Control Over One's Desires

"As long as they meet the procurement standards I listed earlier, we can sign a long-term contract."

Martha nodded with a bitter expression. She knew it would be a grueling job, but for the guild's sake, she could only grit her teeth and take it on.

By the time all the follow-up supply plans and personnel transfers had been arranged, the clock on the wall already pointed to two in the morning.

Necros waved his hand wearily.

"All right, go get some rest."

Martha looked as though she had been granted a pardon and turned to leave the office.

After gathering the documents from the desk, Homan had just reached the door when a voice behind him stopped him.

"Homan, wait a moment."

Necros sat in his broad high-backed chair, his entire figure buried in shadow.

"Bring me all the detailed battle reports the vanguard submitted today."

Homan froze for a moment, then nodded and headed for the archives next door.

A short while later, a thick stack of parchment was delivered to Necros's desk.

The old man was now alone in the office.

He did not immediately read the battle reports. Instead, he opened a drawer and took out an exquisitely sealed document.

It was the list of interns sent by Violet Academy.

Necros settled back into his chair and carefully read through it page by page under the light of the magic lamp.

Each page recorded the students' information in detail: their names, backgrounds, schools of magic they excelled in, and the training recommendations given by their mentors.

His fingers brushed over those illustrious surnames, and his expression grew particularly grave.

This was not merely a list. It was a collection of bombs that would explode if handled carelessly.

Before these young masters and ladies arrived, he needed to find the most reliable internship teams for them according to their abilities and personalities.

He had to ensure their safety while also making them feel that this internship was well worth their time.

Among the many headache-inducing names on the intern list, the one that gave Necros the most trouble lay quietly at the very top of the stack.

Necros reached out and heavily tapped that name with a finger.

Cecilia Rosenthal.

The only daughter of the Rosenthal family, a wealthy household in White River Province, and a gifted young woman known to the outside world as the "Violet Pearl."

Gideon, that old bastard, had made his intentions regarding this girl perfectly clear.

He wanted the clue to that special spellcasting class path Necros possessed, to serve as the foundation for the girl's initial class advancement.

Yet beneath the information, in the section titled "Mentor's Training Recommendations," Gideon had densely filled the page with advice on cultivating his beloved student.

The old fellow's painstaking care was evident between every line.

He sincerely hoped Cecilia would be transformed by this internship and learn the wisdom of survival that she could never encounter in an ivory tower.

"That old bastard really knows how to give me a difficult problem."

Necros stroked his chin, his white beard swaying slightly with the motion.

Since his old friend had entrusted the girl to him, he truly needed to choose her instructor carefully.

This joint cleansing operation actually had another purpose: to select the adventurer teams best suited to guiding newcomers.

Necros picked up a battle report at hand, glanced over the team's composition, then shook his head.

"This one won't do..."

This was a veteran party with an extremely mature setup.

But precisely because it was too mature, the party's tactical system had already become rigid.

A newcomer like Cecilia would never find her place in it. She could only serve as a protected mascot.

More importantly, once those people learned of her wealthy background, they would absolutely put her on a pedestal.

That kind of excessive protection and fawning did not suit his old friend's needs at all.

He put a large cross over that team in his mind, casually tossed the report aside, and picked up the next one.

"This one won't do either."

This team's tactical style pursued efficiency and financial gain to an extreme.

Though that was the truest rule of survival for adventurers, for the sole heir who would one day inherit a vast family fortune, a profit-driven worldview was not a good starting point for Cecilia.

The first team an adventurer joined had a decisive influence on their future way of doing things.

Just like himself and Gideon back then.

If they had not encountered that upright and wise old captain to guide them, the two of them would likely have died young and hotheaded in some dark corner of a dungeon without even knowing why.

So this first guide had to be chosen with great care.

"The focus of her coming here to learn isn't killing monsters..."

Necros murmured to himself.

Perhaps he should not limit himself to fixed adventurer parties. Perhaps he should broaden his sights and look at those solitary freelance adventurers instead?

But most freelance adventurers were withdrawn and eccentric, and the risks were too great. They did not seem suitable for a young lady like Cecilia either.

Necros sighed and continued flipping through the battle reports submitted that day, growing increasingly irritated.

Until his gaze stopped on a special report.

It had been personally written and submitted by Gareth, a professional from the dungeon, with several supporting testimonies from other adventurers attached afterward.

The report had only one subject: a codename.

Raven.

"Interesting."

After reading the report, Necros wore the expression of someone who had discovered something intriguing.

He rose to his feet, walked to the archives next door, and skillfully found and pulled the adventurer file labeled "Raven" from the shelves.

As he read through the past mission records page by page, a clear portrait of the person gradually took shape in Necros's mind.

After finishing, he had only one thought.

This was someone extremely afraid of dying.

He clearly possessed the strength to slaughter an entire Goblin squad alone, yet when Necros reviewed his previous mission records—

They were all gathering commissions.

There was not a single combat-related extermination mission among them.

"No... it can't simply be called fear of death."

Necros reexamined those mission records.

This person could suppress his greed exceptionally well.

Though he clearly had the ability to accept high-bounty cleansing missions, he would rather earn this safe and reliable small money.

That absolute control over his own desires was precisely the rarest quality among young adventurers.

And judging from today's battle reports, the man was not truly cowardly.

Gareth had specifically mentioned in the report that this person had deliberately charged against the flow into the most dangerous battle line in order to rescue a friend from another team.

Otherwise, with his ability to conceal himself, perhaps no one would have discovered his true strength at all.

This showed that while remaining rational, he also possessed a commendable sense of loyalty deep in his bones.

He could shoulder responsibility at critical moments.

If anything truly went wrong, someone like this would never treat Cecilia as a burden, abandon her, and run away alone.

Better still...