The week that followed my short yet memorable trip to Oniphia was surprisingly idle. Other than a few hidden trips to Oniphia where I smuggled several more crates of weapons in order to further fuel the fears about the unchecked smuggling that triggered a witch hunt in the city. It was surprisingly trivial once I understood the design of the port wards, particularly since the wards were geared toward detecting beasts rather than men.

Other than those trips, I did little other than dungeon runs, and helping Takis test his new anti-knight and anti-castle tactics. In many ways, his approach echoed modern warfare of Earth, but with Ballistas replacing anti-air, and spells replacing various anti-armor tactics, wards functioning both as primitive radars and effective bunkers.

However, like every modern combined approach, the devil was in the detail, forcing Takis to work hard to adapt various tactics against a variety of enemies. It didn't help that a high-level warrior with a decent class wearing proper magic armor was almost as durable as an actual tank, but they were easier to conceal, and ridiculously more mobile from a tactical perspective.

I helped Takis to practice particularly challenging aspects by playing the decoy. It helped him tailor the ideal dispersion of his forces, and at the same time, it helped me to develop a better control of my Stats.

Meanwhile, Dungeon runs allowed me to collect more Experience. I leveled up thrice more, which unfortunately increased the experience required even further.

My attempts to access the System in the dungeons due to limited interference finally paid off somewhat … by allowing me to adjust my main status page. Even with the sense that was blocking my reach, I was able to make very minor changes. At least, I was able to change the sequence of the stats and hide the Experience counters to hide their presence.

With numbers already in Billions, the numbers felt sufficiently annoying.

My new stat screen looked far more satisfying, though not as satisfying as my storage of unused stat points.

[Class: Hero

Level: 83

[Health (2,400/2,400)

Mana (1,500/1,500)]

[Authority: 46,327]

[STATS

Strength: 80

Agility: 80

Speed: 50

Vitality: 80

Attunement: 50

Perception: 80

Concealment: 50

Charisma: 100

Resilience: 50

Memory: 25

Intelligence: 25

LOCKED…]

[Stat Points: 155]

[SKILLS: —]

[ABILITIES: Elevated Life - Complete - Human

Heroic Party (2) ]

[Alignment: Unaligned]

I was idle, but the younglings were not. Mahruss and Jertann were busy running the guild as we pulled our presence back, only visiting enough to maintain the illusion that Town Yoentia was still our priority. Silas and Terma were busy with the outposts and surrounding villages. Lastly, Launara and Limenta were doing their best to expand our weapon production and keep it hidden at the same time.

We already had over five hundred female blacksmiths recruited. None of them were lower than level thirty, and our initial eight had already cleared their third promotion. None of the others had a class as fancy as Launara, but their promotions were still impressive.

Together, they increased our production to an absurd degree. The System was an incredible tool to build an empire, criminal or otherwise.

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However, none of them were as busy as Zolast, who was still handling the political mess that was triggered by the coordinated attack from three baronies, constantly meeting with the diplomats from the baronies in question that was trying to ransom their men back for cheap, the kingdom agents that didn't even try to fake being impartial, and the princess's agents that tried to somehow get a handle of the situation.

Technically, the princess was on our side, but she chose not to squash the resulting political mess like she could … technically. It was a complex political and legal problem, but the core of the issue was the fact that her political position was already tenuous, and she couldn't afford to weaken it further by playing hardball.

Even when the baronies in question had pushed their luck by trying to invade another barony without warning and disrespecting her completely. She didn't even have enough deterrent power to stop a similar activity the next time.

Admittedly, that was the biggest reason for my relative idleness after the battle.

I needed to be on standby for the inevitable next move. Somatons — Marquis Somaton in particular — had committed too many resources to take over the location of the major breach to stop. The only question was whether they would start small, or attack aggressively.

While considering that, I put my hand on a large slab of mana-reinforced marble and closed my eyes to focus on my Strength.

And pushed.

My hand sank into the marble, while the surrounding area shattered. The devastation was significant. "I wonder if I'm close to this so-called domain," I muttered as I used my mana to swipe the remains to a corner with a wave, happy that my growing ability to use magic helped me to resolve some tedious tasks like cleaning.

[-1 Mana]

I had been planning to repeat the feat when the door opened. I didn't need to check, as Zolast was the only one who could enter without me taking down the protective wards. The training room I used was under Town Maell and even better defended than the treasury.

Considering the importance the Marquis had assigned to my performance with Agility, we decided not to tempt any enemy with more.

"The deal is finally done," he groaned in exhaustion. I didn't blame him. Handing a deal of that magnitude was difficult enough without juggling military involvement at the same time.

"What are the terms?" I asked.

"She already delivered us several ancient recordings of previous calamities. Mostly first-hand accounts with limited reliability."

"Better than our non-existent sources," I said.

"Only because you're not the one that has to spend days pouring over every word to put together a coherent picture."

I shrugged. "We all have our own areas. Did she agree to our deal about the resources on Domain?" I asked.

"Yes, but with a caveat. She will only hand them over after a successful delivery."

"Sounds fair. And, what about our side?"

"Five hundred magic swords, five thousand magic spearheads, ten thousand ballista bolts, and half a million arrowheads," he said, and my eyes widened. "Not to mention, almost ten thousand units of armor of different types."

"Isn't it a bit too much, even for the information we want?" I asked.

"Well, she still has to pay the market price with a significant premium for every item, payment in materials, skill stones, and even some trade licenses," he said with a smirk. "That's the only way we can pull a deal of this size without triggering some dangerous suspicions about the mystery deal between us and the princess."

"Makes sense. But if that's the case, the deal was even better than we expected," I admitted, which was an understatement to say the least. The marketplace for magic weapons was already excessive, as the current market was highly squeezed by both the royal powers and the churches. High-ranking blacksmiths had to pay some tithe for their patrons, which inflated the price. Then, there were the taxes the local lords exerted on some of the materials, taxes, and other charges.

Not to mention, mana stones were a significant cost as well.

Our illegal dealings already bypassed all of those costs, making our operation much cheaper. Mana stones were already in excess, and I could easily hunt more Lord Beasts. Altogether, ignoring the value of my labor, we can sell magic weapons at a tenth of the market price, and still make a healthy profit. The premium meant that we would be making a truly absurd amount of money.

Assuming we managed to get paid, of course.

There was a reason the Princess was willing to make a seemingly poor deal. She didn't need to worry about paying if she lost, which implicitly meant she would pull us tighter into her alliance.

Naturally, we were willing to do that for a very simple reason: We had no other choice. Unlike the impression we carefully cultivated with the fake smuggling operation, all of our infrastructure was there. We were even more tightly bound to the region than the princess.

Technically, I could give all those weapons for free, and still make a profit. With mines, dungeons, and casinos operating in full power, we had enough resources to supply a critical ally.

Of course, getting paid was much better.

"Just wait until she agrees to such a deal," he chuckled.

"Oh, it has to be good for you to be this entertained," I said. "Go ahead."

"She heard about our smuggling partners getting caught one after another, and she's afraid that we will change our mind."

I couldn't help but join his laughter. I didn't expect our attempt to create a fake source to pay this well. "I love it when a plan comes together."

"The first delivery is already about to leave," Zolast said.

"And, let me guess. You want me to escort it."

"Just in case."

"Do you expect danger?" I asked.

"Certainly. The delivery is supposed to be a secret, but there's no chance it'll actually stay that way," Zolast said.

I sighed. "I'm almost sure there will be a raid to prevent the military from moving to our aid, then," I said. "Actually, why don't you visit the Wall when the delivery gets on the way," I said. "A little timely help might be entertaining. Maybe I could even catch up with it to make things fun.'

"Are you sure? It'll put us in a collusion path with Somaton. We avoided that until now."

"Well, they were the ones that targeted us. Three times now, if you count the events in Town Yoentia. It's only fair to pay the Marquis back."