"Lord Li De~" Vina's mood instantly soared the moment she saw him. Her sapphire-blue eyes curved into the shape of crescent moons.
As long as Li De was there, Vina felt joy even without him saying a word, he was her entire source of hope.
Betty didn't say anything. She merely gave Li De a slight nod before sitting down to the side with the massive sword that once belonged to Grote in her hands.
This Northern Valkyrie still held onto the pride of being the foremost among Glory's Three Great Warrior Tribes.
Li De gave Vina a soft smile, then glanced at Betty and didn't mind her attitude. This girl might look fiery and seductive on the outside, but deep inside, she was still a little princess.
A bit of a tsundere.
"Vina, how have things been these past few days? Anything strange happening in Green City?"
Naturally, Li De had returned to ask about the players. He couldn't relax until he understood the movements of these troublemakers.
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered a scene from a historical TV drama he'd once watched. The corner of his mouth curled slightly, and he patted his shoulder.
Facing the young maid in front of him, who stood there in a deep blue mage robe, graceful and delicate, he smiled and said, "Come on, give me a shoulder massage."
"Huh?" Vina blinked, then immediately broke into an even brighter smile. She stepped forward a few paces, walked behind the sofa, and obediently began massaging his shoulders.
As gentle and well-behaved as always.
The light fragrance of the girl drifted to Li De's nose, invigorating his whole being. As he felt her soft, boneless fingers kneading his shoulders, his mood soared.
This was life.
Vina didn't find anything strange about the situation. On the contrary, she was delighted, her smile shining like the stars.
This was the first time Lord Li De had been so physically close to her.
Even though Vina was the one managing the entire Crimson Mage Tower in Li De's absence and maintained excellent relationships with Green City's upper-class nobility, wielding enough influence to change countless lives with a single word, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her the queen of the Crimson Mage Tower.
Yet in front of Li De, she was always that obedient and devoted little maid. Whatever he asked of her, she would gladly do.
Only Betty seemed slightly uncomfortable watching the two so close. Left with no choice, she shifted her focus back to the massive sword in her hands, as if there were some complex Magic Array etched into its shiny silver surface worthy of deep study.
She didn't realize there was a phrase to describe this situation, 'being force-fed dog food'.
"Vina, has anything strange happened in Green City these past few days?" After enjoying the massage for a while, Li De pressed the question again.
It was only then that Vina returned to her senses. The scent of Li De's body reached her nose, and her face flushed a little.
"Which kind of strange events do you mean, exactly?"
With so many things happening in Green City each day, Vina couldn't possibly keep track of them all.
Li De chuckled and shook his head. He really was being vague, his scope was too broad.
"Has there been any news about adventurers from another world?"
"Adventurers from another world? I haven't been paying attention to that," Vina murmured, then her eyes lit up.
"But... I think our Mage Tower recently recruited an adventurer from the Lost Planes."
Hmm?
Li De's eyes opened as he turned to Vina, a strange expression on his face.
"When did this happen? Did that adventurer do anything out of line?"
He hadn't expected the Crimson Mage Tower to move this fast. The players hadn't even been in the world long, and they'd already recruited one of these restless people?
There were 100,000 closed beta slots. That might sound like a lot, but Glory was a massive world, the Nolan Empire alone had nearly five hundred million people.
The Glory Main Plane had twelve human nations, and the most powerful of them had a population exceeding one and a half billion.
Throwing 100,000 players into Glory was like dropping a single drop of water into the ocean.
By his estimate, even though Green City was the southern hub of the Nolan Empire and had a population in the millions, the number of players here would max out at thirty to fifty. If there were fewer, maybe just a dozen or twenty.
In a city of over a million, what kind of waves could that handful of people possibly stir up?
Yet somehow, the Crimson Mage Tower had already recruited a player, which did surprise him.
Still, he quickly calmed down. He had mentally prepared for the possibility of encountering players a long time ago. The location of the Crimson Mage Tower made it impossible to avoid them completely.
"That adventurer is very obedient and seems very satisfied with our Mage Tower. The only strange thing is his name, it's a bit odd. He calls himself 'Glory's Light.'"
Vina didn't find it strange. Although the Lost Planes were rare, they weren't unheard of.
Plenty of historical and magical texts contained records about the Lost Planes. Fear and curiosity came from the unknown. But once Vina knew where he was from, her curiosity faded.
Especially when she learned that his Plane didn't even have magic, she completely lost interest.
A world without magic? How barren. What difference was there from beggars?
Glory was a world of magic, magic always came first.
"If you're interested in him, I'll summon him now."
Sensing Li De's intentions, Vina spoke up immediately.
Glory's Light was merely a Mage Apprentice. Being summoned by the owner of the Crimson Mage Tower was a tremendous honor.
Li De nodded. "Bring him over. I want to meet this adventurer."
At the same time, a hint of anticipation rose in his heart. He really did want to see what Earth's players were like in this world.
He couldn't help but wonder, what kind of expression would that guy have when he saw him?
A strange, dark amusement stirred in his chest.