Chapter 391: One Month

"When I leave."

The last three words immediately changed the atmosphere around the conference table.

Only moments earlier, everyone had been laughing about Valeria’s refusal to touch paperwork and Boren’s talent for transferring his administrative responsibilities onto Lyana, but that humor gradually disappeared as they looked toward Sage.

His departure for the Royal Capital had never been a secret.

They had already discussed the Kingdom Headquarters, the future expansion of the Adventurer Guild and the fact that Greyvale could not remain the center of everything forever, yet until now the plan had always existed somewhere in the future.

Several months, perhaps longer depending on how quickly Evergreen stabilized. There had never been a fixed date attached to it, which made it easy for everyone to treat the Capital as the next stage rather than something that was actually approaching.

Sage looked around the table at Valeria, Vanthrice, Gregor, Brutus, Caelis, Lyana, Boren, Mina, Leona and Caelista before finally giving them the answer they had been waiting for.

"One month. One month from now, I’m leaving Greyvale for the Royal Capital."

Boren’s eyebrows immediately rose while Gregor leaned forward slightly, and even Leona temporarily forgot about the appointment document sitting in front of her.

Mina looked from Sage toward the others as though trying to determine whether she should be excited or worried, while Lyana’s expression became serious almost immediately because she was probably already calculating how much work had to be completed before that deadline.

Sage allowed everyone a few moments before continuing. "We’ve reached the point where waiting longer isn’t going to accomplish much. Most of Evergreen is already covered, the final branches are being established, and the branches we’ve opened recently are beginning to stabilize."

He gave a quick glance and then continued. "If I stay here until every single problem disappears, I’ll never leave because there will always be another branch that needs something, another dispute between adventurers, another Dungeon Core to register or another town asking for a Guild office.

Silence fell over the room for a few moments.

"Evergreen needs to learn how to operate without me physically standing here, and the Kingdom Headquarters needs to begin before someone else decides to make the Capital difficult for us." Sage said.

Lyana slowly nodded while looking toward the documents spread across the table. "A month is possible, but we’ll have to start the leadership transition immediately. Leona and Caelista can’t spend three weeks observing and then suddenly take responsibility during the final week. They need to begin working alongside us now, especially with the regional accounts and branch reporting systems."

"That’s the plan," Sage replied. He pulled another sheet from his documents and placed it where everyone could see. "The next month is going to be preparation rather than ordinary expansion. I want every final branch in Evergreen stabilized, the regional accounts reorganized so Leona and Caelista can understand them without asking me where everything is, and every reporting chain finalized."

He paused for a moment to setlle."Branch Guildmasters need to know exactly who they report to once I’m gone. Emergency procedures need to be tested as well. If a dungeon outbreak happens near Riverdale while I’m halfway across the Kingdom, nobody should be sending a messenger after me before deciding what to do."

Leona exhaled through her nose as she studied the list. "You weren’t exaggerating about the training."

"I rarely exaggerate about paperwork," Sage said.

Boren immediately raised a hand. "That’s because paperwork is already terrible enough without exaggeration."

Lyana ignored him and continued reading. The schedule was dense but reasonable. She would spend most mornings teaching Leona and Caelista the administrative systems used by the Regional Headquarters, while Sage would take over the strategic and operational training later in the day.

Both women would begin attending branch reviews immediately rather than waiting until their formal transition, and during the final two weeks they would start making decisions themselves while Sage observed instead of leading.

Sage also intended to visit every major Evergreen branch personally before leaving, partly to inspect operations and partly to make sure the Branch Guildmasters understood the new regional command structure.

At the same time, the Guild needed to prepare funds, equipment and personnel for the Royal Capital operation, although Sage had no intention of marching into the largest city in the Kingdom with hundreds of people behind him before he even understood the political environment there.

Pax had gone ahead specifically to prevent that kind of stupidity, and if everything went according to plan, the first proper intelligence reports from the Capital would begin arriving before Sage departed Greyvale.

Gregor listened until Sage finished outlining the month before asking the question several people were obviously thinking. "All right. You’re leaving in a month, but who exactly is going with you? I assume you’re not planning to walk into the Royal Capital alone."

"No. I’m taking two people initially." Sage turned slightly toward one side of the table, and Mina immediately straightened when she realized he was looking directly at her. "Mina is coming with me."

Her face lit up before Sage had even finished speaking. "Really? We’re going to the Royal Capital? I’ve never been there before. How big is it? Is it really bigger than Greyvale? Do they have those giant markets everyone talks about? Oh, and the food must be different there too. Do you think the Capital has desserts you can’t buy anywhere in Evergreen?"

Before Sage could answer even one of those questions, he shifted his attention toward Boren. "And you’re coming too."

Boren froze for a moment before a wide grin spread across his face. "Now that’s what I’m talking about. The Royal Capital! Proper restaurants, proper inns, wealthy merchants everywhere, probably food from every region in the Kingdom. Guildmaster, I knew all these years of loyal service would eventually be rewarded."

Sage stared at him, then slowly looked toward Mina, who was still visibly excited about the possibility of Capital desserts.

He looked back toward Boren and felt something inside him become tired. "I’m beginning to understand why the two of you get along so well."

Mina blinked innocently. "Because we’re fun?"

"Exactly," Boren said before Sage could answer.

"No. Because apparently both of you heard ’Royal Capital’ and immediately started thinking about food."

Boren’s smile weakened when another realization caught up with him. "Wait. You said we’re going there to build the Kingdom Headquarters from nothing."

"Yes."

"And Pax is only preparing intelligence. There isn’t already a functioning Guild administration waiting for us."

"Correct."