Hilveld looked in the direction Fang Hong was pointing, and not far away, several Invokers wearing the Rain Listener's blue and white cross jerseys stood, but these few were different from others; they had a medium-sized shield emblem on the upper right part of their robes and were draped in long cloaks.

"What is it, Captain?" she asked.

When being serious, Lady Noble seemed to prefer this title.

Fang Hong answered, "Those are members of the Rain Listener Brigade."

Hilveld looked again at those people, and some realization dawned on her.

In Eteliria, brigade members were often the core and elite of a guild, and any guild with a bit of ambition and capability would establish a brigade; some large guilds even had more than one brigade.

Since a brigade could represent the guild in various core competitions of the Super Competitive Alliance, and higher brigade rankings and competition results would attract real investment for the guild and club, it was in fact an important part of the commercialization of super competitive sports.

This was why top Invokers were so crucial in this era; if an obscure little club was lucky to find a promising recruit, standing out with a dark horse performance over one or two seasons could earn it a reputation and attention comparable to first- and second-tier guilds.

Although this attention was not long-lasting, if the club and guild's top management were proper, there were numerous instances where small guilds rose to the first or second tier.

Of course, there was only Silver Forest Crown who had jumped directly into the ranks of super guilds so far—though that was a special case, as Silver Forest Crown had a decent foundation before getting KUN and was wavering between the first and second-tier guilds.

With so many examples before them, any capable guild would spare no expense in building their brigade, using their best people and occupying most of the guild resources; over half of the daily guild affairs would sometimes involve the brigade's operational schedule.

Whereas, grooming guild trainees was certainly very important, but it seemed unnecessary to use brigade members to escort them; at least Fang Hong had never heard of any guild's brigade being so idle.

They were to engage in activities closely related to the guild's interests, striving for tangible benefits for the guild, such as the meeting he had with the Silver Forest Spear elite squad in the Elf Ruins; besides, they also participated in various competitions held by the Super Competitive Alliance to boost their team points and rankings, winning fame for the guild and attracting attention.

The rest of the time, there were business activities and daily training schedules; where would they find the time to waste on newcomers? The Fenris Isle's spring trial was held twice a year, taking up nearly half a month each time, meaning that if the Rain Listener Guild arranged it this way every year, their brigade members would be idle for two months every year.

What kind of brigade could then compete with other guilds? The brigades of those obscure little guilds probably weren't like this, and Fang Hong couldn't think of any reason for the other party to do this unless there were other reasons.

But this time, Hilveld also couldn't answer his question; she shook her head gently, "I can't answer that question, Captain. Her Highness Briana has been here a few times, but she doesn't understand these details either."

"What do you think?" Fang Hong asked.

Hilveld thought quietly for a moment, "Unless the Rain Listeners have two brigades."

"They probably don't have that strength."

"Then that's interesting. I think the Rain Listeners wouldn't have these people doing this sort of grunt work every year; I'm quite familiar with the road from Golden Bay to Cloud Harbor—it's not so unsafe."

"You're right, unless there's a reason for it."

"What could it be then, something serious enough to deploy an elite brigade? Captain, do you still remember the Night Lizard People incident?" Hilveld whispered.

Her voice was husky, soft yet piercing.

Fang Hong heard her very clearly; he nodded, as the Rain Listeners had mentioned that this year the attacks by the Night Lizard People had been particularly frequent. They had been aware of this situation; was that why they had deployed brigade members? But the scale of the attacks exceeded expectations; he knew there would be no lacks of sudden changes without reason, but why did the Night Lizard People's attacks intensify suddenly?

While pondering this, they had already arrived at the destination.

The delivery location was outside the Rain Listeners' supply storage tent, with a person in charge of checking and tallying, but since the last unpleasant incident, a deputy chairman of the Rain Listeners usually came as well.

Outside the supply storage, the Rain Listeners had erected a simple fence, and the gatekeeper was also an Invoker; the other party had come and gone frequently and had gotten to know Atira and the others, even smiling and waving at them.

Hilveld and Elf Miss also smiled back in greeting; the young man's eyes flashed with surprise when he saw Lady Noble, then he appeared very uncomfortable.

"Hee hee, that guy looked just like Brother Ade used to," Tianlan whispered softly.

Hilveld smiled as she watched him.

Fang Hong's face reddened, and he retorted in annoyance, "Tianlan, stop talking nonsense."

The little girl giggled incessantly.

"Ade, are you coming along?" Atira asked.

Fang Hong shook his head; the check was just a formality. He had no interest in these mutual courtesies and would rather stay outside and look at the night scene.

As Hilveld came up beside him, she looked at him and said, "Then I'll stay with you," then she turned to Elf Miss, "Miss Atira, I'll stay here to accompany the Captain."

Atira glanced at both of them and nodded in reassurance.

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