Chapter 394: Leaving Greyvale

That earned several amused looks from the others, and Mina reluctantly opened the bag. Sage discovered two changes of clothes, a small pouch of coins, a knife, several personal items and enough sweets to occupy almost half the remaining space.

He slowly closed the bag again and looked from Mina toward Boren’s mountain of luggage.

Somehow, between the two people accompanying him, he had been given one person preparing for a six-month expedition and another apparently convinced clean clothing was optional.

Lyana shook her head. "I packed another bag for her."

Mina immediately looked betrayed. "I said I didn’t need it."

"You packed more sweets than socks."

"They’re for the road."

"So are the socks."

Sage rubbed his forehead while Boren nodded approvingly at Mina. "Never let people shame you for prioritizing provisions."

"You’re not helping," Sage and Lyana said almost simultaneously.

The others began laughing, and for a few minutes the morning felt less like Sage was leaving Greyvale and more like another ordinary gathering outside the Guild Hall.

Valeria and Vanthrice arrived shortly afterward, followed by Leona and Caelista, both of whom looked considerably more tired than they had a month earlier.

Sage suspected regional management had finally taught them why he occasionally locked his office door and pretended not to be inside.

There were no crowds gathered specifically to see him leave and no formal ceremony. Sage had deliberately avoided announcing an exact departure hour publicly because the last thing he wanted was to turn leaving Greyvale into some grand procession.

The people standing around him were enough.

Leona approached while holding a thin folder beneath one arm. "Before you ask, Riverdale’sreport arrived this morning, Stonebridge resolved the dispute involving those two merchant groups, and Caelista already reviewed yesterday’s mission incidents. Nothing requires you."

Sage smiled. "I wasn’t going to ask."

"You were absolutely going to ask."

"I was going to ask casually."

Caelista gave him a knowing look. "That’s still asking."

Sage couldn’t even deny it. A month of deliberately forcing himself out of regional decisions hadn’t completely removed the habit of checking everything, and both women had learned to recognize when he was about to interfere.

"Fine. I won’t ask. Evergreen is yours now. If something genuinely serious happens, send word. Otherwise, don’t wait for my approval before doing your jobs."

"We know," Leona replied. Her expression softened slightly as she looked toward the Guild Hall behind him. "Just make sure you remember the same thing. Don’t reach the Capital and spend every evening reading Evergreen reports instead of building the Kingdom Headquarters."

"That’s what Lyana is for."

Lyana immediately frowned. "Don’t involve me in your bad habits."

Gregor stepped forward before the conversation could turn into another argument. "Send word when you’re established. Brutus, Caelis and I aren’t planning to spend the rest of our lives in Evergreen just because you got a head start."

Brutus nodded. "Especially if the Capital has better missions."

Caelis glanced at him. "There it is. I was wondering how long it would take."

Sage laughed. "Once I know what we’re dealing with, I’ll send for whoever I need. Until then, help Leona and Caelista keep things stable."

Vanthrice gave a simple nod when Sage looked toward him, while Valeria stood a little farther away with her arms folded.

She had said surprisingly little throughout the morning, and when Sage finally approached her, she studied him for a moment before speaking. "Try not to create too many problems before the rest of us arrive."

Sage raised an eyebrow. "Why does everyone assume I’m going to create problems?"

Valeria’s crimson eyes moved toward Boren’sluggage and then Mina’s tiny bag before returning to him. "Because you’re taking those two."

Boren looked offended. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Nobody answered him.

There were handshakes, a few final warnings and several promises to send messages, but nothing resembling a tearful farewell.

They were separating, not saying goodbye forever. Sage expected some of them to join him in the Capital once the Kingdom Headquarters was stable, and Greyvale would remain the Evergreen Regional Headquarters regardless of where he personally lived.

Even so, when the luggage was finally secured, Mina climbed into the carriage and Boren began another argument with the driver about handling one particular crate carefully, Sage found himself standing still for several secondsHis eyes moved across the Adventurer District.

The place barely resembled the Gryphon District he remembered from the beginning.

Adventurers filled the broad streets now, many wearing equipment purchased from nearby smithies or carrying weapons repaired by craftsmen who had moved here specifically because of the Guild.

Inns and restaurants were already busy despite the early hour. Merchants opened their shops while wagons carrying supplies moved between warehouses.

Behind everything stood the enormous Adventurer Guild Hall, alive with hundreds of employees and adventurers, while the Mana Cultivation Tower rose above the surrounding buildings farther behind it.

This was where it had started.

Not with hundreds of thousands of adventurers or branches spread across Evergreen. Not with shareholders, Dungeon Cores, regional headquarters or plans to expand across the Kingdom.

There had once been only an idea that nobody in this world properly understood and a Guild that Sage himself wasn’t entirely certain would succeed.

Now it no longer needed him standing inside it every day.

"Sage."

Gregor’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. Sage turned and found everyone waiting.

Gregor gave him a small nod toward the carriage. "You planning to reach the Capital today, or should we bring chairs?"

Sage smiled. "Take care of the Guild."

Leona answered before Gregor could. "Go. We’ve got Evergreen."

That was enough.

Sage climbed aboard, the driver called to the horses, and the carriage finally began moving. Mina leaned near the window and waved enthusiastically while Boren shouted one final warning about nobody touching whatever food he had left behind in his room.

Sage merely shook his head as the people outside the Guild Hall gradually became smaller.

They passed through the Adventurer District, joining the morning traffic flowing toward the city roads, and Sage watched familiar streets slide past the window one after another.

The Guild Hall vanished first.

Then the Mana Cultivation Tower disappeared behind the rooftops.

The crowded streets gave way to Greyvale’s outer districts, then to the city gates and the open road beyond.

Sage looked back one final time as the carriage continued forward.

Greyvale slowly disappeared behind them.