Monica remained in the cellar with Art’s group while everyone else headed out to the main room of the Devil’s Den to meet with the Secret Eye representative. There was no need for them to reveal they were working together. It would come out eventually, but Arwin still wasn’t sure just who the Secret Eye really were. He supposed that was only natural given their name. They could have been impartial as they claimed, but he wasn’t convinced they had no ties to the Adventurer’s Guild. And even if they don’t, the Secret Eye is far from benevolent. They may have their own purpose and not be entirely malicious, but I don’t trust them enough to start showing them the cards we’ve got readied to play. Still, this had been a long time coming. He’d been sure that the Secret Eye would have announced when the Proving Grounds would start some time ago. It felt like something had been holding them up, but at least the wait was over. “Her again,” Lillia said as they emerged onto the dining floor of the Devil’s Den. Standing near the door was a woman clad in black. Arwin recognized her instantly. It was Selen, the Secret Eye member they’d had dealings with ever since their first run in with the Ardent Guild. She inclined her head in greeting as the group approached. “Ifrit,” Selen said. “Lillia. I hope you haven’t been kept waiting too long.” “Longer than we’d expected, but I’m never going to complain about more time to prepare,” Arwin said with a shrug. “I take it you’ve come to tell us when the tournament will begin?” “Not a difficult guess.” Selen nodded. “Preparations this year took longer than expected, but everything is in place now. The Proving Grounds will begin in three days’ time. The tournament will last two days, and no participants will be permitted to leave its premises during that time.” I haven’t forgotten. At the bare minimum, the Adventurer’s Guild has someone in the tournament running around with Kien’s powers. I don’t know what their aim here is, but there’s more to this tournament than there seems. “I’m looking forward to seeing how our best perform against the kingdom’s greatest,” Lillia said diplomatically. Her expression hadn’t even flickered for a moment. She had complete control over herself. “As do I,” Selen said. The Secret Eye member made to turn for the door, then paused. She lowered her voice. “I should not speak of this, but I think it prudent to inform you that you are not the only Dwarven Master Smith participating in this tournament, Ifrit.” Arwin’s back stiffened. How does she know that I’m a Dwarven Smith? She doesn’t have the most updated information, but I haven’t told anyone about my abilities other than Wallace and my close circle. Is someone spilling information? “What?” Arwin asked, if only to buy himself time to think. “Don’t look so surprised,” Selen said. “It’s my job to know things — and I’ve gotten looks at some of the work you’ve made. It’s clearly of Dwarven quality. You don’t have a hole in your inner circle.” Arwin almost blew out a sigh of relief before he realized that Selen had read him like an open book. “Why are you telling us this?” Lillia asked. “Aren’t you not supposed to share information about the other teams in the tournament?” Selen coughed into a fist. “As far as anyone else is concerned, I didn’t tell you anything. I am an impartial member of the Secret Eye.” “And as far as we’re concerned?” Rodrick asked, speaking up for the first time since Selen had arrived. Selen’s lips thinned. For a moment, her cheeks colored in embarrassment. Then the woman had control of her features once more. “You may have forgotten the… incident with the Ardent Guild, but I have not. There was nearly a Dungeon Break in a territory that I am overseeing. I trust you can make conclusions from that. Best of luck, Menagerie. I look forward to seeing how your guild performs.” With that, Selen turned and swept out of the tavern. “Interesting,” Rodrick said, his head tilted slightly to the side as he studied the spot where Selen had been standing. “What was that about?” Arwin asked with a frown. “She’s trying to pay us back for saving her ass,” Rodrick said. “I got that much. But why would she feel that this warning would be worth her job? Another guild having a Dwarven Smith working with them doesn’t feel like that huge of a revelation.” “That does seem to be the question, doesn’t it?” Rodrick scratched his chin. “Well, I suppose Art and I have some fun ahead of us. We’ve got three days to figure out just what it was that Selen was warning us of. I know how the Secret Eye works, and it isn’t what they say that you should be concerned about. It’s what they don’t say.” “You do that,” Arwin said. “And I think I’ll have a chat with Wallace. Maybe he’ll know something about it. Given that the Dwarven Council knows about the war…” Lillia nodded grimly. “This may be related to that. I suppose all we can do until we know more is continue preparing. The Devil’s Den is going to need to be a lot larger if we manage to pull off a big performance at the tournament. We’ll get even more visitors than we already have.” “Sounds like a good time to contact ridley,” Arwin suggested. “Already on the plans after breakfast — which I’m going to go finish after I let Reya know we need to borrow one of her cloaks for Kien. The knives occasionally start fighting if I leave them alone for too long,” Lillia said, nodding to Arwin and the others before heading for the kitchen.