Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 902 - 19: Pasfruit and Forest Red Fruit

Chapter 902: Chapter 19: Pasfruit and Forest Red Fruit

"Out of the ten major mercenary corps in our Guild," said Ms. Sara, the vice president on rotation of the City of Freedom and the leader of the Roland Grass Mercenary Corps, "five are still active overseas and one has just returned to Yarran Continent, currently in a period of replenishing personnel and recovering strength. Thus, excluding the three teams on rotation duty in Yarran Continent, there is only one that can actually be mobilized normally, making a total of four mercenary corps that can participate in this war."

Once the participants for the venture into the Forest of Death were confirmed, the meeting gradually shifted back to the main topic. The meeting’s focus shifted from the nominal leaders of each faction to the persons in charge of many practical matters. Some individuals, who originally had not been promised the chance to take part, gradually entered the conference room. For example, in the City of Freedom, the person addressing changed from Chair Kara to his assistant, Ms. Sara, who was incidentally in charge of the Guild’s specific affairs this year. Similarly, from the Elves’ side, it changed to Lady Rebecca of the Legendary Rank, a ruling member of the King’s Court, who had held the position for four hundred years. This middle-aged looking female elf, wearing small frameless glasses on her nose, had an expression filled with shrewdness and competence. Upon hearing Sara’s words, Rebecca furrowed her brows and said, "Four corps? So, a total of forty thousand? That seems a bit too few."

The characteristic traits of the Yarran World are quite unique, especially over the centuries, as the powerful Demigods often deliberately detached themselves from actual power. Most of them no longer controlled any faction, and even if they had to be leaders, they intentionally did not hold actual power, leaving it to individuals below or at the Legendary Rank to exercise, while they served merely as spiritual leaders. However, oddly enough, since the Demigods started doing this, disputes among factions became more frequent, but actual wars decreased. In fact, over the last two to three hundred years, no global wars had occurred, and even localized conflicts were significantly reduced, leading to a golden age of rapid population growth in the Yarran World.

"Actually, it is forty-seven thousand," Sara corrected. "However, the number of close-combat professionals can reach thirty-five thousand. I think this number should be sufficient for our two sides to cooperate, right?"

"Thirty-five thousand should be about right," Rebecca pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "As most of our troops need to be deployed along the front lines of the Elven Forest and Sighing Desert, our side can only mobilize about twenty thousand Elven Forest Guards. With this calculation, a force of over fifty thousand can undertake intensive frontline battles. However, we hope that the troops fighting abroad do not suffer too large losses. After all, most of your troops are humans, and this is the first time in over a thousand years that we are collaborating with humans on such a large scale. I believe you can understand that even our King’s Court took great pressure in making this decision, and a high loss rate would be difficult to justify to our people."

"We understand your difficulties," said Vice President Kenberg, representing the adventurers’ Guild’s logistical side and in charge of resource allocation. "Frankly, your proposal to form a joint army was already a great gift for us, coming from the Neutral Land which lacks organized long-range archery units. If the Undead War truly erupts, having your Elven warriors’ long-range support will significantly reduce our casualties. Therefore, rest assured, we will provide the best protection for your long-range support troops. As long as our front lines do not crumble completely, we’ll ensure that your forces do not suffer undue losses."

"Actually, this is mutually beneficial," Rebecca openly stated. "If we were just defending the Elven Forest, the terrain would give us effective protection. However, if we need to fight outside the forest, our Forrest Guards without close combat troops would suffer heavy losses. Thus, your provision of a protective line and our provision of long-range support benefits both sides greatly. I only hope that you will adhere to a principle of fairness."

"We have already discussed this," Sara explained, "aside from the four mercenary corps engaged in direct combat, the corps which is in the resting phase will also participate in the war, but as a guard for your long-range troops. The Silver Lily Mercenary Corps is not ranked low among the top ten mercenary corps. Although they have lost some members due to overseas expansions in these past two years, their core strength has not suffered significant losses. Having them responsible for protecting the foresters ensures that, even if the front lines are breached, your troops will have enough time to withdraw."

As time passed, the representatives delved deeper into the discussions about forming a joint force. Pannis sat idly by for a while, casually excused himself to get some fresh air, and then left the meeting room in a leisurely manner. Within a minute, Fula found an excuse as well, leaving the negotiating task entirely to Rebecca and followed suit. The girls exchanged glances, knowing there was nothing there for them either, and quietly followed. No one objected to these departures, even Antuin and Rebecca, the two Elves, just sighed with headaches and pretended to ignore them, continuing their discussion.

"Crunch, crunch," Fula had barely stepped outside when she heard the sound of chewing from the nearby terrace. Turning her head, she saw Pannis lying on the terrace railing, his legs propped up, munching on a bright red pasfruit with relish. Fula shook her head, walked over, leaned against the railing, snatched the pasfruit from Pannis’s hand, took a bite, frowned, and stuffed it back into Pannis’s hand, saying, "No matter how I eat it, the pasfruit always has a strange sour taste. Didn’t you used to dislike it?"

"Suddenly found the taste to my liking," Pannis continued to devour the remaining fruit, threw the core into the trash bin without looking, and shrugged, "People’s habits change, you know. Since I suddenly like it, I decided to eat it."

"Oh? Is that all?" Fula leaned by the railing, inexplicably pulling out a few bright red berries and stuffing one into Pannis’s mouth. She asked with a teasing smirk, "I thought it was because it was Nellie’s favorite fruit back in the day that you ate it nonstop every day. Turns out it’s just because you like the taste. If that’s all, why not try the jungle red fruit instead? Regardless of the taste, you can eat it any time of the year, unlike the pasfruit which only ripens in the summer; at least you don’t have to taste the memories most of the time."

"Ah, Fula, stop it," Pannis sighed deeply, casually snatching the other berries, "I don’t want to think about these things right now. I still have unfinished business. When everything is over, I will definitely give you an answer, to you and to all of you as well."