Getting right into the main point, none of the adventurers or townspeople that Ale and Ironhammer are sheltering have any skills related to Replication.
But I’m curious about the levels of the townspeople. They’re clearly too high for townspeople. And their jobs aren’t normal either.
I should talk to the others about this.
After we’re done distributing food, we eat and rest. Cooking for so many people was tiring.
But before I go to sleep, I report to Argo and Herc that I didn’t find anyone that seemed to be the culprit.
The next day, we go to shelters with some members of Ale and Ironhammer.
Cooking onsite would take too long, so we decided to cook and then deliver the food.
People of Ale and Ironhammer help us negotiate, and we distribute the food.
Still, we go to five places, and three say no. As expected, it’s because we’re present.
Some people speak harshly and tell us to just hand over the food, but we don’t go along with that.
I don’t get to Appraise people there, but I use Map along with Presence Detection and Magic Energy Detection to memorize their reactions, so I’m making sure I remember I didn’t cast Appraisal on people there.
Lastly, we head to the gate, which is broken.
There’s a barricade where the gate was, but will this stop enemies… Monsters from attacking?
“But we haven’t seen any monsters.”
Says a member of Ale and Ironhammer while looking around.
Yes, we’ve been going around all day, but haven’t seen any monsters. But that doesn’t mean they’re all gone, because we can hear fighting.
I can see people moving around town on Map, but they’re clearly patrolling.
“I hope nothing else happens.”
“Yes. What are Ale and Ironhammer going to do when this is over?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll change plans and stay, but I think some people might quit the clan and leave.”
This guy says he’s doing what the clan decides.
He says he’s yet to hear others’ reasons, but that it might be possible for some to leave because they’ve learned a good deal about smiting and want to open their own blacksmiths somewhere else, possibly their hometowns
After that, we head back to Ale and Ironhammer’s place.
Three days later, we stop hearing reports about fighting. And in the meantime, we visit five out of thirteen shelters.
The fighting dying down means they’re not desperate, and can afford to not let outsiders in. Among them are the feudal lord’s mansion and the adventurer guild. In the case of the feudal lord’s mansion, it’s less because they had stockpiles and more because they were looting.
We didn’t even go near it, because we heard about it from patrols and I saw it on Map. And Hikari heard them.
But the fault lies with the feudal lord and high rank officials that follow him.
They take what they want, and almost nothing gets distributed, especially to ones at the bottom. They’re just looting as much as they can eat.
This really is a society where nothing matters but power. That’s how it is in the empire. As long as you have power, everything is allowed.
And here in Avid we see the result.
But even looting has limits. If nothing else happens, people are going back to their homes, and I don’t know what will happen then.
When I tell Argo about this, he’s exasperated but not surprised.
Two more days, pass and the situation in Avid has settled completely.
There are not only guards, but also soldiers and adventurers patrolling, but there are no monsters in sight.
This information is shared with the shelters, and the sense of emergency gradually fades.
But as if waiting for just that, something happens.
A scream echoes late at night. Fires are lit, and people running away in panic are killed.
It’s one of the communities I didn’t get to appraise but have been observing with Map.
But since it happens when I’m resting, I don’t catch it.
I immediately pull up Map and use Presence Detection and Magic Energy Detection.
I see reactions disappearing really fast. People around that area who heard the noise, people who stayed behind, and people who went there to see what happened, seem to be moving cautiously.
I think the fact that it’s dark has to do with that. It would be one thing if they had magic items that let them see as well at night as they do during the day, but it’s dangerous to be rash at night.
It might even lead to friendly fire.
As a result, by the time we get there, about two hundred reactions are gone. Monsters pour out of the building, and run around town looking for prey.
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Thanks for the treat.