Chapter 6 (2/2)

VIT: 394

STAM: 325

AGI: 457

MGC: 217

MR: 319

Innate Ability: N/A

Skills

Shortsword Arts: Lv 4

Sword Arts: Lv 1

Tracking: Lv 5

Stealth: Lv 3

Night Vision: Lv 3

Bodily Control: Lv 2

Presence Detection: Lv 2

Dismantling: Lv 6

Lesser Reinforced Vision: Lv 2

Art of Reconnaissance: Lv 2

Condition: Good (Tipsy)

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Terry: 29 Years Old, Male

HP: 415/415

MP: 630/630

Level: 39

STR: 94

VIT: 214

STAM: 275

AGI: 247

MGC: 549

MR: 499

Innate Ability: N/A

Skills

Staff Arts: Lv 2

Tracking: Lv 1

Night Vision: Lv 2

Water Magic: Lv 5

Magic Manipulation: Lv 3

Meditation: Lv 3

MP Cost Reduction: Lv 2

Dismantling: Lv 5

Condition: Good (Tipsy)

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「They have a swordsman as their vanguard, a scout for reconnaissance, and a mage taking up the rear . 」

「Their party seems quite balanced . 」

I vaguely remember them claiming to be a C ranked party back when I first met them . I’ve no idea as to whether or not they were bluffing, but if I were to guess, I’d say that the party’s leader was most likely a C rank at the time, whereas its members were probably both D ranks .

That, however, was how they’d end up turning out 3 years from now . As of right now, their stats seemed to belay the fact that they were all at least a whole rank’s worth weaker than they would ultimately end up being . In other words, they were about as strong as E ranked adventurers, and their party was probably a D ranked party at best .

I couldn’t immediately tell what Barkas’ innate ability did, so I appraised it, only to find that it granted him the ability to intuitively identify that of which was of significant monetary value .

The skill’s phrasing left me in doubt . The skill didn’t seem to grant knowledge, function like appraisal, or even have the ability to examine an object’s composition .

It seemed that it was capable of identifying specifically when something was worth cash — which would make it fairly accurate, seeing as how it was impossible for anyone to use my Spirit Blades without my permission . That is, neither the 【Sword of the Eight Eye’s Transparent Tome]nor the 【Round Squirrel’s Pouch Blade]could actually be sold for cash, and hence, his skill failed to react to them despite the extent of their abilities .

「Now, how exactly should we go about doing things this time around?」

I muttered under my breath whilst getting rid of the displays that displayed Barkas’ and his goon’s stats .

「There are still a few things we’ve yet to try out on monsters…」

Minnalis offered a suggestion .

「Nah, let’s not . Those methods are good, and using them on monsters does help me brainstorm, but most of them are primitive and are centered around inflicting pain . 」

We weren’t able to communicate with them, and they didn’t really seem capable of any sort of deep thought . Hence, we weren’t able to get much out of testing anything that had even the slightest bit of complexity to it .

「It’d be wasteful for us not to try out something a bit more complicated seeing as how we’ve finally got ourselves some humans to test things on . I think we’d probably benefit more from doing something that invokes a sense of fear . That’s why we should *^&$ and %^$^%$&^% before we kill them . 」

I let Minnalis in on my idea .

「That does sound pretty interesting, but is it actually possible?」

「I think so? Why don’t we go try it out on a goblin or something after lunch, just to be sure?」

Minnalis agreed and joined me as I stood up and got ready to leave .

「The only problem is that they wouldn’t really be able to feel any pain if we just did that . Wouldn’t it be better for us to hurt them a bit first?」

「Sure, but do hold back a bit . Try not to make them want to kill themselves or wish for death right off the bat . I want a good piece of torture for myself . 」

「Oh come on, Goshujin-sama! You’re not the one that got stuck having to put up with their disgusting gazes . You had so little of an impression on them that I was only barely made aware of them when we shared our thirsts for vengeance, so I can tell you for sure that they bother me more than they bother you . Shouldn’t you be the one pulling your punches here?」

「Ugh, fine, I guess you do have a point . We’ll each have an even split . I won’t yield anything more than that . I do still hate them quite a bit, you know?」

The two of us chatted away as we descended the inn’s stairs .

「Are you two head out again already? I could swear you only just got back . 」

The lady that owned the inn called out to us right before we headed out the door .

「Yup . Goshujin-sama’s taking me out on a date . 」

「W-What? M-Minnalis?」

Minnalis spoke whilst retaining her poker face .

「（Goshujin-sama, you do know that people can transfer the rights to their slaves to another, right? People might try buying me off of you if we don’t seem too intimate . People typically won’t sell off any slaves they’re fond of, so you need to act like you’re really attached to me if you want to keep all the bugs away . ）」

Minnalis brought herself closer to me and whispered so that only I’d hear her .

「（I mean, you do have a point, but…）」

The innkeeper glanced over at Minnalis and take note of her lack of an expression .

I know I literally just said it, but, to emphasize and reiterate, Minnalis had a complete and utter lack of an expression .

Didn’t her deadpan expression make her actions have an effect opposite of the ones she’d been expecting? I’m pretty sure she just made me look like some prick forcing a slave to act as his lover .

「（Hey Minnalis, could you do me a favour and smile? At least put on a fake one since you’re acting anyway, okay? If pretending to be intimate embarrasses you to the point where you need to use a skill to cover it up, then you might as well not do it in the first place . Okay? So can you just smile already? Right now? Please? ）」

The innkeeper looked at me . Her eyes were not only filled with pity, but also like those of a dead fish . They seemed to burn their way into my soul .

Hey, Minnalis? Could you not like, just stare blankly? Come on…

We’d been planning to leave in the first place, so I ended up deciding to just hurry the hell out of the inn .

I never thought I’d be met with that kind of ambush . I’m pretty sure that the innkeeper is still misunderstanding the relationship between Minnalis and I . The very consideration of the fact that she might look at me like that again later made me kind of want to cry and even shit myself . Luckily, I didn’t do either .

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[1] “Master” in the slavery sense of the word . Also used by maids and the like . See the note on the blog post associated for this chapter if you’d like to know why I started weebing stuff up a bit more .