"… are you sure you want to open the place so soon? Maybe we should keep it closed for a week or so. We certainly don't need the money it generates with the dungeon officially open," Zolast suggested as he put the finishing touches to the new magical defenses on the casino. Not only would it prevent any external attacks and sabotages — like the one I had faked — but it would also help the employees to catch the cheaters with greater ease.

Magic was certainly convenient.

I looked outside from the window, taking in the movement around the casino rather than going in immediately. Scanning the faces, I could see several familiar faces loitering suspiciously close to the casino, a majority I recognized as the Night Blades members. None of them were fighters, with most of them actually belonging to the lower rungs.

It wouldn't have been surprising, but the problem was different. When I returned from my training, I checked the outer town walls, and found their presence suspiciously weak. The numbers looked the same, but their best fighters were suspiciously absent, replaced by new recruits.

I would have assumed that they were in the dungeon, but I knew for a fact that they were not allowed in the dungeon for a week — a punishment for their actions in the opening ceremony.

"We don't need the money, but I can sense that they have already moved to a new plan once their previous one failed."

"Still, it would be safer," Zolast commented.

"Maybe, but it's a tradeoff for a marginal safety improvement for a significant reputation hit. A terrible deal... Especially with the new magical defenses that would make it difficult for them to overrun the casino."

"Difficult, but not impossible," Zolast warned. "They suddenly have a lot of mages around. None of them are above level sixty from what I was able to see, but that doesn't matter. It's easier to break the wards than to build them."

I waved my hand to dismiss his concerns. "There are ways to solve that particular problem. Don't worry about it."

In distasteful and deadly ways.

I sighed as I grabbed my magic bow and shot another arrow at the target I had set up in my office. Its structure allowed smooth mana flow … but once again, the mana faded halfway.

[-1 Mana]

"At least everything else is in order. The first official dungeon run was a smashing success. We finally have enough advanced skills to distribute openly."

"Good. Let's send most of those to the outpost. With the magic defenses in place, we should be able to trigger beast waves more often."

"I have already received official permission from Kryll. We are allowed to trigger a beast wave for three hours every day."

"Shorter than I had hoped."

"That's the best we could get without arousing suspicion. It's not all bad, though. By officially scheduling it, we could have the officers contributing to it as well. Add in the magic defenses, and we could make the attack significantly more intense."

"Sounds promising. And, since I don't have to focus my Charisma in two different directions, I should be able to get even more Experience in the process. Something around fifty million is my estimate."

"Yes, and it'll only get more as people level up and receive the skills from the dungeon," he said. "You really know how to make an old man jealous."

I shrugged. "It's not like you won't receive your share once we improve it further. And, then, you'll be able to reach the next stage."

"First, we need to find out how much mana is needed to trigger the fourth promotion. And, let's just say I'm not very hopeful about its affordability. The huge gap between the first and the second promotions is not good news. And, even if we manage to collect it, we still have to collect an absurd amount of Experience to level up."

"One problem at a time," I answered. "Let's focus on keeping the town in our hands. With the rivals of our young duke, your old subordinate, cultists, and the new economic boom, things are complicated enough."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"True, and we still don't know who the Greens are working for. Hardly a comforting thought. We have to juggle too many issues, and that is before someone actually discovers the truth about you."

"Not as easy as being the Holy Guide, right?" I said, he just chuckled. "By the way, speaking of messes, anything about Artmiss."

"Nothing particularly good. I managed to detect some kind of inactive curse, waiting for a trigger. If said trigger went off, it would have damaged him significantly. Time it well, and it would be easy to assassinate him. I managed to dispel it, but only because I knew that it was in place. A lesser healer would have missed it."

"Nasty," I said. "The worst part is we don't even know if the baron is another cultist, or just stupid enough to use one of their weapons."

"Only you would treat that as the worst part," Zolast countered, laughing even as he continued to establish the defenses.

However, before I could say anything else, I received a flicker from my Heroic Party connection. A code that I had given to Limenta, assigned to important, but non-urgent matters.

A quick explanation later, Zolast frowned. "Sure, go ahead and find more problems. Like we don't have enough here," he teased. I just chuckled, not bothering to explain the importance of the issue.

After all, with everyone paying attention to our town, having an established presence somewhere else was just as vital.

"Just make sure to patrol around the outpost first," he continued, his tone more serious. "I'm afraid that the Night Blades will be targeting there. And, make sure to return before midnight. We'll have another dungeon run with the blacksmiths, and it'll be much safer to disappear with you around."

"Reasonable," I said, and after finding Dahmut to give several new bits of advice about operating the casino, I once again left the town, using my mobility advantage to the limit.

The patrol around the outpost didn't show anything dangerous. Naturally, I managed to catch about a dozen spies doing their best to stay concealed as they watched the outpost, but I left them untouched.

Dealing with the spies and scouts was not always the best idea, especially since I didn't want to escalate the situation.

Watching the outpost work with greater efficiency was certainly entertaining in its own way.

Another quick, Speed-enhanced dash later, I was at Town Maell once more. I tracked Limenta's location through our connection, and found him near the walls of the inner town. This time, he was on a rooftop, waiting for me.

However, as I approached him, I met with a surprising sight. The sense of blurring around him was flickering repeatedly. "Not a bad performance," I said. Naturally, only after I approached him from behind. He jumped in fear, his dagger already raised. "But you need to use your Perception better."

"S-sir," he started, frustrated as he tried to calm down.

"Call me boss. You earned that after your success in awakening your Perception." I expected him to smile proudly at that reminder. He still smiled, but not as big as I expected. "But that's not why you called me, is it?" I asked.

I needed to work on a better communication method — or at least annoy Zolast about it until he came up with a magic method.

"No boss. I called you for a different reason," he said, and pointed to one of the inns that was closest to the manor of the nobles at the center. "A large group of Night Blades had just arrived there, and they weren't looking too happy."

"Do you remember if they had a man in his twenties with them, always surrounded by four guards?"

He nodded.

"Good find. Enough to earn yourself another ability as a reward," I said, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Assuming that you complete the next part of your task successfully, of course."

"Your wish is my command, boss," he declared, his tone still a bit too deferential for my taste. Clearly, he was still in awe of the fact that I had the Hero Class. I didn't like it, as it felt too much like blind worship.

Loyalty was a two-way street.

Still, it was not urgent. "First, I want you to sneak into that inn, and check if there's a secret tunnel leading out and if that man is still at the inn," I said. The mysterious man looked like someone important, and my best guess was that he was visiting House Maell.

There was a chance that the House Maell members would be visiting the inn, but I doubted it. The guards around the inn were too calm for that to be the case.

"As you wish, sir-boss," he said, correcting himself at the last second, activating his ability that made him disappear even more impressively than his Concealment stat, and dashed away.

I awaited his return even as I examined the manor. The patrols, the movement and attitude of the guards, the number of servants, active magic defenses, and other details. Of course, even with my advantages, trying to sneak into a well-defended location was not the safest move.

One I only dared due to the existence of Speed. Luckily, Limenta's presence allowed us to create a distraction as well.

When he returned and confirmed my conjecture about the secret tunnel, I immediately moved to the next stage of my plan. "Do you see that building?" I asked.

"The official forge of House Maell," Limenta said. "Do you want me to steal something?"

"Not exactly," I said as I passed him several smoke bombs. "What I need you to do is to go inside, wait five minutes, create a commotion by triggering the smoke bombs, and then retreat." I paused, remembering the needs of Launara and the others. "Try to grab any notes or half-finished magic weapons if you can, but only if you're sure you can still escape after. And, don't forget to give me a signal if you feel you are in mortal danger."

"As you wish, boss," he said and moved away.

I sighed at his lack of follow-up questions. He still had too much to learn. Luckily, for tonight, his job was simple.

Mine was not as simple.

Enough that I decided to cheat a bit more.

[-10 Stat Points]

[+10 Concealment]

Much better. Now, all I needed was to arrange my disguises and find the best entrance point…