A few days had passed. Isaiah stood in front of the construction site. A lot of expenses that he didn't expect had come up, and he was low on funds. Since it was such a prosperous square that the construction took place, he had to pay quite a sum to get a building permit.

While he had gotten quite a bit from his inheritance and the Mana Boost Formation he sold, he was still barely making ends meet. However, he also knew that there was no free meal, and he wouldn't get anywhere without taking risks.

Just as he was lost in his thoughts, looking at the large chunks of white silver slowly being manipulated with magic and sculpted into the desired shape for the building, a woman came near him.

Isaiah turned his gaze to face hers, "Good job on the progress, Amelia. It's progressing faster than I imagined." Amelia was the daughter of the construction company's owner, Amelia Goliath. Both her hair and eyes were silver in color, coupled with her pale complexion, giving her a unique sense of beauty. Her physique was toned, however, her body still conserved her curves, which was a commonality between all the women in this universe, and not just the women. He had yet to see an overweight individual here; he wondered what could have caused this. The obvious answer was mana, but was the answer that simple? He wondered.

Amelia nodded, "Our people are very excited to work on such an... eccentric project." When she first saw the blueprints for the building, she was shocked. It truly didn't fit the simple but powerful style of architecture that Silver City housed. However, her job wasn't to meddle in her customers' business.

"I'm thinking of adding a spear on the hand that's lifted, a spear the size of the entire building. What do you say?" Amelia was startled. Was he joking? "We would first have to get a permit for that, Sir, and tha-" Isaiah cut her off with laughter. He said while patting her shoulder, "I was just joking, but I like your spirit."

As they were making small talk, a man walked towards them, followed by two other men. He wore a full black suit and sunglasses. Other than that, he looked pretty unimpressive. One thing was clear; he didn't have good intentions. The aura he let off made Amelia go weak in her knees, which prompted Isaiah to let out his aura. Two auras clashed in the air, causing gusts of mana to emerge.

Isaiah smirked and raised his arm. His palm, covered in blinding light, struck fear into the man, who utilized his mana and put up a shielding spell. A wall made of rocks rose in front of him. He had heard of the Light Cannon spell of the assassin and instinctively put up the barrier when he saw Isaiah's palm covered in blinding light.

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However, all that came out of Isaiah's palm was simple light, akin to a torch. "Could it be Mr. Strike is afraid of light?" he mocked his overly cautious behavior. "If so, I advise you not to walk around in daytime, as sunlight might scar you for life." He laughed loudly.

Oppel let the rock wall crumble, then fixed his suit. "I just came to congratulate you on your acquisition," he laughed and continued, "But be careful; there are wolves waiting to jump at you. This area is not a safe one." His words clearly contained a threat.

Isaiah simply laughed at his face but acted like he was laughing with him. "Don't worry, I heard a wolf hunter recently emerged. Two wolves were hunted just a few days ago," he added in a mocking tone, "but just because he hunts wolves doesn't mean the jackals are safe." He further mocked the man.

Strike simply nodded, hearing these words, then turned around and left. There was a very good reason for Isaiah's hostility towards the man. He was wanting to make enemies. Since he would be operating here from now on, it was his domain, and rats like Strike and his people weren't allowed to operate like they used to. Strike had long been on his kill list, so to see him come to him on his own made him joyous.

However, the real problem wasn't Strike, House, or Start alike. The real problem was the people that held these jackals' leashes. Obviously, normally such a dictative government wouldn't let rats like Strike operate loose on such a prosperous district. That meant there was someone high up who was benefitting from their operation here.

That was the real decision: did he want to make enemies with the guy pulling the leashes? The world operated based on benefits, which meant he didn't necessarily need to be enemies with them, as long as they were both benefitting. They might even join hands. On the other hand, he had plans that would strengthen his government projects even further, and he could claim the Second Emperor District as fully his. "Seems like I will have to take it slow and see how it progresses, then decide." One thing was sure; he didn't like sharing what was his.

As he was in his thoughts, Amelia had just recently recovered. She was only a Rank 0, so the clash of auras had taken a heavy toll on her. She asked, worried, "Sir Isaiah, will Sir Strike cause us more trouble?" She was worried about both herself and her people.

Isaiah's demeanor was different. While his words were still relaxed, his tone was commanding. "Don't worry about small details. I will deal with them if need be. Just focus on finishing the building as soon as possible." With that, he left. Amelia had more questions but had no choice but to go back to work.

With his hands in his pockets, Isaiah walked the streets of the Second Emperor District. He was coming up with plans in his mind. There were many ways to approach this problem. He could simply clean the entire district or take over the criminal business, but to decide that, he would first have to look at the finances of it. Would it even be worth it to take over?