Silas still couldn't believe how much of a coincidence this was. The man who owned that shop was, in fact, the owner of the very building Silas was currently renting.
"I can add a tracker system so you'll always know where the keys are in case your employees try to steal them. And also a detonator, if you want to, you know… end their lives," the man said casually.
Both systems sounded useful, but Silas figured the tracker would be enough. Blowing up the keys felt a bit excessive.
"Can you also make it so the key can't open the basement?" Silas asked. "I want to store the valuable items down there, so no one can access it. At least that way, I can minimize the chances of theft."
"Of course," the man nodded. "Do you want some tea? Maybe something to eat? You can stay here while I work. It won't take long—two hours at most."
Two hours to create the keys and install the security systems. That was fast. Silas was impressed by how skilled the man was. Now he understood why everyone said this guy was the best in the city when it came to magical keys.
"Sure, I'll take that. I'm Silas, by the way."
"Kurt."
Kurt prepared some tea for both of them. "I want to visit your shop once it's open," he said. "It'll be nostalgic to see it again."
Silas accepted the tea with a smile. "Of course. You're more than welcome to stop by. It'd be a pleasure to have you there."
While Kurt worked on the keys, the two of them chatted. Mostly about the city — about the hidden forces controlling it from the shadows. Kurt wanted to warn him.
"The city looks nice on the surface," Kurt said, "but it's rotten on the inside. A lot of businesses are running shady operations behind the scenes. The real rulers of this city… are the gangs and the dark wizards."
That didn't really surprise Silas all that much. After seeing those thugs show up to collect from Thomas, he already had a feeling this city wasn't as clean as it looked.
But honestly… what city was? Everywhere had shady things going on behind the scenes — things done in the shadows. The citizens and even the authorities surely knew about it, but what could they do?
In some twisted way… it fueled the economy. More money flowed into the city because of it. Silas understood that perfectly.
Still, he was grateful for Kurt's warning.
"I'll be careful, no doubt about that," Silas said. "That's why I'm getting these extra keys made and storing anything valuable in the basement. Better safe than sorry with all those thugs roaming around."
"Well thought, my friend. Very well thought," Kurt replied with a nod.
The two continued chatting until Kurt finally finished crafting the keys. He even made a few extras, just in case Silas decided to hire more employees in the future.
"There are five keys here," Kurt explained. "None of them will open the basement, so you can rest easy."
The total price for the job came out to five hundred gold coins. It didn't sound like much compared to other things Silas had purchased recently, but considering Kurt's low material costs and the fact he finished the job in just a couple of hours… it was a pretty steep fee.
Now it made perfect sense why the shop was empty — Silas hadn't seen a single customer come in the whole time he was there. The reason was simple: not everyone had that kind of money lying around to hire Kurt's services.
"I'll let you know when we open the shop," Silas said as he stepped out, giving Kurt a wave. "See you around. Take care."
"See you." Kurt waved back.
Silas returned to his shop and gathered all his employees for a quick meeting. Both women he had hired were already there, getting familiar with the place and learning how things would work.
June and Christy walked up to him as soon as he arrived. They looked excited and greeted him with bright smiles.
"Welcome back, boss," they said in unison. The sweetness in their voices felt like music to Silas's ears.
"Here are the keys I told you about."
Silas handed one key to each of them. "These open the shop, but not the basement. Only I have access down there. And remember—always keep the shop locked when it's closed, alright?"
"Of course. We're not that dumb," June replied with a playful grin. "So… which one of us is doing which shift?"
"That's up to you two. You can decide or even rotate if you want," Silas answered.
Honestly, he didn't care much about how they split the shifts. As long as one of them was always there to keep the place running and secure, that was enough for him.
Not long after, Thomas showed up as well. Silas handed him a key and repeated the same instructions.
"But why can't it open the basement? I want access to the basement too," Thomas complained.
Silas smacked the back of his head. "Keep dreaming. I'm storing the valuable stuff down there. Only I get access. At least for now."
It was just a precaution. Of course, the items for sale weren't the only reason he didn't want anyone going down there. The real reason was the hidden passage in the basement—the one that led straight to the governor's castle, where a beautiful dragon woman was still chained and imprisoned.
How would he even begin to explain something like that if someone stumbled upon it? Way too risky. Better to keep the basement locked.
Anyway, everything was finally falling into place. After a few days of the agency staff finishing the setup, the shop was ready to open!
But before that… Silas had to leave the city. The reason was simple: he had accepted a new job—a mission that paid a very decent amount of money.
The job was to kill a magical creature, ranked B. It was an insanely strong beast, something Silas could never beat in a fair fight.
Luckily… the mission didn't say anything about fighting it alone. All he had to do was deliver the finishing blow.
And so, Silas left the city accompanied by June and Christy, the two stunning women he'd recently hired.
Thomas stayed behind to watch over the shop. He didn't look too happy about it.
Silas, on the other hand, was pretty satisfied with the company by his side.