A burly old man stood in front of the map.
He wore well-tailored casual attire, and the hair at his temples had already turned gray.
Most striking was the cluster of beard on his chin, stiff as steel needles. As he pressed his lips together, it tilted slightly upward, exuding an imposing aura even without anger.
This was the helmsman of the Graystone Town Adventurers’ Guild—Guild Master Necros.
At this mont, there were two other people in the room.
Standing on the left was a middle-aged man with a sorrowful expression—that was Vice Guild Master Homan, also Nia’s uncle.
On the right stood a plump middle-aged woman—that was Martha, the guild’s chief logistics manager.
Today was the first day of the large-scale joint extermination mission.
The three had gathered here for urgent intelligence corrections and battle loss assessnts.
“Here…”
Necros picked up a feather pen and drew a heavy cross over a location on the map that had originally been marked as a normal danger zone.
“Who exactly was responsible for scouting this Goblin stronghold?”
The old man’s voice was low, suppressing anger on the verge of eruption.
“Did he grow up eating shit?”
“A clearly mutated nest was marked as a normal gathering site? If that team hadn’t reacted quickly and split up on their own, that entire squad would’ve been wiped out today!”
He redrew a new assault route on the map, the pen tip nearly tearing through the parchnt.
“The three-stage relay route must be revised imdiately, or we’re sending people to their deaths!”
Originally, he had formulated the strategy with the most generous budget and the most conservative plan.
Yet casualties had already appeared at the very start of the operation—this was a severe failure in intelligence work.
Necros slamd the feather pen onto the table and turned to the vice guild master.
“Homan, go investigate. Drag out the idiot responsible for that scouting.”
“The punishnt will be posted on the bulletin board tomorrow morning. Give everyone an explanation.”
At this point, the old man’s expression softened slightly, though his tone remained firm.
“Also, for the Adventurers who died today, compensation will be issued at double.”
“Yes.”
Homan nodded, his pen moving quickly as he recorded everything, while silently calculating the additional financial burden.
At that mont, Martha, who had remained silent until now, spoke up, her voice filled with concern.
“Guild Master, there’s more bad news.”
She glanced at the two leaders, hesitated briefly, then continued:
“The supplies sent to the vanguard team today were consud far faster than expected.”
“Especially the reserve hemostatic potions—the stock is basically depleted.”
“What?!”
Necros exclaid, his voice rising sharply, even his beard trembling slightly.
“This is only the first day! How could it be used up so quickly?”
Homan sighed and added at the right mont:
“I verified today’s battle records.”
“Due to the mana turbulence within the forest, those monsters beca abnormally agitated. Their aggression was far stronger than usual.”
“This caused the battle intensity to spike sharply, and the injury rate far exceeded our projections.”
This statent plunged the office into brief silence.
Necros stared at the red flags on the map, deep in thought.
If consumption continued at this rate, the guild’s planned funds likely wouldn’t last until the end of the operation.
Martha carefully observed the guild master’s expression and cautiously asked:
“Guild Master… should we slightly reduce the subsequent supply?”
“No!”
The answer was imdiate and resolute.
“Absolutely not!”
The old man braced both hands on the table, his gaze unwavering.
“Every Adventurer is an irreplaceable treasure of Graystone Town.”
“Every copper coin we spend on them now will return tenfold, a hundredfold, once the students from Violet Academy arrive.”
Necros took a deep breath, calming himself, then pointed at the section of the map that was about to be cleared.
“Our top priority now is to ensure, at all costs, that this training zone is completely cleared before those students arrive.”
“If even one noble student with a powerful background dies, the compensation alone would bankrupt us!”
He paced back and forth across the room, his heavy boots thudding against the floor.
After a while, he stopped and looked at Martha.
“Martha.”
“Yes.”
The plump woman quickly responded.
“This month’s mission settlent funds and the subsidies from the higher guild have both arrived today.”
“Tomorrow, contact Movenna’s Apothecary and Silver Bottle Alchemy Company. Have their representatives co here.”
“Tell them we need to finalize the procurent plan for Troll Blood tomorrow.”
“Guild Master, this…”
Homan couldn’t help but interject.
“If we procure based on this level of consumption, the reward funds after completing the extermination mission may not be enough to distribute.”
As the one responsible for approving guild finances, Homan was the most sensitive to the numbers.
This joint extermination mission was, in essence, a gamble.
The goal was to activate Graystone Town’s cash flow through a large-scale operation, and then revitalize the entire guild economy by introducing academy resources.
But this required extrely precise financial control.
If any link overspent, the fragile financial chain could snap at any mont, triggering a cascading collapse.
Previously, due to insufficient funds, only part of the procurent plan had been signed.
Combined with the tight schedule, supplies had only been prioritized for the vanguard team. The logistics for subsequent forces also needed to be finalized tomorrow.
Ti was extrely tight.
As for the procurent budget for Troll Blood, it was completely insufficient if adjusted to match the current consumption rate.
“My suggestion is… even if we don’t reduce supply, we could slightly lower the criteria for treating the wounded.”
Homan proposed an alternative plan.
“For example, so minor injuries could be treated with cheaper herbal powder. There’s no need to use expensive finished potions for everything.”
“Rejected.”
Necros didn’t even look at him before imdiately refusing.
“This is gambling with lives.”
“You want them to fight Gnolls while risking infected wounds?”
“The quality of potions must be guaranteed.”
The old man’s tone was as hard as iron.
“Only by ensuring that people maintain sufficient combat capability on the front lines can we win this battle.”
Homan opened his mouth, but ultimately closed it helplessly.
He knew his old partner’s temperant—once he made up his mind, not even nine oxen could pull him back.
Necros rubbed his aching temples, then looked at Martha, his tone carrying a mix of helplessness and expectation.
“Then we can only find a solution at the negotiation table.”
“Tomorrow, renegotiate with Movenna and the others.”
“Tell them the quantity we’re purchasing is huge—have them lower the price.”
“Or…”
“Ask if they have any newly developed potions that are more reasonably priced but can achieve seventy to eighty percent of the effect of [Troll Blood].”
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