CHAPTER 7: THE AUDIT

  [INCIDENT: UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY]

  [ENTITY: THE SAND-BANDIT COALITION]

  [THREAT LEVEL: LOW-MODERATE]

  [STRATEGY: COST-EFFECTIVE DEFENSE]

  The Sand-Bandits didn't send a formal request for a meeting. They didn't believe in appointments. They believed in the 'Right of Conquest,' which was essentially just a violent way of saying they didn't want to pay the entry fee. At 03:00, the sensors on the perimeter flared. Twenty signatures. Low-tier warriors, mostly Rank 1 and 2, led by a single Rank 3 'Marauder' named Mito. They were approaching the rear service entrance—the one I’d left intentionally 'weak' to lure in precisely this kind of unauthorized traffic.

  I didn't wake up in a panic. I didn't even leave my chair. I just switched the security crystal to the rear feed and watched them work. The bandits were using a crude mana-ram to force the basalt panels. It was a noisy, inefficient process that was burning through their limited mana-crystals. They were over-spending on the entry before they even knew what the prize was.

  "I didn't build that door to stay shut," I whispered.

  I tapped the intercom for the barracks. "Lilo. Ami. Sammy. We have a 'Live-Fire Audit' at the service entrance. Please report to the secondary lobby. Remember: No lethal force unless authorized. We need them to be able to sign the settlement papers afterward."

  "At three in the morning?" Lilo’s voice was thick with sleep and rage. "I'm a Gold-Rank Knight! I don't get out of bed for bandits!"

  "I didn't ask for a Gold-Rank performance, Lilo," I replied. "I asked for a janitor. These are trespassers. If they damage the door, the repair cost comes out of your 'Operational Bonus.' I suggest you move quickly."

  I watched as the bandits finally breached the door. They tumbled into the secondary lobby, shouting and brandishing rusted scimitars. Mito, the Marauder, stood in the center, looking around at the polished stone and the violet lanterns.

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  "It's too clean in here!" one of the bandits shouted, his voice echoing.

  "Quiet!" Mito snapped. "Find the Core. Take the gold. Kill anyone who gets in the way."

  I didn't let them get more than ten feet into the room. I activated the 'Slick-Step' enchantments. The floor tiles, previously as solid as iron, suddenly lost all friction. Half the bandits went down instantly, their boots sliding out from under them. They flailed. It was a slapstick display of poor tactical planning.

  Then Lilo stepped out of the shadows. He wasn't wearing his Hero's cape. He was wearing the standardized Oasis security uniform—black leather and gray linen. He looked like a professional. He didn't give a speech. He didn't call on the Sun-God. He just stepped onto the one strip of floor I’d left with high friction and drew his wooden training sword.

  "I don't want to be here," Lilo told Mito. His voice was flat with exhaustion. "But my boss doesn't take no for an answer. So drop your weapons, or I'll make this hurt."

  Mito roared and lunged. He was Rank 3, but against a Gold-Rank Hero, even one using a wooden toy, he was a child. Lilo used a simple parry-and-riposte, the wooden blade cracking against Mito’s wrist. The scimitar clattered to the floor.

  "You just made a mistake," Lilo said, his voice dropping into a dangerous growl.

  The fight lasted less than two minutes. Ami and Sammy didn't even have to engage. They just stood at the exits, blocking any attempt at retreat. I didn't feel the thrill of the victory. I felt the data coming in. The 'Slick-Step' tiles had cost 12 mana to operate and had successfully neutralized 50% of the threat. Lilo’s engagement had cost 0 mana. The total cost of defense: 12 mana.

  The potential revenue: Twenty sets of gear, one Rank 3 mana-ram, and twenty new 'Contractors.'

  I stepped out of my office and walk down to the secondary lobby. The bandits were all on their knees now, surrounded by the Sun-Walkers. They looked terrified.

  "I didn't authorize a massacre," I said, my voice carrying through the room. "I believe in rehabilitation. And by rehabilitation, I mean debt-servicing."

  Mito held his broken wrist, staring at me with pure hatred. "You're a monster. You turn people into numbers."

  Am I the villain? The thought flickered in my mind like a dying candle. I looked at the twenty men on the floor—desperate, hungry, and now bound to me by a contract they couldn't possibly understand. For a split second, I saw myself in Mito’s eyes. A cold, unfeeling architect of misery. Then I remembered the alternative. If I weren't here, these men would be dead in the sand. If I weren't here, the Sun-Walkers would be starving in the ruins. I wasn't a villain; I was the only thing keeping the world from falling into its own red ink.

  "I didn't make the world this way, Mito," I said, handing him the quill. "I just made sure I was the one holding the ledger. Sign. Or Lilo can finish what he started."

  One by one, they signed.

  [NEW EMPLOYEES ACQUIRED: 20]

  [DUNGEON LEVEL: 2 (STABILIZED)]

  [TOTAL ASSETS: 2,400 GOLD]

  I didn't feel like a monster. I felt like a manager who had just solved a staffing shortage. I turned to Lilo. He was staring at the wooden sword in his hand. He didn't look like a hero anymore. He looked like a man who was starting to realize that in the Oasis, the only thing that mattered was the bottom line.

  "Go back to bed, Lilo," I said. "You have a 06:00 training session with a merchant guild. We need to look legendary."

  I didn't wait for his response. I went back to my office and started calculating the projected revenue for Floor 2.