It was a little later than midday when we arrived at our destination. Or more accurately, we arrived close enough to see the outer defensive line created by the members of the Night Blades, who were dealing with the monster attacks with a surprising precision.

I hid my frown as I looked at their members. I recognized nine out of every ten faces, which was less than I expected considering I had already memorized every face in the camp. I wouldn't have minded much, but, without exception, the unfamiliar faces were the ones giving orders while the people from the camp followed them, and they were considerably stronger than the others. And, to make things worse, a healthy percentage of those new arrivals were carrying magical weapons.

Whoever was supporting them was stronger than I expected, and they were making a direct move.

It was not a good sign, especially when combined with all the privileges Night Blades extracted from the young duke.

"Karak. Accompany the blacksmiths and woodworkers, and bring them to us. Also, make sure that every employee and their families are with us as well, no exception," I delivered my orders quickly. He looked at me, tense. "Just a precaution," I said to him.

Then, I retreated from the front lines. Since the monsters in the area were already cleansed by the outer defensive line, my absence was not a problem. While Karak was busy gathering my men, I went into the camp, and found Zolast.

He was in his tent, resting. Fair, considering he had worked hard leading cooking efforts, which forced him to channel and cleanse a lot of Vitality from the beasts. And, it clearly left a mark. Thanks to a combination of Perception and Charisma, I could feel the wild energies from the beasts in him, showing just how much he pushed himself.

"You're going to ruin my rest, aren't you?" he asked the moment I entered the tent.

"Very likely," I said. "The supporters of Night Blades are already making a move," I said, followed by a brief breakdown of the strength I had seen at the outer ring.

"And you expect it to be a problem," Zolast said.

"Without a doubt. The only question is, what kind of trouble they would cause."

"It can't be anything too exaggerated, not with the young duke overseeing the camp," Zolast said.

"Maybe, but how about Artmiss, that old knight. He went forward with Night Blades to handle the breach. I'm afraid that they had a chance to find some common ground. I'm afraid that young lord would just follow his recommendation."

Zolast frowned. "I didn't think of that. Maybe we should —" he started, but I cut him off.

"Hey, there's no we," I said with a smirk. "I'm just a poor quartermaster. The affairs as exalted as dealing with nobles is not my problem."

He chuckled. "Why am I not surprised," he said as he stood up. "I better gather everyone into one group, then?"

"That, and I would say we better separate the official guild members from the unofficial gang."

"We can't just discard them," Zolast argued.

"We can't protect them either, not with a limited residency quota for the inner city. We can slip a few, but not thousands. Anyone else will fall under the management of Night Blades. Either we discard them now, or they will be targeted."

"Would that protect them?" he said.

"To a certain degree. At least, they won't be a priority target, but it's inevitable there will be some unofficial bullying."

"That's still unacceptable—" he started, but I shook my head, cutting him off.

"That's the best task I could come up with."

Zolast sighed. "We better call Jertann. He's the one that recruited them. We better ask for his opinion first." He sent one of the guards to call Jertann, who joined us. A brief description later…

Jertann, predictably, exploded. "It's unacceptable," he bellowed, looking at us, shocked. "We recruited them, promising them security. We cannot just abandon them."

"We're not abandoning them, Jertann," Zolast cut in immediately. "We're just trying to make sure they are safest they could be … but we're currently in a battle between nobles, and what we can do is limited."

"Can't we just leave? There'll be a lot of dungeons, maybe we can somehow access to another. And even without a dungeon, we can still hunt and grow…"

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I cut in, patting his shoulder. "That's not an option. Do you think the young duke will just allow us to walk away with a few thousand people, when he needs every single person to make sure the town is in working order?"

"But he has the support of this new group, why would he care?"

Zolast explained. "Because the only reason they are supporting him is my ability to create a dungeon. They want to take the majority of the benefit … but without us, there's no dungeon. And no dungeon means no Night Blades to build the outer town for him."

Jertann still looked rebellious. "We don't owe him anything," he said. I chuckled, and he looked at me angrily. "Is there something funny?" he growled.

"Sorry," I said, unable to keep my chuckles down. "But I keep forgetting how young you are."

"What does it have with being young?" he asked, frustrated at the sudden change.

"In your passion, you're missing something important," I reminded him. "We don't owe Duke Yoentia anything, but we certainly need his protection," I said.

"Why?"

I paused a moment, deciding the best way to frame the issue. Not lying, but in a way that would make Jertann most obedient. "Because we already made Zolast reveal his ability to build dungeons. The existence of the young duke prevents other nobles from targeting him without creating a scandal, but if it were to change…"

"They will target him," Jertann said. "But he can disappear…"

"And they would target people Zolast knew, hoping their distress would force him to appear. People like your little brother," I reminded him.

He looked shocked, showing he didn't think about that at all. "But… that's barbaric," he gasped.

"That's how the game is played. You took this step when you volunteered to protect thousands of people. In this stage, the game is not played cleanly."

Jertann looked devastated. I sighed, feeling pity. It reminded me of my own youth, when I made such silly decisions to protect people, each failure leaving a deep mark in my heart. As I learned the rules of the game, it changed…

But maybe I could find a way to handle it. "Zolast, tell me. Is there any restriction on the number of guild members we can recruit," I said.

"Of course," Zolast said. "We'll have a very limited quota for dungeon access, and we can have only a hundred and fifty members allowed into the inner city."

"Do we have to keep our members in the inner city?" I asked.

"We could try keeping them in the outer city, but we only have one building there, and we can only house a limited amount people there. The rest will just be targeted constantly. It doesn't solve the problem."

I waited for a moment, but neither of them realized the solution. Maybe it was cultural blindness. "What about if we don't bring them into the town at all."

"The area that surrounds the town is also controlled by—" Zolast commented, but Jertann cut him off, excited.

"You want to set up a village far away from the town," Jertann guessed.

"Exactly, though it'll be more of a hunting post than a town. A nice, secluded spot about fifteen elatriss away from the town, which we fortify as strongly as we can manage. The identity of guild members would give them some protection, and the distance would keep them out of the control radius of the Night Blades."

Zolast frowned. "I don't think they'll accept. Being a guild member is a great honor, forcing them to stay in a hunting post after accepting them…"

"Then they can just quit. It's not like we actually need them to stay there. We're the ones going all that trouble extending protection to them."

"Still—" Jertann tried to comment, looking uncertain, but I cut him off.

"No," I said with a sharp tone. "I agree with your desire to help protect them, but there's a limit. They are adults that can make their own decisions, and you have no other responsibility than you have taken voluntarily to help them. What we're offering is more than enough."

"If you say so, Euon," Jertann said, ducking his head, sufficiently chastised. It was good to see that he was still listening to my recommendation. "I think it would be for the best if I stay at the hunting post—" he started.

I interrupted him with a slap to his shoulder. "Nonsense," I cut him off. "You can manage it until the dungeon starts operating. And, once it starts, I'll be responsible for the security. Karak is a fast learner, and he is already showing enough skill to lead the businesses I'm planning to build in my absence, and I could move between the hunting post and the town often."

I framed it as a chore, but actually, it was a convenient benefit. It was not something I would have established just to create an excuse to leave the town, but since it was already in place, why not leverage it to my advantage.

With my Speed a secret, it would give me a chance to visit the surrounding towns without raising any inconvenient questions about my absences, which was a functional benefit.

"But the dungeon access—" Jertann started, but I cut him off.

"Don't worry about it. I have too many things to arrange to join dungeon raids in the first place," I said. Admittedly, it was not something I wanted to avoid … but considering the true source of the breach and the dungeons, and my rather contentious relationship with him, it was for the best to test it in a different location.

"If you think that's for the best," Jertann said, disappointed. He was clearly hoping to fight together in the dungeon.

"Good to see you listen to the wisdom of your elders," I said, chuckling. "Pass me a map," I asked Zolast. He did, and we started going through the possible locations we could establish the hunting camp. Jertann pointed one near a hilly terrain. "No," I said.

"Why, it's defensible?" he asked.

"Against monsters," I qualified. "It only gives a better approach to anyone trying to sneak in." Instead, I started going through the map, and found a spot, one that was between our breach and the other dungeon town I had visited, away from the main road … and most importantly, on a wide clearing that would make it easy to catch any attacker. "Here," I pointed.

"I don't know, it looks a bit open," Jertann said.

"That's the point. Now, go and talk with your army of followers, and see who wants to risk staying in the outer town without our protection, and who wants to live in a hunting outpost."

"I'll do that?" Jertann asked, looking surprised.

"Of course, you're their leader. It's your job to give bad news. Just as it's Zolast's job to go and annoy our dear noble about our newest request."

Their matching expressions of annoyance earned a laugh from me as I left the tent, glad that I had avoided the official leadership role.