Khenal
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Chapter Three-Hundred Forty
🕑 Added 2025-03-11 01:51:41 +0000 UTC___________
Boss Toja
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“S-So that’s why I didn’t approach, Boss…” stammers the elf, withering beneath the dispassionate eyes of the spiderkin behind the desk. Boss Toja gives nothing away as she weighs the future of the elf, the orb weaver resisting the urge to twitch her spinerretes as she thinks. He’d never see them, but she’s been in this business long enough to know better than show any sign of weakness.
“It’s fine, Dippo,” she finally answers, the elf sagging in relief as she continues. “You’re not the first to be ratted out by the ravens. At least you didn’t cause a scene and drag any back here.” Dippo shudders, recalling the beating the first enforcer got for leading a group of cawing, shouting ravens back to the headquarters. “There’s always another mark. Just make sure you know the difference between caution and cowardice. One will get you far, the other… won’t get you very far at all.”
The elf stands, nodding so deeply he’s practically bowing. “Thank you, Boss! Don’t worry, Boss! You can count on me, Boss!”
She waves an arm at him, dismissing him, and is glad to see he understands without needing to be explicitly told. She eyes her guards for a few moments before allowing them to stay. She can think without them bothering her, and she has a lot to think about.
Five arrests, five more chased off, and only Dippo so far has been smart or scared enough to back off without attracting attention. Or at least doing so obviously. She knows she has Thedeim’s attention, she just doesn’t know how much.
The dungeon hasn’t been anything worth her time ever since it appeared. She and her guild are more concerned with people than monsters, though there are a few interesting poisons to be had from the dungeon. Still, she’s been content to do her best to stay out of its affairs, and had been well beneath its notice until now.
She can’t help but smile at the memory of Hullbreak’s desperate gambit, and the dwellers of Thedeim knocking on the doors of the neighborhood, warning them they might need to evacuate. They didn’t know who she was then, but that small luxury is probably past by now.
She should have known the Earl’s offer was too good to be true. The first meeting was simple enough: a few mutual threats, bribes, gifts, and down to business. She was more than happy to give details of the Slim Chance guild. She was there when the old Boss told Karn that was his odds of getting out of the guild alive. The dwarf had underestimated Karn’s party, and Karn himself. It’s a tangential slight, but she and Karn have never been friends, so why not make some coin at his expense?
Rumors abounded after the meeting, with everyone looking forward to getting coin from a noble without even needing to pull a knife on them. Toja did her best to temper expectations, but there’s long been a rivalry of sorts with the Slim Chance, so everyone was eager to get their weapons wet and be paid for it.
The Earl’s second offer was exactly what they all wanted. Toja should have known it was too good to be true. The offer was far more than even a disconnected noble should think was worth leaning on a few simple crafters and gatherers. But not only are they showing to be a lot stronger than they should be, but they have the protection of Thedeim himself!
It’s a clever trick, she has to admit; causing noise and attracting attention. Ordinarily, that would just mean delivering the ultimatum quicker and leaving. Guards are always at least a couple minutes away, plenty of time for a threat and clean getaway, even with squawking birds. Neighbors are supposed to pretend they didn’t see anything. But after delving, they’re getting confident and standing together.
If it was just one neighborhood, retaliation would be easy. But no. Almost every single neighborhood her people have tried to intimidate, they’ve all solidified to the alarm of those stupid birds. She can’t even be sure Thedeim is spreading himself thin, as she’s been seeing reports of seagulls intermixing with the ravens, lending their own cacophony to the mix.
Getting Thedeim’s attention would be bad enough. She doesn’t need Hullbreak inspecting her stitches, too. The harbor dungeon may have mellowed recently, but she remembers the horror stories of those who witnessed the tragedy and survived. She doesn’t want to be the one to set him off a second time.
Their attention isn’t even limited to the town at large, either. There’s been suspicious cats staying just outside the kill area, as well as birds, not to mention the sudden interest bees have taken to the headquarters. A lot of her underlings chuckle about the dungeon not being as sneaky as it thinks it is. Toja, on the other hand, recognizes a distraction when she sees one. The only problem is she doesn’t know what she’s getting distracted from.
She sighs and settles back, grabbing a pair of knitting needles to keep her hands busy while she thinks. Fools might find it odd for a crime boss to knit, but it helps her keep her dexterity honed, and even a crime boss enjoys feeling warm.
What is she going to do? All the options boil down to a choice: stick with the Earl, or abandon him. Sticking with him certainly has its advantages. Coin, protection from the law, prestige from her people, and fear from those who aren’t are just the obvious ones. There’s a lot of power to be had in aiding a rise to power. Muscling out competition makes a lot of money, and the Earl stands to earn Toja a lot of money if he can monopolize Thedeim’s output.
There’s also a lot of downsides. Just because she’s been staying out of the dungeon’s affairs, doesn’t mean she’s not up to date on Thedeim. The Dungeoneers even suspect he’s a Lost dungeon, instead of Cloistered, though they don’t admit it in public. She can’t imagine how he could be Lost, but it implies a lot of goodies hidden somewhere, if she can only find them. But Thedeim is also no pushover. He ate Neverrest, cowed Hullbreak, and even made friends with the Southwood. She thinks the tales of the Maw are exaggerated, but that’s just another example to show messing with Thedeim is not for the faint of heart.
But would refusing the Earl be any better? She’d have to give him his payment back, and he’d certainly demand a penalty payment, too. On top of that would be a significant loss of face among her people. The scoundrels wouldn’t stand for their Boss to back out of a deal like that, not without causing a ruckus. She’s confident she can defend her position, one way or another, but it’s something she’d rather avoid. And if the Earl is successful in his venture to take a direct hand in Fourdock, she’d have to deal with an actively-hostile mayor, instead of one who reluctantly turns a blind eye for the sake of stability. Rezlar might be young, but he understands the havoc he’d create if he arrested her guild and left a power vacuum like that. So long as she keeps things subtle, he has no cause to remove her.
She frowns into her knitting as she sees fewer and fewer options but to keep working with the Earl. The money will be good, but she’s not foolish enough to think he’d defend her if caught. So, if she’s helping him, what other angle can they try? Much as she hates to admit it, the Slim Chance is probably out of their reach. She could press, but a war between them and her guild would go well for nobody, least of all her. What else can they try to strike a blow to Rezlar’s credibility?
He doesn’t have a lot of vectors for attack. He’s practically a hermit, rarely leaving his manor. Attacking his guards would be pointless and lead to her guild being squashed by the full might of the law. He likes Thedeim, but good luck attacking the dungeon. Smuggling in an invader is a tricky proposition even against a normal dungeon, let alone one as clever as he is. The only other thing Rezlar has his hands in is…
“Oh.” Her guards look to her at her sudden realization, with her smiling and waving for them to return to their positions. Rezlar and Thedeim are working on that Hold now as a symbol of cooperation and protection for Fourdock. If it were to collapse, it’d be a major blow to their credibility… especially if the young lord mayor is caught in it. It’d give the Earl the perfect excuse to step in and take over, and if they can pin the blame on the dungeon, that’d be all the excuse he’d need to quarantine it and only allow in vetted parties for the dangerous thing.
If she plays her cards right, she can even see herself swearing fealty to the Earl and retiring to be the new lord mayor of Fourdock. It’d be a better retirement than founding an adventuring guild, that’s for certain.
Comments
Jerry A
Wow, talk about talking oncelf into trouble because of green, she really need to re evaluate things without that clouding her mind, just because if everything goes great things will look wonderful, do not increase the chances of it going any where near the plan, and if so the trouble it would bring her is way more then she would like, damned squashed window, I am sure I miss spellt and fat finger allot of it but can't see it, three or four letters wide is just not readable.
Sturstryk
So ... how much do we wanna bet that the new garrison of the king's soldiers is gonna want to use the newly built hold as their barracks? I mean, it would make sense in a way: the structure would actually get used outside of emergencies and a dedicated staff that could handle upkeep and maintenance. It's not so far from the town that the distance would be a hassle to go delving, ESPECIALLY if they're able to set up some shortcuts that could be closed when the hold goes into emergency/siege mode. And it would provide a lot of good will between Rezlar and the crown that he's essentially quartering his troops for free, or close to. Also, would be a REAL shame if something were to happen to it while the king's soldiers were there.
Markell
Looks like the thieves guild is about to find out why we over-engineer our structures.
PickledTink
You use the sentence "She should have known the Earl’s offer was too good to be true." twice in quick succession. you should probably trim out the first instance or change it since the two together hit the flow of reading like a speedbump on a freeway.
Wolf_Senpai
So.... She watched his scion turn back an entire tsunami.... Murk a murderous dungeon, force another into submission, ally with an old forest dungeon.... And she thinks its a good idea to FA? That even IF it goes EXACTLY the way she wants it to there will be no FO? Thedeim is not murderous.... *YET*. But if a crime family were just to... You know, disappear? It happens. Criminals routinely get caught up in power plays and all of a sudden no one sees them around anymore, especially in a civilization that doesn't have cameras or any kind of criminal forensics. He has a rat that can create shortcuts out of thin air, He has a life drinking weapon, he has a DEATH Scion who can insta kill just about anything judging by his "fight" with the scythemaws, he can bring the dead back to life (in a way), has a scion that can turn apocalyptic natural disasters into its own personal play things. And his buddy hullbreak has literal Cthulhu's chilling outside his border.... But yes. Its a great idea to pick a fight with a dungeon who can send out a SINGLE order and straight up REMOVE the better part of a CONTINENT off the face of the planet. How to become leviathan food 101: A speed runners guide. (Edit: Oh almost forget, the crown inspector is present too. So if he managed to get any kind of evidence, or even just let the crown inspector see what they were doing... It would be self defense and the crown would be rid of an overly ambitious criminal that made their fortune in blood money and was an all around pain in the arse.)
mly85lc
Well she kind of should know... same surname. Plus if your eventually cona run awolle off law.. you should know what additional healp and resources theyry cona bring in if things get hairy. That's mean additional resources and conetion outside kingdoms police force and royals. What ever thous additional force is blood or coin. And as apointed Noble... even one that's is sent rear end of nothing as kind off punishment. Should have some ways get additional support form some where. Now if Toja is new at his post and last boss hand not get time prife her.. And if she's get shuun by ohter crime bosses do her race and realative, still now unimportand location. Then maybe she lack some conetions and information about Rezal back round. Still don't this world have [inspect status] function? Using that should rises alarm belly.
Speedsaber
I haven't seen grim ever put actual menacing intention into any of his actions. Might be a nice look into the other side, but I doubt it would occur.
Aerowarrier
Dude imagine Tiny creeping his way into their base, an army of spiders at his back, effortlessly tying up every single guard who tries to stop him. Then he just walk right up to Toja and uses his spider language stuff that he uses to communicate with the spider kin to tell her, in excruciating detail, exactly what will happen to her guild if they even attempt to destroy that Hold. Then he just plucks a few strings in fate itself before walking out, the veritable wave of spider receding back to TheDiem as if they had never even been there
Aerowarrier
Good to know that there aren’t even a hint of rumors about Rezlar being active outside his manor. Toja’s gonna be in for a rude awakening when she learns the mayor is also significantly stronger than he should be
Ben Bass
TYFTC! I wonder if Boss Toja realizes that Rezlar and the Earl are related? I don’t know how happy the Earl would be if she tried to ‘accidentally’ kill Rezler. I don’t see this plan of action working out well for Toja though…
Cantharellus Cibarius
Lmao good luck destabilizing the structure of something built with magical silk in it's foundation XD
Mommy Khaos
Honestly I was thinking that Teemo may make every entrance a shortcut, that way in case of raiders there's no obvious way to enter. Plus he can close them on either end, and close it behind him. So, even if they use magic to find the shortcut, he could literally lock the door behind them AND in front of them. Use some fun spatial fuckery and they could be stuck in a void that spins in directions that don't exist
Ethan Barrow
TFTC!! She is gonna regret choosing the Earl real soon I think.
Victor
I wonder if this will lead to Tiny showing off how terrifying he can be.
Carl Gherardi
Kidnapping works for the Earl to step in at a time of crisis. "I've sent my brave son back home to recuperate after his ordeal. I'll be speaking to Fourdock leaders shortly to make this transition as smooth as possible"
Carl Gherardi
She needs to create an opportunity for the Earl to replace his son, preferably by making sufficient trouble so that he asks for help. Failing that trouble is enough of a pretence to forcibly step in. She is out of options really, she can't back out with the Earl unless she believes Rezlar will both deal and win. That's not something she can reasonably predict surely. So... kidnapping Rezlar while faking an accident gets the Earl his pretense, then kill or return him depending on the Earl's preference.
Samuel
Oh my sounds like someone thinks they are clever, I wonder if they are as smart as they think they are, thanks for the chapter
deefdragon
its a bit rough, but "that" is referring to a slim chance. as it karn had a slim chance of getting out of the guild alive. That said, I thought it was referring to getting out of the slim chance guild alive, not the thieves guild, so it could still be clarified.
mly85lc
Now, again I not say she doing enyting not on character for crime lord... just that her assements to situation and conclusion drawn form it is bit one side. And while I happy read about building the fort. way storys sifts there's by her one side assents of "players" streagth Makes... auhtors hand show behind weil/curtain.
mly85lc
Well that's true. Still he was weeks travel away. Where Tojas is... what? 6-9 city block away form MC dungeon? She has mutch faster access to information. Sure maybe she just thinking it's normal talk among people since MC has uprage his spawners to point of having his own people. And that just find. My main point is that she's too... quick to look at Earl streagth, not take acount MC backing in form of that mayor she intended kill or his conettion say Crystals shield church, whos members where openly supporting he's efforts. Even if Tonja don't care for them inside city her contact outside it would. Shield is a para military organisaatio that but themselves to harms way.
Nathan Linder
Thedeims apotheosis isn't common knowledge yet among most people. Even the Orc guy who was specifically getting whatever info he could on Thedeim didn't fully believe it either at first IIRC.
Tsume Eiranis
Thank you for the chapter The nets we weave...
Captain2003Rex
For multiple chapters now, I have been wanting Grim to slow walk his way out of the cemetery, through the town, into the thieves’ den, past the guards, and right up to the crime boss. Only to then shake his head, wag a finger at her, and then walk back out. Can you imagine the sheer intimidation factor from that? Lol
mly85lc
All in all a good instructions chapter, it just she's missing some points that's she should be aware off if she's as competent as she's portraied.
mly85lc
Not mentioning if she's keep track of Thediem work she should know who the "contuit" is and plan around that. Plus should she be on know that Thendeim is god now? That to need be plan around
mly85lc
While Tojas... logical thinking ain't bad she should Reizar is Earls son. One that's is not getting along his father, sure but son still. And while spiders and monsters my not be family oriendet.. for crime boss she should at least settings some one else to take the fall form blowback.
jeffh4
>> She was there when the old Boss told Karn that was his odds of getting out of the guild alive. This sentence needs to be fixed.
Presten
Oh, she's going to die.
you wish
Can you imagine Grim just walking into her HQ and just standing there looking at her.
you wish
And we havent seen a truly upset Coda yet. Imagine if she Makes HIM mad. Her entire building would collapse under ground.
Speedsaber
Good luck getting coda to ignore sabotage, if he's obsessed like an engineer. If someone fudged his project they will wish it was just an OSHA employee.
Anthony Felscher
Not to mention Relzar is his son. While he may think his son is a pushover, trying to kill him would probably piss him off.
Wolfclaw
Can't forget having a master space scion specializing in quick travel block one entrance 5 more appear through engineering and shortcut
Herakilla
Thanks for the chapter! Can't wait for her to find out
Juno Tubolino
"And here we see the crime boss entering the "fuck around" phase of the plan..."
Mommy Khaos
Oh, he'll probably throw a couple eggs into the basket, but if it's successful she ain't living. Too high of a chance of blackmail, or if she squeals to the wrong person the king could easily swing an executioner's axe into the Earl.
12Baku34 .
Something tells me Toja is going to be in kicking herself that she ever came up with that idea later on.
chris Bell
It's gonna get a bit dicey in the near future me thinks great chapter nice new character arch they seem sensible lucky not a hot head or there would be major issues
NDF 07
Good luck attempting That Toja what with Thediem being an engineer with a titled architect in Coda plus you know being grade A bullshit
Cordell Patrick
Oh this plan is gonna back fire hard I can just see it
Austin Miller
Ah yes. Now to state my plan aloud into the mic-shaped mushroom...
Kevin Neely
Uhhhhh I dont like the odds of the Earl following her train of "logic". More likely he kills her outright when he learns of this plan.
Vorquel
The phrase "don't tempt fate" comes to mind. And with Thedeim's affinity...
