Yet what surprised even Benjamin was that this portly supervisor was far more cautious than the traveling Dragon-kin merchant before him.
For the next two months, he followed the same routine every day.
Work.
Approve requests.
Make inspections.
Eat.
Get off work.
He was as precise as an Artificial Human.
Benjamin drifted behind him for several days. Eventually, he simply used Void-Step to follow him while taking a couple of books from his Internal Grotto-Heaven to study. Then, one day in the second month, something changed.
After lunch, the supervisor returned to his office.
Once he had finished the paperwork, he glanced at the clock beside him. Then he suddenly bent down, took out a key, and opened the cabinet where the Energy Stones were stored. Benjamin's eyes lit up as he watched.
After work, the supervisor went to the tavern as usual.
He sat in a corner for two full hours, drank three cups of fermented scalefruit wine, and played several rounds of dice with workers he knew. In the end, he lost a dozen or so copper coins. He got up to pay, grumbling, and as he left the tavern, he shook his head and complained to the owner about his outrageously bad luck that night.
Everything seemed normal, no different from any other night in the past two months.
After everyone had gone their separate ways, he headed home through the late-night streets.
Thick clouds blotted out the moonlight. The houses on either side had long since gone dark, leaving only cold, hard stone walls standing silently in the darkness. At the end of the street, he turned into a pitch-black alley as usual.
It was a shortcut he often took, saving him the time of going around.
And a Dragon-kin was already waiting for him in