As Dropper approaches the Silver Moon, she heads down the alleyway that runs alongside the establishment.

After a quick check to make sure no prying eyes are on her, she casts the Syndicate's special invisibility skill, so she can move around freely and search for the target.

Climbing through one of the open windows, Dropper makes no noise as she creeps past the two occupants of the room after confirming that neither of was her target, Emil Gestaff, through the magical means of the Syndicate.

The room itself is easier to leave than it was to enter as curtains are being used for doors in the dark corridors of the building.

Checking each room unnoticed, vacant or occupied, Dropper is now more enlightened than she would like to be regarding the many different arts of pleasure. Unfortunately for her, the target isn't here yet but at least she has managed to learn the layout of the establishment for the assassin's next visit.

Letting out a sigh, Dropper makes her way back down the hall toward the first room she entered. She knows that it leads back to the alleyway and she even makes it all the way to the curtain before realising that Sophie isn't with her. Just before she teleports through the nearby shadow, a man surrounded by a red mist visible only to Syndicate members, her target, walks through the curtain at the end of the hall.

Dropper knows that the curtain he's arrived through leads directly to the entrance so he must have only just arrived. It makes sense seeing as how he's being escorted by one of the women from the reception area. They walk down the corridor towards Dropper, flustering the death bringer's nerves a fraction before they enter a curtain only two rooms away from her.

Dropper knows that there is no one else inside the room and that there are no windows either, she checked each one thoroughly in her search.

Hoping that she won't have to wait for long, Dropper moves to the outside of Emily's room and leans against the wall listening in on the sounds coming from inside. Less than five minutes later, the woman that brought the target here leaves the room smiling until the curtain has been redrawn. A scowl appears in her face as she makes her way back to the main reception area.

Not wasting any time, Dropper slips in through the curtain to find Emil laid face up on the bed, panting away. Producing a blade of shadow she severs his head from his body and watches as his blood paints the wall all on its own.

After a few seconds the violent gushing of blood has slowed enough to no longer reach the wall. Picking the head up off the bed, Dropper uses it to draw Abi's dungeon insignia before she stores it away.

"So many despicable people in this world. It's a good job The Master has us to clean this place up." Shaking her head at the pitiful sight sprawled on the bed, Dropper steps into a shadow and teleports into the alley. She heads past the front of the Silver Moon and continues down the road to rejoin her companions.

As she approaches an awkward atmosphere is present in the minds of all three people. Dropper's is due to the many different rooms and sights she witnessed whilst searching for her target whereas Light and Sophie are still somewhat flustered from their small but brief moment of passion.

"Mission complete," shaking away the images of pleasure, Dropper walks down the path Light and Sophie took and the couple follow after her.

As they leave Dune saddled up for the journey home, the awkward atmosphere from when they met continues all the way out of town. Once they're far enough away, Dropper turns to Light and she asks what's troubling him.

"Nothing! What's bothering you?" he answers instantly, turning five shades redder than he should be able to. Sophie almost turns the same shade but smiles dreamily at her earlier moment of courage. It turns out that she finds pursuing a man is far more difficult than dungeon diving.

"We'll always have Dune," she says to herself in blissful content whilst hugging Light from behind. This doesn't escape Dropper's attention and she raises her eyebrows at her partner.

"I'll tell you later. After a few cold ones at Talia's," he smiles whilst shrugging his shoulders.

Light, Dropper, and Sophie, Dungeon Assassins.

As I walk down the street, everyone I pass by smiles and salutes my ghostly form.

I don't expect this type of treatment from my family, but it sure is nice to be appreciated.

Heading back inside my mountain after once again attempting to turn The Hay Bale into something more, I grumble miserably.

That damn feature just won't change. What's up with it?

Maybe it will forever remain as what it is now or maybe the next upgrade will fix it.

But isn't it meant to have changed already? Everything else has gotten at least a little bit better after a single upgrade, some jumped leaps and bounds. This one hasn't improved in any way whatsoever!

After spending 1200DP in total, The Hay Bale has undergone three upgrades and I still don't have anything, except a single bale of hay, to show for it.

That better be the nicest tasting hay in the world and it better make my horses four times faster after a single mouthful.

Who am I kidding. It won't even last a day once I've filled the stable.

I wouldn't be so flustered and concerned over the waste of my DP if I could at least know what to expect from the feature. I don't even know what it does. Unfortunately, the System seems to be playing silly buggers again as this is all I get whenever I check the status.

The Hay Bale:

Upgrade: 1280DP

Error: Insert description here...

Reward: Please stand by

I can't even question it.

I'm sure that even Me would shrug at this one if he had a body to perform the action.

Maybe I should call myself the Question Queen. The Queen of Questions. Her Royal Questionableness.

Hehe.

As I make up silly names for myself whilst debating the many disadvantages of spending 1280DP on the Hay Bale's next level, I float up to the central tower on the Academy of Dark Arts' roof. I've been spending a lot of my free time here recently as I can see every part of the city.

You can usually tell when I've spent a prolonged period of time in one place. In this case there are a few adorable teddies sitting on top of a Royal Futon, enjoying the view.

The sunset in the distance is shining brightly and the strong orange light forces me to shield my face with the Dire-Wolf beside me.

In that moment two thoughts run through my mind. One is insignificant compared to the other but it manages to make me shiver a little at the thought nonetheless. Trixie, my stunningly-majestic floor boss is the strongest type of wolf I possess, the thought that caused me to shudder was as simple as unlocking the next tier of wolves.

Purchasing them in the first place was hard enough. It's a good job Trixie is a stunner.

The second and more significant thought that entered my mind is that I can actually see outside the boundaries of what I own.

When did that happen?

When did what happen?

I can see. I mean, I can see outside the dungeon.

I'm still not following you. We are outside now.

Not outside the mountain. Outside the dungeon. I can see the sunset, Me. I can see the forest and hills in the distance. I can actually see!

It's got to be the ghost form, right? It's the only new thing.

The only new thing? Spiritual Presence is the only new skill you have acquired recently. You have opened up many other new things however.

Wait. So... it's not my ghost form?

It's most definitely your ghost form!

So why were you talking about other things?

I was trying to enlighten you. The term 'thing' can have a very broad meaning.

You trying to be a smart-ass sounds more like it.

Smart-ass?

It doesn't matter.

What matters is that I can see further than I should be able to. The river that I've been told about by my scouting parties, the one that runs adjacent to me, is clearly seeable as it reflects the evening sun's glow. My current goal, now that I have a large amount of homes for potential visitors and the current occupiers, is to purchase my way forward toward the river. That doesn't mean I'm blindly neglecting my other features in this pursuit though. Every building, except for The Retreat and The Sparring Grounds are all at their third level.

And I can't even use some of them.

The forge has been placed near town away from the academy. The stable, Hay Bale, and Field of Fertility, have all been moved to the outskirts of town. When word gets out about this place, I expect a lot of people to be arriving by carriage and it will reduce the amount of blocked roads if they dismount at the stable outside the city.

They will also get to experience the joy and wonder of what I've created here. It's not everyday a new city just appears, not as advanced as mine looks anyway.

This place may not be as large as some of the other cities but it will grow over time and there's no doubt it will catch the eye of many, many people.

Expert craftsmen is definitely the right lie to start with if anyone asks.

Why do you need to lie now? You didn't lie to the Expert, or to Katrina.

I don't know, Me. It's quite stressful being in charge, you know? I feel like I need to plan for every possibility, especially the ones that I don't want to happen. I want to avoid another Categoriser setting foot inside my mountain. There's nothing I can do to stop them from stepping on dungeon ground out here, but I'll be damned if they think that I'll let them find my secret hole and enter it.

My inner sanctum is now only for my family and maybe a few select people who I could use to help me out further down the line. Wheeler, Aaron, and Sophie are the first three faces that spring to mind as they've already been inside when I was still accepting guests.

I'm officially closed for business as a dungeon for the moment. The prospect of becoming a dungeon town has far more advantages than a regular old dungeon does. It also benefits my primary objective perfectly. I can help the humans living here, or even passing through, by secretly listening in on their conversations and then taking Syndicate action.

It's perfect.

With my population being mostly made up of my own family, Varona will be the safest city on Tironia.