The journey went without any trouble. Soon, I was back at the outskirts of Town Yoentia.

I wanted to go and visit the hunting outpost to start gathering Experience once more. Once again, I needed it, and the pittance I gathered on the way was hardly worth anything.

The fact that I avoided anything big enough to get the attention of any potential observer didn't help any.

Unfortunately, the state of the town was far more important.

As it was on the way, I stopped by the Casino first. I snuck inside before anyone would notice my presence — the comprehensive improvement of all my stats making it even easier — while I stayed at the edge of the town.

Then, I walked out of the casino, acting like I had been inside all along to add another layer of deception. "Report," I ordered Mahruss.

"Everything is going alright for us, boss," Mahruss said with a serious expression. "The gang warfare is getting more intense, but we only had a couple of attempts toward our walls, and we managed to convince them that it wouldn't be a smart idea."

"How's business?" I asked.

His smile widened. "Better than ever. We had a lot of rich merchants who realized that our casino was safer than the other locations, and they decided to jump in. And, since they are already inside…"

"They couldn't resist the temptation to play," I completed. "Nothing like a bit of mortal danger to support poor decision-making."

"Just like you taught us, boss," he said with a chuckle, unaware that while we were talking, I was trying to use that Heroic Party ability on him. He was a good candidate. Loyal, smart, not too ambitious.

Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried to extend my Charisma, channel through the ability, or let the ability click, it didn't work. Likely, it had a different method to trigger.

After several more tries, I decided to ignore my newest ability for the moment. There were more important issues to address.

"Continue as is, I'll go and visit the headquarters," I said, and stepped out of the palisade. However, unlike the previous times, I didn't move around with a desperate speed, but took a leisurely pace. It was a good chance to see if people would be observing me, especially since I gave them such an easy chance.

I noticed a lot of eyes on me. Most followed me closely, some stayed at a distance; a few familiar faces belonged to the Night Blades or the mysterious Greens, their numbers higher than usual.

Interesting that they decided to dedicate so many assets to me despite their battle still going on intensely, though their objective differed. The Night Blades wanted to assert their undisputed dominance on the outer town before the young duke returned, while the Greens did their best to hide their assets — both human and material — in new locations.

Yet, they assigned many observers to track my movement, occupying their critical manpower.

The implication was clear.

They realized that my role in their fight was not an accident. Luckily, I had no reason to believe they blamed me for the raid on the Green safe house. They would have focused on my movement even more if that were the case.

The dungeon sabotage I prevented was the most likely reason.

Still, I moved to the inner town, leaving most of the spies behind — and replacing them with their counterparts from the inner town. Similarly, I left the strife behind as well. The inner town had no active clash, but it was still tense with the ducal guards patrolling the streets with full force.

I received a few suspicious glances from their guard captains, but none of them made an attempt to stop me. I found Zolast back in the headquarters, resting.

Well, cooking was still technically work, but mental relaxation was more important than physical in most cases. "Try it," he said as he pushed a plate toward me, not even asking a question. It was some kind of seafood mixture, reminding me of sashimi, but there were some signs of flame to suggest it wasn't the exact process.

I took a bite, only for the soft flesh to melt into my mouth. "Damn, that's the most delicious thing I have ever tasted," I murmured as more aromas than I ever thought had existed danced on my tongue.

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"Seafood, from the batch you brought in," he said, then turned his attention to cooking. I didn't interrupt him, instead taking a bite from the sampler plates he had created, which not only gave me the most amazing taste I had ever enjoyed, but also refilled my health with a shocking pace.

[+24 Health]

"That's incredible," I murmured as I ate the last small plate he prepared for me. "How the hell did you manage to cook like this."

"It's all about listening to the ingredients," he said proudly. "In truth, every single beast, especially the stronger ones, is unique. Their magic, their abilities, their texture, it affects everything. Only by designing a recipe from scratch could it be cooked properly."

I smiled, happy to see my partner in crime truly passionate for once. Even during the monumental task of building the dungeon, he was driven by stress and obligation, and cooking allowed him a change of attitude.

"Now that we had an amazing dinner, let's move on to more important topics," I said. "Are you ready for another dungeon run?"

"Yes, I just need to wake the children up, and we will be ready to go," Zolast said. I chuckled at the way he referred to them.

"Good idea. What's the objective there?"

"The plan is simple. I have already built a hidden leveling ward here, and it should be enough to bring them to their third promotion. Even conservatively, a few weeks should be enough to bring them there, and I was thinking of keeping the dungeon in construction until then. Unless you think we need to officially open the dungeon earlier."

"No, the longer we wait, the better," I said. "We need to at least wait until the young duke arrives, and talk with the old knight about the best strategy."

"You're afraid of something," Zolast commented, quick to catch my doubts.

"More hesitant than afraid, as we're not the target," I explained. "The mysterious spies targeting the young duke is a bit troubling."

"Why? Isn't it just a political battle? We were expecting it."

"I'm not so sure anymore," I answered with a frown. "The amount of forces they had assigned doesn't make much sense. With their numbers, they could have easily assassinated him during our travels. Yet they let that opportunity slip past their fingers and allowed him to entrench himself into a new town."

"Maybe they just assumed he would have failed to establish the dungeon and disgraced himself, making an assassination unnecessary," Zolast answered.

"Maybe. It's not a bad theory, but the priorities of their objectives don't make sense with their actions … unless they are betting to disgrace him in the first place."

Zolast frowned. "Why?"

"I have no idea," I admitted. "The noble politics is outside my purview, and while I could assign some random motive, that wouldn't be helpful. Still, I'm sure you can imagine at least a situation where a young and desperate high-ranking noble might be useful."

"Too many to count," he said, taking a deep sigh. "And, we're the ones that are preventing him from falling to that state."

"I know," I said, letting a tense, humorless smile settle on my lips. "Fun, right?"

"Yeah, fun," he answered, though his stress was clear, echoing my emotions.

"It's not all bad," I answered, deciding to reveal a little secret. "I managed to solve that issue that had been preventing me from leveling. I'll be able to level up once more."

Zolast froze a moment, an expression of shock passing through his face as that statement forced him to face some of the incorrect assumptions he had about me. I couldn't help but feel a touch of guilt.

After all, his inaccurate assumptions were hardly accidental. "I see. That's a surprise. A block is hard to remove," he said.

"It was, but doing favors to certain people had its advantages," I answered, pushing the responsibility to an external source, positioning it as an external help, still not ready to reveal the full extent of my secrets to Zolast.

Not until I managed to get a better understanding of the hero, or we had a more immediate need.

"Good, I'll make sure to reinforce the leveling ward after the dungeon run," he said. He didn't ask me how strong I needed it, and I didn't explain. A very pointed omission as he subtly signaled he was alright with not poking around the secrets I was not ready to reveal.

Not now, but maybe soon, I decided.

"How about if you do it before," I said. "It'll allow me to visit the hunting outpost in the process."

He frowned. "Are you that close to leveling?" he asked. I nodded. "If that's the case, it makes sense. It'll help Karak to get used to his new strength, at least," he added.

"How long will it take for you to set up the ward?" I said.

"Probably about eight hours. Still, do you think it's necessary? If we push enough, some of them might reach their third promotion before the dungeon is officially open."

"Smart strategy, but I want to visit the hunting outpost to make sure everything is going on alright there. I don't expect it to be the primary target, but it's better safe than sorry."

"That's the safer option," Zolast said, nodding in agreement. "It'll make Jertann feel safer at least. Do you want to drag them to the outpost as well?"

"No, let them stay in. We can't rule out assassinations, and it's better for them to stay at the headquarters."

He nodded. "How about the dungeon run? Do you want to accompany them this time?"

"No, I won't be entering the dungeon for the foreseeable future," I said. It made him throw a suspicious glance, but I just shrugged. He sighed but didn't push, recognizing it as another secret I wasn't ready to reveal.

I didn't want to risk it with the connection I had with the god of destruction with a dungeon that was based on his powers.

It was simply too risky.

"I'll leave you to your work," I said, ending our meeting. While he started working on the leveling ward, I changed my outfit and left the guild headquarters. However, before doing so, I stopped by the storage and picked one of the weaker mana stones from the storage we kept for emergencies, replenishing my mana.

[Mana (80/80)]

Just in case I had to face another crisis.

With the disguise and speed combined, I was easily able to get rid of my tails.

I slipped to the outer town, ignoring the temptation to mess with the Greens some more as I moved away. Once I left the town behind, I started running, the wind clear on my face.