"As they should be, that is why I am willing to hold myself back and let you handle things for now. The council needs a target to take their frustrations out on."

Almort says "Thank you for that as well. I need to go deal with this, I will keep you informed."

"Alright."

Almort takes his men and the prisoner and leaves, so I go inside to get some dinner. Lin and the kids haven't quite finished eating yet, so I join them and dig in. Since they started earlier and eat less, they all finish before me, but that's fine.

Lin leaves me the food pouch and takes the kids to play while I finish eating. Once I am done eating I take over playing with the kids and Lin heads to her library. I play with the kids until they are worn out and ready to fall asleep.

Once the kids are asleep I go and take a nice long lava bath until Lin comes to get me. Lin and I head to bed and then a few hours later, once she is asleep, I enter into meditation. My progress on my core is just as smooth as it was earlier and before long I complete it.

*DING*

Core Upgrade Progress: Complete!

Core is now Rank 9! HP +300, MP +300, All Stats +5, +1 Evolution Point!

Well, that answers one question, it looks like I will get evolution points at each rank up. Of course, that won't help much considering I need a hundred to see what will happen. There is no way I can rank up that many times, I need another source of points.

However, I don't plan to stop working on my core, I want to reach the next stage. Maybe, once I find out what the next stage is and my curiosity is satisfied, I will stop. I keep working on my core until the kids wake up in the morning.

Core Upgrade Progress: 21%

I play with the kids until Lin wakes up and then we all have breakfast together. As we are eating, Stillwater contacts me, but I tell him to keep everyone on the ship today. We can resume doing the tours tomorrow, once things in the city calm down a little bit.

Lin says "Does that mean you don't want me to take the kids around the city today?"

"You can if you want to. I trust you to keep them and yourself safe. The elves are not as strong as you and the adventurers are probably still busy dealing with everything that happened."

Lin says "Alright. What are you going to do?"

"I need to go chat with Zachariah for a bit. Other than that I should be here at the castle the rest of the time."

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Lin says "Still not going demon hunting? Your restraint seems unusual, just what are you up to?"

"I am doing this to make the council feel more indebted to me. If we are going to open trade with the city, having the rulers owe us will be of great benefit to us. Especially if I can help Almort become a council member in the future."

Lin says "I knew you had to be up to something! To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be something like this. Although, I am proud of you, not only for showing restraint, but also for thinking so far ahead."

"I don't always act recklessly, I can think things through sometimes!"

Lin says "I know that, despite what the goddesses say. I just didn't expect you to be able to stay calm when the elves were attacked."

"It would have been a different story if they had actually been hurt, or if it was you and the kids that were attacked. Since no one was hurt, it is fairly easy for me to stay calm about it. Besides, demons being involved complicates matters. If it was just humans being greedy, it would be easier to deal with."

Lin says "That's true. I was surprised to see them. I thought this city would be the one most likely to be demon free."

"Actually, it makes sense to me. Since this is the center of demon hunter activity, the demons would especially want to keep an eye on things."

Lin says " That does make sense. Still, to think they had snuck so many demons into the city."

"Yeah, that was surprising. Especially, the ship in the harbor that half the crew was demons. That suggests that the demon infiltration of the continent is even worse than it is here. I expect the council will be asking for our help before too long."

Lin says "Meaning you can make them feel even more indebted to you."

"Yep. That's the plan."

Lin says "Alright. I am going to take the kids out until lunchtime, after that I will leave them here with you. I want to go to the library and copy more books."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan."

Lin takes the kids with her and heads out into the city while I head to the merchant group. When I step into the group's building I am immediately hit with the new detection spell. Only after I have been checked am I greeted and escorted to Zachariah.

Zachariah says "Hello, Ash. Due to the chaos yesterday, we don't have any weapons for you to enchant. So, what can I do for you?"

"I need two things. First, I need magical woods that would be good for making bows. I will make one for you to auction out of every ten. The rest are for my elves. Second, I need whatever magical stone that you can get for me. I plan to upgrade my castle."

Zachariah says "Alright. I will have someone bring both over in the next couple of hours. There is something I want to ask you about. The council has approached me and offered a very high price if I can convince you to craft an item that can scan and detect an entire city like you did yesterday."

"They moved faster than I was expecting. Did this come through Almort so that he will get credit for it?"

Zachariah says "No. It was brought over by someone else."

"Then the answer is no. Once it goes through Almort, then I will do it."

Zachariah smiles and says "It is good to see that you take good care of your friends. I will take care of it. What will you need for the item?"

"It will be easiest to make a staff, but it will need some high quality magical wood."

Zachariah says "Understood. Leave everything to me."

"Alright. Anything else?"

Zachariah says "The caravan transporting the elves will arrive the day after tomorrow. I have sent some extra people out to increase the protection and to make sure there are no demons hidden among the caravan."

"Excellent, thank you. When they arrive in the city please have them take the elves straight to the docks. I want to get them on the ship where they will be safe as fast as possible."