Pillar of Yita

”Regarding manpower, Mr. Ade, aren’t you planning to establish an Adventure Group?” Miss Hilveld retorted. ”So, do you have anyone in mind for your Adventure Group and the crew onboard, Mr. Ade?”

”Ah, well...” Fang Hong was left dumbfounded—he hadn’t planned anything at all. He was only Level 5, was it necessary to think so far ahead?

But now that he thought about it, it seemed he had indeed never really considered this question before Miss Hilveld brought it up.

With that thought—Fang Hong couldn’t help blushing, recalling the wild claims he had made earlier, and suddenly felt a bit of shame for his empty boasts. Planning wasn’t exactly his strong suit after all.

Upon further reflection, it had always been Miss Sicape who was in charge of these matters after he came to this world.

As for before that...

A vision of a smirking, pesky girl popped into his head.

Miss Hilveld watched his clueless expression with interest and said, ”Actually, I think Mr. Ade’s companions are quite impressive. Have you ever considered forming a permanent adventure team with everyone?”

”Ah?”

”What I mean is, if we plan to build a small boat to test things out, it might not even weigh a hundred tons. For such a small ship, we only need about a dozen crew members, which a single Adventure Group could easily manage.”

In the afternoon sunlight, Miss Hilveld spoke confidently as if she already had plans in place.

”Naturally, Mr. Ade would be the captain, and I could serve as the Ship’s Officer. Mr. Luo Yu is a Woodworking expert, Miss Gita as the Natural Historian would be perfect for the Navigator role, and Miss Atira could double as both the chef and Supply Officer. Miss Tianlan, as a Poet, would ideally serve as the communication officer—”

”Then, as for the combat personnel, Xiesta and Mr. Reed would just qualify as the frontliners, Mr. Parker could serve as ranged support—albeit a bit slim but the rest of our Members aren’t without combat ability.”

”Lastly, we just need to recruit a qualified Healer, a Chief Mage to manage the Guy Crystals onboard, and a skilled Sailmaker, and that should be enough.”

”Hold on a second.” Fang Hong hurriedly interrupted her—this was clearly just a discussion about building a ship, so how did it suddenly turn into this noble girl helping him form an Adventure Group.

”What’s the matter?” Miss Hilveld looked at him curiously.

”Why is Miss Hilveld also part of the Adventure Group?”

”Isn’t that obvious?” Miss Hilveld couldn’t help but chuckle, managing to restrain her laughter as she replied, ”Haven’t I told you before, Mr. Ade, that this ship is my father’s dying wish? Of course, once it’s built, I intend to stay on it, maintain it daily, and look after it—”

Is that so?

Fang Hong blinked, feeling like something was amiss. It was still early days, but her words somehow made it sound like everything was already set in stone.

He also remembered another issue: ”Miss Hilveld, how did you include Gita, Luo Yu, and Tianlan? They are Trainees—”

”So what?” The girl smiled lightly, ”We might as well recruit them, right? Mr. Ade, don’t you even have that much confidence?”

Fang Hong was taken aback—recruiting Trainees from the Grand Guild? That seemed outrageously unruly. Wouldn’t that be disregarding the Super Competitive Alliance entirely? There were agreements between Trainees and their Guilds, after all.

Moreover, where would he get the authority to pull Tianlan and the others into the Chosen spots?

”That won’t work.” He quickly replied. ”Miss Hilveld, you might not fully understand, but Gita and the others have agreements with their respective Guilds.”

Miss Hilveld, looking amused at his flustered state, laughed, ”It was just a joke, but temporarily letting them fill these roles shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

”A joke?” Fang Hong pondered for a moment, looking suspiciously at her. ”If they have no objections, then naturally it isn’t a problem, but wait—why do I feel like, Miss Hilveld, you’ve already calculated all of this?”

”Because it’s better to plan early than late,” Miss Hilveld softly answered, ”Someone has to make plans, right? And now as your Ship’s Officer, Captain, this is my responsibility—”

”????”

...