The conference room became empty again. Lijie looked at the messy tables and chairs in front of her and sighed in a low voice. Then she stood up and turned her head. What caught her eye was Qi Lian's smile with a little naughty face.

"Xiao Lijie, it's been so long, are you not used to it?"

"I'm very sorry, Miss Qilian, I'm really……………….”

Speaking of this, Lijie shook her head. To be honest, it was not that she had thought of taking responsibility bravely, but every time she received information, Lijie found that there were many things she had to care about, but she could not get an accurate answer to these things, which made Lijie subconsciously uneasy. At the beginning, Lijie worked very hard. With her efforts, the mercenaries at the Mist Fortress performed quite well, and the reformists were also quite successful. Apart from occasional sporadic harassment, they did not launch a large-scale attack like before. This also made Lijie feel relieved. She even secretly hoped that the reformists would never attack, or wait until Mr. Rhodes came back... In this way, she could stay away from the predicament in front of her.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as expected.

"We don't have much time? Little Lijie? Judging from the report of Xiao Joey, the Southern Legion is here this time. Well, of course, we can't just stand by and watch. After all, this is the task assigned to us by the master. So, do you have any good solutions?"

“……………………I think I have to consider it again……”

As soon as Lijie finished speaking, she saw Qi Lian raise her eyebrows. She stared at the girl in front of her with a playful expression and shrugged her shoulders. "Little Lijie, the enemy won't give you time to think about it? You should have an idea, but don't say that you were in a daze and distracted during our meeting?"

"No, no, it's not like this!"

Hearing Qilian's answer, Lijie shook her hand in a hurry. She stared at Qilian uneasyly, but she didn't know how to speak. However, in the end, Lijie lowered her head and nodded slightly. "I do have a plan. Miss Qilian. However, I think this plan is too risky, and there are many unknown risks that have not been resolved. If it fails..."

"Before winning, you think of failure? You do have the qualities of a good adjutant. Xiao Lijie, it seems that the master has not read you wrong. But... why do you think so much?"

"Why?"

Hearing Qilian's answer, Lijie hurriedly raised her head, widened her eyes in surprise, and stared at the Fire Elemental Lord in front of her in disbelief. She couldn't believe what her ears heard... "Qi, Miss Qilian, how could you say such irresponsible words? If I don't care about these things, what should we do if everyone fails because of my negligence!?"

When she heard Lijie's questioning excitedly, Qilian was not moved at all. On the contrary, the fox-eared girl first shaked her tail leisurely. Then she stood up, and then her eyes were staring at Lijie in front of her. For no reason, Lijie felt a suffocating pressure coming to her face, which made her shut her mouth. Not only that, Lijie even felt that even her breathing became a little rapid, but she did not lower her head, but raised her head stubbornly. Looking at Qilian, and at this moment, Qilian's voice sounded in her ears again.

"I don't know if you will fail because of your negligence, but I know very well that if you continue to think like this, you will definitely fail."

"Why?"

Hearing this, Lijie couldn't help but be stunned.

"I have been waiting for you to wake up on your own. I didn't expect that until now, you still have such thoughts. This really disappoints me. Xiao Lijie... This is not only because of your obsession, but also because I lost my bet. It seems that what the master said is really right. It is a bit too difficult to wait for you to take the initiative to notice this fact. Sometimes, it is indeed not possible to do whatever you want..."

"Mr. Rhode?"

"That's right, actually, before the master left, he had specially instructed me to give me some advice when you couldn't figure it out. But I think Xiao Lijie, you still have this ability, so I didn't do what the master said. But now it seems that the master still knows you better than me. I didn't expect that you have been distressed for so many days and have not discovered it yet. In fact, the solution has always been in front of you."

"Miss Qilian!!"

Hearing this, Lijie finally couldn't help but stand up and shout.

"Why don't you..."

"Why didn't I tell you earlier? Don't blame me for this? It was a very simple thing, but I thought you could notice it. Maybe the master would do this. Based on your trust in Xiao Lijie, I didn't say anything? But you let my expectations down, which disappointed me!"

"Well……………"

Seeing the fox-eared girl in front of her complaining with such a righteous complaint, Lijie didn't know what to say for a moment. She was obviously the one who should be angry... But why is Miss Qilian acting even more angry than herself now? What's going on?

"Okay, let's just make the joke here. Let's talk about the serious business next."

Seeing Li Jie's complex and awkward expression on her face, Qi Lian chuckled, and then she patted her palm.

"Xiao Lijie just now, you said, if everyone fails because of your negligence... you said so."

"Um……………"

Hearing Qilian's inquiry, Lijie nodded. This was exactly what she had been worried about. Before leaving, Mr. Rod handed everyone over to her to command, which also made Lijie feel unprecedented pressure. Although after Rhode left, Lijie did not change much about the mercenaries' actions. But even so, she still couldn't help but worry about whether Joey and Lando would be ambushed outside, and about the reform party to launch a raid on the fortress. Originally, this was something Lijie never thought about, but now, she felt that as Rhode's agent, she needed to have such awareness and understanding. Is it... wrong?

"This is completely wrong, Lijie."

Qilian's words mercilessly pointed out Lijie's hesitation.

"We are people, people who can think, not puppets who can only act if they are manipulated. When you think so, you are actually ignoring the value of others. That's right. You expect to get a perfect plan, everything goes well, without any mistakes, but this is just in your ideal. Reality is never perfect. You are just a person, and negligence is a matter of course, and this is not a sin. And when you are negligent, we will also help you - you just do what you can do, and other parts will be supplemented by us. Or do you never believe in those companions who have fought side by side with you?"

"I…………………"

Hearing Qilian's questioning, Lijie finally couldn't say anything again. The fox-eared girl's speech seemed to hit her heart hard, and she realized why she had been frightened and extremely distressed. Perhaps, she herself subconsciously realized that doing so was a contempt for her companions. As Miss Qilian said, they were not puppets. They were humans, who could think independently and lively. They also had their own opinions and opinions. But for a long time, she was busy walking on the dead end of how to handle the tasks assigned to her by Rhodes... That's right. Mr. Rhodes asked him to take the initiative, but he did not say that he had to teach everyone how to do it step by step, right?

After fully figuring it out, Lijie suddenly felt that her thinking was clear.

It’s obviously such a simple truth. Why haven’t I noticed it?

Thinking of this, Lijie raised her head again and looked at Qilian. This time, the original panic and rush on the girl's face gradually disappeared.

"Thank you for your reminder, Miss Qilian, I think, maybe I really have a way..."

"You made me lose the bet with my master. I will ask you sooner or later to come back, Xiao Lijie, so now... I'll inform the pervert of this matter, and I'll leave you to the responsibility for the next thing?"

After saying this, Qi Lian blinked at Lijie proudly, then put her hands behind her back, and then hummed a song leisurely and turned away from the conference room. Watching Qi Lian's back disappear outside the door, Lijie sat down on the chair as if she was relieved. She lowered her head, sighed deeply, and then turned her hand to take the information next to her. Soon, Lijie's expression became serious again.

"This time, I must succeed..."

Although, she said to herself.

As Qilian expected, even earlier than she expected... The reformist army finally started to act again. After learning about the investigation results of the Starlight Guild from Qilian, Garcia quickly sent his scouts out to survey the situation, and finally they obtained the accurate number of enemies.

"Eight thousand five hundred people."

When he said this, this man who has always been very sloppy and ungrateful, always with a smile on his face, restrained his smile for the first time. He stared at the generals present, with unconcealed fatigue and helplessness between his eyebrows. It is no wonder that although the overall quality of the Southern Legion is not very high, they are more than a few people. Even if the Mist Fortress has replenished its troops, it is only a few thousand people, not to mention Garcia

He is a fool. Of course he knows that fighting cannot only look at the battlefield. There are a lot of "good news" coming from the south these days. First, the granary was burned, and then the immortal army appeared... Hey, when he saw these reports, Garcia was still watching the fun. He didn't expect that the newspaper of the world would return to him so quickly. The reformists who were so worried about being tossed by those messy things were obviously planning to make a big move.

But wherever you go, you can't play well, so you have to fight with my fortress.

Garcia was also very clear that the other party sent heavy troops in his direction, obviously he did not intend to attack his fortress, and it was even possible that the fortress was just disguise. Their real purpose was to go deep into the hinterland of Parfield through his own defense line. The terrain of the Mist Fortress was so poor. Once it crossed the fortress defense line, it would be flat and galloping around the world. Garcia's men obviously could not find enough people to stop them. By that time, it would be almost the same as if it had or not. The territory behind him could not be protected. What's the use of this fortress? Not to mention the soldiers under his command, although His Highness Lydia did send 2,000 reinforcements, not to mention that these two thousand reinforcements could not even afford a sound in front of the other side. The quality of those private soldiers alone was enough to make Garcia "hehe laugh"...

This helpless and distressed expression only appeared on the face of the "Red Fox". It soon disappeared again. It was obvious that as the fortress commander, he could hurt morale by showing such an expression. So soon, a cynical smile appeared on Garcia's face.

"Hehe, these men seem to be really impatient, but that's fine. We have the opportunity to let them see how powerful we are! Don't worry. Although the other party has a little more people, in fact, they are just a mob, so there is no need to care! Don't worry, everyone go back and clean up. When these guys come, let's give the big master a fierce blow!!"

“Oh oh oh!!”

Hearing this, the officers in the combat conference room howled immediately. They stood up on the table and then turned around and left with excited smiles. It was not until this time that Garcia breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat from his head and then loosened his bow tie. At this moment, Garcia realized that an unexpected guest was still here.

"Oh? Isn't this Miss Lijie? What's wrong with you? Oh. By the way, thank you for the information you provided before. I didn't expect that this group of turtles had sent so many people this time. Well, but we are here. And you... By the way, there is also Miss Half Beast Mage. I don't think there will be any problem with this fortress, don't worry!"

"General Garcia."

Just as Garcia waved her hand boredly and planned to ask the girl in front of her to leave, Lijie stood up and walked to him, then looked at him with an unprecedented serious expression. Then, Lijie took out a thick stack of paper from her hand and handed it over.

"This is my thoughts and plans for this defense line operation, please take a look."

"oh?"

Hearing this, Garcia finally turned around and looked at Lijie in front of her for the first time. Then he smiled and reached out to take the plan handed over by the girl, flipped through it casually, while still joking.

"Hey, Miss Spirit Master, I didn't expect that you have such military talents. This really surprised me. Let me see... Hum?"

Garcia's words ended here. When his eyes were on the words on the paper, the fortress commander's expression changed slightly. Then he stopped the movement in his hand, carefully stared at the plan handed over by Lijie, and then began to read it slowly. At this moment, the "Red Fox" had no previous frivolity and teasing, and was replaced by unprecedented seriousness and solemnity.

There was silence in the combat conference room, only Garcia kept turning the paper, while Lijie stood quietly, holding the hem of her clothes tightly with both hands, and looking at the commander in front of her nervously - time passed by minute by minute. It was not until a long time later that Garcia "snap" to close Lijie's plan, and then he turned his head and looked at the girl in front of him with an unprecedented serious look.

"Is this the plan you came up with? Miss Spiritual?"

"Yes, Commander, I have considered it. It is obvious that the other party does not intend to take the fortress. They just want to restrain us, because behind us is the Parfield Plain. As long as we restrain us and prevent us from sending troops to stop their next move, their goal will be achieved. So for this, we must be prepared."

"So, that's what you're ready for?"

"Yes, Lord Commander."

“………………………………………”

Hearing Lijie's answer, Garcia fell into silence again. After a moment, he stretched out his finger and clicked on the plan.

"Although your plan is very good, and I believe in the strength of your guild, and I do believe in this plan very much, but this plan is not perfect... Miss Spirit Master, don't you think you have overlooked a little? This is a very fatal loophole for us. If you can't let me understand this, then I can't agree with your actions."

Hearing Garcia's inquiry, Lijie rarely hesitated without hesitation, but nodded to show her certainty.
Chapter completed!