Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 148: Pride? what’s that?

The innocent horses were sent back by the guild members, and since they were trained, there was no need for anyone to guard them. So, they returned by themselves to the stable located in the army.

"There is still time. Anyone who needs it..." The man waved in the direction of the river and said, "You can go."

Although such a man is unrecognized within the Golden Lion guild, the people did not hesitate and directly entered the river to clean up their belongings. There was no need to be a genius to understand that the man was sent by higher orders to make this information known.

A few minutes passed and everyone returned with their clean belongings, during which time I watched the guild, trying to find out if anyone tried to tarnish my name. But the worries weren't necessary.

After the previous disaster, Fabio seemed to have forgotten about me.

"Now we will continue our march. We will meet up with the Red Flag guild in just a few minutes. Remember who our real enemy is!"

Despite not being on a podium or being seen by all, Fabio's words managed to enter everyone's ears. From their looks, I know that they managed to remember Fabio's inspirational speech before the departure, and because of that, they willingly left the disaster in the past.

'Tch-... I suppose he is a good guild master. Remember your character. Remember your character.'

Then, returning to my innocent and kind mentality, my eyes once again had that special glow of a rookie with high hopes for the future. Anyone who sees me will have the impression that they are looking at someone willing to face the wind and rain for the Golden Lion Guild.

Our journey quickly came to an end, and we arrived in front of the Red Flag Guild.

This guild is composed of 60 members, who possess levels above 20 in terms of basic classes and around level 15 in those with intermediate classes. [Knight] and [Swordsman] were the most popular, followed by [Great Adventurer] and [Warrior] as the next in the pyramid.

One of them stands out too much to be ignored...

[Leandro] [Magic Knight Lvl 2]

[(Red Flag Guild)]

Blonde-haired and sharp-eyed, he is quite handsome visually but possesses a frightening aura. He looks like someone who is only interested in the sword.

Both Fabio and Leandro walk toward each other.

They stopped at the very moment of meeting in the middle of both guilds.

"It's been a long time."

"You're right," Fabio nodded.

'I really must learn to read lips urgently.'

"That time, I was in the Blue Sword guild, and you... What was its name? Something magical..." Leandro said hesitantly.

"Magical Court. Almost half of its members focused on magic, while the rest were like me, focusing on close-range battles. That was the reason for its name," he said with a smile.

"Haa, time is cruel. Our two guilds fell into oblivion." He shook his head.

'While the two guilds are separated by tens of meters, the two Guild Masters converse quietly. From their looks and movements, they seem to be lifelong friends who haven't seen each other in a long time.'

But that mood quickly changed.

"No assassinations," Fabio said seriously.

"Serious wounds are allowed, but not lethal ones." Leandro nodded with the same expression.

"Anyone who breaks these rules will be punished by death."

"May the Solus Temple and our God in heaven witness this oath."

With a serious look, both shook hands, and in the next second, four people approached them.

"They were one priest from the Castemira kingdom and one from the Drial Cenit kingdom. Any wound from the battle will be treated by them. They will also be witnesses to this friendly combat between the two guilds. Any event that arises in this place will be personally narrated by them to avoid distortion of the facts." One of the men accompanying the two priests said such words.

Two of the people who just arrived spoke to Fabio and Leandro as equals. I know this from their looks and reactions. While the two men behind them possess the characteristic priestly garb of the Solus Temple, but both with slight differences.

'If I had to guess, I would say that one of them belongs to this kingdom and the other to the Drial Cenit kingdom. It is logical if you think about it this way; it prevents either party from trying to make a strange move.'

From there on, the conversation seemed to look very fluid, especially since you don't see anyone deny or have an objection; they are likely making clear the way forward for this war.

And so, sometime later, Fabio, Leandro, and the men accompanying the priests shook hands. With that, they all went their separate ways.

When Fabio positioned himself in front of us, he said, "There will be no individual battles, so the deep forest will not be part of this war." He shook his head.

Everyone in the Golden Lion guild gave their full attention to the guild master to avoid missing any important information. The same went for me and the hired staff, as even though assassinations are not allowed, that doesn't mean that the guilds are vegetarian.

"Many of you don't belong to my guild, so there is no achievement in demonstrating individual strength." He sighed and then said "Now, for two days, there will be battles in groups of 10 members. Both guilds possess 60 people, so there will be exactly 6 groups in total... For this, we will be located in space with obstacles. As you know, such a place only allows wars between small groups but not large-scale battles. Anyone who allies with another group will be immediately disqualified. They are battles between 10 people, no more. Let's be clear about this. If anyone is injured enough to be unable to continue fighting, they must withdraw. Then the group must continue the war until they decide to surrender. It will be their fault for losing their comrades, not the opponent's. There must be no sentimentality. There are two people who will be in charge of carrying the wounded. Those two men over there, as you will see... Behind them are two priests. Any serious wounds will be treated by them. As for minor wounds, if they have potions or medicinal herbs, they will be allowed to use them. Now I will start with the division of groups..."

After his explanation, he started calling all the people one by one to form a group and then repeated the cycle with the next one.

Originally, I thought this division would be fair, but...

"Emir, swordsman level one," Fabio said.

The group I'm in is the one that possesses all those young men with high hopes for the future who radiate stars from their eyes and also... have dozens of black flags attached to their bodies.

'My Holy God Solus... If you want me to get beaten up, you should just say so! You'd look sincere in comparison! Why didn't you just send me out to fight alone!'

*smile*

'Hey, will your guild be alright? You're staking your credibility here. Are you seriously planning on sacrificing your guild just to give me a hard time? Hmm…. I say this, but...'

Looking around, I notice that the other groups' levels are slightly higher than the Red Flag guild's, what's more, the enemy guild also brought some rookies to fight!

Both guilds brought fresh blood! If my group loses, it won't make any difference to the final result!

'Ahh, I fell into the trap without realizing it.'

"As soon as you set foot in a location with obstacles, the war will start! Trust no one but your fellow guildmates! Now, split up!!!"

"Yes, guild master!"

The moment everyone chanted that phrase, I was so caught off guard by the shout that I simply raised my arm and mumbled nonsense words. Luckily, no one noticed. I must be more careful from now on.

"Emir, come on! This is our moment!" Said one of my companions.

"We must win! I promised my girlfriend that we'd get married on my return!"

"With the money I won, I'll be able to buy the medicine my grandmother needs!"

"With this victory, my in-laws will finally accept me!"

Emir: "..."

'My Holy God Solus' 

I looked up at the sky.

'Good! I didn't want to stand out, but you guys are forcing me!!!'

It took me a while to make my resolution, but in the end, I made it.

"Guild Master. Wait!" I shouted.

"Mm?"

'- Him? What could he be planning?' Even with such thoughts, Fabio showed no sign of emotion on his face.

Once Fabio turned away, he casually glanced at me. To a third party's eye, he would appear to be a man who, despite his high position, hasn't gone to his head, but... His performance doesn't fool me!

'The glint in his eyes clearly shows hatred towards me!'

That's why, with a warm and innocent look, I said...

"Your accomplishments have reached my ears! Able to romance a woman with few words, fight fiercely and relentlessly, show compassion for allies and contempt for enemies, with boundless wisdom, command a dozen and defeat hundreds!"

After taking a breath of air, I finished my words by saying...

"You are my idol!"

'Pride? what's that?'