"Oi! Suzy! Why you lookin at me like ya seen a ghost, huh?

" Darla rudely called out to Darius when she noticed him stopping suddenly and staring at her.

Darius also came out from his shocked stupor with a frown, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he observed Darla. This was a woman with either inborn 50 points of Luck, or somehow acquiring some sort of treasure that had greatly boosted her Luck this high.

Darius had a weird perception of Luck, especially in the world of Faust. Since he recently attributed his ability to find one of the 56 paths to his high Luck, he had begun to understand how important and game-changing the stat was.

It definitely wasn't as simple as rewarding him with better drops or giving him a high chance for critical hits.

It had a lot more inexplainable functions that assisted everything else while also doing its own thing to make sure that the possessor of high Luck would survive by some fluke.

Darius mused that if this were fiction, the Luck value would be basically a character's level of plot armor, a writing device that ensured the story kept going on but protecting the protagonist from death.

It was different from plot convenience, which was the writing device that allowed protagonists to breeze through various obstacles with ease, finding rare items in places that things should not be or arriving at certain places right around the time an important event would happen.

For some reason, people tended to merge both concepts into 'plot armor', making Darius wonder if people actually took time to research what they were saying or just babbled what they saw others say.

Whatever the case, for the sake of the argument, plot armor was essential to a story. It basically kept a protagonist from dying unless he was part of a 'vantage point' style of story featuring multiple perspectives, allowing for the continuation of a story even if one was eliminated.

Sometimes, the plot armor of the protagonist would rub off on close allies and friends, like the main female lead, his harem members, very important friends, rival turned friends, or other people close to him.

This was thanks to the protagonist (or could even be to the fans who love the side characters so much), preserving those who logically should not survive the same tribulations.

So what happened when a 'protagonist' of a story with established plot armor would meet a side character or neutral party with plot armor on the same level as theirs?

This was the current dilemma Darius was in.

Naturally, he knew himself to be the 'protagonist' of Faust, and pretending otherwise would be acting intentionally stupid and unnecessarily humble for no reason.

So this woman, Darla, who had the same amount of Luck as he… what should he do with her? Currently, she was stronger, so this presented variable difficulties.

Firstly, he could befriend her as he had done for Oliver Frenq. This was his usual go-to option given his mercantile mindset. He did not see the need to antagonize anyone based on the faction they belonged to or based on his emotions and fears. If possible he'd rather turn them into acquaintances over benefits, or friends at a stable level.

Secondly, he could remain neutral

/keep his distance. In order to avoid a clash of interests or power due to their similar Luck, he could just be cold and straightforward without the intention to befriend. This was also a good option since he didn't plan to interact with this woman more than necessary.

Thirdly, he could try to end her life. While he might not have the power to do so himself, he could either set his undead upon her or try to implement a situation on the battlefield that would lead to her death… but both options were suboptimal, if not impossible.

She had her other guild members behind her, not to mention she was bound to have other Adept allies in the camp. The priests certainly would use any chance to interfere with him no matter what after Darius would propose his plan tomorrow.

As for harming her on the battlefield, it was theoretically possible with his Intellect, but not at a level to outright kill her.

This led right back to the issue bringing all this consideration up, her goddamn high Luck. With a value at that level, it would have to be a situation where no amount of cosmic force could intervene on her behalf.

Darius kept his eyes on Darla, and ran his mind through his three options, choosing the most beneficial one for now. With a slight exhale, he greeted.

"Greetings, Lady Darla Brown. I assume you're the one in charge of this particular encampment?

"

Darla grunted.

"That's right, 'Sir' Darius Stone. I'm not only in charge of this here encampment, but I'm the vice guildmaster of the main Thieves Guild in Andrato.

"

She flicked her dagger lightly, not even bothering to gaze at Darius.

"So, what can I do ya for?

"

Darius nodded.

"Well, I'm here for two purposes. Business and Friendship.

"

Darla paused and actually looked at Darius for a while before she remarked.

"Hoh? YOU? A talented mage Adept who can have even the Crown Princess of the ENTIRE kingdom, want to make friends with our lowly Thieves Guild?

"

Darius smiled softly.

"That's right. The Thieves Guild might have a bad reputation, but that is for crimes. In terms of business and profitability, you are only matched by the Assassins Guild.

"

Darius patted his knees.

"Your true value as a group is mostly ignored due to the prejudice by the upper class, though many crawl through the backdoor to seek your help. Hasn't the noble Crown Princess herself used your services not too long ago? I'm just putting away the sickening false pretenses and coming upfront, or is that so strange to you?

"

Darla nodded.

"It is, but I dun care enough to pursue it ta be frank whicha.

"

Darius frowned, which made Darla laugh.

"Dun mind me, m'lord, I 'ave a bad habit of pissing off nobles on account of my low birth ya see.

"

Darius rubbed his chin with interest.

"No problem, everyone has their quirks. For now, let me begin with my proposal for friendship before we move onto business.

"

"Aye, I'm all ears, but jus kno that getting the friendship of the Thieves Guild is as hard as a spanking from the constable heh heh.

" Darla snickered playfully.

Understanding her personality now, Darius was unbothered. Instead, he smiled.

"I'm sure you've already caught wind of my appraisal abilities. I'm willing to do a free appraisal of up to twenty items for the Thieves Guild as a token of friendship.

"