“Lady Hirano, we have arrived in Bluebell Town.”

A rough but young voice pulled me out of my dreams.

I have to say, this is the first time I dreamt of a memory and it was vivid.

My yet accustomed eyes squinted against the boorish sunlight but my Divine Art, Abaddon, assimilated my vision to the sudden change of brightness within seconds and it goes both ways, I could even see in the dark as a bonus.

There was magic in this world, a given for fantasy settings. Ranging from moving objects with a wave of hand to creating mountain a wish of a thought. Still, having the ability to see in the dark was the most bizarre feeling I had yet. It might have something to do with the fact that it altered the science of my body.

I was sleeping in the back of a horse-drawn carriage. It didn’t feel nice but it wasn’t anything too terrible to skip sleeping for. There was cover for the back albeit of only feasible material that wouldn’t last against a storm but it did a good job against the sun. The drapes to the back of the carriage parted enough for a head to be slithered into, which explained the intruding beams of light.

“The others have already gone ahead. Please be quick.”

I was never a morning person. I gave an unsightly groan for a girl my age as a vague response to my wake-up call.

“Shizu?”

A young and soft voice came from my right, along with a pull on my sleeping gown.

With weary feeling still hanging over my eyes, I cracked them wide-open and greeted the young wolf-kin girl beside me. “Good morning, Lucy.”

“Morning~!” She beamed and threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around me as she wiggled into my chest. She looked to be in bliss against my B-grade chest.

“Lady Hirano, it’s actually already noon,” said the knight with a rough face and voice who came to wake me up. I believed his name was Roy. An attendant assigned to me just recently.

Hmm? Noon?

Perhaps Roy sensed my confusion at such a late wake-up call, the knight began his explanation. “You told us to only wake you up when we arrived at Bluebell Town. And we’re here.”

Oh right, I did, didn’t I.

“And what about Lucy here?” I asked with a gesture at the wolf-kin.

“We made efforts to wake her up but she insisted to be awoken at the same time as you, milady.”

I cast a questionable glance at Lucy but all was forgiven when she gave me those puppy eyes.

Damn it. How can something be so cute?

We were traveling even during the night. Night travels are ill-advised but exceptions were made in times of emergency.

We were two towns over just yesterday when we received news of demon threats around this parts. To think we travelled twenty something kilometers in a span of one day. It wouldn’t be an amazing feat if it was the modern days but we were talking about horses, carriages, and unpaved roads here. Even a kilometer could be tough.

The Knight cleared his throat to bring my attention back. Right, I was supposed to be getting ready.

At present, my party wasn’t the four stooges I was summon with. There was a reason for the current arrangement. Good or bad, I was still in debate.

This genius idea was brought to you by Shin. A guy who lives in his own world and his own brand and idea of justice is absolute. An obstinate person, to say the least.

According to his obstinate view, as heroes, each of us needs commanding and leadership skills to a certain degree. The plan was that we will each go our own way, leading our own party. I believe his precise words were, “I can’t lead your hands forever. We each have to know the way to lead, others and ourselves.”

I couldn’t recall when but he put himself on the throne among us arbitrary. The only person who objected was me but—my objections were wordless, as usual.

And Shin seemed to have forgotten about what he promised me back then. Not that I ever believed a single word of his anyways. Perhaps in his own delusional mind, he was helping me in a way.

If that was the case, then he is truly beyond help.

Even if getting rid of me was indeed his true intention, he would keep lying to himself that he had good intentions till the end of days. He just wasn’t the type to believe that he himself would have any ill-will in his heart.

But of course, this dumpster fire of an idea was approved by the Emperor and he even helped assigned some people to my party. His assistance was only needed due to my reputation as the weakest Hero. Volunteers were scarce.

By scarce, I actually meant that there was no volunteers aside from two people. The four on the other hand, had no shortage of volunteers.

Lucinda, Lucy for short was the only volunteer besides a cleric-in-training.

“Lady Hirano?”

Oh? I have drifted off into my own thoughts again. Guess I’m still groggy in the morning.

“O-of course. Just give me a sec, I’ll get dress.”

With a fist to his chest, the knight named Roy bowed and left me and Lucy to get dress. Obviously, Roy was not a volunteer.

To be frank, Roy was much more of a leader than me. On the official stance, I was the leader of my party but the responsibilities and duties were executed mostly by Roy. I couldn’t exactly rebuke my current companions for not treating me like a leader with that apparent truth.

Not that I was unhappy with the arrangement or anything. Being a leader was tough and I was sure I was of no leader caliber.

After our donning our own respective plain and colorless clothes, Lucy and I helped each other to fit our armor on. There was a skill in this world that allows one to don a set of apparels in a snap. I was looking forward to acquire such skill but my aptitude would needed to be taken into account.

“Done,” cried Lucy in a cheerful voice that was a little too loud for the still-drowsy me.

Lucy sported a set of heavy steel armor but no heavier than half her weight while I went for light leather armor. Heavy armor weighs my speed down as an agile scout but the truth was, metallic armor was simply too hot and the weight wasn’t actually an issue if I just used Body Strengthening.

We were nearing the middle of the year and around this time, it should be summer around this time. Which kinda explained the warm weather.

Maybe warm would be an understatement.

This world had twelve months a year and each month has thirty days exactly. A week is six days which makes a month has five weeks.

The months in this world was call, the first moon, the second moon, the third moon, and so on until the twelfth moon.

And most surprising of all, there were hours, minutes, and also seconds. There were even clocks. Although, only well-off places have clocks. Recluse and rural places used bell towers and sun dials as ways to measure time. The measurement of time with these units have been around for millenniums but it was odd that this knowledge was foreign to most peasants or commoners.

Maybe it was just like the medieval ages back on earth. The clergies keeping the peoples in the dark to assume easier control over them but from what I heard, the most influential and largest religion was a truly benevolent one. I believed it was call the Nines of something.

Bluebell Town wasn’t secluded nor detached but there was only a bell tower. The bell was blue and it was still retaining its vibrant color after long years. Guessed I now knew the origin of this town’s name.

However, I need not of a clock. In the top right corner of my view, at the very edge of it, there was a clock in a digital format. Another one of the tricks that came with Abaddon, the Divine Art, not the Goddess herself.

It was irritating that this clock display still persist even after I closed my eyes. I would need to disable it manually if I want an uninterrupted sleep.

After we were done fitting each other, I tapped my body.

Sword, check. Dagger, check. Throwing knives, check. Satchel bag, check. Potions, check. Compass, Check. All right, everything of mine seemed to be here.

I didn’t need a compass too but I got one for appearance’s sake. I had one on the top middle of my view. The compass and clock weren’t too big nor opaque to be a hindrance to my view which I was really grateful for.

There was just one last thing to check.

At my will, a wall of text in columns bearing my status information appeared only in my vision.

Name

Hirano Shizuka

Status

Alive: None

Age

17

Class / Job

Scout Hero

Gender & Race

Female / Human

Standing

Hero of Zerogian

Arcane Arts

Magic Melee Arts – Lv. 4

Body Strengthening – Lv. 4

Wind Magic – Lv. 4

Spirit Magic – Lv. 2

Title & Deeds

Abaddon’s Apostle

Scout Hero

The Elusive One

Demon Slayer

The Audacious One

Overall Power Ranking

S

Effective Combat Strength

1600

Attack - 350

Defense - 200

Magic - 250

Resistance - 200

Speed - 600

Remaining Skill Points: 5

Remaining Ability Points: 0

Well, there doesn’t seem to be any abnormalities in my stats. All good.

Lucy, who was beside me, did the same check on her stats. Only difference between us, was that she used a status card for the inspection and I could see her stats too.

Those who could check their own status information without a status card was those with Appraisal or Analysis ability. Analysis was just an upgrade to Appraisal. It offers more detail information. My Divine Art triumphed over Analysis though.

It took me awhile but I think I figured it out what my Divine Art could do. For the most part, it was consist of perception and cognition related abilities, which really suited my role as a scout. I already knew about those from Abaddon, the Goddess herself but the best to this ability was, I perceived all this information like a video’s game user interface.

It was so surreal that I spent a week of doubting reality. Till now, I still had the doubts.

But perception abilities were not all Abaddon had to offer.

Skills and abilities, their values and levels increase automatically while completing or performing correlated actions or tasks. That was how people level up. That was the standard.

Which I was not bound to.

Instead, I gained Skill Points and Ability Points. I could then allocate these points to the stats or skills of my choice.

To put it simpler, I had free rein of my growth as oppose to others.

To unlock or acquire a new spell or skill, a single skill point is required and also the aptitude and knowledge of it. Luck was a factor too but I wasn’t the type to put so much faith in luck. To increase the level of an ability to two, it requires two skill points. And this requirement goes up by one additional point for each level.

As for Ability Points, a single Ability Point or, AP, increases a stat value by ten. For example, allocating one point to my current Speed stat will increase it to 610.

Having free reins of one’s own growth was an exclusive privilege. No doubt this power would be sought by many. Abaddon’s advice was becoming sound.

On day one, back when I thought this kind of mechanic applies to everyone, I almost revealed this factor if it wasn’t for the quick and succinct explanation from the Imperial Mage Lord of Zerogian Empire.

I really a dodged a bullet there.

I hopped off the carriage and received Lucy in my arms who leaped into me. I gently laid her down on the ground. She was light but her strength was not.

This wolf-kin girl was only three quarters of my height and I was only a hundred seventy centimeters tall. I ruffled Lucy’s hair and caressed her wolf ears out of a habit I developed due to our height difference.

Lucy, who was already used to it enjoy the obligatory head rub.

Damn, it is really fluffy and soft.

I looked around for my companions and found only Roy.

Oh right, Roy said they went on ahead, didn’t he. But to where?

“Backwater….” Lucy muttered, probably her impression of this town.

I heard things about Bluebell Town. A once glorified and prosperous city but now, it was nothing more than a small town living under the shadows of its former self.

Streets were crowded beyond its capacity but somehow, everyone was able to go on their merry ways. They were probably just used to it. Despite the prosperous air the town was fill with, the majority of the facilities of this town were rundown or in shambles. Even the road of the streets weren’t pave all that well.

The governor of this town must be an incompetent one.

Such a shame for a town full of potential to meet its nearing end in such a disappointing way.

I was merely absorbed in the mood of this dying town but Roy seemed to have misread my gestures.

“If you’re looking for the others, they are in the Adventurer’s Guild, acquiring information of Demon activities in Bluebell Forest.” Roy inclined his head at the building in front of us.

The forest was the only source of income this town had. It was abundant with monsters. These monsters are sought after by many for their raw materials. This town would have crumbled without it.

That reminded me, adventurers and Adventurer’s Guild exist in this world. The old staple of RPGs. If what I read could be believed, the Adventurer’s Guild was one of the major power factions in the world. They had branches across the Evarenan. They had their own policies and some of it takes precedence over a nation’s law. That was the extent of their influence and power. The south was the only parts without its influence.

Knowing that, I lost any interest in becoming an adventurer. I did not want to get tied to such a powerhouse. The way I see it, adventurers were just political chess pieces.

The Adventurer’s Guild Branch Quarters’ of Bluebell was a large building. Probably the largest building in this small bustling town besides the governor’s house.

Quite a while has passed since they entered the guild building. Fortunately for me, I didn’t need to wait any longer. They came out of the building soon after.

My remaining teammates were a cleric-in-training boy, a male mage, and a light-armored dual-wielding female warrior. The scouts in my team were Lucy and yours truly.

“Look who’s finally up,” came the condemning tone from the male mage, Liam.

Sylvia the female warrior with dark skin beside Liam sighed. Our one-sided banter was a common act. It was always Sylvia who arbitrated between us.

I guess she gave up this time around?

My eyes were as always, glued to the tiny horns that were barely showing themselves from her unkempt gray hair. Those horns were the racial features of her species, Majins. I believed they once mistaken as Demons themselves due to their features and appearance but turns out, the true Demons bore no resemblance to the Majins.

Although Majins possessed Demon blood in their veins, comparing them to Demons was the same as comparing Beast-kin to animals, and humans to apes.

The misunderstanding was resolve by a Hero but that didn’t mean the discrimination dissolved along with it.

Still, it was quite curious that they were call “Majin.” If I’m not wrong, Majin was a Japanese word.

I was half-Japanese myself but I wasn’t well-verse in the language since my parents died when I was young. Everything I knew about Japanese were all self-taught or memories from when I was just a toddler. Nevertheless, the term, “Majin” was no doubt coined by a Japanese.

Does that mean the Hero is a Japanese?

“Enough, Liam!” Roy raised his voice. “Just tell me what have you got?”

I was too engrossed in my own thoughts that I paid no attention to Liam’s insult and he ended up getting reproached himself.

“L-last sighting of Demons was t-two days ago,” the one who answered with stuttering words was the Cleric Boy, Zian Hao Ren （堅浩仁） but we just called him Ren. Zian was his surname. He was a Xin but a believer of western faith. Intriguing but I won’t pry.

Each has their own reasons.

I surmised Xin was the equivalent of Earth’s Chinese going solely by their names, appearance, and culture. Maybe not an exact one to one as Xin did have some other Asian cultures mixed in.

“An adventurers group encountered a group of six Demons in the middle section of the forest. The adventurers group is B-rank. They set out with a number of five but came back with two,” continued Sylvia. In contrast to the shaking Ren, her voice was firm.

“The estimation of the Demons’ levels?”

“Judging from their descriptions, it is mostly lesser tiers.”

Size don’t necessarily designated their tiers but on most times, they do but my current companions wouldn’t know about that. Everything they knew about Demons came from texts they read off from somewhere. I was the only one in the party with actual Demon slaying experience but they treated me like a novice all the same.

“I see,” said Roy. “Will that be all?”

Sylvia nodded followed by the slow Ren.

Hmm? Roy glanced over to me.

“What are your orders, milady?”

To those words, everyone’s gaze turned to me.

Feeling pressured, I gave an arbitrary order. “We are sortieing out immediately. The sun is still bright. We need all the advantage we can get.”

I can’t believe I just used the word, “sortieing.” Is that even a word?

My answer may be in the spur of the moment but it was my honest conjecture.

I had powers of a God— a Goddess but I was by no means a competent combatant. My trait is reconnaissance. A trait that didn’t seem to be highly regarded by the other four heroes. Thus, their perception of me being weak escalated into rumors. Shin was no different than the other three but he was the only one who tried to sugar coat it.

It didn’t make me felt any better.

My new companions however, had a slightly better opinion on my role and trade as a scout. Liam had gone out of his way to voice his thoughts on how my scouting abilities was my sole saving grace to the integrity of my “Hero” status.

I’m honestly at a lost on which was more infuriating.

Anyways, back to present reality.

“Everyone, we’ll go tend to our own preparations and shall we meet up back here in half an hour?” I suggested but I’m sure they interpreting it as some pompous order.

“Sounds good, milady,” Roy bowed.

Sylvia left after a slight bow with her fist to her chest.

Liam left while rolling his eyes. He did it deliberately in a way that couldn’t be missed by me.

What a prick.

Ren was the only one left.

“So how about you?” I asked.

“Eh? Me? I-I’m…. I’m going to the local t-temple….”

Since it must be some religion-related stuff, I didn’t press for more.

“Well, okay then. See you later,” I waved.

He edged back from my wave and his face turned beet red.

This reaction…. Don’t tell me--

Just as he was about to turn toes and ran, I called out to him again.

“Um, Ren?”

“Yes?!” he turned back to face me with a raised voice. He was even fidgeting like a little girl with his fingers wrapping tightly around the magic staff in his hands. He really looked like a school girl in love.

“Could you help me asked around the temple if there’s any Abaddon shrine in this town?” I requested.

When Abaddon said her believers were few, I underestimated her use of the word, “few.” On the first week we arrived in this world, we were assigned attendants. I asked these attendants and none of them seemed to even know about the existence of Abaddon. Even some of the scholars believed her to be merely a myth.

“O-of course!” bowed Ren as he took in my request without so much as a single hesitation.

He turned even redder when he realized his response was too quick. He shook his head in a fit and gave a really deep bow again before scuttling away like a squirrel.

What is this cute animal? His reddened face reminds me of my ex when he confessed to me. Don’t tell me he fancies me?

Nay. I didn’t think I was that attractive to make anyone fall head over heels so easily. I would question their sanity if they did.

While I was lost in my own train of thought, the feeling of my clothes being tucked pulled me back to reality.

I looked at the culprit, Lucy to see what’s up.

“Hungry,” she told me. The way she put her finger on her lips and her other hand on her belly was just too cute that I involuntarily patted her head.

“Ah, right. We haven’t had breakfast yet, have we?”

We did woke up at noon after all.

And so, we left the carriage to look for something to eat after informing the coachman. The coachman was also our handler. He was responsible for handling in reports of our situation to the Empire every once in a while.

Among my current companions, I was the only one in the knowing of this. It might be for the best to keep this to myself. After all, to fool an enemy, one must fool one’s own allies first.

Despite my reputation as the weakest Hero, I was still considered an individual that couldn’t be left unwatched.

As we headed further down the streets, the crowds only got busier. I held Lucy’s hand in case we got separated.

Following Lucy’s nose, we arrived in front of a stall selling meat skewers. It wasn’t flooding with customers but there were quite a few of them.

Considering this was our first time here, being able to track down a particular stall just by scent among rowdy crowds was an amazing feat.

Lucy was staring at the displayed skewers with sparkling eyes and a drooling mouth.

A box of text popped up in my view. The pop-up told me of the meat skewer’s origin. Apparently the meat was of a monster called; Steel Tusk Boar. A staple type of meat here in the west. Boar meat wasn’t the only meat the stall sold. There were also chicken and beef although they appeared to be less popular than the boar meat.

After buying two of each, I understood why chicken and beef were less popular. Both cost twice as much as a single boar meat skewer.

Another thing I still couldn’t accustom myself to was the concept of haggling. It was more common to haggle than not. Which was why the stall owner gave me a curious glance when I paid up straight away after he named his price.

Since I received allowance regularly from the Empire, I wasn’t tight on money.

“Hmm~! Yum~!” expressed Lucy who took on two skewers at once.

This little girl sure can put it away. Is it perhaps the trait of a beast-kin?

The boar meat was a new taste for me but the chicken and beef tasted just like the ones on earth. The chicken skewer tasted a little sweet which reminded me of a Southeast-Asian dish called Satay.

“Next stall!” she happily cried out.

That was insanely quick. She finished the three skewer when I was only halfway through my first one.

Our next stall was a sandwich stall. Slices of meat stuffed into a bread through a narrow incision. It was also Steel Tusk Boar meat.

The texture of the meat felt odd. It didn’t feel suitable to be eaten flatly but I kept my opinion to myself since Lucy looked happy.

“New around town?” asked the old lady who was the stall owner.

“Nn,” I nodded.

“Then do what you have to do in the forest and leave. Don’t dally like the other adventurers.”

It was just an advice despite the hostile tone. She might have judged that I was an adventurer due to my getup.

When I asked her of the reason, she told me of a local legend. The legend went like this, approximately two thousand years ago, there was a dragon who made its nest here. Monsters from other realms came attacking. The dragon fought against this monsters and eventually sacrificed itself to defeat this monsters. The legend was passed down till this day. The forest at one point was forbidden to hunt in but compromise was made by the feudal lords when they realized how much profit they could rake in by promoting the forest as an adventurer’s hotspot.

Those who retained the history of the forest, expressed their warning but it only fell on death ears. The stall owner was one of these peoples. Adventurers should just do what they were meant to do and leave immediately. Dawdling in the forest was seen as being disrespectful towards the final resting place of the dragon. The locals were afraid it would bring about some ill omen. Some even believed this was the reason the town degraded to such state.

It was an interesting story. Mingling with the locals and listening to local legends were more compelling than staying cooped up in the Imperial Palace. It reminded me that I was far away from home and it felt just a little bit like I was on vacation.

I was so absorbed in the tale that I only took notice of Lucy’s call when she head-butted my sides.

She apologized and pulled me along, immediately.

Despite having lower ECS than me, Lucy was physically stronger than me.

Or I should just stop spacing out every now and then.

After filling our stomach which took up half of the agreed upon time, we came to an alchemist’s shop.

Maybe it was the lack of designers or money, all the buildings bore the same color and shape with one another. The signboards were the only way to distinguish which is which. I was glad that this world’s main language was English although they called it Common as in The Common Language.

In fact, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the numerous terminologies and jargons this world share with Earth. It wasn’t outrageous to assume Evarenan was a world partially shaped with Earth’s culture by the reincarnated and summoned ones.

The interior of the alchemist’s shop was a shocking sight. It was tidy and clean as oppose to the exterior.

Each products and items were arrange neatly on shelves and display tables. There were even small cardboard sign that indicated the price for each unit per gram. Since prices could be haggled, the designated prices serve as reference.

I left Lucy at a diner across the street as she could get touchy with stuffs. Furthermore, the smell would be too much for a wolf’s sensitive nose. Even from there, she complained of the herbal smell that drifted all the way to the diner.

After looking around, I took two of each for health, Mana, basic antidote, and Gray Spores. The Gray Spores came in small sacks and it was a silver coin each. Quite expensive but it was understandable considering the declining economy. I didn’t forget to check the expiration date.

Yes, potions have expiration dates. They would lose their potency after the expiration date. It never crossed my mind potions could expire since I have been treating the world like a game. My oversight had caused me some lost. Since then, the expiration dates were the first thing I look at.

All the potions I chosen were one week away from expiring, so it should be good for my intent and purpose.

The total was seven silvers but I haggled it down to six. I didn’t want to haggle but the questioning gaze from the storekeeper was too much. The storekeeper was a short grumpy old man with a magnificent beard. After appraising him, I found out he was a Fairy-kin, a Dwarf. He had Fire Magic, Earth Magic, Alchemy, and Spirit Magic. He was a B-rank with an ECS triple my value. Quite strong.

I have seen and heard of Dwarf Smiths but this was my first for a Dwarf Alchemist.

“Oi!” The Dwarf hammered the counter.

I jumped from his sudden escalation of his grumpy behavior.

“Did ya parents never taught ya tat appraising others without their consent is rude?”

I was told of such thing in the Imperial Palace but I never take it to heart as I had never been caught. I quickly apologized but his scolding only continued.

In his lectures, he let slip of the fact that he was able to detect my appraisal due to his Spirit Magic.

I see. So Spirit Magic has such ability.

But it would be useless to me since I could camouflage my information with a fake one with my Divine Art, Abaddon.

I didn’t make much change to my fake information status, only to the ones that would reveal my hidden powers and my status as a Goddess’ Apostle.

His lecture went on until another customer walked in.

His gear shifted in an instance. Like completely. He wasn’t grumpy towards the customer that just walked in. He shouted a welcome full of spirit.

I guessed I could figure out why.

The customer was a little girl with cyan braided-tail hair. Her blue dress was lavishing and her skin was smooth. She was definitely a daughter of some person with influential position.

She couldn’t be a noble’s daughter as she didn’t have any guards with her. I had not met a noble who wasn’t protective of their daughters.

The girl made a beeline to the counter. She gestured me to make way with an “excuse me.”

Her voice was low but vibrant. It almost sounded like she was singing in short verse.

She smells nice, almost like a flower.

I made way and she plopped her head on the counter. She used some sort of magic as steps to compensate her short stature. She looked only a little bit older than Lucy and was also a little taller than her.

“Coral Flowers?”

As if matching her image of short, even her words were short.

“Ah…. Sorry, little missy. The new batch ain’t hear’ yet.”

“Cavo Berries?”

Coral Flowers mixed with sugar were excellent reliefs for migraines, fatigues, and also morning sickness. Cavo Berries were basically painkillers. They were half the size of a person’s palm and they were a standard for adventurers. I believed they were also rather cheap because of how easy they could be grown and harvested in abudance.

“Got a lotta’ them, little missy. How many ya want?”

“Mm….” She showed three fingers. “Three hundred.”

I almost choked at her words but I recomposed myself when I realized she meant grams.

“A’ight, wait here, little missy.” The Dwarf said and disappeared into the backroom.

It was just the two of us now and an awkward silence.

Since I had finish my business and free from the Dwarf’s lecture, I headed for the exit.

Just then, the door was fling open and a girl entered.

W-wait…. What??

It threw me off when I saw the girl’s face. She looked like the little girl at the counter but a little bit older and taller, almost as tall as me. Her hair was a bobcut unlike the little girl. In addition to her azure dress, she wore leather armor on top of it.

She gave out the impression of a princess who yearns to be a fighter.

This girl has the same flower-scented fragrance on her.

My first instinct was to appraise her but I held back. A small voice in my head advised me from it.

“Kirin! There you are!” The girl called out and brushed past me to the little girl.

Our shoulders bumped but she didn’t give an apology. It vexed me but I wasn’t the type to blow things out of proportion.

After leaving the shop, I went straight for the diner across the street.

At Lucy’s table, I found five empty plates and a wolf-kin girl with a bulging stomach. I only gave her ten coppers but she seemed to have make the most out of it.

As a waitress past by Lucy, her hand were already reaching up.

I grabbed her raised hand and pulled her out of the chair with the help of Body Strengthening. It would have been easier if it was Herculean Strength but I didn’t have such skill yet.

Lucy was reluctant. At this point, I have gotten used to her gluttonous side. It took some time to persuade her but after promising her that we would be having cakes after the subjugation of Demons, she relented.

The meal were paid, of course. This world’s food industry adopts the concept of “pay upon serving.”

As I stepped out of the diner with Lucy trailing behind me with a reluctant parting gaze, the little girl from before came out of the alchemist’s shop. Her sister, which I assumed her to be, followed just behind her.

They met up with a boy with tanned skin just outside. As old as me and just as tall. His face was on the rare side. In the words of my former world, he had a face of a Eurasian. A Eurasian with tanned skin. He was wearing a gray bandanna which looked mismatched with his light armor. I couldn’t tell what kind of material the armor was made of, so I tried to appraise it out of habit.

The results were, Unknown Leather.

My gaze only moved a little but the boy became a target of appraisal in my sight.

What the f—

I almost cursed out loud when I saw his information. He had a powerful recognition inhibition item that could even hinder my appraisal ability but not to the full extent. Still, this was the first time that my ability was prevented albeit not completely.

I saw only his name, race, and age. Cormac Atlas, a Dark Oni, and sixteen years old.

Oni was a very elusive race. They were even much more of a rare sight than the secluded Elves. Oni races were Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, who had cast aside their dark sides and repented. At least that was what I read about them.

Unable to quell my curiosity, I appraised the other two against my better judgment.

To my surprise, I was unable to appraise the little girl but I had luck with the elder one. Although it was only her name, race, and age like the Oni.

Her name was Nieumilin which I had no idea how to pronounce. Her race was also an unexpected one, a Dryad and she was over two thousand years old. If I were to use her as a reference, the little girl would be a Dryad too.

“Shizu?”

I snapped out of it after a nudge from Lucy.

It was really unusual and curious for two rare races to be walking around town. They might have something to do with the recent Demon activities around this parts but I wasn’t so brazen to jump on that conclusion. I had enough problems as it is and getting mixed up with them would only made things worse for me.

As they went down the street in a certain direction, I went down the other.

I knew I was destine for greatness or something of a large scale. It is why I was bestow the Divine Art, Night Empress Abaddon, after all. But in my heart, I just want to take things at my own pace. I even wished our paths would never cross again.

My honest wish at that time.

However—

--I didn’t knew their master was meant to cross paths with me.