099. Establishment - 43

099. Establishment - 43

Sneaking my haul back to the town was even easier than I expected. The fight at the safe house was enough to alert the Night Blades to the existence of our organization. Moreover, the death of an inner town commander gave the Night Blades all the justification they needed to start poking around all around the outer town.

The irony that the Greens were being blamed for the death of one of their members was far too amusing.

The chaos had already lessened the number of people at the walls, and several that went out to chase the 'mysterious spy' who had been bringing out their critical resources only weakened the defenses even further.

With those facts combined, it was almost trivial to bring the four crates I stole back to the town though it required multiple trips as I didn't want to be seen carrying a stack three times my size.

No one expected me to bring them back just moments after I took them away.

Of course, after every trip, I made sure to show myself around the casino, patrolling the newly established palisade walls, with the magical bow I recently "acquired" in my hands. The palisade was properly assembled already.

Nice efficiency.

The wooden walls were not too tall, barely ten feet, and the advantage they would provide in a fight would be limited, especially since we didn't have many archers among my employees.

They were more of a psychological barrier than anything else. I was showing the Night Blades that we were not easy pickings. It was an important message, but I could already see the Night Blades raiding several unrelated businesses.

Several high-ranking members of the Night Blades were watching us, but none of them actually came to talk with me, happy to handle their own issues first before handling the rest. Their approach allowed me to repeat the trip four times.

Until I had brought all the treasure I managed to steal.

Interestingly, even as the chaos in the outer town continued to grow, the old knight did nothing. He didn't even show himself.

After making sure there was no emergency I needed to address, I went inside and started going through the crates I had managed to steal.

And, it was certainly a great treasure.

Twenty magical weapons of various types, a bunch of skill stones, more than a hundred derums of gold and most importantly, several mana stones, glowing intensely.

The mana stones were still not enough to trigger my Promotion, but it was good to have an egg nest to start. Hopefully, the secret dungeon Zolast established would produce even more of them.

I created another bundle from the treasures, one that included none of the gold or mana stones, but the majority of the skill stones and all of the weapons.

I couldn't use them without alerting the others that I was the thief, so I hatched a plan to bring them to Zolast. They could be used for the secret dungeon. And, should the secret dungeon were to be discovered, we would have bigger problems.

"It's a good opportunity. With Sir Artmiss and the young duke away, no one would question when I say I'm building the dungeon."

"They are not at the town," I said, nodding as I received the answer about why the inner town guards weren't interfering. Without their leaders, they were not bothered.

"Yes, they went to the port, trying to negotiate the acquisition of the materials required for the dungeon. There has been another delay," Zolast said, shaking his head in dismissal.

"What a shocker," I answered. Even without hearing the exact reason for those delays, I wouldn't have been surprised by another one. Those delays were already common enough to show our young duke was being targeted. And, clearly, neither he nor his loyal knight had the commercial acumen to bypass even the slightest trick.

"So, you're going to use their absence to help this useless bunch level up a bit more, and then surprise them with a gift once they return," I said.

"Yes, I'm planning to say we chanced upon a desperate trader who didn't know the value of the items he had, so we bought them on the cheap," Zolast said.

"Makes sense," I said, knowing Artmiss wouldn't be stupid enough to dig through that simple story, especially if the materials they needed appeared after another unsuccessful trip to buy them, thus completing the most difficult part of their royal assignment.

Then I nodded at Karak who was busy going through the skills I had brought along with the rest, questioning Zolast silently about his presence. After all, I distinctly remembered him declaring that Karak's promotion was not possible anymore after his injury.

Zolast waved his hand, and a blue shimmer appeared around us, blocking the sound.

"Karak is here because the dungeon gives him a chance to earn his promotion," Zolast said, answering my silent question. "When I told you that it's impossible for him to earn his promotion, we were part of a bunch of refugees. Having a dungeon is different. Even with his injury, he could kill many monsters down there and the amount of Experience he collects would no doubt earn some attention from his god."

"And, trigger his promotion. Quite mercenary of them," I said.

Zolast shrugged. "That's gods for you, only caring about their benefits. Ultimately, promotion represents an investment from the divine. Only by proving that they can pay back their investment the poor guys could earn it. It's even more important for Karak, who has a demigod as a patron. They are much more careful in assessing the return, as their powers are already limited."

"Another question: what would happen if someone attacked the main dungeon while you're inside?" I asked.

Zolast's expression tightened, which gave me the answer I needed. "Do you expect it to happen?"

"Not very likely," I answered. "Still, it might be for the better for you to tell me whenever you guys go down just in case."

Zolast nodded, his expression telling me that my warning was taken seriously. Good.

I nodded, and he dispersed the silencing field around us. "I better go," I said as I looked at the younglings, who were still fascinated as they were going through the magical weapons I had brought with me, barely nodding at my voice.

I chuckled at their attitude. Pity I couldn't stay and tease them.

I need to go and make sure the gang war I triggered won't hurt my operations.