Gluttony ×2

"That makes this the third table of meat, doesn't it?"

In the kitchen of the Black Mountain Merchants, the man in charge of cooking set down the soup ladle in his hand. Then he lifted the sauced steaks before him with both hands and placed them on a table a short distance away.

The plates on the table had already been piled into a small mountain. That was after they had just been cleared once.

"It's coming out of the public account anyway. It's not costing you or me any money."

Deko, standing beside the cook, plucked the cigarette butt that had burned to his lips from his mouth. He pressed it out on the stone counter, then tossed it into the nearby slop bucket.

"Hey, don't throw trash around in here. The slop's going to be used for compost later."

The cook swung the ladle, still carrying a bit of soup, straight at Deko, who had tossed the cigarette butt carelessly.

"Then add some extra seasoning. Ideally, there'll be a bit of smoke flavor in the bread we eat later. It might even taste better."

Deko dodged the attack and walked over to the large table in the kitchen, which was originally used for preparing meals and processing ingredients.

The steak in front of Heka was beef tenderloin. The sauce drizzled over it was a meat sauce made by blending mashed potatoes, honey, sesame oil, and meat juices.

After stuffing the steak and all its sauce into his stomach, Heka felt the food slowly squirming downward through his esophagus and set down his knife and fork.

It wasn't that he was full. It was that if he continued eating, he would exceed the limits of a normal person.

He was only about five-tenths full, but it wasn't as though he would have no more chances to eat later. He could make up the rest little by little.

Heka restrained the hunger surging through his entire body and forced himself not to look at the ingredients prepared beside him. He stood up and went to the sink to splash some water on his face.

"He's finally been fed. If he still wasn't full, we'd probably have to go out and buy more supplies."

The broad, burly cook wiped his cheeks, slick with a mixture of oil and water, with the towel draped around his neck. Then he pushed the plate before him into the sink and put out the fire before hurrying out of the kitchen, which had turned into a blazing furnace.

The place was already unbearably hot because of the need to light fires. After cooking continuously, the cook felt as if a layer of his skin had been peeled off. Outside was definitely more comfortable.

Heka returned to the dining table and used the fruit juice there to wash the food down his esophagus. Then he stood and left the genuinely stifling kitchen.

After what had happened last time, Deko was probably afraid that something else would go wrong on Heka's end, so he simply followed right behind him.

"I'm going to work. Don't you have work to do?" Heka turned to look at Deko, who stayed glued to him without taking a single step away.

"I've finished my work. I'm on leave now."

Deko glanced ahead. This road seemed to lead toward the carpenter's workshop.

"How can work ever be finished? No wonder the Black Mountain Merchants can't develop. You don't even know how to exploit people."

After saying that, Heka stopped paying attention to the little tail behind him, which had activated automatic following, and focused his attention on opening his status panel.

[Name] Heka

[Race] Lightfoot Halfling/human hybrid

[Attributes]

Strength: 1.472

Constitution: 1.219

Agility: 1.281

Speed: 0.943

Intelligence: 1.178

[Skills]

Theft (7180/10000)

Slashing (When using a dagger/short sword, damage is additionally increased by 20%)

Sweeping Strike (4411/10000)

Sleight of Hand (796/10000)

Valin (2028/10000)

Investigation (11/10000)

[Inventory] (10 slots)

Simple crossbow ×1 Inferior bucket filled with water ×5 Walin Copper Coin ×400 Walin Silver Coin ×67 Huika Gold Coin ×23 Inferior bucket with a dagger stuck in it ×1

[Challenges]

Dwarf warrior Podoli—Challenge Level 1 (Reward pending)

It seemed that rewards from two different challenges could be claimed separately. Heka didn't immediately claim this reward. Based on his current experience, exchanging it for strength or constitution could both restore his physical injuries.

For him at the moment, this was the only reliable way to obtain treatment for serious wounds.

Besides, he still hadn't adapted to his current strength. If he claimed the reward immediately, he would probably have to enter the sewers in an extremely poor condition.

He could tell that Riel and the Black Mountain Merchants had reached the limit of their patience with him. He had to bring them some meat now, or he probably wouldn't meet a good end.

It was just a pity that the bolts for his crossbow and the device for stringing its bowstring were still in the shelter in the sewers. After all, he hadn't believed he would have the chance to string it even once while surrounded by the Black Mountain Merchants. To free up as many inventory slots as possible, he had left all nonessential items in that shelter.

After all, based on his previous experience, the value an empty slot could provide far exceeded that of a crossbow-stringing device he was unlikely to use again.

Of course, even if he had the stringing device and bolts with him now, he still had no way to string the crossbow under such tight surveillance.

He should put the gold and silver coins into a single bag. That would free up another slot. Heka glanced at the Huika Gold Coin, the original culprit behind everything, and pushed open the door of the carpenter's workshop.

A slowly burning candle sat on the table inside the workshop. As the door opened, a large amount of air rushed in, and the slow, steady flame instantly flared violently.

The orange-yellow flame shot upward. Only after stretching itself from a plump shape into a slender one did it finally stop.

Deko stood outside the door, silently watching that flame. He didn't enter the room until Heka was about to open the window to let in some air.

"Don't open the window. This is a mourning ritual of the Black Mountain people. You have to wait until the candle has burned away completely before opening the window. Otherwise, the souls will leave through it."

Heka withdrew the hand he had reached toward the window and retreated to the middle of the room. Then he prepared to light the oil lamp.

If he didn't open the window, the light in the little room could only rely on the scant rays coming through the doorway. There was nowhere near enough light to work with. Heka still had no darkvision, so he had no way to complete an investigation under these conditions.

"You can't light the lamp either."

"Fine. Let's go."

Heka closed the door of the carpenter's workshop.

"Has my short sword arrived?"

"Don't you want to rest? You only woke up today."

Deko pointed to a small path beside the carpenter's workshop and led Heka that way. Heka had never walked this path before. People from the Black Mountain Merchants stood guard at its end at all times.

When Heka saw Deko leading him there, he immediately guessed what the place was for. So it was an armory after all. No wonder the defenses were so tight.