The guy with the nasty look in his eyes is looking at the girls like he’s licking them.
Chris and Mia hide behind me.
“Who are you people?”
“Ah? I don’t gotta talk to an old man.”
The guy says to Rick with contempt.
“Ladies, how about you ditch the old guys and join our B rank party? We just happen to have five open spots. And that beast person… Well, we’ll let her in too.”
Rurika shivers a little, and I can see her clenching her fists.
I keep that in my peripheral vision while casting Appraisal on the guys.
…Hm, their levels are in the thirties, with the highest being thirty-four. They’d be on the lower end in the Beast Kingdom’s dungeon, but about medium level in Majolica’s.
In Majolica, it was easy to rank up, and it looks to be the same here.
“Hey kid, beat it!”
I hear an angry yell while I’m thinking. I guess they see me in front of Chris and Mia.
I can tell by Chris’ hand holding my sleeve that she’s shaking a little. Her level is higher, but it makes sense for this overbearing attitude to scare her a little. Or maybe she’s just disgusted and angry.
And so, as their attention turns to me, I unconsciously activate a skill. I haven’t had the chance to use Intimidate lately.
The guy in front of me is affected by it, takes a step back, and falls back after losing his balance.
I used it in the spur of the moment and I haven’t used it in a while, so I might’ve used it too strongly. Yes, I didn’t hold back at all. Not to mention that I only targeted the guy that spoke.
He tries to talk, but his mouth is shaking too much. The others around him are baffled.
When he starts visibly sweating, I stop the skill, and he starts taking deep breaths. I guess he wasn’t breathing properly.
I generally only use this on monsters, so I’m surprised by how effective it is.
One of the guy’s friends asks if he’s okay, but gets no response.
Eventually, people start gathering and wondering what’s going on.
The guys realize this, grab the guy on the ground, and run away. He can’t walk on his own, and someone else has to support him with his shoulder.
I call my Map and use Presence Detection and Magic Energy Detection to see their reactions, and use the Memory skill to remember them.
I doubt they’ll mess with us again, much less attack us, but still.
“What did you do, Sora?”
Asks Rick as he watches the guys leave.
“…I used the Intimidate skill on him a little…”
I say, and Rurika smiles for a second. I can tell she’s given me her stamp of approval.
“I see… Should we go back to the inn?”
Asks Rick, and no one says no.
“Maybe you guys shouldn’t go out by yourselves for a while, Sora.”
Says Rick on our way back.
“Because the same thing might happen again?”
“It could. But it should get better as we go down the dungeon.”
“Rick is right. If you keep advancing through the dungeon, people will see you’re strong. Well, some people might think you’re just hanging around us.”
Says Clift with an awkward smile.
We’re plenty strong on our own, but people who don’t know us might think we’re their hangers-on.
We beat the first two boss rooms quickly, but I guess that’s not enough to be seen as strong.
When we reach the inn, Rick and the others go to their room, but it doesn’t look like the others are back yet.
“We’ve got nothing to do.”
Rurika sits on the bed and dangles her legs. It’s still morning.
“Should we ask if we can borrow the inn’s kitchen?”
We probably can’t use it to prepare lunch, but maybe we can borrow it when it’s free, to make food to have in the dungeon.
We’ve been spending just one night there, but the number of monsters we have to take down to access a boss room increases until the fifth floor, and the floors themselves get larger, so it should take even longer.
Although it would be different if we used the shamal horn.
I have three months worth of cooked food in the Item Box, and half a year worth of ingredients, because I stocked up before coming to the empire.
But that’s just for our party, so if Argo’s also eats, I’m going to run out sooner. They have big appetites.
I think people will think it’s weird if they see me cook, but… Actually, I think just having proper meals will stand out.
That said, I don’t want to eat preserved foods, so I’ll just have to use Presence Detection to look for a good place to eat.
“Yes. We’re free anyway, so let’s ask.”
Rurika gets up, and goes to ask the innkeeper.
I don’t think any weird people come to this inn, but I go with her anyway.
We’re told we can use the kitchen during off hours. Their cookware are magic items, so I figured we’d have to pay to use them, but they say they’ll let us use them for free if we teach them dishes we know.
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Thanks for the treat.