"Is Alice inside?" Anfey smiled and asked.
Suzanna nodded. She moved aside to let Anfey into the room and closed the door softly.
Alice was speaking with another man inside and did not notice Anfey at first. Anfey coughed softly to catch her attention. "Go," Alice turned back to the man and said, "I'll speak to you again." The man bowed to her and left the room hurriedly.
Anfey sat down on a chair across from Alice and grinned at her. "You have a lot of visitors," he said. "Are they all from the Shansa Empire?"
"It doesn't matter where they were from," Alice said. "It's only human nature to try and grasp every opportunity that presents itself. I doubt you are here to talk about opportunists. What do you want to talk to me about?"
Anfey smiled at her bluntness. "I heard you want to create a team of female guards?"
Alice nodded. "Why do you ask?"
"I just visited the women you want to recruit," Anfey said. "I don't know their history. I can't entrust them with your life."
"They won't be guarding my life," Alice said lightly.
"What do you mean?"
"I've considered this myself," Alice said. "More people show up each day, wanting to join us. Can you guarantee that every single one of them wants to join us because they want to help us? If you turn people away, will they just let it go?"
"No," Anfey said, shaking his head.
"Which is why I'm creating a team of guards," Alice said. "I plan on grouping together the newcomers. It's easier for them and for us."
"I see," Anfey said. "Better to deal with the problem than to push it aside."
Alice nodded in agreement. "Another thing is that we are busy enough as it is. It's impractical to expand the army. They want to work for me, but I have requirements as well. Joining the League is the best bet for a lot of people. They will have a stable job that will not ask too much of them."
"I understand," Anfey said. "What I'm saying is that we don't know anything about those women."
"I know. This is just a test of mine. I will only hire those who passed all of my tests. I am certain that those that pass will qualify." Alice grinned and glanced at Anfey. "Now, when the people who want me dead hear that I'm assembling a team of personal guards, what will they do?"
"They're going to try to become a part of that team no matter what."
Alice nodded. "Better to have a team of driven assassins than one of the lazy mercenaries," she said. "If I keep them in the same place, it's easier to keep an eye on them. There's not much they can do when they're under constant surveillance."
Anfey nodded. "It seems like my worrying is unnecessary."
Alice smiled. "I'm assembling another team of male guards. Within those two teams of guards, there are at least two spies."
"And people who actually want to serve us," Anfey said. "I don't want to let them go to waste."
"Anfey," Alice said, turning to him. "If there's one thing the League has an abundance of, it's manpower. Plus, why do we need that much manpower when we have you, Anthony and Suzanna?"
Anfey frowned then nodded. He had never considered how many powerful men and women were a part of the League.
"The twenty thousand mercenaries we have right now are our most trusted men," Alice said. "They've been with us for all this time. We don't have to doubt their loyalty. It pains me to think about losing those men."
"We've lost a lot," Anfey said with a sigh.
"There will be more battles," Alice said. "We cannot trust the newcomers just yet. If something happens, we can always let the newcomers fight and try to preserve the mercenaries we know we can trust."
Before Anfey could say anything, the two were distracted by the sound of Blavi's voice outside. "Hui Wei, have you seen Anfey? Someone told me he came this way."
"He's with Alice," Hui Wei said. "What happened?"
"I'll tell you in a bit," Blavi said. A few seconds later, Blavi burst into the room.
"Blavi, what happened?" Anfey asked hurriedly.
"Niya's here with Shalley and Urter," Blavi said. "Urter's injured. He may be dying."
"What?" Anfey asked, surprised. "Does Master Saul know?"
"I don't think so," Blavi said. "Niya came straight to us."
"Take us to him," Anfey said. He hadn't contacted Urter in a while because he had been occupied by the conflict with Scarlet and Manstuly. However, he still valued him. Also, he knew what was under Violet City so Anfey needed him.
A dozen guards cleared the road quickly. Behind the soldiers were three carriages. Niya was sitting next to the first carriage driver. Her clothes were dirty and she looked exhausted. She kept glancing back at the second carriage and urging the driver to go faster.
Anfey appeared to the right of the carriage. He dove down and landed near it. Niya stared at him for a few seconds, then she pointed at the second one and urged, "Hurry! He's dying!"
Anfey had never heard Niya sound so worried. He nodded and immediately hurried towards the second carriage.
Inside the second carriage were four young elves. They were all sitting around a man who was lying on the floor of the carriage covered with clothes and blankets. The man was very old with a long, white beard and a bald head. Anfey recognized the elves but did not recognize the man. He was about to go and check the third carriage when something clicked in his mind. He poked his head back into the carriage and asked, "Urter?"
Hearing his voice, the old man opened his eyes slowly. His eyes brightened when he saw Anfey. He opened his mouth but could not speak.
"Urter! What happened?" Anfey asked. He jumped into the carriage and carefully lifted Urter off of the carriage floor.