Chapter 390: One Percent Each [ 2 ]

That distinction seemed to satisfymore than just Leona.

Gregor nodded slowly because it preserved the principle behind the original shareholder agreement rather than allowing Sage to change ownership whenever he felt sentimental.

Caelista remained hesitant, but she no longer looked offended by the offer.

Beside her, Brutus scratched his jaw before giving her a small grin. "Take it. If you become unbearable after owning one percent of the Guild, we’ll remind you that Gregor owns more."

Gregor looked at him. "Why am I involved in this?"

"Because annoying you is free."

Caelis chuckled, while Caelista finally allowed herself a faint smile. "I’m starting to remember why I didn’t miss traveling with you."

Once the question of ownership had been properly separated from Caelista’s injury, Sage moved the meeting toward the actual leadership structure.

He placed a larger document in the center of the table showing how authority would flow once he departed Greyvale. Leona, as Regional Guildmaster, would hold overall responsibility for Evergreen.

She would coordinate the Branch Guildmasters, approve major regional operations, handle serious disputes between branches, make final operational decisions that did not require Kingdom Headquarters involvement and eventually serve as Evergreen’s primary link to Sage once the Kingdom Headquarters was established in the Royal Capital.

Caelista would serve directly beneath her as Vice Regional Guildmaster, handling internal branch reviews, mission standards, adventurer discipline and operational oversight while stepping in whenever Leona was absent.

Sage deliberately emphasized that the position was not ceremonial. If Leona became unavailable during an emergency, Caelista would temporarily possess the authority necessary to keep the region functioning rather than waiting for instructions from the Capital.

Lyana’s role remained administrative rather than executive. She would continue overseeing the regional documentation system, finances, staffing coordination, contracts, branch reports and the mountain of paperwork that connected dozens of individual branches to Greyvale.

Boren would remain heavily involved in adventurer operations, training structures and the leadership transition during the coming month, although Sage made it clear that Boren’s role would change once they departed for the Capital.

Valeria and Vanthrice would remain available for regional security and situations requiring overwhelming combat strength, but Sage barely finished explaining that before Valeria leaned back and spoke with complete seriousness.

"If any part of this arrangement ends with paperwork being placed in front of me, I’m leaving Greyvale before you do."

Nobody around the table even attempted to argue with her.

Sage sighed and amended the document with his pen. "High-level combat and security support only. No administrative responsibilities."

"Good."Vanthrice glanced sideways at her. "You didn’t even let him finish."

"I heard enough."

Boren nodded solemnly. "For once, I completely understand Valeria."

Lyana gave him a flat look. "You already have paperwork."

"I understand her emotionally, not professionally."

The laughter that followed helped settle the room again, and Sage moved on to the month of preparation ahead.

Leona and Caelista would not simply receive impressive titles and be expected to figure everything out themselves.

For the remaining month before Sage left Evergreen, both would undergo intensive training covering regional finances, branch reporting systems, personnel management, Guild law, disputes between adventurers, mission oversight, emergency procedures and communication with Branch Guildmasters.

Lyana would handle most of the administrative instruction because she understood those systems better than anyone else at the tableapart from Sage himself, while Sage would personally teach them the strategic side of regional management, including expansion decisions, branch placement, relationships with local authorities and how much independence a Regional Headquarters should allow its branches.

Leona frowned while looking through the training schedule. "You realize you’ve somehow made fighting monsters sound easier than managing adventurers."

"It probably is," Lyana replied. "Monsters don’t submit expense reports."

Boren immediately pointed toward her. "Exactly. Finally someone understands why I avoid paperwork."

"You don’t avoid it. You bring it to my desk."

"That’s a form of avoidance."

Caelista laughed quietly this time, and the sound drew a brief glance from Gregor. He hadn’t heard her laugh much since the Crimson Abyssal Lion mission.

For a moment his attention moved around the table, from Brutus to Caelis, then toward Leona and finally Caelista. He remembered the smallgroup he had originally brought through the Adventurer Guild’s doors after negotiating with Sage for exclusive missions.

Back then they had simply been adventurers looking for better opportunities.

Now Brutus and Caelis owned portions of the Evergreen Regional Guild alongside him, Leona was being asked to lead the entire regional organization, and Caelista, despite everything she had lost, was being offered the position directly beside her. The realization left him strangely quiet.

Leona noticed. "Why are you looking at us like that?"

Gregor smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. I was just thinking that when I brought all of you here, I only wanted exclusive missions. Somehow we ended up owning and running the place."

"That’s because you have excellent judgment," Brutus said.

Caelis immediately snorted. "Let’s not rewrite history."

The room relaxed again, and after several more questions about authority, responsibilities and the transition period, Leona finally looked toward Caelista.

Caelista held her gaze for several seconds before giving a small nod. That was apparently enough.

Leona picked up the appointment document again and placed it directly in front of herself. "All right. I’ll do it. But I’m warning you now, Sage, if you reach the Capital and start sending ridiculous orders back to Greyvale every three days, I’m ignoring you."

Sage smiled. "Fair."

Caelista drew her own document closer. "I’ll accept the Vice Regional Guildmaster position, and the one percent, but I’m holding you to what you said. My arm and these shares are separate matters."

"They are."

"Then I accept."

Sage nodded with visible satisfaction before turning toward Lyana.

The ownership transfers would need to be registered alongside the existing shareholder records, while the appointment documents required the proper regional seals before the positionsbecame formally active.

None of that needed to happen during this meeting. What mattered was that Evergreen finally had the beginnings of a permanent leadership structure that could survive Sage’s departure.

With the largest question settled, Sage gathered the remaining papers and looked around the table at the people who would soon be responsible for keeping everything he had built in Evergreen alive.

There was still one final matter, however, and unlike the previous announcements, this one concerned every person in the room.

"Good. Then there’s only one thing left to settle." Sage rested both hands on the table as everyone turned toward him, and the faint humor lingering in the room gradually disappeared when they saw his expression.

"When I leave."