Chapter 27 - Fire Guild's Elder, Kaen.

As usual, Edward woke up early and started his cultivation routine with Whitey. The routine lasted until noon, and he sighed as he finished. "I thought cultivating would be easier,". He found meditating and cultivating to be quite dull. However, he knew that there was no other way to get stronger.

Edward quickly got up and went to the kitchen to prepare his lunch. He had to go to the city again, and this time he thought about taking Whitey with him. Yet, as he searched around for the rabbit, he found it sleeping peacefully on the field of Moonlight Dancing Grass. "Is he finally in his growth period?" Edward wondered as he noticed that Whitey now spent most of the afternoon sleeping.

He asked Whitey if he wanted to come along, but as he didn't receive an answer, he let the rabbit continue sleeping and went on his way. Initially, he thought about only taking three or four stalks of Sun Bathing Weed with him, however, he decided that helping Leo in this dire time would be for the best, and instead took ten stalks.

It didn't take long for Edward to arrive at the city. This time, he went straight to the headquarters of the Fire Guild, where he was supposed to meet Leo. The Fire Guild headquarters was just as grandiose as the Light Guild, with murals of pets of the fire element adorning the walls of the main hall.

As Edward entered the main hall, he noticed that it was bustling with people. He immediately knew that they were all preparing the guild for the draft. Edward walked towards the center of the hall, where he saw Julius and a few more members of the Fire Guild in the middle of a heated discussion.

"It seems that you have gotten quite busy," Edward said as he approached Julius and lightly tapped him on the back.

"Oh, Edward?" Julius turned around and greeted him. "You tell me, but at least I won't have to go join the draft."

"I thought you would be more excited to make some merits," Edward laughed as he noticed Julius' expression.

"There is plenty of merits to be made here," Julius let out a deep sigh as he continued to speak. "So, what brings you here today?"

"Just meeting someone," Edward looked around, knowing he would have to wait for Leo to come and meet him as he doubted that he would be allowed to just walk into the Leader's room like that.

"Meeting someone? This will be quite difficult today," one of the men who had been talking with Julius spoke up, his gaze fixed on Edward with a strange suspicion. "Even the new members are swamped with tasks." Seeing how Edward was only at the Iron Rank, the man thought that Edward was referring to one of the newbies who had recently joined the guild.

"That's true… If this isn't an urgent matter, it would be better for you to return later," Julius pouted as he heard the man. He didn't really disagree with Gavin, yet he didn't like the tone that he was using. "I can even help you find your friend later."

Edward nodded in agreement. He knew that preparing for the draft was a crucial step for the guild, so he didn't blame them for thinking that he would disturb them. "Thanks for the offer, but he said that someone would come to pick me up when I arrived."

Gavin sneered, as it seemed that Edward didn't understand that they were kicking him out of the guild's headquarters. "So why don't you go and wait outside?"

"Don't listen to Gavin, Edward." Julius scratched his head as he looked at the rest of the group he was having a meeting with, and signaled for them to wait a bit longer. "What is the name of your friend? Maybe I know him."

"His name is Leo." Edward gave Gavin a quick glance, feeling somewhat annoyed by his attitude, "He isn't my friend, I just came to deliver something to him." Edward continued to look around, trying his best to find Leo.

"Leo…?" Julius closed his eyes as he thought, yet he didn't seem to know anyone with this name. "Do you guys know any new member named Leo?"

All the members of Julius's group quickly shook their heads and returned to their conversation.

Edward frowned as he saw their reaction, but he quickly caught up to what they were thinking. To them, he was just an ordinary youth who would never be able to mingle with those at the top of society, so it never crossed their mind that Edward could be looking for the Leader of their guild.

Edward usually wouldn't take something like this seriously, but the attitude of Julius' friend had gotten under his skin. "Wow, are you sure about that?" He grinned sarcastically and gazed at the group.

"Why would I know some random newbie?" Gavin sneered and waved his hands. "Now, why don't you take your leave? Or do you want me to accompany you?"

Julius didn't understand Edward's sudden mood change, especially since he had always been quite educated and courteous in their previous interactions. "I'm sorry, Edward. Don't listen to him. I can help you after I finish a few things." Still, he kept trying to defuse the situation, as he knew that nothing good would happen to Edward if he picked a fight here. "Just calm down, okay?"

Edward still had the sarcastic grin plastered on his face, but Julius' actions caused his tone to soften. "Julius, you don't have to worry. I'm really just shocked that you guys don't know who Leo is." He knew that Julius was trying to protect him, and he didn't want to cause any more problems for him.

"Hmph! The only Leo that I know in the whole Fire Guild is our leader." Gavin sneered once again, his patience slowly dwindling as he didn't understand why Julius tried so hard to protect the boy.

However, just as he finished, an old man dressed in a more luxurious version of the Fire Guild robes approached them. "Why are you guys wasting so much time? Don't you have anything better to do, or should I give you all a few more tasks?"

Julius, Gavin, and the rest of their group immediately straightened their posture and greeted the old man with a bow. "We are sorry, Elder. We are just dealing with some matters…" Julius quickly tried to explain the situation, yet he couldn't help but look at Edward with an anxious face, as he hadn't bowed to the man.

"Dealing with some matters?" The Elder looked at the group with a scrutinizing gaze and eventually stopped on Edward. "And who are you? You don't seem to be part of our guild…"

Gavin's mouth instantly turned into a cruel smile as the Elder turned its attention to Edward. He pleasantly smiled, waiting for the Elder of the Fire Guild to deal with the annoying man.

Edward remained calm as he met the Elder's gaze and respectfully introduced himself. "My name is Edward, and Leo asked me to come here today."

"Leo? Hmm…" The Elder thought for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh! Sorry for the wait, I hope you haven't had to wait for long." The Elder facepalmed as he had almost missed the guest that Leo was so anxiously waiting for.

Gavin laughed loudly as the Elder finally spoke, but his face suddenly turned white as he finally realized what his Elder had said. "W-What? Why aren't you kicking him out?" Gavin was in disbelief as he didn't understand why the Elder was acting courteously to a boy at the Iron Rank.

"Did you hit your head or something?" The Elder gave Gavin an annoyed look before returning his attention back to Edward. "Sorry for the interruption, Edward. It seems that some of our members don't have any manners."

Edward momentarily appreciated Gavin's confused face and then turned to Julius, who had an even more bewildered expression. He then gave Julius a look of sympathy before continuing to talk with the Elder. "You don't have to worry, and as for your question, I didn't wait for long, and besides that, I was catching up with my friend."

The Elder quickly shot a glance at Julius and gave him a small nod. "Oh? That's relieving… So shall we go? Leo is waiting for you in his office." He quickly gestured toward the direction of Leo's office as he began to walk. "By the way, I'm Kaen."

Edward gave the man a better look. His facial features were very similar to those of East Asian origin in his previous world, but he had an olive skin tone. "Kaen…?" This was the first time that he saw someone with those features in the whole city, so he wondered if the man was a foreigner.

"Hahaha, first time seeing an Islander?" Kaen let out a laugh, as he was well accustomed to people being curious about his background.

"Islander?" Edward asked in confusion. He had basic knowledge about the Valoria Kingdom, where Amberhold was located, but outside of it, he was completely clueless.

"They are the people who live on Sirenes Island." Julius shook his head as he noticed how oblivious Edward was. "They are an autonomous republic, but they are also considered to be a protectorate of the Valoria Kingdom."