Within the Darkmoon Blade, Esther and Lestia held rather peculiar positions.
By the seniority system the girls were familiar with, the one commonly used by people in Japan, Fang Zheng was the founder of the Darkmoon Blade, while Esther and Lestia counted as veteran big shots. Under such a hierarchy, if Fang Zheng was absent, one of them would normally be expected to handle his affairs in his stead.
But that was not the case. The two of them were like background figures, always quietly doing their own things. When Fang Zheng was around, they fought alongside him. When he was away, they generally stayed in their rooms. Occasionally, people saw Esther and Lestia go out and have a fight, but that was all.
As for guild affairs, the two of them never got involved at all, leaving Fang Zheng to assign them to others as he pleased.
Strictly speaking, Fang Zheng handled matters very differently from the mindset of people in Japan. Whether it was a club, a workplace, or a school, people there generally followed a seniority-based model. It was much like state-owned work units in the early days after liberation: if you were older, joined earlier, and were a senior, then you had the right to point fingers and offer your opinions. Those who came later could only nod along meekly, unless they encountered a superior with an eye for talent or endured until they themselves reached the rank where they could hold forth. Then they could finally turn things around and sing their own song.
Fang Zheng clearly did not care about that. He simply put whoever was capable in charge. Asuna liked leveling, so he let her lead leveling parties. Although Eriri was devious, she had nothing better to do, so he could have her