development.

But once mana surged through his veins and he felt even a fraction of the world responding to his will, everything shifted sharply for him.

He realized what he'd long refused: this world wasn't gentle nor did it tolerate passivity indefinitely. The Adventurer Guild was a fresh concept, a goldmine waiting for nobles with dog noses to sniff out its potential.

Right now, it was just a small shop in a remote city, insignificant, amusing, a mere novelty.

But if it grew, if it proved its worth, someone would come to claim it. And Sage knew he didn't have the strength to protect himself beyond these walls.

That was the terrifying truth. Inside the Guild, he could stand tall; outside, he was at the mercy of anyone who deemed him inconvenient.

He understood that the system would eventually push him out, missions, objectives, expansions. He couldn't stay behind the desk forever. If he wanted to survive, he needed leverage.

He needed deterrence. He needed someone strong enough that nobles would hesitate before making a move.

Someone like Mina's elder sister.

Sage's gaze shifted to Mina. The child's golden eyes were brimming with tears, guilt trembling on her lashes as she looked at her sister. The sight tightened Sage's throat.

"I'm sorry, kid," he thought bitterly. "I hope you can forgive me. But I also want to live."

It felt strange, unfamiliar, like a muscle he hadn't used in years suddenly aching.

Huh," he muttered inwardly, almost irritated with himself. "What a useless emotion."

He pushed it down. He had a role to play.

Sage gestured calmly toward the desk.

"Come."

The sister's gaze flickered toward him, disgust, rage, contempt, and then she moved forward without speaking or asking for permission, approaching as if she were walking toward an execution platform, her mercenaries trailing behind like shadows Sage returned to his chair and sat with practicedease, rolling the tension off his shoulders as if it had never existed. He pulled out a ledger, dipped his quill in ink, and opened to a fresh page.

His voice turned professional now: calm andneutral, the tone of someone processing paperwork rather than bracing for a storm.

"Name."

Her lips tightened. "Valeria."

Sage wrote it down without comment. "Full name?"

For a moment, her jaw clenched again; muscles in her neck tensed as if the words tasted like poison.

Steelheart," she finally said in a low voice. "Valeria Steelheart."Sage paused with his quill hovering above the page before glancing sideways at Mina and muttering just loud enough for her to hear: "One is Oakshield and another is Steelheart. Perfect! You two were born to make blacksmiths cry."

Valeria shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. Of course she heard him; Sage didn't pretend innocence but continued writing with faint amusement curling his lips, as though living dangerously thrilled him.

"Rank?" he asked next.

"Five-Star," Valeria replied coldly. "High-Level Knight."

The quill scratched against the parchment. Sage's expression remained calm, but inside, his thoughts were exploding like fireworks. A Five-Star. A freaking Five-Star.

Disbelief surged through him so intensely that it nearly broke his composure. His heart raced, and for a brief moment, his mind went blank before being flooded with questions. What was someone like her doing in Greyvale?

Greyvale was remote and quiet, a backwater city where the strongest individuals usually ranked low to mid-tier, and aspirations rarely soared beyond the city walls.

A Five-Star High-Level Knight could walked into regional capitals and still be regarded as formidable.

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