Harvest

Food—food piled up not far away.

Heka had never craved food so desperately before. He had always regarded these things that sustained bodily functions as mere necessities.

Important, but no more so than fuel, cloth, and other things.

But at this moment, food was everything in his sight.

"There's more."

Tuft of Hair laboriously set the food he had carried from the bundle onto the ground. Then he carefully picked up a small piece of cheese and went to the corner on the other side, watching Heka wolf it down.

Only after going out himself did he realize how difficult things had been for Boss before. This time, he had bought only twenty-nine pounds of dried meat and cheese, yet that weight alone had nearly done him in.

Before, Boss had carried three barrels of water over in one go, and he had moved food supplies several times before that.

At last, the ravenous eating stopped. In the corner, Heka felt an exhaustion unlike anything he had ever known. He buried himself in his bloodstained cloak, trying to make himself a slightly more comfortable place to sleep.

Tuft of Hair let out a sigh of relief. He had been afraid Boss still was not full. Twenty-nine pounds of meat and cheese had not been cheap, and he had spent every last coin on him.

Even the few copper coins he had hidden in his clothes, picked up through petty thieving while aboveground, had all gone into it.

Tuft of Hair went to the well opening and sat down there with his arms wrapped around himself.

Outside was a mess, a real mess. The entire sewer was filled with gang enforcers and gangs of young pickpockets who had come down together.

Their area was still all right, but when he followed the route Boss had left for him before and tried to head aboveground, the crowds immediately grew thicker.

Most of those people were moving around near the entrance, and they were gradually making their way deeper into the sewers.

There had even been casualties at the entrance. People had split into several factions, and some local gangs had even seized control of the entrance.

Although he had not heard what they were looking for, one thing was obvious—they had come for Boss.

All Tuft of Hair could do now was hug himself tightly, lower his head, and watch the flashes of firelight that occasionally flickered below the well opening, hoping Boss would recover soon.

Who knew how long passed. When Tuft of Hair woke for the third time, he carefully checked the rope ladder's position, then crawled forward, keeping clear of the firelight below as he felt his way toward the buckets.

Just as he scooped up a ladleful of water from a bucket and moistened his dry, cracked lips with it, he turned around and discovered that Boss, who had curled himself into a ball, was no longer smoking.

Tuft of Hair's heart skipped a beat. He set down the ladle, ran to Boss's side, and cautiously reached out to nudge Heka's shoulder.

But before Tuft of Hair's palm could touch Heka's shoulder, the boy had already opened his eyes.

"B-Boss?"

Heka nodded, then pulled the blanket tighter around himself and pointed at the bucket in the distance.

Tuft of Hair understood at once. He immediately scooped up some water and brought it before Heka.

The boy held that precious mouthful of water in his mouth, feeling as though he had come back to life once more.

There was still some warmth inside the blanket, and his body had yet to fully recover. He could not throw off the blanket immediately, or he would easily catch a chill.

For now, Heka could only focus his attention on his panel.

[Name] Heka

[Race] Lightfoot Halfling/Human Hybrid

[Attributes]

Strength: 0.470

Constitution: 1.219

Dexterity: 1.281

Speed: 0.943

Intelligence: 1.178

[Skills]

Theft (7180/10000)

Slashing (When using daggers/short swords, damage increased by an additional 20%)

Sweeping Strike (1/10000)

Sleight of Hand (796/10000)

Valin (212/10000)

[Backpack] (10 slots)

Simple Crossbow ×1 Inferior Water Bucket Filled with Water ×5 Inferior Water Bucket Containing Water ×1 Walin Copper Coin ×400 Walin Silver Coin ×67 Huika Gold Coin ×23 Miscellaneous Box ×1 Damaged Box ×1 Hand Crossbow Bolts ×11

[Challenges]

None

The Challenges section on the panel had returned to its previous state. Heka carefully recalled the words he had seen after opening that so-called reward page earlier.

It seemed that only after completing a challenge would he gain one chance to exchange for a reward.

The inferior water bucket containing water in his backpack made Heka frown. Instinctively, he wanted to drag that thing, which occupied a slot all by itself, together with the same type of item. But he realized this seemed to be the bucket he had drunk from on the way here.

Forget it. He would leave it as it was for now. Later, he could find a chance to switch it with one of the buckets outside, so it would not occupy a precious slot by itself.

He remembered that a single backpack slot cost a full ten reward points.

Why did it not just go rob someone? If he had ten reward points, would he still be afraid of those bird people? He would have gone straight up to the surface, killed his way through, and snatched that city lord's bird perch.

There were some other minor changes as well. Although he had only increased his Constitution, compared with before he allocated the points, his Strength had increased by 0.21, his Speed by 0.07, and his Dexterity by 0.02. Only Constitution had received no bonus.

Heka felt that if every point allocation in the future were this generous, he could just keep adding Constitution. Then he could become a tank of flesh, letting other people's blades shatter against muscles as solid as rock.

Or perhaps, just like how his Constitution and Strength had increased on their own after he ate his fill before, it was purely because his starting point had been too low, creating an additional effect.

As for the exact reason, he would have to wait until the next time he obtained reward points to find out.

At the very least, next time, he had to prepare enough food...

Besides that, another skill had appeared on the panel—Sweeping Strike. Heka guessed he had gained it when he killed that fellow who had tried to take his life while he was sick.

After sorting through the gains on his panel, Heka's gaze turned toward the food piled on the ground over there.

Perhaps noticing Boss's gaze turn in that direction, Tuft of Hair immediately dragged the opened sack over to Heka.

"It's all dried meat and cheese. Do you still want to eat, Boss?"

Heka's gaze shifted back and forth between Tuft of Hair and the sack he was dragging. Then he opened his mouth and asked the question he found most baffling.

"Did no one stop you?"

"They did. When I went out, lots of people were heading inside, but no one stopped me then. When I came back, though, the sewer entrance had already been occupied.

"They wanted one copper coin as a toll before they would let anyone down. I had no money left on me then."

Heka looked Tuft of Hair up and down, only to find not a trace of blood on him. He had merely picked up plenty of grime along the way, and he did not look like someone who had fought his way back through blood and slaughter.

"But the big brother guarding that place was especially warm and friendly. He saw that I was carrying food and asked whether I was Cripple Boss's man. After I nodded, he sent me down, and he even helped me carry the things down."

Heka's eyes flew wide open. Ignoring the blanket around him, he rushed straight to the well opening and cautiously examined the scene below.