After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply

It meant that a major concern had been taken care of by the empire.

Upon hearing this, Monica waved her little fist with pride: "Lord Captain is so amazing."

Lin Da smiled and said, "This badge belongs to the Phoenix Tail Flower Adventure Team."

After the three had washed up and were ready to leave, a messenger from the city hall arrived.

The other party was a civil servant dressed in navy blue suit and tie, respectfully handing over an invitation with a White Dove totem to Lin Da.

"Please make sure to attend. In the afternoon, Mayor Adel eagerly awaits your arrival!"

"I will go."

Lin Da nodded solemnly.

...

After breakfast, they took a carriage to the Inner City District.

"The house is nice, but it's too expensive."

Lin Da came out of Clear Spring Community somewhat regretfully.

They had just viewed a two-story villa covering 200 square meters of land.

The area was decent, only a 20-minute walk from the World Tree, but the price had accordingly shot up, costing a total of 500,000 gold if paid in full.

They then visited a more secluded area, but the prices were still quite steep, with the cheapest being around 200,000 gold.

This put Lin Da in a dilemma; buying a house meant no money for equipment.

He was short of a main weapon with "Spell Penetration" or "Aquatic Monster Special Attack," any of which would cost at least several tens of thousands of gold, not to mention the equipment for Kafni and Monica...

"We'll buy it later, priority should be given to the squad's strength for now."

Lin Da thought helplessly.

Afternoon.

He and his team members arrived at the city hall to participate in the award ceremony.

The ceremony took place on the first floor of the hall, with many officials standing on both sides to welcome them.

The mayor was a blond old man around fifty, his beard meticulously groomed, dressed in a white suit, leaning on his ceremonial staff. Despite smiling, his square face emitted an awe-inspiring dignity that made one's heart tremble.

Looking at him, Lin Da felt as though he was looking up at a towering mountain.

A retired adventurer of at least Star Rank, and above level 35.

"Lin Da, in recognition of your contributions to the larger community of adventurers, after committee deliberation, the unanimous decision was made to award you the Glorious Adventurer Badge."

Mayor Adel, with a beaming smile, took a gold circular badge from a tray held by his assistant.

The background pattern was a dove with spread wings, featuring a raised relief of an armored adventurer with a thin sword held upright in front of him, like a warrior ready to sacrifice himself for the empire at any moment.

"I thank the committee and Lord Mayor," Lin Da saluted, and then, with the affable assistance of Mayor Adel, he pinned on the Glorious Adventurer Badge.

He shook hands with Adel, both men wearing courteous smiles, a scene eagerly captured by the snapping photographers.

"In addition to this badge, the committee has another gift for the Phoenix Tail Flower Adventure Team."

Adel handed over a transparent document bag to Lin Da.

"This is...?"

Lin Da took it with surprise and looked inside the bag.

"Wow!" Kafni exclaimed without any image-conscious restraint, her face beaming with joy as she gave Adel a thumbs-up: "Old guy, you've got good judgment, this present is absolutely divine... cough, cough, I'm keeping it, Your Grace!"

Adel laughed heartily, "This young lady is interesting. The members of the Phoenix Tail Flower Adventure Team are all formidable indeed."

"That's right," Kafni arrogantly accepted Adel's praise.

And about that folder — inside it were a deed for a villa in Goldfinch District and a set of keys!

Goldfinch District, located at the very center of White Dove City, is a prime location where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold.

Those who live there are either wealthy or noble, including rock-level squads and nobles, and the residence of the White Dove Adventure Group is also located there.

Written on the deed, the villa covered an area of 330 square meters... considering the Goldfinch District's location, buying this villa would cost around 1 million gold.

No wonder Kafni was so excited.

Such a large villa could not only accommodate three or four team members but three or four dozen!

Once the award ceremony ended, Lin Da and his team members set off for their new home without delay.

Goldfinch District.

The three of them gazed up in astonishment at the white villa before them.

The villa had three floors and resembled a castle, with a wooden plaque in the shape of a goldfinch at the pinnacle. Stirred by the wind, the plaque rotated, emitting the clear sound of birds chirping.

The exterior features a garden, with a neatly manicured lawn.

Lin Da thought that planting some holly along the sides of the corridor would look nice. The empty spaces inside could be used to grow cucumbers, tomatoes, and the like, available to pick and eat at any time.

Opening the door, the three of them crossed the hallway and filed into the spacious living room.

The interior of the villa was quite empty, furnished only with basic magical furnishings like magic chandeliers.

Lin Da took a walk around and found that on the first floor there were two washrooms and two training rooms, the material of which was a special magic-resistant material that could withstand the impact of Battle Qi magic power below level 30.

There was also a study and a lounge...

The second floor contained the bedrooms for the team members, eight in total.

Each one was equipped with magic amplification arrays of different attributes. Inserting a Demon Core would activate the array, speeding up the adventurer's training.

Monica and Kafni excitedly chose their favorite rooms, running up and down the hallway like two little explorers.

Lin Da went up to the third floor, where there was a spacious activity hall with a podium-like area in front where team meetings could be held, or parties thrown.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, looking out at the clear blue sky and white clouds, a sense of comfort surged in Lin Da's heart.

That such a large house actually belonged to the Phoenix Tail Flower Adventure Team...

The huge change in environment left Lin Da feeling somewhat dazed. Everything in front of him seemed like a dream, unreal; just a day before they had been living in a rundown shack, but now they were firmly standing in their own million-dollar mansion, feeling a bit surreal.

Speaking of which, this was Lin Da's second time buying a villa.

But his mood was the complete opposite of the last time; instead of excitement, he felt a great sense of relief, as if his previously uncertain life had finally settled down.

It was the sound of Monica and Kafni upstairs that snapped him out of it.

Kafni said, "This is way too empty, we need to buy some furniture, decorate a bit!"

Lin Da came back to his senses and smiled, "Yeah."

He looked around the empty activity hall and quietly thought to himself, take it slow, new things would gradually fill this void in the villa.

Kafni was in charge of purchasing furniture and household supplies from the market.

Lin Da went with Monica back to their small rental, to pack up their belongings.

From today, they would settle in the Inner City District.

By the time they took a carriage back to the small rental, it was already dark.

The streetlights in the community were glowing a dim yellow, flickering on and off, attracting swarms of insects that circled beneath them like headless flies.

Lin Da held Monica's small hand and arrived downstairs.

Upon looking up, he discovered someone standing at their doorstep.

From the silhouette, it looked like a man of around 1.7 meters tall, clad in a black robe, looking around suspiciously.

A thief?

"What are you doing?" Lin Da abruptly went upstairs and put his hand on the shoulder of the sneaky person in the black robe.

From a distance, Monica anxiously drew her magic wand, brewing an Earth Bombardment spell aimed at the figure in the black robe.

If this guy dared make a move, she would blast him straight away.

"Ah!"

The person in the black robe was startled, nearly jumping on the spot, and when he turned around and saw Lin Da's face, he finally let out a breath of relief and took off his hat.

"Teacher Lin Da, please hear my plea for help!"

The black-robed person said excitedly and then knelt on the ground with a thud!

Lin Da and Monica were both a bit confused; so... not a thief?

The person spoke at breakneck speed, "Please, you must help me, or else I'll be kicked out of the team by that devil Lia!"

Lia?

Lin Da frowned, "First, lift your head up."

"Yes, yes." The person in the black robe smiled sheepishly and stood up.

It was then that Lin Da recognized him.

Their last 'encounter' had been on the night he left the team, when Lia had handed over a resume.

'Being replaced doesn't matter to you?'

With those words, Lia slapped the resume in front of Lin Da.

This black-robed person, showing no dignity and kneeling to ask for help, was none other than Snow Goose, the current Healer and graduate of the White Dove Noble Academy, Phyllis!

"Why have you come to me?" Lin Da asked in surprise. Since Phyllis didn't want to be kicked out by Lia, he should have been even less likely to seek him out.