After leaving Zolast and the youngsters alone in the basement of the headquarters, I decided to stick around the inner town, despite several clear signs of skirmish at the outer town.
Ordinarily, I was planning on going around the outer town to poke around a bit more to reveal a couple of extra safe houses for the Night Blades, but at the meeting I listened to, they had been talking about Zolast's ability to set up a dungeon as a great problem. Which means, they were about to lose quite a number of assets in the town.
And, if I were them, I would have enacted my plans for sabotage before leaving.
I climbed to the roof of our headquarters, the high vantage point allowing me to see the outer town — particularly my casino, which was currently surrounded by palisades, safe from the scuffle going on in town.
The casino was important, just not as important as the dungeon. Especially not when Zolast and the rest were inside, and would be affected by a disaster. And I was getting too fond of them to take such a risk.
As I was watching the city, I wondered what kind of a place a dungeon was. I was curious … just not curious enough to step into a magical location that was integrated with the power of the gods.
No need to make their job any easier.
As I was lost in thought, I stayed on the roof of the building, my gaze bouncing between the magical construct at the center of the inner town and the outer town, trying to get a sense of how the battle was going. It was hard to catch the developments perfectly at a distance, but I was still able to see the gist of it all, particularly when I noticed several of the hidden bases I had discovered surrounded and burning.
It was more than I would have ordinarily expected. It seemed that the Night Blades were particularly angry about the spies among them.
The Night Blades might be too ambitious and careless with their expansion, but they weren't incompetent enough to miss such an obvious trail.
Too bad it still allowed the Greens that managed to get a job as inner-town guards.
That hadn't been a random thought. I noticed a group of guards moving toward the main dungeon area. It was slow enough to avoid the notice of the others, but just barely, which contrasted with their tense expression.
Even under ordinary circumstances, they would have been suspicious. Now, it was even worse.
I wasn't able to see their faces from such a distance with their helmets on, but it wasn't hard to guess that at least a portion of them belonged to the Greens, using the opportunity for one last mischief.
There was still a chance that I was misreading the situation and they were just the reinforcements, but it was not a risk I was willing to ignore. Luckily, their movement speed was not high — the guards couldn't just run in the town without creating a spectacle, which they wanted to avoid, limiting them to a nervous walk — so I could still catch up to them without revealing my Speed.
I had no doubt that every single agent of the mysterious force behind the Greens was observing the situation carefully, and I couldn't be sure that one of them didn't have the Perception to see my tricks.
Knowing that, I didn't disguise myself. Of course, it wasn't the only reason. I was also afraid of distracting the current guards and making it easier for the potential saboteurs.
I arrived at the dungeon construction area a few minutes before the guard regiment could, and looked for the guard commander responsible for the security of the area. The guards were just lazing around, showing no signs of alertness to speak of.
However, rather than talking to the guard commander directly, I waved at a familiar figure near the commander.
"Hey, Euon," one of the guards waved at me, a familiar face that I often talked to while making deliveries. "Another batch of materials?"
"Not this time, I'm afraid," I answered with a worried voice, louder than necessary. "Have you heard anything about the mess that's going on?"
"Just bits and pieces. It looks like the Night Blades are having some trouble. I'm sure you were happy to hear that. When are we celebrating?"
"Celebrating would have fun, if they hadn't discovered a bigger conspiracy," I said loudly, enough for the other guards to hear. "Apparently, they caught some spies working for House Maell, and they were preparing to sabotage the dungeon!"
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Of course, as far as I was aware, they had nothing to do with House Maell, but that was far easier to explain than a possible mysterious organization that had been following them. An immediate threat was much easier to believe.
"What nonsense are you talking about! Who would dare to target a place that's under the rule of Duke Yoentia! Do you think a lesser house would have the courage!" the acting commander immediately intervened, rushing toward us. He was one of the new hires, but he was clearly happy enough with his new identity to be affronted.
Weak men reacted to prestige the same way.
"Sorry about that, commander!" I said respectfully, bowing my head, my attitude the exact opposite of my thoughts. "Of course you're right. It's just some gossip that I heard. I simply wanted to alert you to what I had gathered, just in case it is true. I just thought that Knight Artmiss would be quite annoyed if the dungeon construction was delayed for any reason. But, if you think that's not a risk…" I explained, letting the slightest tendril of Charisma trigger a hint of worry.
It was a weak sensation, but that was the most I would dare under the circumstances.
I turned my back, only for an order to hit me. "Stop!" the order rang, his tone nervous. It was backed by Charisma, probably around five points. Not a lot. Moreover, since I could still feel the fluctuations of aura radiating in the order, I could guess that he acquired some stat stones quite recently.
It was probably the benefits given to the ranked commanders. Having Charisma while working for a noble house, he was effectively a knight. Five points weren't high enough to make people spill their secrets, but it was enough to trigger their natural habits.
No wonder he was this arrogant. He would receive a title as long as Duke Yoentia recovered his power, and so long as he didn't screw up in the process.
For example, failing to protect the extremely important dungeon construction.
"As you wish, commander," I said, bowing like I was completely under the control of his Charisma.
"Tell me about this gossip," he ordered, once again using his skill, his Charisma flailing to show that it was not fully absorbed yet.
"Yes, commander," I said very respectfully, unable to use my Charisma to increase his worry further as long as his pressure was on me. Luckily, cheating with Charisma wasn't the only trick up my sleeve.
"I have received some news from my spies in the Night Blades," I said, revealing my 'source' immediately. After all, I was under the control of his Charisma. Such a quick surrender was only expected. "They have just discovered several spies undercover as their guild members. They are already cleaning them. But…" I added, then paused, letting signs of fear appear on my face.
I was acting too meek, it was enough to alert anyone but someone who had just recently received a huge promotion.
"Continue," he ordered, the worry in his voice even thicker.
"… they think that those spies have some contacts in the inner city, and they expect those saboteurs to act urgently. They even found some evidence of collusion with the guards," I admitted.
"Lies. Why wouldn't they alert us if that's the case."
"I … I don't know my lord," I muttered, acting even more afraid. "Maybe they believe if the sabotage happens, they will have the chance to get a knight's post to protect the new dungeon."
The realization on the face of the knight commander was comical. Some of the things I had said were simply absurd. Combine that with my chain of success, building a very successful casino that generated enough money to make nobles jealous, even a moron shouldn't have believed my words that easily
Yet, he clearly believed all of it.
After all, how could I lie under the effects of his incredible Charisma?
"If that's true…" he murmured, and I felt the weight of his aura disappear. The moment I felt that, I stretched a tendril of Charisma of my own, fueling his worries even further. His eyes slowly widened. "What are you doing, you wastes of space! Guard the dungeon properly," he shouted. "Be more alert, patrol it properly."
The guards seemed to be surprised at the sudden change of attitude, but under the weight of his Charisma, they weren't able to argue, and soon, they were patrolling around the dungeon with renewed passion.
Barely a minute later, the other group of guards arrived, but they did a double-take the moment they saw the alertness of the camp. I carefully watched their reaction, and saw most of them showing signs of panic.
"Good, reinforcements, just in the nick of time," the guard commander said. "Come forward! We're dealing with an emergency."
I barely kept myself from slapping the idiot. "I'm impressed, commander. You managed to alert the headquarters and ask for reinforcements, and they came here to support you two hours in advance," I said, reminding him that the sudden appearance of the guards was unexpected.
"I didn't call them," he murmured, then the realization hit. "Are you spies?!" he shouted, his Charisma rising once again.
A strategy that was destined for failure, as my training with Karak had already displayed it was possible to train people to resist Charisma. It was reasonable to assume that the spies had some resistance to it, or they never could have passed the screening process in the first place.
It should be obvious that they could never be affected by Charisma which was as muddled and weak as the one the commander was using … but that fact seemed to be lost on his arrogance.
It seemed that I needed to help him once more. I flared my Charisma up and blocked his. "You're using Charisma, you traitors!" he said as he drew his sword. "Arrest them!"
The guards moved toward the Greens, while I used my Charisma once again, this time on them. "Which of you morons used Charisma," one of the Greens growled in anger as he pulled his sword, revealing his identity.
With that, the ploy was resolved successfully. I pulled back, letting the guards handle the arrest while I walked around to see if there were any other threats left.
I just hoped that whoever was responsible for their interrogation was someone more competent.