"Everyone, what should we do?"
In a shabby house in Gale Free City, the Sword of Light's planning base, six people sat around a small, old round table. The speaker was a bearded foreign man whose full name was York Rand, a born-and-bred Eagle Sauce player.
The long-haired woman beside him rubbed her hair in irritation and said, exasperated, "Ever since this man named Zhou Heng appeared in the Imperial Announcement, things have spiraled out of control. Everything had clearly been going according to plan before that."
Directly opposite the long-haired woman, Old Woman sat upright, leaning on a cane, her expression utterly grim. Had Zhou Heng been there, he would have recognized her as the Old Woman he had met in Little Bird Town. Compared to back then, however, she was clearly in poor condition. Insect shadows flickered in one eye, and one arm was missing, leaving only a mass of darkness swirling around her shoulder. "Although a great deal has changed, in the long run, Zhou Heng is still on our side, even if he might end up reaping the fruits of our labor."
Diagonally opposite Old Woman sat Longblade, the muscular man carrying a giant cleaver. After hearing her words, he snorted. "I absolutely refuse to let Zhou Heng reap the fruits of our labor. Until he joins our Sword of Light, he's not one of us. Why should we do the work while he swoops in and takes everything? There's no such free lunch. Besides, we can't believe everything that Giant Wolf of Light says. My position hasn't changed: let's see whether Zhou Heng makes a move. Don't forget, there may also be members of Lone Wolf hiding in the shadows."
At the head of the round table, Serna, with her wine-red hair in large waves,