Preparing for Darkenth is simple for most places, particularly business owners; prepare food and drinks and profit, whilst keeping hospitality high to maximize the lattermost and minimize the drain on the prior two. As simple as the equation is, however, Valkner had never been able to amass the funds or get an entire party to stop by.

The only issue now was that he not only had a party but had to also account for and prepare the supplies for Tuscetta, Blotner, and Jigalta to keep a low profile and keep on grinding. That alone took about five hours of packing food, giving instructions, and planning periods for them to come out if they needed to take a break.

After that, preparation outside the inn. Part of having sakura trees inhabited by a fairy meant the wood and leaves on it stayed fresh for a long time and could theoretically sprout if put into the ground and properly buffed by a druid. Compared to other trees, it was a special calling card. Obero's forests normally grew best hundreds of miles away from where they were now, yet Val had been able to not only convince the fairy to settle here but give him three trees. Three trees meant he had a pretty hefty stockpile of mostly-worthless decoration branches to hang up.

Valkner also made use of a special commodity he'd convinced Yvette to give him a few years back: a basket backpack. It didn't feel very pride-inspiring to walk around with a basket on his back but it did make it easier to ferry around a fuckton of sticks without magic.

It also made him feel more like the human half of his disguise's identity. An elf born without magic was rare and most of them at least learned a low-level spell or two. Humans and half-elves as a product of their similar bloodlines ultimately shared a combined ability to be born without magic.

The demon turned to watch Albricht, the party of adventurer's leader; many humans like Albricht were born talentless with magic regardless of their station and had to rely heavily on learning skills to try and catch-up to the more superior races. It'd be like comparing golems and elementals: one can achieve something physically great with enough training but they could never fundamentally match the natural affinity for magic of another species. As a human warrior in his late twenties, his stances imply he's not much greater than the standard mark but has had significantly more luck.

Valkner could have killed him in single-combat by the time he was twelve.

But killing humans that make him money definitely isn't a good idea, especially now that he had the ability to actually wield Small Blades. Murdering customers is something even an unusually-cursed, demon-prince-turned-innkeeper would call a waste of opportunity. So for now, Val completed the most basic steps to decorating with cherry tree sakura branches and let the group continue their final talks and planning.

Firstly: he went down the fence line with a ball of Mystery Bug nesting. Over the year, the stuff eventually amassed, and even without harvesting skills he could manage to get a healthy stockpile knowing where to look. The nesting loses its stickiness but turns almost fiber-like, making it a somewhat decent repair material for clothing or for securing things into position that don't weigh much.

The best example are branches; interchanging them between facing upward and downward, Val lined the entire inn's fencing from start to end with the suckers. It took three hours of tedious grinding in the early morning sun but it's part of a tradition in Darkenth to promote "fertility"; branches facing upward are an honoring to the elvish gods whilst the ones facing down are similar to the icon of one of the human goddesses known as Torna, the goddess of fertility. All the death suffered in the war efforts promote pleasing the elvish gods to help regenerate their forests from the industrial demand whilst the humans set to work replenishing their disastrous losses.

It doesn't matter what kind of branches but it did matter that it was on the fence; the comparison of importance is drawn solely from the first Darkenth being celebrated by hanging the branches of the entwood across the Demonic Palace the day it fell.

I miss the ents. Maybe the fairies can recover enough to resurrect their species.

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As the day wore onward, Valkner finished decorating the fence; finishing the fence ate up a lot of the morning but compared to the rest of Darkenth's checklist it was the hardest of his tasks. The rest, after all, were pretty much standard in affairs: clean the place up, prepare one room (his) for an emergency hospital for dumbass adventurers, and cook food.

Tradition says that the best food for adventurers to celebrate Darkenth are foods with high natural sugars like fruits. Cooking dishes with skills was normally preferred but no one turned down an apple.

Preparing the food and the inn, however, only eliminated part of his day. There were still eleven more hours until the midnight start of the bonus and it'd be a good idea to get some feedback. Not to mention talk with one of the few people in the group of adventurers he had yet to speak with.

"Bort," the demon called out as the Ritter and their dwarven bodyguard. "Would it trouble you to chat for a moment?"

The twins turned to face the innkeeper before the dwarf did, Bort silently looking to the pair before Annette merely sighed and kept moving. Albricht, however, raised a fist. "Catch up with us in a bit, Bort. We have more preparations and scheduling to get ready for the big event."

"Of course," the dwarf grunted and put his fists together. He waited until Albricht left before parting them and turning his gaze toward Val.

That told Valkner exactly what he had been wondering since the day he saw him. Even if dwarves had betrayed demons for humanity's offer of peace, there had been extensive classes in his days about the culture of the dwarves solely for the purpose of subjugating them.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"You're in a blood debt to them. I thought those were old fashioned over a century ago, much less nowadays."

The dwarf's features didn't change; most dwarves never showed much emotion on their faces, of course, but it wasn't uncommon to see eyebrows move at least. "I'm impressed you know of our culture. Most half-elves hardly can recite anything besides what they learn in human schools."

Valkner agreed with the dwarf on that much.

"Well, I have lived for quite a while," he replied with a grin. His disguise looked natural but he knew his real face probably had an unenthusiastic take to it. "But... I wanted to ask you if you and your party knew about Gaustein's past?"

The dwarf stared until Val sat down in his chair, looking across the counter and clasping his hands together.

"Obviously, I meant to ask if you and your companions will need anything specific for dealing with potentially facing a Dungeon Worm? I'd hate for you all to face dire straits like my staff and I did."

That got the dwarf's brows to finally twitch. Bort raised a hand to stroke his chin, averting his gaze for a moment.

"No. We can handle that."

Of course, why can't they? But I bet her also knows what that means.

Even though Val didn't have the skills, his ability to play people into his plans still worked so long as they themselves lacked skills. Dwarves being anti-social meant most of them never developed the tactile wit-related skills like Lie Detection or Resist Coercion. Even amidst humans, dwarves rarely had room for telling lies in their busied lifestyles.

But even a dwarf saw through the true ploy made by Gaustein, looking at "Valentine" with the faintest hint of a frown curling in the corner of his lips.

"You're saying the Dungeon grade is no longer the lowest so you expect a bigger payment?"

It took everything in Valkner to not spill the beans and merely laugh, clasping his hands together. "Well... of course not. It would still need to be verified by one of the famous Guilds, after all. But I figured it would be wise to make sure none of you face the same dilemma as we did; although there are more of you, facing a Mystery Bug swarm and a Dungeon Worm at the same time could prove challenging."

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"Adventurers are all ranked on a grade system, devoid of the true system."

A minotaurus woman slapped a directing staff against a board, looking down at the young demon prince sitting crosslegged atop his recently captured hellhound. Although Gaustein was expected to receive educations, most of the demon high-society believed in application versus methodical teaching. Today, however, Val had little choice but to abide by his father.

"Okay," the rowdy physically teenage demon groaned. "And?"

Unlike his other teachers, his minotaurus educator had never tolerated his crap. She slammed her stick across the board and pointed at the listing of ranks.

"It'd be wise to learn these ranks, young master. Don't you yet understand why we have kept you so focused on the politics and fighting of our world? Managing our empire is one thing... but you must learn the threat presented by the humans and any traitorous lot who joins them. That starts with-"

"Ranks." The demon sighed and patted his new mutt.

The beast didn't appreciate the pats considering it had been wrestled for almost a week until losing. But it knew at the very least to not growl and upset the powerful fiend on its back.

"Yes. Ranks. From F to S, the humans rate adventurers based not on their true skills but on their effectiveness using them. In a sense, we do this naturally within some species such as the orcs... through challenges of strength or battles of magical prowess. Humans, however, do it solely on how many or how strong of a creature you can beat."

Her stick slid aside, tapping a crude drawing of a goblin.

"The standard measure is based on a goblin. To become an adventurer, one must beat a single or more goblins during a test. This is considered F-Rank despite their weaknesses, purely because killing the goblin is a challenge with or without most of its average skills. And, of course, why some humans die to even Mystery Bugs."

Valkner rolled his eyes at the mere suggestion someone could be so pathetic. "I get it."

"Good. Then listen closely; F-Rank is where most Adventurers remain for a few years, as they choose whether or not to specialize in single combat or group combat. Solo fighters are similar to the legends about "heroes" but group fighters utilize their synergy to take on a bigger target. Banding together to form a competent group is often the means to reach E-Rank... but over a longer period, those F-Rank forming an E-Rank team will truly reach E-Rank competence."

"The closest comparison to E-Rank," she sighed, sliding the staff to another crude drawing. "That would be someone or a group able to take on a Dungeon Worm."

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So they're at least an E-Rank group... or one or more of them are at E-Rank.

Valkner kept his thoughts to himself whilst Bort spoke, not hearing a word the dwarf said; most likely it had been related to the confidence in their ability to handle a swarm and a Dungeon Worm. Perhaps even two or three of them. It was a good thing that none of them had become suspicious nor become their enemies, seeing as just fighting a single worm with his team would be tough even with Tuscetta's new bolette. Trying to figure out their each and every abilities could end up far more dangerous than anticipated if there is this much of a difference in their strength.

Unlike before, killing them for their stuff just wasn't going to be worth the risk. Especially if they brought in a serious profit for using the dungeon during Darkenth. And honestly, there wasn't anyone he had a big reason to hate among the group.

"... Are you listening, innkeeper?"

"Mm?" Val grumbled, raising a hand to brush some of his hair back. "Ah... my apologies. I suppose I am just concerned that the dungeon won't be satisfying to all of you even with the bonus. I hadn't imagined you all so capable."

Bort, thankfully, relied on his dwarvish instinct that Valkner was honest and merely gave a dismissive wave. "It will be fine. Experience is useful to us but Master Albricht and the others came here to also skill train."

Yeah, just like that. Keep telling me all your little secrets, dwarf.

"Between you and I," Val sighed, "I think you all are quite lucky to be doing either. I'm hardly fortunate enough to get such fine customers like yourselves. But if you truly think everything will go smoothly, then who am I to judge whether or not you skill or experience-farm?"

Of all the skills out there, it was plainly obvious they were after ones related to bug or insect-type killing skills. Or some of them wanted to pick up new weapons. It wasn't entirely uncommon for adventurers to dungeon-crush when they needed to pick-up a new skill or two, particularly with a dungeon as weak as his own.

Today, the demon prince was going to do his very best to butter everyone up. And keep hoping Ez kept that awful hero far the fuck away as long and as much as possible. Tomorrow, the real work and Darkenth begins.