Chapter 303: 303. Free Advice

Standing in front of the overseer’s house sent shivers down Dallion’s spine. It wasn’t caused by fear or concern—the reason Dallion had come here was considered important enough—it was his body reacting to what Nil described as a spiritual draft.

Taking a deep breath, Dallion knocked on the door. Barely had he done so than it opened, revealing a captain of the city guard inside.

“I want to see the overseer,” Dallion said.

“Are you sure?” The surprise emanating from the man was palpable. It seemed that people rarely came to visit on their own accord.

“I’m sure. There’s something she needs to hear.”

There were a few more moments of hesitation on the captain’s part, but ultimately, he moved aside.

“Thanks,” Dallion walked in. The inside of the house was barren as before, accompanied by an icy chill. Last time Dallion’s lack of perception prevented him from noticing; now it felt as if thousands of icy claws were clawing his skin in a constant attempt to claim all the warmth he had.

“Do you have a blocker on?”

Dallion showed his blocker ring.

“You know the way,” the captain said, moving back to the single seat in the room. It couldn’t have been easy for him. Even if taking shifts, staying here for any amount of time was more than uncomfortable.

With a nod, Dallion went up the stairs to the overseer’s room. Seeing her skills in action, he knew that she was aware of his presence. Even so, he chose to knock on the door. After a few minutes of silence, he opened it and walked inside.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you this soon,” the overseer’s voice sounded the moment Dallion walked inside.

The room was dark, with a single grain of light moving about a short distance away. Looking closely, Dallion saw the light source to be a firefly in a jar placed on the table. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Dallion was able to see more of the table itself, as well as part of the silhouette of the overseer sitting by it.

“Please,” the woman gestured for him to join her at the table.

Dallion did so.

“Is the light adequate for your perception level?”

“I think so.”

“That’s good. One of the drawbacks I have is that l don’t react well to light, especially moonlight. But I expect you know that already.”

That was the closest thing to a trick question Dallion had heard in his life. At this point, the best course of action was not to respond.

“I’m aware of your small adventure. The guilds keep me informed of anything that could be of interest. Normally I would pay more attention, but my resources are stretched thin right now. You’ll have to excuse me for taking your girlfriend away for a few weeks.”

“My adventure?” Dallion asked.

“Your expedition.” The overseer leaned forward. “To be honest, I’m glad that the world turned out to be flooded. Nasty things tend to escape from world items. The copyette you’re hunting is a good example. Any news on that topic, by the way?”

Straight to the point. It was inevitable that she would ask, but that was something Dallion had prepared for.

“I’m following leads,” he said. “That’s actually why I’m here. I saw something when I want to check out the arena today.” The temptation of splitting into instances was unbearable, and yet Dallion managed to overcome it. “I saw another chainling.”

No reaction followed. For several seconds Dallion kept on staring at the overseer, wondering what she would do. In his mind, he expected her to call the captain and have all available city guards secure the place of the sighting. However, she did nothing of the sort, making Dallion doubt that she had even heard him.

“It was among the workers at the arena,” Dallion continued. “At the very same place the countess would spend most of her time after the start of the festival.”

“Thank you for telling me of her grace’s plans. I must have forgotten that.” The words were thick with sarcasm. “Anything else?”

“Isn’t this enough?” Dallion didn’t know what else to say. “Two chainlings in the city. Chances of that happening are…“ he stopped short of saying a number.

“Five,” the overseer corrected. “There have been five sightings, excluding the one that attacked you. And I’m only talking about since then. I would say that it’s commendable that you came here directly after finding out, and above all that you didn’t tell anyone else, but that is the extent of what you could do.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t get me wrong, your progress is mildly impressive. For someone to pass the third gate so soon after awakening is an achievement, but then again, otherworlders are special in that regard. The problem is that apart from that there’s nothing you could actually do.”

The statement made Dallion want to stand up and shout at her, but despite his internal anger, he also knew that she was right. In a direct battle against a chainling, there was no question that he would lose. Here, in the real world, he didn’t have Lux and Nox to rely on. The likely reason the chainling had ignored him was because it could risk attracting attention to itself, especially with a noble nearby.

“I can’t just ignore it.” Dallion clenched his fist under the table.

“I feared you might say that. You seem to have dealt with some of your major flaws. However, that’s not enough. The thing is, you know this already.” The firefly in the jar started flying in the shape of the figure eight. “That’s why you came here and didn’t try to take it yourself. You feel strength at your fingertips, but are aware it’s not yours to wield yet. However, since you came all this way, let me give you a piece of advice. Train and win.”

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Dallion blinked. That wasn’t an answer he was expecting.

“As things are now, you’re too weak to win a fight, and too insignificant to ask for help. Sure, you can get Eury and possibly Jiroh to help you out, but they can’t be everywhere, especially when they have matters of their own. You need to become noticed and not just like the rising star rookie. The fastest way to achieve that is to do well at the festival tournament.”

If a camera crew jumped out of the shadows right now, telling Dallion he’d been punked he wouldn’t have been surprised in the least. He was talking about a threat that could plunge the county into chaos, possibly the entire province, and the overseer’s advice was to win at a tournament? In light of the recent sighting, Dallion was even considering dropping out altogether.

“I didn’t know you were a fan,” Dallion couldn’t stop himself from saying.

“I’m not, but the people that matter are. The tournament is one of the highlights of the festival. The people who matter are watching. The provincial nobles, the Order, even members of the Imperial family, and the Academy. Winning there won’t make you the strongest by a long shot, but for the next few weeks, it’ll get you noticed. I’m sure you know enough about politics to tell where this is going.”

Now, finally, it clicked. The winners of the tournament were the equivalent of local celebrities. The fame lasted less than a month, but during that month, everyone who was anyone would want to be seen with the arena champion. As Nil had said, there would be offers for echoes, invitations to events… Even back on Earth, the sweat of gladiator champions was considered to be a potent aphrodisiac and sold at exorbitant prices. If Dallion wanted to get reliable help, he had to play the game.

“Politics,” the overseer said sharply. “In the end, it’s all about politics. None of us can escape that, although many try.”

“I see.” Dallion stood up. “Thank you for the advice. If I see anything else, do you want me to let you know?”

“I always appreciate visits. If you come, I won’t send you away.”

“Thanks.” That was something to have in mind. “And thanks for the advice.”

“I know you’ll do your best. At the end of the day that’s all we can do. Just try not to get pulled in too deep.”

For the faintest of moments, Dallion felt a note of sorrow in the overseer. There was weight to it, indicating she was talking from experience. Was it that her ambition was the reason she had ended up becoming what she was? Overseers weren’t born, but made. However, there were no details on how exactly that happened.

With a final nod, Dallion left the room. Light embraced him the moment he opened the door, making him realize only now how cold was constantly emanating from the overseer.

“Had a nice chat?” the captain asked, looking up from reading a scroll.

“Nice enough.”

“Better than what most get. You know the way out.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Dallion went back to the street. Once there, he removed his blocker ring.

Well? Nil asked almost instantly.

She told me to get noticed at the tournament.

That means her hands are tied. Probably the Lord Mayor doesn’t want to give the impression he can’t keep his city under control. He’s always been the type to want to save face, but I didn’t think he’d go that far.

Aren’t you cheerful today…

It has nothing to do with opinion. His strength is waning. He’s barely got the strength to keep the contenders at bay. If he was any smart, he would have chosen a successor years ago and remained as the power behind the scenes. However… The old echo stopped. Ignore all that. It’s not like it matters. I guess the only thing left is for you gain a few levels and, as much as I shudder to say this, get yourself noticed. Normally, this is the last thing that awakened should do.

Does that mean that all tournament participants will be weak?

Haven’t you learned anything? Nil grumbled. The skilled ones won’t be fighting at full strength, but that’s not the issue. Even if you increase your levels significantly, you won’t be a match for the top contenders. And, unlike them, you won’t have the option to hide your skills.

I see your point.

Winning wouldn’t be considered a victory. Even if Dallion got noticed to the point that he got the support he needed, the chainlings would have seen the extent of his skills. The only option was not to give them time to take advantage of that.

Will I be well enough to go for level twenty-one tomorrow? Dallion asked.

I’d rather you take it easy another day, but yes, I think you’ll be fine. No attempts today, though! You might think you’ve fully recovered, but you haven’t.

Yeah, yeah…

The truth was that Dallion didn’t only want to level up. He had set his aims much higher. Soon enough, he was going to try and level up the ring he had found in the sword world. Only that way would he be ready to face real dangers. The last time, it was the armadil shield that had helped him in a hopeless situation. This time, he was going to find a way to take the victory on his own, and that means focusing his efforts in two areas: leveling up and forging. All he needed was to get an understanding of basic iron forging and earn his hammer. After that, he could level up on his own. Euryale had made it clear that she wasn’t going to teach him anything until the end of the festival, but as the overseer has said, it was all about getting noticed. As long as Dallion did that he had some leverage.

Nil, I need to have a word with the Flameforge captain you so much hate. How do I find her?

Hate is usually a strong word, although in this case I find it adequate, the echo said. Why do you need to talk to her?

She made me an offer a while back. I’m wondering if she’s inclined to help me in another matter as well.

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