Chapter 331: Take Me With You, Please

Chapter 331

Take Me With You, Please

Due to the continuous resource hunting by the Setter family to exchange for tol coins, as well as other families also trying their hardest, the prices of many goods gradually increased according to market price mechanisms. As demand for consumption increased, supply couldn’t keep up. In the end, the prices of everything were pushed higher.

This affected everyone everywhere. Perhaps the population would already be decreased due to these circumstances. The weak gradually disappeared one by one. Ellie’s home village was not spared from this suffering. Fortunately, Ellie was concerned and asked the Setter family to help take care of it.

Although the Setter family was very busy, they had many people willing to help. In the end, the small village was well taken care of. At the same time, rumors about Ellie becoming a member of the Annihilation Stratagem Association spread widely.

"Our Ellie can join the Annihilation Stratagem Association!?"

"Is Ellie really that talented? This is fantastic news for our village. Look...just by Ellie’s request, the Setter family is taking such good care of us."

"Yes, yes. If Nara were still here, we might already be living in wealth."

"Mmm, those who have passed are gone, and the ones still here must continue to fight for us. Don’t mention the past and make Ellie recall sad memories."

"I know, I know. When Ellie returns, we won’t talk about anything sad." The villagers talked about this extensively. They realized that their relatively undisturbed lives were all thanks to Ellie, even though she wasn’t there in person...

The problems of the people were becoming a significant issue. Some cities that increased protection fees began to see protests. People voiced their concern, saying they wouldn’t even survive the current year, let alone the next 10 years. As a result, the Emperor had to intervene to prevent many nobles from extorting resources from the commoners, otherwise chaos would undoubtedly ensue.

It wasn’t just the commoners who were suffering; some groups of nobles who hunted in the towers had encountered demonic beasts on the rampage again. Many who hadn’t purchased weapons from the Setter family suffered significant losses. It seemed that the demonic toxin users didn’t want resource gathering to go smoothly and disrupted every possible way!

This created even more trouble. The institute also had a headache. Although they had good news that many professors and students were selected to join the associations, from another perspective, once these students and professors were invited to join the central association, they would have to leave the institute. This would affect the teaching and learning capabilities significantly.

The director couldn’t prevent them from leaving, as joining the association was the greatest dream for many. Furthermore, enrolling in or leaving the institute was their right. This change...resulted in numerous adjustments within the institution!

"Ellie?" One morning, after Ellie had checked her planting plots and returned to the Stratagem Branch, the excited and sad students had to switch their emotions to shock. They had just bid farewell to Professor Nico, who was set to leave for the Annihilation Stratagem Association’ entry test. After joining the test, he wouldn’t return, as he might pass and join the association.

Previously, many students had already withdrawn. The students of the Stratagem Branch could only see their professor off, sitting in rows with sad faces, knowing that their skilled professor would no longer teach them.

Everyone assumed that Ellie had left with Professor Nico and thought she didn’t care about them anymore, thus avoiding farewells. Who would have thought that the young girl would suddenly show up?

"Your Highness, why are you still here? Professor Nico has already left. You should have gone with him. If you leave now, you might still catch up with him on the way."

"Yes, hurry up and travel. There’s no need to say goodbye to us."

"Indeed, this test is very important. You shouldn’t waste time here," the stratagem creation branch students said in a panic, thinking Ellie was too late and had been left behind by Professor Nico.

Of course, the students didn’t know Ellie’s decision. Thus, it wasn’t strange for them to think that way. The assistant professors, aware of Ellie’s choice, approached.

They were also surprised by her decision. When they first heard from Professor Nico complaining that the talented girl didn’t want to follow him, they felt disbelief, just like the students here. But after Professor Nico mentioned that Professor Medik and Professor Lucien also declined the invitations, they understood that geniuses might have their own paths. Especially Ellie, who had the powerful Setter family supporting her—how could she leave her family to join the association?

Perhaps if Ellie truly wanted to join, the Setter family might not even allow her to! There’s a well-known rule about joining the central association: once you joined, even your spirit must remain there. They were not allowed to return or disclose any study results. Because of this, it’s not surprising that many people rejected the invitation.

"What are you all chattering about? Get back to your studies," one of the assistant professors immediately commanded.

"But Her Highness..."

"She’s not going to take the test. So, there’s no need for you to push her out. Focus on your studies. The institute will hire suitable professors to teach you moving forward." Hearing this, all the students were shocked.

"What? Her Highness isn’t joining?"

"This, this, how can this be? That’s an invitation from the Annihilation Stratagem Association."

"Right, don’t you understand what the Annihilation Stratagem Association is?"

"This must be a misunderstanding. Her Highness wouldn’t refuse. Go after Professor Nico quickly. Trust me, go." Everyone tried to persuade Ellie to leave. Of course, Ellie understood their intentions. They believed joining the association was essential, a path to honor and strength. But Ellie wasn’t like them. Saying their thinking was wrong wouldn’t be fair, but she didn’t think her perspective was wrong either.

"Thank you all for your advice, but I’ve made my decision. I won’t be joining them."

"Your Highness...you..."

"I understand everyone thinks this is a great opportunity to join them. Usually, they don’t accept many people, right? That’s why you don’t want me to miss this chance. But...I don’t see it that way."

"If I join them, I would only develop my strength in stratagems, right? But in my life, I interest in too many areas—potions, plantation, stratagem creation. Next year, I might even want to learn how to draw runes. I just want to learn in my own way."

“Besides, I’ve received so much from the Setter family. If I don’t stay to repay them, I’d feel guilty for the rest of my life. In 10 years, we’ll need to ascend to the 7th floor. There’re so many powerful individuals up there. If I want to learn more, I can do it then. Right now, it’s time to gather resources for the Setter family,” Ellie explained her intentions to everyone.

Some students found it hard to believe, but many understood Ellie’s intentions. She remained here as the princess of the powerful Setter family. In the future, she was likely to be happier than anyone else. It was evident that the Setter family seemed even stronger than the central association. They had accomplished things the central association couldn’t. The central association might even depend on them in the future. So why would Ellie leave such a powerful backing and start over elsewhere?

"I understand. So, you’ll stay with us then?"

"I understand as well. Let’s continue focusing on our studies. When I heard the news, I thought the same as you. Maybe in this upcoming break, I should join the family to help gather more resources."

"Mmm, me too. I’ll help them build stratagems. At least we can exchange them for tol coins." Hearing them say such resigned words, Ellie shook her head slightly.

With Professor Nico gone, many missions were returned. Ellie continued to take on missions and receive minor guidance. However, this place now felt more like a mere laboratory for her. Ellie relied on learning stratagems from books. The Setter family granted her access to all their resources, providing her with numerous texts on stratagem creation. Ellie spent the remainder of the academic year learning as much as she could.

The Ares Institute wasn’t the only one affected; other institutions also lost their talented individuals. By the time they realized and stopped celebrating their members being chosen, it was too late. Their future strength had dwindled to only the weak. Trying to recall their members would be like declaring war. Thus, many families had to swallow their bitterness and convince themselves it was a matter of honor and pride!

At the inter-institute competition, Ellie won all the 1st-place prizes. Even in Medication Dispensing and healing, she had learned everything from Professor Medik. Now, her potion-concocting knowledge was at level 3, so creating level 2-star potions was no challenge for her. Moreover, many talented students from each institute had been recruited, making it easy to defeat the remaining ones.

The academic year ended quickly. Ellie returned to the Setter family, as did others to their families. This was the first year of resource gathering, but they had already encountered many problems.

Only the Setter family seemed to handle everything with ease. They continuously conquered cities as if they never intended to leave any behind. Everyone knew that if they didn’t take over these cities now, they wouldn’t be able to reclaim them after 10 years. However, their speed was ruthless.

Fortunately, the Setter family wasn’t too selfish. They only seized cities on the higher floors, ones that others wouldn’t be able to seize even after 10 years. Thus, there was news that other families managed to claim some cities for themselves. Although their speed couldn’t match the Setter family’s, it was still significant, especially compared to the time before the 10-year announcement. It seemed everyone was going all in.

"My lady, the institute is finally closed," Selin said, welcoming her. She still assumed Ellie would eat, sleep, and then eat again, as she had before, because she had always been studying so hard. But she never thought Ellie would no longer behave as lazily as before.

"Mmm, I’ll rest for a day. Tomorrow, I’ll enter the tower. Please prepare some sweets for me to take along."

"Huh? My lady...won’t you take a break? You just..."

"No, there’s still much to do."

"Ah...understood, my lady. I’ll have the kitchen prepare plenty of food and sweets for you." Selin really wanted to wipe away her tears. Was the young lady of the house now just like the others? The second young lord also said he would rest for just one day and then join the family’s efforts to gather resources. It seemed no one had any free time, leaving the maids, who wanted to work, with nothing to do once again.

"Why do you have that expression?" Ellie paused slightly when she saw Selin and the 7 other maids waiting to serve her.

“Uh...”

“My lady, may I speak frankly? It might be impolite, but...could you please take us to the tower with you? Let us serve you as we should. Nowadays, all we do is eat and sleep, sleep and eat. Our duty is to serve you, my lady. No one dares to give us any other tasks.”

“That’s right, my lady. We’ve been waiting to work all year. It’s rare for you to return and let us serve you, and now you’re leaving again...we...”

“Y-You all!” Selin wanted to scold everyone for speaking so willfully, but she also felt the same as the others. Every day was just eating and sleeping, and they were still getting paid. Naturally, everyone felt guilty for not working.

“My lady...if you don’t trust us, you can make a slave contract. We’re willing to do it.”

“Yes, that’s right. We heard there are people at the tower who serve you, right? They were bound by slave contracts for trust, weren’t they? So please, do the same for us.”

“My lady, don’t you want sweets after working hard? Even though we can’t fight, we can wait in the city and cook for you.”

“That’s right, we can massage you to help you relax after you fight.”

“We can brew fragrant tea, make sweet treats, and prepare warm baths for you, my lady.” Each one quickly offered their suggestions, making Ellie swallow involuntarily.

Not out of greed or desire for comfort, but to honor their wishes, Ellie decided to make slave contracts with her caretakers. Although it seemed a bit unethical, the 7 of them were more excited and happier than ever!