An attic- that was the first thing that came to Jacob's mind when he first passed through the entrance of the tent. There were a lot of things here and a brief turn of his head right led to the sight of a bunch of baubles, trinkets, extra pieces of armor, an actual sword rack, a few tools, bags, and sets of clothing. That last one reminded him once again that he really needed to buy an entire wardrobe for himself with his money.

Come to think of it, there should be magical bags that are larger on the inside on this world right? Where would such things be sold... Jacob frowned, 'A large city.' He thought dully. He's gonna have to go and see the Duke doesn't he?

He cursed himself silently all the while smiling at the blonde in front of him, the man was standing in front of a table with a map placed on it, both his arms were pressed against the table as he leaned against the oaken object. The clothes that he wore were simplistic and woolen. A brown vest at the torso with a visible white shirt underneath and a pair of pants with the same color as the vest. He smiled and nodded in greeting, "Jacob. Gatian." He threw his hands away from the table and moved towards the pair, "I think this is a great time to introduce myself formally-"

He raised a hand, "I'm Kaxa."

"Jacob," Jacob answered, and without breaking stride from hearing the strange name, he shook Kaxa's hand.

"And that right there is Gatian." The two of them turned to the now helmetless knight right next to them, Gatian looked young, Jacob noticed, just barely past his twenties. If he were t guess, the guy was probably 21 or 22, somewhere in that range. "Gatian, Jacob."

Gatian bowed, "It is nice formally meeting you, sir."

Kaxa's smile turned warm and he addressed the young knight before dismissing him, Gatian bowed and said thank you in response before stripping off all of his armor and putting them on a stand to their left. Jacob stared at the rather sparse area that is the left side of the tent, because if the right is full of random stuff packed tightly in such a small space, the left side is the complete opposite: It was spacious, with enough room to fit an entire wagon full of loot as well as four different sleeping bags the size of a small bed, at the back is also a small kitchenette- well, that would be too generous of a description because in truth, it was just a pot hanging from two sticks on top of a dead fire pit.

"Likewise," Jacob replied before turning back to Kaxa. As he and Gatian made their way here, he had thought about what he wanted to say in denial to the knight's request and after a bit of thinking, he eventually decided that being blunt is better than dancing around the topic, "Can you tell the Duke that I have a plot of land already bought in this village?"

Kaxa's smiling expression turned sullen but it quickly went away as he nodded, "I- it's good that you already bought one." He replied, "This village is quiet enough that someone of your power can live here comfortably for the rest of their lives without any problems. Good choice."

"Thanks." Jacob replied as he followed Kaxa back to the table with the map, "I hope that actually does happen though." Living comfortably didn't sound so bad but that rarely happens in a fantasy world. Chances are, somewhere around the 7th or 9th year of his stay inside this village, an attack would happen, whether it's bandits, kingdoms going to war (which he personally thinks has the higher chances of happening,) or even a dragon dropping by randomly.

Advanced or not, this world is not the same as modern earth and with the abundance of forests, plains, and actual monsters, the peace getting shattered is bound to happen. It's only a matter of when, not if.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I hope so too," the knowing smile of the knight told Jacob all he needed to know about the guy's opinion when it comes to the topic. "Though rest assured that this village may have been attacked thrice in the past-" And there it goes, an actual statistic. Thrice means that it's what? Inevitable that the village will get attacked in the future? "- but know that the people of Yarya have always risen to the challenge and beaten back the odds, with you, I am sure that the odds are higher, the challenge easier."

"Same goes for the Dungeon, really," Jacob replied, steering the conversation to not of compliments and back-handed attempts at making him go and see the Duke, but the opposite. The question of- 'what would I say when I want to convince him that I should stay.' - had been asked by Jacob repeatedly and the answer that he came up with is this.

He met Kaxa's eyes, "If I stay here, I can make clearing the Dungeon much more efficient." He said seriously, "And not to mention-"

"Get it to crack." Kaxa said with a nod, "I know just how big of an impact you can have by living here. The Duke does as well," He said, "In fact, he and his two scribes along with his secretary have talked about the possible benefits your presence here can have to the city, and from their conclusions, they came to realize that you can raise the loot we get from the Dungeon by 54%." He explained, "And not only that, they can also reduce the cost by a very large margin by cutting the hiring."

Jacob... thought about what the last part could possibly mean for the villagers here and frowned- which he had to hold back in favor of smiling.

Putting a bit more thought into it, Jacob saw that it wouldn't be so bad in the long term- that is right as long as he uses the plot of land that he bought right. With it, he can hire people to work for him, and when his stuff grows enough? He can cut the prices and lower it big enough to matter because if his main income is the Dungeon, then his farm can be secondary.

Assuming that he earns enough money from it, that is.

Jacob met Kaxa's eyes, "And if I'm so efficient, how much would it be for me?"

"17%." The knight answered and Jacob thought that's good enough. That's a lot, actually.

Jacob leaned back, relaxed. "Fair enough. I'll take it."

To most, 17% probably didn't sound like much and it isn't. Sort of. That sort of number can only really matter when one is dealing with a lot of numbers and that's exactly what's happening right now, and Jacob, knowing full well just how big a 17% share in his father's company is, is more than satisfied to get it on a Dungeon that produces a small mountain of silver coins after getting cleared. Something like that probably wouldn't even reach the average villager and Jacob is getting it only after spending a day inside the village.

"I expect you to." Kaxa said, "And so did the Duke. He said that your share is the largest after his own 40%."

"And yours?" Jacob asked, "How much do you four get for this?"

Kaxa rubbed the back of his neck, "Well... 5%." He answered, "it's basically 20% split four ways, though again, with you around, its definitely gonna drop down to 10% as the Duke only invests two knights for the monthly expedition."

"I can see that happening." Jacob said with a nod, "Efficiency and all that."

Kaxa nodded, "Exactly. Which is why Jacob- if you can do so much by staying in this village, how much do you think you can influence when you leave it?"

"Not much," Jacob answered quickly, not bothering to really hide his strong opinion about the matter. The world is vast, and a fantasy world even more so, some dragon somewhere can beat him without much effort while some random Orc chieftain can probably feed him his own teeth just because Jacob looked at him funny.

"Be optimistic," Kaxa refuted, "You can change things, especially with that [Shield] of yours, that thing can tank the boss' hits so many times that my own [Knight's Shield] pales in comparison to what it can do." Kaxa sighed, "And that's not mentioning that you can cast it multiple times."

"I know my limits." Jacob retorted before any suspicion of him not knowing his own power sprouts, "And believe me when I say that most of the time? I'm gonna end up useless against actual threats that matter."

"Threats like what?" Kaxa asked with a confused tone.

"A [Crime Lord] can do quick work of me. It's not even a fight." He answered.

"Well of course, [Mage]s are weak to quick and dextrous classes, that's a given. But I bet you can hold off for quite a while thanks to your [Shield] anyway."

"Possibly." Jacob said neutrally, "But again, threats like that-"

He was cut off when the ball at the center of the table started to glow red. "What's that?" He asked.

"The Duke. He's checking in." Answers Kaxa.