While Kara and Ophelia were visiting various shops to buy everything they needed for exploring the Great Dungeon near the city, in the living room of a luxurious villa in a neighborhood inhabited only by nobles and very wealthy merchants, one of the two young men Kara had sent to admire the city’s panorama using the Advanced Telekinesis skill, specifically, the shorter of the two, was loudly scolding the owner of the villa, a middle-aged man responsible for hosting them during their stay in the city of Orlin.
"What kind of security do you have in this city? How is it that people who don’t care about any rules and who attack others without any reason are allowed to roam the streets without worry? Maybe I should ask my father to inform the king about what’s happening on the outskirts of the kingdom so he can send some more competent people to manage these areas..."
"I understand what you’re saying, my lord, but things aren’t that simple. Perhaps in the capital, order can be established through force because troops are always stationed there, and many nobles have high-ranking adventurers in their service. But in this city, where the number of adventurers, mercenaries, and warriors unaffiliated with any structure is almost ten times greater than our forces responsible for maintaining order, and some of them are very high level, trying to keep them all under control would mean there would be a continuous conflict in the city, from which we, the city’s administrators, as well as the ordinary citizens with low levels, would have the most to lose. So, to maintain peace, there’s an unwritten rule to let them resolve their issues among themselves, and only intervene if they cause damage to the city or problems for the ordinary people.", the middle-aged man explained why the powerful were not subject to many restrictions within the city. Since he was a cousin of the marquis who governed the city of Orlin and held a position in the city's administration, he was well aware of how fragile the peace the city currently enjoyed was.
"Oh, for the sake of peace... How lovely that sounds. I think it’s more for the sake of the money these savages spend in the city that you let them do as they please. Not to mention the treasures they find in the Great Dungeon nearby and sell here out of convenience, allowing you to make outrageous profits. This is pretty obvious just from the fact that all those who run this city have built villas that would be fitting for princes!", the nobleman’s son from the capital did not believe the middle-aged man’s explanations, convinced that those in charge of the city preferred to do less work for more money, a dream situation for anyone.
Hearing the accusations of the young man, who barely had any experience but acted like a know-it-all, the middle-aged man would probably have called the guards to throw him out if his family hadn’t been subordinate to the young man’s father, a duke residing in the capital. If he thought his villa was obtained through dishonest means, why did he come to be a guest here and not go to an inn?
"Well, I can’t deny that our city is wealthier than others, but I think that’s normal given that we’re near one of the largest known dungeons. Besides, I haven’t heard anyone from the capital complain about this when we pay our taxes...", the middle-aged man reminded the duke’s son that Orlin was one of the largest contributors to the country’s prosperity. It might have been important for his family to have a strong supporter in the capital, but he couldn’t accept being treated without respect. Besides, the duke benefited more from the relationship with his family than they did, with a good portion of the money and artifacts they obtained being sent to the duke.
"So what? Rules are rules. Just because you pay higher taxes doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want here...", the duke’s son stubbornly insisted, finding it hard to accept that there were places where his noble blood didn’t automatically place him at the top.
Hearing the rude tone of the duke’s son, the middle-aged man lost his patience. Being reprimanded by a young man who wasn’t even half his age on his own territory was unacceptable to him, but fortunately, before he could tell him that it wasn’t his place to evaluate their work, which would have certainly turned their discussion into a confrontation, a maid knocked on the door, saying she had important news.
"Honorable guests, one of the guards you sent on a mission has returned with information...", the maid said after the middle-aged man granted her permission to enter.
"Oh, it's about time. Bring him here immediately...", said the duke's son, deciding to leave the discussion with the middle-aged man for another time, as his desire for swift revenge on those directly responsible for the humiliation he had suffered was greater than his desire to make the cousin of the Marquis who ruled the city admit that his family was also to blame for what had happened.
"Hey, Theodore, did you hear? They’ve probably found out who those two sluts are...", he then addressed his friend, who was sitting in an armchair with an ice pack on his head. Despite wearing a necklace meant to protect him from harm, being spun through the air had left him with a terrible migraine.
"Ugh, I heard...", mumbled Theodore, who was far less enthusiastic than his friend. All he wanted at that moment was to fall asleep to escape the migraine that had plagued him for more than two hours, with no decrease in intensity despite consuming three healing potions.
He had also been examined by a doctor brought in by the Marquis's cousin, but the doctor had said there was nothing he could do to alleviate the pain, suggesting that the migraine was almost certainly due to the extreme stress he had endured and that it would likely go away if he managed to relax.
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After the maid left, the guard whom Kara had seen enter the restaurant after she and Ophelia had left entered the room within less than a minute. After a brief bow, he began to relay to the three people in the room what he had learned from the restaurant manager.
"So the wretch is a mentalist. No wonder our protective necklaces didn’t work; they’re only capable of stopping direct attacks against us...", the duke's son realized what had happened in the restaurant after the guard finished speaking. Since the mentalist class is extremely rare, with only eight people in the entire capital having this class or a class derived from it, he hadn’t considered the possibility that Kara could be a mentalist and had assumed she used a skill that controlled the wind in combination with some method of bypassing the protection offered by their necklaces.
However, the fact that one of the young women had an unusual class didn’t ruin his plans, since for someone with his resources, it was common to have items in his storage ring that could help him in almost any situation. What could have posed a problem was if the two women had a background similar to or more powerful than his or if they were stronger than his guards, but since neither of these conditions was met, he could plot against them without worry.
Excited at the thought that the two extraordinarily beautiful young women would soon become his toys, whom he would personally teach to be humble in front of their superiors, though only when he wasn’t busy enjoying their bodies, he immediately ordered the guard to go inform the other two guards to prepare to accompany him in capturing the two women.
"...But my Lord, wouldn’t it be wise to also go to the Adventurers’ Guild to confirm what we’ve found out?...", the guard hesitated to carry out the order he had received because he didn’t want the duke’s son, under whose command he was, to enter in a confrontation that wasn’t one hundred percent safe for him.
"It would be too much of a hassle if we involved the Adventurers’ Guild in this matter. Although adventurers don’t get along with each other because they’re always competing, they are very united when someone outside their ranks tries to plot against one of them...", said the duke's son, too proud to ask for favors from those who managed the Adventurers’ Guild.
Hearing the duke's son's words, the guard had no choice but to accept his order. He bid farewell and left to inform his colleagues of their employer's plans.
Theodore, are you planning to come too?", the duke's son asked, noting that Theodore had listened with interest to what the guard had said.
Due to his migraine, Theodore wasn’t too keen on going out into the city, and on top of that, he was a bit scared to face the one who had made him see death before his eyes. But recalling how attractive the two young women were, whom his friend intended to kidnap, he decided to go after all, wanting to ensure that his friend wouldn’t end up keeping the two women just for himself.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Kidnapping two full citizens of this kingdom is a pretty serious crime, especially if it involves two young women. Your reputation would be ruined if word of this got out in the capital...", the middle-aged man felt the need to warn the two, believing that their recent fright was impairing their judgment.
"How so? Weren’t you the one who said that in this city the strong resolve their conflicts among themselves?" the duke's son retorted with sarcasm, then headed for the door without allowing the middle-aged man to respond further, motioning for Theodore to follow him.
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As neither Kara nor Ophelia knew the city of Orlin well, it took them quite some time to find the shops that sold the items they needed. However, they didn’t find this frustrating because that day was a workday, and there wasn't any more interesting activity to do within the city.
Their first stop was a bookstore, where they purchased a map of the explored sections of the Great Dungeon they planned to visit, along with some books detailing the traps and bosses one might encounter inside. Although Kara was confident that she wouldn’t face anything particularly challenging in the Dungeon and considered preparation unnecessary, she was curious about the accuracy of the information provided to regular adventurers. Thus, she planned to review the books in her spare time.
After visiting the bookstore, they headed to a potion shop recommended by the bookseller for its good quality-to-price ratio. Here, Ophelia intended to buy not only many mana regeneration and healing potions but also various tonics and antidotes. Kara didn’t think these would be necessary since, as long as she considered Ophelia her partner, the Bless skill ensured that Ophelia would always be healthy and would scare off any humans or beasts intending to attack her. Moreover, using the Bless skill actively during sex seemed to replenish Ophelia's mana reserves to the brim. This left only the issue of mana regeneration during combat, but Kara was confident she could use the skill that Alice had used on her many times, which had the effect of fully restoring mana in just a few minutes. However, thinking that an extra precaution to ensure safety wouldn’t hurt and that the passive effects of the Bless skill hadn’t yet been tested, she didn’t oppose Ophelia's desire to fill her storage ring with all sorts of potions.
In the potion shop, the two spent more than an hour, with Ophelia selecting potions worth nearly 100 gold coins. Then, at Ophelia’s suggestion, who didn’t want Kara to end up naked again while fighting, they went to a shop that sold magically enhanced clothing, similar to her own dress, which, despite appearing simple at first glance, was more resistant than a steel armor and offered high protection against both physical and magical attacks.
Unfortunately, in the shop with magically enhanced clothing, there was nothing on display that fit Kara and was also to her liking, and, since having a custom set of clothes made would take at least three days, Kara suggested they head to the clothing store she had visited two days earlier when she first entered Orlin, to buy about 20 sets of clothes as spares, as the clothes she had from that store looked good on her and were extremely comfortable.
Besides, she wasn’t too worried about her clothes getting torn during battles in the great Dungeon since its dimensions were very large, and from what she knew, it could take days without encountering another group of adventurers while inside. The only risk was that Ophelia might get aroused by seeing her naked, but Kara was willing to take responsibility and help her calm down in those moments.
Additionally, the store she had been to a few days ago was a good place to deal with the two young men she had thrown out of the restaurant window a few hours earlier, along with their four guards, who had been following them for nearly half an hour since they left the potion shop, most likely waiting for them to reach a more secluded area to attack them.