The next day began to the sound of town officials knocking on the door. I was already awake and checked outside with remote senses. I run to answer the door. It smells of trouble, but the whole world stinks on that matter.

I open the door and meet a grumpy, haughty officer, "Is Beowulf the one called hero by some here?"

If he is going to be haughty, I can play that game too, "Yes, I am Beowulf, Viscount of the Mirfield and Willow Hill domain, B-rank adventurer, Hero, and Dungeon Conqueror. What is your business?"

The envoy was not expecting it and almost chokes, "Viscount? From Heorot?"

I make a snotty pose and pressure him, "Did you come here to bother me and doubt my word, lad? What is your business?"

"I'm sorry to bother the Lord Viscount this early in the morning but the Count wants to speak to you," Oh, frag. Wait. Is Count above or below Viscount? Below.

The aristocracy of this world can do anything they want. Julius took Helen away, sent Mercy to jail to make her a bargaining chip, stole our meat and everything was accepted as if it were natural. People got angry, but nobody dared to speak up. I got curious about this Count Colchester. I will take this invitation.

"And where is he?"

"What do you mean, where is he? The Count is in his estate, and he desires an audience with you."

"Fine, Let's go. Do you have a coach ready for me?"

"No, Lord. We will have to arrange one. I'm sorry for my incompetence." I can hear he grumbling like dealing with foreign nobles is above his pay grade and someone is going to pay for the prank of sending him here to fetch a commoner and then dealing with

"Don't worry. I know where it is, so I'm going ahead. {Sky Platform}!"

Beowulf: I'm going to see the Count of Colchester, I'll be back soon. I promise to not let my guard down or destroy part of the town again.

I make platforms in the air with my force magic spell and jump to the Count's estate. Front door, not the gate.

Before the guards react I announce myself. "I am Beowulf, Viscount of Mirfield and Willow Hill, C-rank adventurer, Hero, and the Dungeon Conqueror. Your lordship the Count sent for me, here I am. Announce my presence."

To my luck some of the guards recognized me. They quickly sent a man inside. Minutes later a butler comes.

"My Lord Viscount Beowulf, please this way. The count is finishing his breakfast and will see you soon."

"Lead the way."

They made me wait for half an hour, but I was finally led to the Count's audience chambers. I keep my distance as it would be befitting of rank.

"Beowulf, I am sorry for the disrespect my men showed you. They will already be disciplined. We received no notice of your peerage, but congratulations. Come here."

I go to him and we shake hands. I can feel some presences hidden, but this much is fine. "Hrothgar has too much on his hands to send notice of a lower peerage in a frontier town."

"That is indeed true. I heard that your town was attacked by an orc horde."

"These are dire times, my lord. The demon race is on the move. When I traveled south before the winter I found a war band that was going to the dungeon. We reported to the Barnsley guild, but it seems that the report also didn't reach here. And yesterday they sent that monster into your domain."

"It is a grim time for humanity. We also lost the guild master, the guild and several good men. But that was the reason I sent for you, Beowulf. I must give you my thanks."

"I did what I had to do. It is my duty as a hero to fight evil wherever it spawns. We even had time to rebuild the guild facilities. But I am afraid we are leaving for Mirfield today."

"You have my gratitude for that too. It is too soon, you surely can wait a few more days."

"Unfortunately not. The Mad Viscount that preceded me made quite the chaos. I only came north to pick up my family and we really need to leave today."

Then he pushed some reward on me for my 'heroic' actions. "If that is so, please accept this token of my gratitude." He nods and a servant brings a bag of coins.

"I'll gratefully accept. Now, if the Count excuses me, I'm leaving. I don't want to take much more of your precious time."

"Well, actually I need your help. The dungeon is still unchallenged since you last went there." Should I tell him I was there three days ago? "And the adventurers that came to take on it were killed by that giant monster." I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.

"And what does that have to do with me? I can't go on a long dungeon exploration right now."

"No. I have seen the work you and your party did at the guild branch site, and I want to hire you to build a fort near the dungeon. I need to station a watch near the dungeon and a supply station for the parties that will descend there. I have an S-rank party coming soon to explore and keep the first levels under control."

S-rank adventurer party. I have no idea how strong they are, but I guess they should be at the level of a demon general. People with a tier 5 job and lots of experience under their belts.

"Build a fort. We can do that, but it won't be cheap. Do you have the men to garrison the fort?"

"Yes. There are a thousand mercenaries coming soon. I know it is not enough, but I can pay a thousand gold for the fort. And I will issue a statement regarding our reproach of the guild actions. I know they suspect you of being a hybrid, but I can't believe that. You killed that monster and reconstructed the guild for free."

"Count, I can tell you one thing with total honesty. I am not a hybrid. I was just blessed with special abilities upon birth. It is not that unusual after all, people just hide their cards. But regarding the guild, they are failing at their job. C'mon, we found demons coming from the south in the road to Barnsley. It means they went past Strawford and Barnsley unchallenged. I bet that groups of migratory monsters are going up and down without anyone batting an eye. We must do something to put the guild back in their tracks. Or maybe change it entirely."

The count gets very interested and leans forward, "The guild is untouchable. To think you would blatantly suggest to change it or to intervene! This could be considered treason."

"I don't care a bit what people consider treason or not. I do what I want. The guild is not the only option we have. There are others. The guild masters are engorged in their status and are too lazy too corrupt and too involved in their own political games. Our people suffer because of that. See the case of the orc horde in Mirfield. Their ace was a D-rank adventurer. That can't be. I also disapprove their methods for training their adventurers. But keep that in mind for a future conversation. There is an alternative to the guild."

The seeds of dissent were planted. I'll take the offer of a thousand gold, even though that fort would be ten times as expensive. We will do only the stone structures anyway. Mirfield can be revived with that much gold.

"I'll keep that in mind, you can count on it. But regarding the fort, what will you do?"

"Before I give my answer, what are you doing about the magic levels? It will be dangerous with monsters spawning inside the fort or with attacks. Those bugs are very territorial and vicious."

"We have a boy we found that has the [Magic Down] special skill. We are intending to use him as a sacrifice to cement the fort. It is not as powerful as [Magic Null] but the latter only appears once every five centuries."

Fuck. They are going to kill the kid just to make a fort. That is disgusting. "Then it is settled! I will do the fort for you, but I will request as payment the gold and this kid. Don't worry about the magic level or the guild. I learned some tricks during my travels that will solve that magic level problem on a small scale. The fort won't be big enough to hold a thousand troops, unfortunately. I think four hundred at most, but to make up for that I'll make walls as strong as a steel block."

"That is interesting. But I don't think I'll be able to hand over the kid to a foreign country."

"Then good luck with your fort. I have to take my leave."

"Wait! Viscount Beowulf, I am sure we can reach a middle ground!"

"Five thousand gold then. Take or leave. I'm going away in ten seconds, Count. It is the best you can get from me." I leak my terrifying aura for a split second.

The count almost fell on his butt, but he managed to hold the table at the last moment, "It is a deal, Beowulf!"

"You won't regret. But this is just between us. Don't involve the guild and don't mention our arrangement regarding the kid. I'll be here in three days to witness all of the sacrifice preparatives. I will expect the gold in full at that moment too. And you can have my guarantee that dungeon will remain under control."

"I look forward to it. The gold will be ready as you requested."

Like hell, I'll let them sacrifice some innocent child. Well, time to go home. "Farewell, Count. {Teleport}!" I showed him the teleport spell now so I can justify going back and forth between Colchester and Mirfield that fast.

Five thousand gold. I can buy Mirfield back to life with that much gold.