After returning to Ale and Irohammer’s place and clearing the room of people, we talk to Argo, Herc, and the others.
Argo is surprised to hear I can use Appraisal, but Herc not so much, because it’s not a rare skill from his point of view.
It’s not just Herc either, there are more like him who can use Appraisal, but it’s different from mine. Their Appraisal works on objects, but not on people.
I tell them I can cast Appraisal on monsters and skills, while making no allusion to the fact that I can or can’t cast it on people and objects.
“So you used it on monsters and saw they’re replicated?”
Asks Argo, and I nod.
“But is that possible?”
“…There is a skill that’s close to that.”
I use Replication.
I’m hesitant to use this in front of a lot of people, but there are only a few people here like Argo and the leader of Ale and Ironhammer. And of course, I ask them not to tell anyone.
Herc is surprised when a mithril sword suddenly appears in my hand.
Argo’s party… Probably assume I just took it out of the Item Box. So I place it on the floor and take a few steps back, and after a while, the sword disappears.
Now Argo and the others are surprised too. I can’t put it back in the Item Box if I’m not near it.
“That was the Replication skill. But I can’t maintain it for a long time, and I can’t replicate monsters.”
My Replication skill is only for items, and while I can increase their lifespan by infusing more magic energy, I can’t make them last for a couple of hours.
Not to mention that it uses so much magic energy, that I can’t replicate that many things at once.
It must be a skill that’s similar but different. Maybe a superior version of Replication.
“I see. So you were checking out skills to see who’s behind this nasty prank.”
“It was all I could do. But I don’t know how well my skill works either, and in the end, we didn’t find anything. The only options now appear to be hunting monsters and this.”
If the perpetrator has something like Appraisal Obstruction or Camouflage, I might not be able to see it. The biggest problem is that I’d have to look into everyone in town. And since some time has passed, everyone has taken refuge in the nearest clan or guild.
“But how are you going to do that? You can’t tell them what you’re doing.”
Argo is right, I can’t just walk up to them and ask to let me appraise them.
But we have an idea.
“We’re going to distribute food. If I cast Appraisal as we do that, it won’t seem unnatural.”
By the way, this was Rurika and Mia’s idea.
“There might be a food shortage, you’re right.”
“Indeed.”
The issue is that we don’t know what others might do.
This is an uncertain battle, so if people have a good amount of resources, they might hunker down and not let anyone come or go.
Ale and Ironhammer are on edge about letting people in too. We had to show identification to get in here.
That means they also believe the one who started this is a person… Or at least that people might be helping the culprit.
They cooperated to defeat the demon king, but the seven big countries are most definitely not one monolith. There’s intrigue going on behind the scenes, and the empire even declared war on the republic.
I’m not too familiar with why the empire started that war, but in any case, it’s obvious their relationship isn’t good.
Also, the biggest problems are that the guild saw us as suspect before this happened, and our connection to the townspeople here is very slim.
We can enter and leave this place because we know the people here, but I’m not sure if people will accept it if we start doing emergency food distribution.
“Well, let’s just start here, and go with the flow as far as the rest.”
Argo’s opinion is very simple, but all we can do is go one step at a time instead of worrying about this and that.
If they say no, we’ll figure it out then.
Also, this mess might settle on its own. Although that’s just wishful thinking.
“That’s settled then, let’s get ready. I’ll help, but it’s up to you, Sora.”
“Ahh, you just want to eat something nice.”
Says Guilford to Argo, after he spoke with a big smile.
Argo’s party is always like this. They aren’t at all perturbed by this pretty dangerous situation.
But that might also be a comfort to the people who have taken refuge.
“We will help as well. We can at least cut ingredients.”
Says Herc. That helps. There’s over three hundred people in this place alone.
Even just preparing things to cook will take effort.
I think they could take this many people in because they got their items in order so they could leave town, and this place became more spacious in the process.
If that wasn’t the case, I doubt even the biggest clan in Avid would be able to shelter so many.
We start preparing food, and Argo’s party takes a nap because they’re going to be keeping watch at night.
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Thanks for this weeks updates, & hope everybody has a good weekend. 😎👍
Thanks for the treat.