We left the Inn and headed out deeper into the western district. Since heroes tend to care about their public appearance, I wasn't too worried about the monster's antics. That said, despite their initial dense impressions, deep down they are ruthless calculating machines that will stop at nothing to get what they want! So I had to be prepared for anything and not let my guard down! The last time, the monster made an accusation and quickly grabbed me preventing me from retorting or doing anything, but this time things won't go that way. Unlike before, my stats have been restored, my [All-Observing-Eyes] is off cooldown, and I was able to refill some Holy Power into my gear. Escape might be impossible, but with my sound attack, I'm confident I could cause enough damage that the guards would have no choice but to get involved. She won't silence me that easily!

But I need to be very careful because that is not what is most dangerous about a hero... No, the most sinister weapon a hero has is their 'motivational speech'! No matter how strong the opponent or how much of a disadvantage the hero is in, once they release their speech, the opponent instantly gets brainwashed and looses! So no matter what, I need to keep interaction between that monster to a bare minimum if I don't want to be brainwashed!

As expected, the monster didn't make any sudden moves... she did try to get closer and closer, which I obviously avoided by treading to the other side of Tina. But other than that, she was well-behaved. Thus, we made it to Zaveriya Restaurant with little fanfare...

The restaurant itself was located deep in the western area, I have personally not seen it, but I did learn about it when I was looking for the best places to eat in this city for my holiday. When we got there, I saw a 3 story building located in the middle of a fancy garden. It was protected by an impressive looking gate with well armored guards standing by the gate and entrance. It definitely screamed "expensive".

I was at first a bit nervous when we passed by the gate, as this place most definitely does not allow beastkin. But that worry went away when the guards paid no more than a glance at me. Even on the way here the reactions have oddly been pretty similar.

Normally, I would get looks of disdain as I passed by the west district, but interestingly enough, not one person even secretly looked at me like that. If anything, most even avoided making eye contact with me. It was to the point where I couldn't tell if I were walking with a hero and their party member or the demon king and their executioner...

We finally entered the building into a gorgeous reception area, which interestingly enough didn't seem to have any staff. Is it maybe outside of their operating hours?

"Wait here while I go speak with the owner" announced Ariel, and walked up the stairs using the staircase to the right.

Having nothing to do, I took a look around the area at the fancy decorations. I don't know why, but I somehow feel a lot calmer when I am here... suddenly my head stopped as I noticed something I didn't expect...

Standing by the door to the main hall by the left, there was a large statue of a woman spreading out her hands. Of course, it wasn't the aesthetics that got me tingled up.

Water-Tempered Wolfram Steel statue of the Maiden of Calmness

An average statue made out of enchanted wolfram steel made to represent the maiden of calmness in all her grace

[Aqua Calming Field] Absorbs mana in the atmosphere and releases water vapor that creates a calming field in its surroundings

[Made by Mazen Travis]

Durability: 20000/20000

Quality 5.1341/10.00

Without even realizing it, I was pulled in by the statue as I walked closer and closer while using [Creationist: Analyze Everything] to grasp as much as I could about it. And no matter how I look it is, whatever this Wolfram Steel is, it is better than Iron based steel, over twice as good actually! It is still inferior to mithril though... but either way, if I had this material I could definitely make higher stat gear...

As I was trying to grasp the profoundness of the material, suddenly the door to the main hall opened and a well-dressed man with a mustache stepped out. He froze up for a second without moving then...

"GUARDS!" he yelled to the top of his lunges.

Shortly after, I heard footsteps as two guards rushed into the building. Having a really bad feeling about this, I instinctively looked for Tina... only to find her missing!

From then on, panic ensued as I couldn't make up my mind if I should run the hell out of there, run upstairs or wait and hope for the best...

But soon after, my options were pretty much sealed off as the two guards and the man with the mustache surrounded me...

"How did you manage mess up so badly as to allow a filthy beastkin into the restaurant?!?! Do any of you know how much reputation an incident like this can cost us?!?!" the man with the mustache screamed.

"Sir... the truth of the matter is..." one of the guards tried to explain.

"I don't need to hear your excuses! Drag this filthy hairball out of here NOW!" the man with the mustache bellowed.

Now knowing the attack will come from the guards, I faced them directly looking for an opening to which I could run... but when I met their eyes, I only saw hesitation and... fear? While being feared by humans would be an awesome occasion, something about all this made me have a really bad feeling...

"I don't have all day!" the man with the mustache screamed as his face became all red.

"That is..." tried to respond one of the guards.

"SILENCE! If this beastkin is not dragged out on the count of 3, the both of you can consider yourselves fired! 1!" the man with the mustache interjected, then started counting down

"But sir..." the guard persisted.

"2!" the man with the mustache loudly interrupted.

I took a glance at the guards and found them at a complete loss for words, but I saw no indicator that any of them had any plans to move.

Seeing there was no motivation from the guards, the man with the mustache spoke out yet again...

"You think I am joking?! When you get fired, I'll make sure that you will never work in this town ever again! Now get this filthy hair-"

"Mayo~! Let's go we got the private... hmm is there a problem?" Ariel asked as she came downstairs.

"I-Is s-she w-with y-you?" the man with the mustache asked as his face went from bright red to blue in an instant.

"Yes, is there something you want from her?" Ariel asked.

"W-w-well u-uhm..." the man with the mustache tried to come up with something, as his face now turned from blue to white as though all blood drained from his body.

I guess he realized whatever nonsense he says won't hold, as I would just easily deny it.

"He was just saying how adorable she was, and offered to pay for the meal to honor her cuteness. Isn't that right?" said a playful voice from the direction of the stairs.

Looking towards the stairs, Tina showed herself.

The man with the mustache made a complicated facial expression on his face as though he was made to swallow dirt.

Shortly after, he finally resolved himself...

"Y-yes t-that's right..." he affirmed.

"T-That's exactly what happened" one of the guards supported, followed by the other one frantically nodding as well.

Uwah... I feel like we are bandits extorting for protection money, not that I feel sorry for him or anything. He deserves every bit of it in my opinion, if not more... no wait... aren't we the hero party? I wouldn't be surprised if we started opening up drawers and closets left and right taking any item we saw fit. Though personally, if it were up to me... I turned towards the statue made of a material I haven't seen before. I'd definitely start with that! I mean I can already imagine smelting it down and all the stuff I could make with it... just the thought of smelting it down... * drool *

"Well then lets go" came a voice waking me up from my delusions.

"Eh? We aren't taking the statue?" I questioned in disappointment by reflex.

"The statue?" Ariel asked in confusion.

"Err... I mean, I was taken by the statue and uhm was wondering what it was made out of..." I replied trying to cover up my folly.

"Hmmm..." Ariel pondered while staring at it.

"That maiden of calmness? If I am not mistaken, it is made out of Wolfram Steel. It is a type of steel that uses [Wolframite Ore] instead of [Iron Ore] to achieve better quality results. It is not uncommon to find it used on magical statues and the like" explained Tina.

"Yeah that!" Ariel confirmed.

"I get that, but how come I've never seen it in the Blacksmithing Guild?" I inquired while ignoring the useless hero.

As we were talking, we began to make our way upstairs towards our private room.

"I wouldn't say that Blacksmithing Guilds don't have access to things like [Wolframite Ore], its just that it is not that commonly used in blacksmithing. Generally, guilds tend to prioritize local and common to get resources in their business. You see, working with each material takes years of practice and can take even decades to master. This is why many guilds follow a step-up system, which deals with materials that are more common to use. If you already know how to work with iron, working with steel is easier than jumping to work with wolfram. Especially since wolfram is much harder to work with.

There is also the utility aspects. Wolfram is heavier and far more expensive. So most of the time, you are better off buying two pieces of high quality enchanted steel rather than opting to get a lower quality enchanted wolfram steel. The exception though is for things like sculptures. Since working with materials is easier for a [Sculptor] than a [Blacksmith]. For sculpturing, people want their things made out of unique materials. Steel is considered too cheap and something like mithril is too expensive. Wolfram Steel offers a good balance between the two" Tina advised as we walked into the private room.

I see... that makes sense... though I still kind of want to give it a shot... I have a feeling that it would still get benefits from the skills I got from the [Steelsmith], and with my high [PER], I may be able to manage something... then an idea flashed in my head!

"Then can I get a statue made out of Wolfram Steel for my sign-on bonus? It doesn't have to be enchanted..." I pleaded.

"Sure! No problem!" Ariel confirmed eagerly while sitting down at the table.

"As long as you are willing to take the blame..." Tina shrugged taking a seat opposite of her.

"Over here Mayo!" Ariel beckoned while tapping the seat next to her.

"It's Shiro!" I complained and jumped on the seat next to Tina. "Hmph!" I snorted, turning my head away from the hero showing my displeasure.

"Huh?" Ariel let out in confusion.

What? You thought just because you helped me back there and bribed me with a Wolfram statue I'd let down my guard? I am well versed in hero's deceptive tactics 101. Things like "saving in a pinch" and buying things are the oldest hero tricks in the book! From then on you will put me in far worse situations and I'm suppose to just accept it?!?! No way!

Soon after, a waiter came in and took our orders. And just like that, the final boss fight began as I struggled on what to get... there is no telling how often such opportunities will come and I want to try a bit of everything... guh! So frustrating to just pick one thing...

To my disappointment, things like sample platters don't exist here so after some long contemplation, I ended up choosing a Venison based dish. I was contemplating to try the fish, but since this isn't a port town, who knows how fresh it is. Not that I am doubting a top tiered restaurant or anything, just that if you are going to order something, might as well order something that comes more locally. In this case, the Venison comes from [Razor Wind Deer] which are a hard to find Rank B monster found deep within the nearby forest. I know this because I looked up every rare monster that was in this area or nearby areas when I was in the library. Rare monsters showing up out of nowhere is so cliché, there is no way that I wouldn't prepare for it!

I don't know how much this venison costs since they don't have prices on the menu. But I can easily assume this thing costs 5 gold coins or more! Considering the best foods that I bought for 1 gold coin were only made from Rank C monsters, this would definitely be far more expensive.... As such, this is a delicacy I must make sure savor greatly! I almost could not stop salivating in anticipation...

To distract myself, I turned to Tina.

"By the way... I was wondering, whatever happened to my collar?" I asked.

"The collar? Oh that, from what I heard when they picked you up, they went to the slavery dealer and had it removed. Elves are not too fond of the whole keeping slaves thing as they think it is beneath them. They don't even keep criminal slaves and Ariel here..." Tina explained.

"Hey! Don't steal my story!" Ariel interrupted, then continued "So after we found you we noticed you had a slave collar and I asked to have it removed!..."

You didn't 'find me', you kidnapped me! Get your facts straight!

"... While I'm not too fond of many elven customs, which are pretty annoying if I do to say so myself, this one I can easily agree with. I mean enslaving an enlightened race is just so wrong..." Ariel affirmed.

... I won't thank you, but I might loosen those mithril chains by maybe a tenth of a millimeter... I don't want to be accused of not returning the favor after all... but no more than that! No wait, wasn't that a motivation speech! Damn you almost got me!

"Hmph!" I retorted.

"Is it just me or am I being hated?" Ariel muttered.

"Just you" Tina replied.

...

After about a half an hour wait, it finally came! Taking a bite, it was literally like heaven on earth!

* munch * * munch * * munch * * munch * * munch *

And before I knew it, all the heaven disappeared from earth...

Not willing to let that delicious heavily flavor disappear.... without even realizing it....

* lick * *lick * * lick * * lick *

I started licking the plate...

"If you want some more, I can share a piece of my [Mangelian Egglplant] with you" Tina offered.

Being noticed, I felt quite a bit embarrassed, but even so the offer was just too tempting!

"Really?!?!" I asked enthusiastically.

Even though it isn't a ranked monster, based on my [Cooking] skill and my [Creationist: Analyze Everything], I could tell it wasn't inferior in any sense.

"Sure, say 'Ah'!" said Tina as she took a piece of the eggplant and brought it towards my mouth.

Ha?

"I'm not a child you know..." I complained with clear dissatisfaction.

"So you don't want any?" Tina backed down.

"Wha?!?!" I cried out dejectedly.

Only to soon realize a fork was jammed into my open mouth!

* munch * * munch *

DELICIOUS!

But this and that are different things... I was about to complain due to the treatment, only to realize Tina wasn't even looking at me... ha?

I followed her line of sight and saw that Ariel was panicking frantically. She then took her fork, cut a piece of her dish and sticked it out with her fork.

"Mayo! Want some of mine too?!?!" Ariel offered.

"Hmph!" I rejected facing away from her.

"Eh? But you always loved [Ignis Salmon]... it was your favorite..." Ariel sulked.

Thinking about it for a bit... the food committed no sin...

"Can I really have the [Ignis Salmon]?" I asked with hesitation...

"Sure! Ah~" Ariel elatedly replied.

I reached forward towards Ariel, and with every centimeter I crossed, she seemed more and more thrilled....

I then quickly grabbed the plate with the salmon!

* munch * * munch * * munch * * munch * * munch * * lick * *lick * * lick * * lick *

Before you know it, the plate with the salmon was completely gone! And I'll have to agree with Mayo, it was super duper delicious!

But this and that are different things...

"Hmph!" I snorted leaving Ariel hanging there dumbfounded.

What's with that look? You said I could have it so don't blame me...

"Am I really not being hated...?" Ariel questioned Tina.

"Not at all~" Tina replied with a bewitching smile.

After some marvelous deserts, we ended up leaving the restaurant. Oh and by the way, Ariel was too dejected to order anything so I had to suffer the burden of her desert... I hope she appreciates my suffering in her stead~