Chapter 329: Establishing a Branch of Yorozuya

Lant was currently facing a major life choice: to remain at the Odd Job Shop or move to Kendall Manor (the external name for the Wizard Tower).

Staying at the Odd Job Shop meant he could follow his two teachers, Will and Lilith, for most evenings.

Even though they no longer assigned him mandatory homework and only allowed him to observe, he still benefited greatly.

While it was true they were only Level 1 Wizard Apprentices, the depth of their current research had already touched the fringes of Level 3 Wizard Apprenticeship, and they had thoroughly studied most of what Level 2 Wizard Apprentices learned.

He was a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, but not an all-rounder with vast knowledge.

From the beginning, his goal was to build a solid foundation in all aspects, then focus on developing his specialties and firmly follow the path of a Bloodline Wizard.

Will and Lilith had already designed this path for him up to the Level 3 Wizard Apprentice stage; he only needed to follow their previous guidance step by step.

At the Odd Job Shop, apart from doing odd jobs, there wasn’t much meaningful work left for him.

The current research of his two teachers was too profound and mostly not in his future development direction, so continuing to stay here would only be a waste of time.

The city was, after all, not the outskirts, nor comparable to Kendall Manor, which was a holy land for wizard cultivation.

Various conditions were already basically complete there, and even official wizards had expressed willingness to accept him.

“If I leave, what about the chores at the Odd Job Shop?”

During his year-plus here, Lant had forged deep friendships with everyone at the Odd Job Shop, especially with the police dog, who shared the same canine bloodline.

The two often had a couple of drinks together, and, incidentally, dragged Meat Mountain along, as they couldn’t enjoy themselves without the great chef.

“No one is chasing you away; you are still a member of the Odd Job Shop, and that will never change unless you actively leave.

The order within the city is largely stable; the Beastmaster, Catwoman, and Police Dog can pretty much handle it.”

“On the contrary, influenced by the alien race (non-human races) in Mabuster County, some anomalies have appeared in many places outside Drake City.

I’ve been tasked with investigating and resolving this matter, so I want to take this opportunity to split the Odd Job Shop into two parts.

We’ll establish a branch of the Odd Job Shop in Rose Knight Territory, led by you, utilizing wizard apprentices and the mercenaries there as resources.” Will’s words made Lant slightly stunned.

Lant was no longer the naive fool he was over a year ago; having read countless books, he was now well-informed, and his handling of tasks and intelligence information at the Odd Job Shop was vastly improved.

He immediately reacted, “Is this the official communication channel between Drake’s high-ranking officials and the Wizard’s Holy Land?”

“A semi-official channel, it helps to alleviate some of Sister Molly’s burden.

Major matters are initiated and negotiated by Grand Knight Wright and Sister Molly, while ordinary matters are handled through your branch, by posting and accepting tasks for the wizard apprentices in the Wizard Tower.”

“This is a branch of the Odd Job Shop, yet it feels a bit like a mercenary guild, but the task acceptance requirements are stricter, and the identity and qualifications of those accepting tasks are more stringent.

At the same time, Sister Molly will provide two high-level warriors as your assistants.

I’ll spare one Cat-person high-level warrior to help, and you can also request assistance from the Drake City Odd Job Shop.”

Will couldn’t help but shake his head slightly here, “If even the wizards inside the Wizard Tower can’t solve it, the city’s Odd Job Shop certainly can’t.

However, you can share some of the tasks issued by the Wizard Tower with us; we have an advantage in city matters.”

Lant nodded lightly, “Who will take over my current work?”

“For now, Swallow will take over.” Will thought for a moment, feeling it would be better to train Swallow.

This sixteen-year-old bloodline awakened individual, whose strength had advanced rapidly under Nicole’s training and was almost touching the threshold of an intermediate warrior, was currently the weakest in terms of combat power at the Odd Job Shop.

She could develop in intelligence gathering and analysis.

How many people in the Odd Job Shop had received formal education?

Will, Lilith, Swallow, and Sister Molly—only these four had received advanced education.

There was an old painter before, but unfortunately, he went to the city hall to enjoy a comfortable life.

The Black Merchant couldn’t settle down, Ice Block had communication issues, Meat Mountain dropped out of middle school to become a chef, and everyone else was self-taught.

There was one other person who could also handle it, but unfortunately, all her energy was focused on Will, and she paid no attention to other matters.

That was the girl Rhea, the half-elf maiden who aspired to be the mother of the future Elf King.

You, the Redeemer?

Haha, although he was nominally part of the Odd Job Shop, he spent more than half his time in the church.

Even if he was willing, Count Bordeaux would not let the Odd Job Shop’s leadership fall into the church’s hands, so he was directly passed over.

“This holiday, our focus will shift outside the city; we will concentrate our efforts on consolidating the Rose Knight Territory.

Only Swallow, the Beastmaster, Catwoman, Meat Mountain, Ice Block, Blood Bat, the Redeemer, and Stone will remain in the city.”

“Lilith, Rhea, Black Merchant, Luo, Nicole, the Police Dog, and even Sister Molly will come with me.

With our support, I presume the establishment of this branch won’t be a big problem, right?” Will said, his gaze fixed on Lant.

The latter nodded slightly after a moment of thought: “If possible, please leave the Police Dog in the city.”

Will gave Lant a deep look, then nodded in agreement.

Lant and the Police Dog had the best relationship at the Odd Job Shop, and not letting the Police Dog go out wasn’t because he had an issue with him, but rather out of concern.

After all, the Police Dog had a family, and the Rose Knight Territory was truly too remote, making daily commutes inconvenient.

Lant didn’t want the Police Dog to have no time to spend with his family.

“The planning for Rose Knight Territory is simple: it will be a gathering place for extraordinary individuals, and we will try our best to prevent ordinary people from discovering its secrets.

Checkpoints will be set up quite strictly.”

“The former Wild Wolf Mercenary Group, now the Rose Knight Territory Guard, will have all high-level professionals automatically become part of this branch, just with more freedom.”

“All wizard apprentices Level 2 and above are qualified to become members, provided they have a recommendation from an official wizard or an old member.”

Will’s words were slow but heavy: “The strength of this branch will even surpass that of the headquarters.

Besides the tasks assigned by the main branch, fulfilling the needs of the Wizard Tower is paramount.”

“Rose Knight Territory is, in fact, the outer barrier of the Wizard Tower, and Sister Molly is the Wizard Tower’s interface to the outside world.

From now on, you can be considered half of that.” This was a lucrative position, and Lant hesitated for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.

This was indeed the most suitable role for him, and he was also the most suitable person for this position.

To communicate with wizards, a wizard was most appropriate, and he held two positions: he was both a wizard and a member of the Odd Job Shop.

He could gain recognition from the Wizard Tower and trust from the Odd Job Shop, considering that he had spent most of his time here over the past year.

He only met with those excellent Level 3 Wizard Apprentices once every half a month, except for those who came for training.

Three months of interaction with each person was quite good, but later, fewer and fewer of those people came.

Not everyone trusted two Level 1 Wizard Apprentices; relatively speaking, they trusted official wizards more.

Will had heard Lant mention the specific situation and generally knew some things.

Carris, Lant, and the later potion apprentice had indeed made significant contributions in this regard.

After gaining benefits, he tried every possible way to obstruct others during their training.

This clearly showed that he didn’t want these people to become too close to him, so that when they came to seek his guidance in the future, they wouldn’t even be able to get through the door.

This holiday, as soon as Will and Lilith announced their arrival at Rose Knight Territory, Carris and the potion apprentice had already arranged their accommodation and even begun to premeditatedly divide their free time.

Lant was even smarter; no matter who you were or who you sought guidance from the two teachers, he would listen in.

Anyway, he didn’t have any special skills and didn’t mind accumulating more knowledge.

Even if he didn’t need it temporarily, recording it down and exchanging resources with others was good.

Over the past year, the amount of information Lant had accumulated was immense; with this data, he was qualified to be a lecturer for Level 1 and 2 Wizard Apprentices.