Gluttony × 2

"Is this already the third table of meat?"

Inside the kitchen of the Black Mountain Merchants, the chef put down his ladle, picked up a platter of sauce-drenched ribs with both hands, and placed them on a nearby table.

By now, the plates on the table had piled up into a small mountain, and this was only the result of them having just been cleared away once.

"It's going on the public tab anyway, so it doesn't cost your money or mine."

Deko, who was standing next to the chef, plucked the cigarette butt that had burned down almost to his lips, extinguished it against the stone counter, and tossed it into the slop bucket nearby.

"Hey, don't just litter trash everywhere; this slop is going to be used to make compost later."

The chef waved his ladle, which still had some soup clinging to it, and swung it straight at Deko for carelessly tossing the cigarette butt.

"Then just add some seasoning to it. Ideally, the bread we eat in the future can have a hint of tobacco flavor too; it might even taste a bit better."

Deko dodged the other man's attack and strode over to the large table in the kitchen that was originally used for food preparation and handling ingredients.

The ribs in front of Heka were beef tenderloin, smothered in a meat sauce blended from mashed potatoes, honey, sesame oil, and meat juices.

After stuffing this cut of ribs along with its sauce down into his stomach, Heka felt the sensation of the food slowly crawling downward inside his esophagus and put down his knife and fork.

This was not because he was already full, but rather that continuing to eat would exceed the limits of a normal person.

He had only reached a state of being half-full for now, but it wasn't as though he wouldn't have future opportunities to eat, so he could just make up for it a little bit at a time.

Heka suppressed the wave of hunger coming from his entire body, forced himself not to look at the ingredients that had already been prepared nearby, and walked straight over to the sink on the side to wash his face.

"He's finally fed. If he still wasn't full, we'd probably have to go out and do some shopping."

The burly chef used a towel draped over his neck to wipe his cheeks, which were streaming with a mixture of grease and sweat. Then he pushed the plate in front of him into the sink, turned off the fire, and strode out of the kitchen, which had turned into a giant furnace.

This place was already stiflingly hot due to the open flames, and the continuous cooking made the chef feel as though a layer of skin had been peeled off him. Outside felt much more comfortable.

Heka returned to the dining table, washed down the contents of his esophagus with the fruit juice there, and then stood up and left the kitchen, which really was a bit too hot.

Having experienced the previous incident, and presumably afraid that Heka might pull some other stunt, Deko simply followed right behind him.

"I'm going to work. Don't you have any work to do?" Heka turned his head and looked at Deko, who was sticking close by.

"My work is already done, and I'm currently on leave."

Deko glanced ahead. This path should lead toward the Carpenter's workshop.

"How can work ever be finished? No wonder you 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 that had activated auto-follow, focused his attention, and opened his panel.

[Name] Heka

[Race] Lightfoot Halfling/Human Half-Breed

[Attributes]

Strength: 1.472

Constitution: 1.219

Agility: 1.281

Speed: 0.943

Intelligence: 1.178

[Skills]

Theft (7180/10000)

Slashing (Grants an additional 20% damage when using daggers/short swords)

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 Pierced by a Dagger × 1

[Challenges]

Dwarf Warrior Podoli - Challenge Level 1 (Rewards pending claim)

It seemed that two different challenge projects could yield reward points separately. Heka didn't claim the reward immediately; based on his current experience, exchanging for strength and constitution could both restore physical injuries.

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

Besides, he hadn't adapted to his current strength yet. If he claimed this reward right away, he would probably have to enter the sewers in an extremely poor state.

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

It was just a pity that the bolts for his crossbow and the items to draw its string were still inside the sanctuary in the sewers. After all, he hadn't believed he would have the chance to draw the bowstring under the blockade of the Black Mountain Merchants. To free up as many inventory slots as possible, he had chosen to leave all non-essential items behind in that sanctuary.

After all, based on previous experience, the value a single empty slot could provide far exceeded a crossbow stringer that had little chance of being used again.

Of course, even if someone gave him that stringer and the bolts right now, he had no way to draw the string under this tight surveillance.

He should stuff the gold and silver coins into a single pouch so that he could free up another slot. Heka looked at the Huika Gold Coin, which was the root cause of everything, and pushed open the door to the Carpenter's workshop.

At that moment, a slowly burning candle sat on the table inside the workshop. As the door was pushed open, a large amount of air rushed in instantly, and the slow, steady flame turned explosive in a split second.

The orange-yellow flame surged upward violently, stopping only after stretching its shape from rounded to slender.

Deko stood outside the door and silently watched that flash of flame, only stepping into the room when Heka prepared to open the window to let in some air.

"Don't open the window. This is a memorial ceremony for the Black Mountain people. You have to wait until the candle burns completely to ashes before opening the window, or else the soul will leave through it."

Heka pulled back the hand reaching for the window, retreated to the middle of the room, and prepared to light the oil lamp.

If they didn't open the window, the light inside this small room could only rely on the meager scraps cast through the doorway. This level of illumination was completely unusable, and Heka lacked darkvision, making it impossible to complete the investigation work under these conditions.

"You can't light the lamp either."

"Fine, let's go."

Heka closed the door of the Carpenter's workshop.

"Is my short sword ready?"

"Aren't you going 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, and the end of it was guarded round-the-clock by men from the Black Mountain Merchants.

Seeing Deko lead him this way, Heka immediately guessed the purpose of the place. So it turned out to be the armory after all, which explained why security was so tight.