Chapter 177: Chapter 177 - Establishing Excellence And Alibis

The morning sun fell on the foundation stones where Dima knelt to examine her handiwork. She had spent the better part of a week of her spare time carefully chiseling and preparing these defensive sigils. Each one required precise measurement, proper placement, and meticulous attention to depth to work efficiently.

She ran her fingers over a particularly challenging connection point she'd labored on for nearly two hours by itself. Then her hand moved to the adjacent section - the part the 'sweet' young heiress had completed yesterday in less than twenty minutes before going to eat.

The branch manager's jaw clenched as she compared them. The girl's work was... flawless. Even the spacing between marks was more uniform at a glance than her own careful efforts. Done with the exact same set of tools as her that the Goltbred had delivered from her merchants!

"Three hours. She did twice my progress in three hours."