Chapter 186: Mavelard Policy
***
A week later.
The city of Mavelard.
Slowly, the city's restoration began to progress at full scale. Ashley sold many of LionArk's external assets solely to fund the city's reconstruction. Mavelard once again became the hope of many people.
Even though Ashley still held the position of guild leader, the City Authority Token remained in Ethan's possession.
Ethan would not hand that token to anyone. If something bad happened to Mavelard, he was the one who would take responsibility.
Ashley sat there, dealing with a stack of documents that required her approval, and Ethan stayed with her.
The two of them were inside Ashley's office in the LionArk headquarters building.
"The news about you defeating Silver Star has made a lot of people interested in working with us," Ashley said.
"That can help the city's economy. The more people who open their shops here, the more alive Mavelard's economy becomes," Ethan replied as he sat and sorted through the documents, helping Ashley.
"On one hand, I'm happy that Mavelard has returned to LionArk's hands. But on the other hand, I feel overwhelmed."
Ethan turned his head, clearly seeing Ashley's drained and exhausted face.
He took the initiative to grab a bottle of wine and pour a glass for her.
"Drink. You can rest on that couch. I'll continue your work," Ethan said.
Ashley turned and smiled. She took the glass and the wine bottle, apologizing to Ethan because he had to deal with her workload.
Ethan shook his head. He was glad to be troubled by Ashley.
Now Ethan sat behind the desk, sorting through which guilds were allowed to trade and which were not.
A total of forty-three guilds had been approved for commerce.
Ethan had implemented three different zones in the form of circular rings. He called them rings in the guild agreement.
Ring 1 was a circular area 5 to 7 kilometers from the city center. Land in Ring 1 was the most expensive because the main trading district was there.
Ring 2 was the circular area 8 to 15 kilometers from the city center. The land there was not too expensive but not cheap either. Ring 2 usually became the favorite for Rank A or Rank B guilds.
And Ring 3 was the farthest circle, around 16 to 20 kilometers from the city center. The land was cheaper, but far from crowds and the city center. Usually it was used by Rank B-C guilds.
Of the 43 guilds, a total of five Rank S guilds intended to invest, one of them being Redemption Sword.
The remaining 38 guilds ranged from Rank A to Rank C. Ethan rejected Rank D guilds because they did not yet have the capability to buy city land.
Ethan spent the afternoon finishing all of Ashley's tasks. When Ashley fell asleep from exhaustion, Ethan summoned Lyodra and Neryss, asking them to help sort the documents and take them downstairs.
Surprisingly, they obeyed everything Ethan ordered. This was why Ethan finished the work so quickly.
The sun had not even set, yet Ethan had already completed everything.
"Finally… it's done."
Ethan narrowed his eyes and glanced softly to the side. Ashley was asleep with her head resting on her hands as a pillow.
She must be extremely exhausted.
He rose from the work chair and stepped closer to Ashley. Ethan clearly saw that the wine bottle was empty, as well as Ashley's glass.
Now, Ashley was completely knocked out from being drunk.
Not wanting her to sleep on the sofa, Ethan lifted her in his arms without waking her. He succeeded. Ashley did not wake up at all when Ethan carried her.
He left Ashley's office and entered the bedroom where she rested. There was a large bed with white sheets, comfortable and soft for sleeping.
Without giving it much thought, Ethan gently laid Ashley down and pulled the long blanket over her.
She did not wake up, and her sleep only became deeper because of the soft mattress beneath her.
Ethan immediately left the room, not wanting to disturb Ashley while she slept. His work was done, so he would probably head to the training arena.
The recruitment process for new members had ended the day before yesterday. Today was supposed to be their skills evaluation.
He walked down the stairs and passed several LionArk members. They smiled and greeted Ethan warmly, and he returned the gesture with the same polite response.
Still wearing the LionArk uniform along with the guild cloak because he was the vice-leader, he arrived at the training arena and saw many people gathered there.
The difference was that LionArk members wore blue uniforms, while the cadets wore black.
When Ethan arrived, many LionArk members immediately bowed their heads, giving respect to Ethan, the Vice Leader of LionArk.
"Good afternoon, Sir Ethan."
"How is the training process?" Ethan asked, his tone flat.
"The training is ongoing. We're using a 5v5 system to test their skills and teamwork."
Ethan smiled in agreement. A 5v5 fight was ideal for Guild War events. Ethan guessed this idea came from Ashley, since the Guild War event would begin soon.
Usually, Guild War coincided with the Main Tournament. However, because the situation was different now, the Guild War was no longer the Main Tournament, but just an ordinary event.
Not only LionArk members were impressed when they saw Ethan, but many of the new LionArk recruits behaved the same.
"That's EthanArk. He's the one who liberated Mavelard from Silver Star."
"Besides being handsome, his abilities are insane. No wonder there are rumors that Ashley likes him."
"Don't mess with him unless you want to die."
There were ten training arenas in that place, all within the same large compound. One training arena held fifty people, divided into ten teams.
In total, LionArk successfully recruited five hundred people in the first batch of new members.
Ethan was impressed; he hadn't expected the effects of LionArk's victory over Silver Star to be this massive.
When Ethan was about to leave, Leon and Jill emerged from the direction of the headquarters.
The two of them stopped walking as they stood before Ethan.
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
"There's another conflict between guilds. It's a land dispute," Jill replied.
Ethan exhaled, knowing that this was a problem he had to handle because they refused to listen to Jill or Leon as the scouting and security division.
"Which guilds?"
"Sky Sword and Rose Mountain," Jill explained.
The man nodded, understanding what he needed to do. Together with Leon and Jill, Ethan left the LionArk compound to resolve the dispute.
This was troublesome, but Ethan did not have many options. He was part of LionArk and Mavelard. He was also the one who proposed the land prices for each zone.
It was his responsibility to deal with any issue related to land prices and guilds in the city.
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