129. Development - 26

129. Development - 26

I didn't spend too much time working on my new company. After acquiring another batch of hires my lifetime of experience helping me to test them quickly when combined with Perception and some subtle Charisma manipulations and getting other necessary purchases done, the trade caravan departed.

Their first task was to visit the port city of Oniphia which was the only proper city in this forsaken corner of the planet buy enough ore to fill their carts, and dump it back to the warehouse. Rinse and repeat.

I had yet to find a chance to visit Oniphia. Unlike the dungeon towns, Oniphia was a proper city. It had been there for years, with corresponding infrastructure and high-level guards. It was not a good target for my Concealment tricks. At least, not until I could enhance further, and get a better sense of magical measures against it.

Entering the city through ordinary methods was much more difficult than places I would regularly infiltrate. My identity as a middle manager in a guild allowed me to enter towns without magical checking but the same didn't apply to cities.

And, that would reveal my divine allegiance or, more accurately, lack thereof.

Hopefully, my trade venture would present me with a chance to bypass it once I brought it to the level I wanted.

Though, calling the trade venture a business was a bit of a stretch. With the number of skilled people I had hired, there was no chance for it to profit in any foreseeable future not that I cared. Commodity trading was only profitable when done in scale, and such scale was only attainable for people with strong political connections.

For me, Iron Trust Traders only existed to conceal some of my more questionable transportation needs, and as a vehicle to collect gossip. Nothing more.

It was expensive but with the casino constantly producing excess cash, we could afford it. And, even if that cash flow had some trouble, we still had the ability stones that were deemed useless by Zolast for our objectives.

Their sale was illegal.

But that never stopped me before.

I just needed to find a reliable channel for it, and it would be done.

"A concern for another time," I said as I left Town Maell behind once more. However, rather than returning to Town Yoentia immediately, I began watching my newest business venture.

The first trade caravan of Iron Trust, consisting of a dozen carts and thirty employees, was already on the move. I stayed at a distance, observing them to see if they were acting like I expected., not that I expected any problems.

It was not due to blind confidence. My trust in my new employees was variable was the best way to put it. Did I trust them to handle an actual threat, or keep an important secret?

Certainly not.

But I trusted them and my ability to read them enough not to expect them to risk their new, relatively well-paying job for a few carts of low-value trade goods. Especially since those goods were too bulky to be stolen easily.

They were external hires at best, and I had no intention of actually trusting them with anything of actual value. Especially not with the carcasses of the Lord Beasts.

For those occasions, I could always add a few temporary employees as necessary. Mahruss or Dalmut would be particularly fitting once they completed their next promotion. They were just low-profile enough that their disappearance would go unremarked for a few days, and reliable enough not to question the contents of the sealed crates that they were tasked to escort.

It was not a bad start for a smuggling ring.

"How sure are you?" I asked.

"About ninety-nine percent," he answered as he pulled a paper, and put on some complicated numbers, most of it going above my head. "These are the results I had collected when I was still the Holy Guide. Even then, there were some problems. The signs were too uniform, enough that I was confident enough to challenge the Divine."

"And what changed?" I asked.

"The new readings I started collecting once my curse was gone. All of the indicators are reversed," he said as he added several numbers, and then used some basic math to extrapolate the results.

"Look at that. The turning point is the exact day I managed to escape."

"Actually, it's two days after. I'm guessing it either took a while to reverse whatever ritual they were using."

"That, or, at first, they were confident that they would be able to find me soon. Only after realizing that they had failed, they reversed. Never underestimate the bureaucratic inertia."

"Good point," he said, then there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said. It was Karak. "Are you ready for the dungeon," he asked. Karak nodded, silent as usual. "I'll be there in five minutes," Zolast said, and Karak left.

"Chatty as always," I said.

Zolast growled in frustration. "It still averages out well with Terma's chattiness. I suspect he didn't Awaken Speed to run, but to speak without pause."

"Hey, he's not too bad," I said, not bothering to hide my mocking laughter.

"You're not the one who has to spend hours in a dungeon, in close quarters. I swear, it gets worse the stronger he gets. Always dashing around into dangerous situations."

"Isn't it unfortunate that I can't go to dungeons," I said, making no attempt to hide my smug smile.

"You're an asshole, Edward," he said, using my real name to show his frustration and stood up. I copied him, accompanying him toward the end of the corridor. "How's Limenta adapting," I asked.

"Not bad. He's a sharp kid. Thoughtful and patient. Gets along surprisingly well with the group, though his crush on Luminera is getting too entertaining."

I sighed. "I can't believe I'm missing that show, always running around to solve disasters," I complained. I was sad that I was missing such a beautiful show.

It would have been so entertaining.

Zolast's smirk showed he knew exactly how annoyed I was with that situation. "Too bad you can't go into dungeons," he said.

I poked his shoulder. "Go have fun with Terma's chatter," I said, and we split. He had thousands of shadowy mana monsters to kill.

And I had a town to protect in his absence.