Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 18 April 2321

Time- 09:34

Location- Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City

"What is all this? This was supposed to be a normal breakfast with the Orphanage Headmaster and kids. Whose idea was it to assemble the Bright Lions for this? They are being an inconvenience and nuisance to the public," Wyatt asked seeking whom he should be scolding for turning a normal breakfast into a high-school gang meet. The road to the orphanage was jammed with teenagers in various high school uniforms forming a crowd holding posters and banners of Wyatt's image. Not to mention the city cops were nowhere in sight. Wyatt frowned and asked, "What are these high schoolers doing here? Shouldn't they be preparing for their college entrance exam?"

"Boss, these are not kids from the Bright Lions. You see the kids trying to manage the crowd.  They are members of the Bright Lion gang," Diana informed Wyatt, only to hear him sternly say, "So it was you who ordered the Bright Lion gang to assemble by the orphanage."

"Boss, I know you do not like all this attention but you are the hope of the Southern Region. You are a huge celebrity now. Kids from all over the Southern Region have run away from their homes and cities to join the Bright Lions—" Diana prepared to give a stimulating lecture so that Wyatt would understand why she did what she did but was interrupted by him in the middle, "Wait, what do you mean by kids are running away from their homes and cities to join Bright Lions?"

"Boss, it is not like what you think. There are many troubled kids in this world. They saw Bright Lions as a beacon of hope and came running. If it wasn't Bright Lions they would have chosen to join some other organizations like the Circle," Cindy hurriedly explained not wanting Wyatt to misunderstand that they were up to no good again.

Diana nodded in agreement, and elaborated, "Boss, don't worry we have made proper living arrangements for these kids and most of them are living at the orphanage and helping with its expansion. Meanwhile, we are providing the kids with the proper professional help they need. Most of these kids are either orphans or come from a very bad household. We are doing our best to help them. Not to mention we have found a few gems among them, that we believe will be a good addition to your empire."

"Fuck!" Wyatt cursed, and looking at the ceiling of the SUV, Wyatt yelled, "Why did you not inform me about this earlier?"

Wyatt was mad, not at Diana but the Field Marshal, because it was them who made him the hope of the South thinking it would be good for the Southerners. Now the people of the South were pouring in to help the hope of the South.

While Diana and Cindy saw troubled youths in these kids, Wyatt saw young souls seeking meaning in their existence by trying to become a part of something bigger. These kids weren't troubled and weak, they were innocent and strong. They were so strong that they found a way to look past their troubled past and decide to dedicate themselves to something bigger.

Yes, these kids all had their agendas and ambitions, they could have chosen to go anywhere to fulfill them, but they came to the 'Hope of the Southern region.' They all came here to achieve their ambitions while doing what they thought would be noble, helping the hope of the southern region. It was very much like teenagers joining the military wanting to serve and protect their nation.

The reason Wyatt hated the title 'Hope of the Southern Region' was not because it was cringe but because of the responsibility that came with it. The Southern Royal family and Anna's mother knew exactly what she was doing when she used her influence to make Wyatt the 'Hope of the Southern Region.'

Anna's mother had long seen through Wyatt's intention of branching out and becoming less dependent on the Southern Royal family. So this was one of her means to tie Wyatt to the Southern Region indefinitely. With billions of people expecting Wyatt to be their savior, even if Wyatt could not be the savior they wanted Wyatt also could not be the monster that betrayed their trust and aligned with some other region and forces.

Anna's mother knew regardless of how indifferent Wyatt was to the fame, he could never bring himself to become a traitor who betrayed the expectations that came with this fame. She did not want Wyatt to do great things she just wanted Wyatt to remain with the Southern region. She was mentally binding Wyatt to the Southern region with the fame and expectation that came from being the 'Hope of the Southern Region.'

"Wyatt, I don't know what's the big deal. They are all legal adults. They are free to choose what they want to do with their lives. Honestly, I think you guys are overreacting," Cortney said seeing Wyatt curse and yell. But Wyatt ignored her and waited for the Field Marshal to reply. However, the reply never came. The talkative Field Marshal suddenly went quiet.

"Boss, it is not just the Bright Lions. Many capable people have shown interest in joining the Fine Gold and TSR guilds. Many have offered very reasonable conditions to help us expand our business to the two-tier and one-tier cities around the Southern Region. But we rejected them feeling they were just interested in making use of your name," Diana revealed, it's not like she wanted to hide this from him. She thought this matter was not worth her busy boss's attention. But seeing him get so angry over Bright Lion's case, she decided to come clean before he found it by himself.

"How are these many kids able to move to the Sky Blossom city? Don't they need some kind of permission for immigration?" Because of the threat of the unchecked dungeons in between the cities and overpopulation stressing the local economy, the authorities strictly managed immigration between cities, especially between lower and higher tier cities. Wyatt doubted someone had asked the authorities to overlook it and he had a good hunch about who would be capable of doing that.

...

[AN: Check out Reader's Quest Board in the Author's Thoughts section for mass release.]