Mash knew a little bit about Scavengers. Ironically, it was this group that gave the runner class a bad reputation. They did as their name implied and scavenged for dead adventurers. They would pilfer their corpses and grab any items that they could. Almost all of their skills would be based on stealth and escape. Hence the association with cowardice. Runners typically ended up as scavengers, porters, or rogues. All of which had small variations in skills, but none of which were treated very well. The classes weren’t exactly strong or respected either. It didn’t matter much to them. Rather the information made them more interested in the girl.

They didn’t trust the girl or anything like that, but a good scavenger would hoard many magical items. Their strength was usually related to items they pilfered. Since Sarah was in a high-level area, she probably had a handful of interesting things. Mash wanted to see what she had, maybe even buy some things. With the way his skills worked, he didn’t really know what kind of item he wanted. There were only a few places left where he could put them, but he wanted to make sure the rest of the items he got were actually useful, like the storage space and translation bracelet. His healing necklace had become quite useless. It had improved a little with his growth, but it wasn’t really keeping up with his health. At least it was useful when he got it.

He waited though and just continued making dinner while Jill finished selling the corpses. While continuing with the dinner preparations, he had Priscilla send a few messages to Jill. He basically just told her to find out if Sarah had any items to sell, and maybe try and build a good rapport or something. Mash was planning on hunting a lot of monsters and having someone who would take care of the corpses was useful. Even if all she did was handle the selling of the items and corpses they found, it would make things a lot simpler. Jill was probably thinking something along the same lines.

Mash wasn’t making anything complicated. He made a stew from the wolves, using basically all of the meat and bones in their bodies in the stew. It made for a lot of stew, but he knew that he could eat any amount. He also made some rice. It was a grain that he had picked up when in town. Interestingly enough, it was Edward who was growing the new grain. He was working with his people and Arthur to create some consistent work for his people. Mash had a few dishes with the grain while he was with his brother, and just liked the general flavor of it. It was a great alternative for bread. He knew that Luke still preferred bread and took out some rolls for him.

After finishing with the setup, all that was left was waiting for the stew to finish. Mash had only partially been listening to the conversation with Jill but had heard her invite the scavenger to join them for their dinner. Sarah agreed reluctantly drawn by the delicious smells coming from the large pot. Currently, they were all seated around the pot, and Sarah had decided to wear her mask again. It was odd to speak to someone with a wolf’s head over their face. He decided to ask anyway. His curiosity had reached its tipping point. He waited for a break in the conversation and interjected himself into it.

“Hey, you’re a scavenger, right? Do you have any items for sale?”

Jill and Red didn’t seem very happy with his direct approach. He didn’t really want to wait. Plus, he didn’t want to have to deal with the awkwardness of trying to talk around the subject. It would be better to get it out there and reveal his lack of bias. He didn’t care much for what she chose to do with her life. A scavenger was necessary whether people liked to admit it or not. They were often the only ones to find out if an adventurer died somewhere, whether that was in or out of a dungeon. Although, it was rarer to find them inside dungeons.

The question wasn’t exactly well received, and Mash could tell that the girl was growing tense. She probably hadn’t expected them to figure out what she was, but she didn’t try and run or anything.

“H-how did you k-know?”

The way she stuttered every time she spoke made him think that it was not because of fear, but just how she was normally. He answered, without turning his head away from the pot of stew. He wasn’t skilled enough to look away from what he was cooking. Plus, it was a dish that required him to stir regularly, otherwise, the stuff at the bottom would burn.

“It’s pretty obvious. I am serious about buying things though. I don’t really care either, my first class was a runner. We have a lot of gold.”

He was trying to be as blunt as possible, deciding to take a page from Red’s book earlier. He couldn’t see her expression, but she was definitely surprised to hear that he was once a runner. The mention of gold seemed to get a reaction from her too, and she shifted a little in her seat. It seemed like she had grown a little more eager too, and she spoke quickly.

“O-ok, I have p-plenty of goods. H-here!”

Mash was not prepared for what was coming, but he felt the shift in mana around her.

[Priscilla! Warn the others!]

It might have been paranoid, but he didn’t like the sudden use of mana. It was a considerable amount too, and he turned away from the stew to see what was happening. The air around Sarah was shimmering, and shapes started to form around her. The lights turned into tables, and he noticed the shapes of items forming on them. The lights bent around them and any objects in the space, and he realized that it was like a mirage. Was it a shop? Yes, that was exactly what was being made around him. It was a skill that presented what items she possessed in a phantom shop. It was probably to stop people from stealing things.

The skill was interesting, and he got up to take a look around. He made an imitation of Priscilla and had it continue to stir the stew though. She did it, but he got what felt like offense for being assigned such a meaningless task. It wasn’t like it was a difficult task, and she had the ability to multitask too. Was it a matter of pride? If it was, it was probably a human habit that she had picked up from him. He ignored her pestering and moved onto to look at the items. There were a lot laid out, and he was rather impressed with the hoard. He walked toward one of the mirages and touched the table. It looked like it was made of wood, but it bent around his hand.

“What is this place?”

Luke asked the question while he stepped into what seemed to be a suit of armor. The metal armor was made of many jagged pieces, and Luke was able to step into the mirage. He turned and acted like he was wearing the armor. It was a childish gesture, but Mash was doing the same. His hands were around a sword’s handle. Even if he couldn’t actually touch the item, he was able to get an idea of what the item was like and how it would fit him. He would never get a sword though, even if the blade was extremely beautiful. It was long and slightly curved. The whole blade was black, and small lines of blue rivered through the metal. He stared at it for a moment longer but moved on when Sarah started speaking.

“T-This is called a d-d-dream vault. Its s-s-stops people from s-s-stealing from me.”

Hearing her speak was always a little odd. Mash wasn't sure if she was telling the truth, or if she was just trying to protect herself. Not that he would kill her for a couple of items either way. He didn’t think she was scared anymore, but her stuttering made him unsure. He decided he would just assume that she wasn’t. Luke nodded to Sarah and stepped out of the strange mirage. It blurred around him. Jill who had been exploring another table, pointed at something on the table. Mash couldn’t tell what it was with his domain. It all just looked like some mana that had been shaped to resemble items. Judging from the shape, he thought that they were earrings, but he wasn’t certain.

“Hey what do these do?”

Jill stared at the jewelry, and Mash walked over to see what she had found. It was only a single earing, and it was complicated. She would definitely need more piercings to fit them all. It was an attractive piece with three separate piercings in the form of studs and a thin metal chain connecting them all. The metal was black and there were different colored gems in the center of each stud, red at the top then green and blue afterward. It didn’t look like something Jill would normally wear. It had a certain edginess to it, like something a rogue would wear. Mash kept his mouth closed and made no comment as Sarah explained.

“I-i-it stops mind m-m-magic. A-a-also helps y-y-you remember things. Most older adventurers h-have them. T-t-those above 150. I mean.”

Her explanation was lackluster, but it was something he had never seriously considered. He was close to becoming an immortal. Everyone was close. He never considered that memory could become an issue if he lived long enough. It probably wouldn’t become a problem anytime soon. That didn’t mean it was something he shouldn’t consider. He did have Priscilla though, and she seemed to have perfect memory despite her age. Priscilla wasn’t sure if her memory would be perfect forever, but it had yet to be a concern. That was good enough for the moment.

“How much?”

Jill asked the question which surprised Mash a little. He didn’t think she would buy something so quickly. Her eagerness was evident though, and Sarah tried taking advantage of that. It didn’t work though. Jill was still a merchant daughter and haggled with the best of them. Even after the back and forth and the price coming down by almost twenty percent, she still paid a little over a thousand gold for the item. It was a lot for a rather simple item, but she probably knew better than him.

After their transaction, Red also purchased an item. She didn’t buy an attuned item but purchased a unique messaging item. It was a pair of two glass birds that were linked to one another. One was blue and the other Red. It wasn’t as good as Priscilla's memory but would repeat spoken words. There was a delay based on distance as well, but She said it would be good enough. It would be better than trying to send letters. Mash asked her about it and learned that she planned on giving it to her mother. He didn’t think this was the time for that. A complete stranger was standing not too far away. Mash continued to look through the items. There were a lot of unique items, and he didn’t really find anything easily. Priscilla noticed something, and he walked over to what she had seen.