I changed my clothes and left my room. Since my physical condition has been improved, I told my fellow employee that I wanted to go out. And to hide it from Roxis, I told them that I just wanted to get some fresh air. People of the Heart Family are all nice people.

  I walk from the Holy Knight district to the commercial district. However, I didn’t go to the bar directly because it was just past noon, so I decided to kill time.

  Though I say that, currently I only have one silver coin and 20 copper coins. Since it’s not payday yet for Heart Family employees, I cannot shop for anything expensive.

  The amount of my money will be reduced even more when I spend it in the bar later, so I go to the flea market where I bought the black sword Greed.

  At that time, when I came to the stall where the shopkeeper was being arrogant, my clothes were dirty so I was not treated as a guest.

  However, as a Heart Family employee now, my personal appearance is decent. Now if I enter his shop, I’m likely not gonna be treated like last time.

  When I looked at the stalls while walking around, searching for bargains, I used the Appraisal skill. Even if I don’t have any knowledge about the items, I can see its value.

  If I do this well, I can buy the items cheaply and resell them. Well, even if I want to sell the items—if I don’t have customers to sell them to, I guess that doesn’t work.

  Even without doing that, there are various things I can do. I’ll try [Appraisal] with this large elegant plate on my hand.

  [Oh, this is amazing. The cracked plate was restored beautifully. Although I don’t understand it, it is splendid work. The other plates are also same]

  Just then, the shopkeeper who was negotiating with the customer by my side, glared at me with a stern expression.

  In addition, the customer got angry after he heard my voice, pushing back the plate that he wanted to buy from the shopkeeper. And after he said he had been cheated, the shopkeeper replied that he was not being cheated, and a large debate started.

  This is… an unpleasant situation. I went away before got caught in it.

  [Yaa, that was dangerous]

  [Be careful from now on. People with the Appraisal skill tend to be disliked by merchants]

  Greed warned me of my careless behaviour.

  [People who lie to the others for profit are the bad guys]

  [Well, although you’re correct, they did that to eat. Their circumstances require them to lie.]

  In the flea market where the lonesome merchants gather, it seems normal for them to be like that.

  I pulled myself back together and resumed my stall rounds, when I found something interesting.

  It was on the shelf, alongside a hat and helmet. It looked pretty scary, but at the same time it was strangely inviting.

  I used [Appraisal] on it.

  Skull Mask Endurance: 20

  The ability of others to recognize the wearer is obstructed, with the wearer looking like different people to them.

  I can use this!

  Greed agreed with my idea.

  [You found something good. This was made a long time ago for a dance party. It’s an antique item, but it should work if you put some magical power into it]

  It was quite cheap, priced around 40 copper coins. I decided to buy this skull mask.

  The reason was because this is necessary for the monster hunting at night time. When I go hunting almost every day with real face, it’ll surely become a rumour sooner or later among the Warriors.

  For someone like me, who would want to conceal his identity while hunting, the recognition obstruction ability of the skull mask could be very useful.

  I passed over 40 copper coins to buy it from the old shopkeeper.

  I wrapped it in cloth and kept it inside my breast pocket.

  I bought something good. Since this is Royal Capital, rare items are often flowing, even in places like flea market.

  From now on, it might be good to come here regularly to look for bargains. Well, with that said, I should go to the bar soon. If I stay here any longer, I might find something else I want and end up wasting my money.

  =====

  As I entered the drinking bar, the shop was bustling with miserable men.

  Oi oi, what does it mean to drink in daytime?

  If it’s anything like the usual, the bar should be empty at a time like this.

  There was something strange, too. I went to the counter corner, which is my usual seat.

  Oh, but, for some reason, only this seat was vacant. And, there was a single flower in the cup above the counter.

  What is this? Strange. As I tried to sit down,

  [Wait, that spot’s not available. It’s the seat of a regular who’s dead now…]

  After saying that, the shopkeeper came over to the counter seat, and upon saw my face, and was shocked.

  [You’re alive!? I thought you were dead]

  Ah… that’s to be expected; I haven’t shown up around here for one week, so the shopkeeper seems convinced that I died from overworking.

  I see, so this flower was offered to me?

  [As you can see, I’m alive. So, can I sit here?]

  [Of course, by all means]

  I put aside the glass with the flower on it, and sat on the seat.

  [Master, some good booze and food, pleasel]

  [Oi oi, what’s happened? I thought you were gone, and here you suddenly come full of cash]

  [I got a new job. The reason I couldn’t come here was because I needed to learn various things]

  [I see, I’m glad to hear that… Really]

  The storekeeper moved his tears and disappear to the kitchen while taking the dishes.

  After a while, he returned with a full glass of wine and a plate of big fish.

  [Hey, congratulations for your job change. I’ll only charge you half price for your meals today]

  [Are you serious!?]

  [Yes, it’s alright. I have known you for a long time after all]

  I didn’t know that he thought so much about me. I’m glad that I came here.

  I started eating the fish I was served. I heard the fish dishes of this bar are popular.

  [by the way, what’s happening today?]

  [Ah, they’re warriors]

  Hee, so they are resting for the day.

  Unlike the normal work, a warrior’s schedule is an irregular thing because it adapts to monster activity. On rainy days, the monsters are sheltered and hidden so it’s a holiday, and during the breeding season when monsters’ temperament become aggressive, so they need to assess the situation first.

  However, it seems the reason is different this time. The shopkeeper told me the reason.

  [When they went Goblin hunting early in the morning today, corpses of Goblins were scattered everywhere; moreover, they had been left without both ears cut off. Thanks to that, they gained a lot of profit. It sounds very strange, isn’t?]

  [… Hahaha… You’re right…]

  The cause was me!! I almost blew out the wine that I had started to drink.

  Well, what I was doing wasn’t bad, I thought. Though thinking about it, the shopkeeper’s face was not happy.

  [But…]

  [What is it?]

  [That’s what I heard, but then, who defeated the goblins? That became the problem. Most likely it’s a wandering monster who has gotten lost from another region and it’s probably quite powerful.]

  [A wandering monster!?]

  The shopkeeper seems to have heard about it from the warriors who were making noise over there.

  It seems what I had just did caused a ruckus! I am the wandering monster!

  [Yeah, it seems to occur once every ten years. Therefore, it seems that the Holy Knights are gonna move because of this matter. This gives me relief peace of mind]

  If an unknown monster appears on the path to the kingdom, peddlers do not want to die, so they will refrain from traveling to the capital.

  As the result, the logistics to the Royal Capital will be affected, the prices will rise and the management of the bar will be difficult.

  That’s because of me… However, I can’t stop that… Moreover, the appearance of the Holy Knights?

  [Who will take charge of the Holy Knights?]

  [Ah, it seems to be the second son of Burix Family that you hated, Hado-sama. Since he doesn’t have battle experience in Gaul yet, this kind of easy investigation will earn him credit]

  When I heard that name, I thrust my fork into the center of my fish.

  Don’t tell me, for a Holy Knight from the distinguished family to appear on the scene, it’s like flying into the fire.

  To suppress my emotions, I gulp down my wine.

  Then, the shopkeeper tells me a different story.

  [Besides that, there is an odd story]

  [What story?]

  [There should be an orphanage where you live, right? You see, the sisters over there offer prayers to their God every day. I’m told a small bloodied bag was thrown through the broken window during one of their prayers. It then fell to the feet of a sister, prompting her to faint. The other sisters wanted to chase after the fellow, wondering why would he make such a cruel prank. Though in the end, the perpetrator managed to escape]

  The shopkeeper lets out a bellowing laugh, holding his belly……

  Ah that, don’t tell me…. As I try to maintain my composure, the shopkeeper continues his story.

  [This story continues, The angered sisters have noticed there was something being written on it, when they want to throw away the bags, which is said a donation. So they seems opening it fearfully, there was both ears of Goblin King inside. Then, it seems the sisters are pleased to cry, and they are working hard to look for the person now]

  …This is, it’s really what I did. Well, it’s okay as long as I’m not being explosed.

  Moreover, today I just bought the skull mask. I will be alright.

  [That’s pretty interesting stories. Master, another glass of Wine please!]

  [Aiyo! I’ll let you know when I got another stories]

  I pretend to keep calm, drink wine, and eating the meal. As I thought, the meal of this bar is so delicious.