Trust

Cassarae sat at her desk with furrowed brows. It indeed wasn't a coincidence that Casstle Main had plummeted out of the rankings. She could feel that she was being targeted, but it was hard to tell if it was by coincidence or not.

The System City had appeared too close by, and on the one hand, that made it easy to pay adventurers to help them deal with some of their trouble. But on the other, it loosened the control they had over the resources in the region. Whether it was herself or her militiamen, their leveling speed had plummeted off a cliff… not that it was very fast to begin with.

As though that wasn't bad enough, the influx of salt water was making it impossible to grow anything, so she had to rely on the Nexus to buy food, further pressuring their coffers. Then, just today, she got a report that the well water was becoming too salinated to drink. Now, even water had to be purchased through the Nexus. Everything felt like one step forward for ten back.