Chapter 49

Surrounded by sheep, I ate breakfast.

I am non-aggressive but a monster.

"Hey, if I poke this a little, it'll be a big disaster, you know."

"Hahaha."

Upon appraisal, they don't seem very strong, but there are 400, no, over 500 in the visible range. If they all attack at once, it would be impossible to handle them.

Some parties have started moving to Foss, but there are still many adventurers in Sekan and Sar. I don't see any of them fighting, and if they were, they would probably be at the edge of the flock, separated from the city.

"Leo, stop it?"

"Why are you telling me?"

"Because you might do it."

That's everyone's perception except Leo.

"Quite a pastoral scene, isn't it?"

"There are cows too, apparently."

"Somehow, livestock and monsters are mixed together. I wonder how they are distinguished."

"Ah, this pancake is delicious."

"Pouring this sauce on it is good too."

This time, it's pancakes for breakfast, with toppings of your choice: two types of jam, cream, butter, and eggs, with side dishes of sausages and bacon. I don't like sweet things for breakfast, so I'm eating a type of hotel bread by myself. It would be fine as a snack, though.

There's also vegetable soup and yogurt. It's delicious, and the best part is that there's no cleanup.

Ah, I made Leo and Shin promise not to reveal that the source of potions and items is me. They wouldn't break the promise, but they can't lie. So, I asked them to use the phrase "Sometimes it appears when you check the consignment," which neither tells a lie nor the truth, as suggested by Ochazuke. I feel relieved.

Even if it becomes known that I can make useful items, it wouldn't be a problem if the people around me are rational, but I've had that experience before. I don't like persistent people, but I dislike even more the idea of not being able to play with this group.

Back then, Ochazuke stopped logging in until other producers caught up, and even then, the outsiders were noisy about introducing it.

"By the way, there's a quest called 'Duru's Field' where you steal vegetables."

"Steal vegetables..."

"What's Duru again?"

"Hey."

Leo, are you ignoring the statue in the temple?

"It's in the temple, the old lady of the earth goddess."

"Shin remembers, does he!?"

Shuddering Ochazuke.

"Because I still go to solve puzzles for the [Star] I want."

"Apparently, when you enter, an old man explains it to you. If you take the vegetables, the field guard will chase you and take them back, but if you eat them before that, you get a bonus depending on the type of vegetable. The effect also varies depending on the distance from the field."

"Wow."

"It appears randomly, so there's not much information on the vegetables with the desired bonuses yet, but it's good to check it out."

"Okay."

While Ochazuke shares useful information and the others talk about their immediate goals and trivial matters, I appraise the sheep to level up my appraisal skill. I can enjoy my meal as my EP decreases. My [Animal Monster Appraisal] has also leveled up, which is good.

The sheep in front of me are called "Sheeple."

But there are also ordinary sheep being raised by people. When the shepherd blows a whistle, the domestic sheep return to the pen obediently. The Sheeple, like the domestic sheep, tend to gather in flocks, perhaps recognizing each other as the same kind, and form flocks near or mixed with the sheep.

If the Sheeple are stimulated, they can quickly start a rampage, and the nearby Sheeple flocks will attack all at once. Numbers are violence.

The sheep monsters act as a wall protecting the city from other active monsters. It's quite unusual.

While it's difficult to grow wheat and vegetables because the Sheeple eat them, livestock such as sheep and cows are thriving. As a port town, there are also many types of fish. After the city was opened, Fast imports wheat and sells meat and seafood in return.

[Obtained Yaggyakuru Meat x5]

[Obtained Yaggyakuru Mantle]

[Obtained Goat Wool x10]

[Obtained Dexterity Ring]

Meat.

Last time, it was fur, I think.

If Circle Moss specializes in defense, then Yaggyakuru is a boss that deals massive damage with [Headbutt]. The last time we faced it, Galahad and the others defeated it before it could use [Headbutt].

Since Fast lacks a boss to open the city, the field boss is the first boss you should encounter, whether you go west or east in Sekan or Sar. Especially now that everyone is equipped with the [Circle Moss Chestplate]. I have the processed version!

Even without Peter, we were able to defeat it without any trouble.

So, we are currently at the Sekan guild.

While it's not as much as the first kill, you can receive a reward by reporting the boss's defeat to the guild of the city. In Sekan and Sar, it's 10,000 silver. I thought it wasn't much due to my recent extravagant spending, but it's much more profitable than hunting field enemies. The materials also sell for a high price.

When I asked Ochazuke, he said that boss materials are good for leveling up production skills, and the items made from them are in demand, so they sell quickly when consigned. Using Yaggyakuru meat in cooking might significantly boost cooking levels. So, I bartered the goat wool and meat with Kikuhime.

And because I used skills in the boss battle, my EP decreased, so I'm eating again.

The Sekan restaurant is by the sea, and on a sunny day, you can eat outside in the sea breeze. The vegetables are a bit lacking, but there's plenty of fish and meat.

I'm eating grilled Surusa, a type of fish.

It tastes like sea bass.

Except for the sea bream I ate in Ail, it's mostly meat or river fish, so the soft, white flesh of Surusa is particularly delicious. Grilled with salt is also good.

Everyone except Shin, who loves meat, ordered fish.

"Ah, I need to get [Mineral Appraisal]."

[Mineral Appraisal] is needed for embedding magic arrays into gems and making accessories. When I made them with Christina, she explained the ranks of the gems, so it wasn't a problem.

I also remembered that I intended to learn accessory making from dwarves in the capital, which would require [Mineral Appraisal] anyway.

[By obtaining six types of appraisal, you can integrate them into the [Appraisal] skill.]

[If you integrate, the level will be averaged. Do you want to integrate?]

"Whoa! It asked about skill integration after I got [Mineral Appraisal]."

"Yeah, you should integrate. Even if your level drops a bit now, it will be easier to level up any appraisal skill in the future."

"Oh, I see."

I agreed to the integration, and my [Appraisal] skill became level 10. No matter how many skill points I have, they're never enough.

"Can't I just focus on appraisal from the start? I only have skills, weapons, and animal monsters so far."

"Shin, it's amazing you've survived this long. This game has so many skills that it's easy to get lost."

"Maybe it's a way to save the game from having too many diverse skills."

"But there are people who specialize in certain skills, right?"

"Ah, Kikuhime, can you give me the strongest thread?"

"Only thread? The processed Circle Moss silk is the strongest so far."

"How much?"

"I want a beer!"

"Okay, okay."

Beer and some snacks were added to the barter.

I immediately activated the [Thread] skill [Keen Ear]. However, the range is only five meters. I hope it extends as the level goes up. It only made the conversation of the person next to me clearer.

I'll keep it activated to level it up. [Stealth], [Detect Presence], and [Dilute Presence] will make it look like I'm just sitting there while my EP gradually decreases.

"Ah, by the way, do you have this?"

Kikuhime showed a stealth array. It's quite fluffy.

"I bought the array and made one with wool in between and one with feathers in between."

"Wow! A futon!"

"Sounds good, maybe I'll buy a bed."

"No, you don't need a tent for that."

It was a good idea, but Shin pointed it out.

"I'll take two sets and a pillow."

"How comfortable do you plan to sleep?"

The more comfortable, the better, I think.

In the end, I bought two sets and had two pillows made on the spot. Since everyone asked for pillows, I can't really criticize.

"So, what do we do now?"

When the skill discussion settled down, Leo asked about our plans.

"The boss in Faina is tough, so it's better to wait for Peter or invite someone to make a six-person party."

"How about Peter tomorrow night?"

"Hmm, I've been working since this afternoon and will be on night shift until morning, so I'll probably be off tomorrow. I should be around."

He'll probably log in after sleeping until the afternoon. It's quite an irregular job.

"Then, let's set the horse carriage to move to Faina before we sleep tonight and meet up when we're all together tomorrow. How about 9:30 PM again?"

"Got it."

"Okay."

"Let's do individual activities today. Leo has been staring at the sea since just now."

"Time to go fishing!!!"

"Let's check if there are any mining or gathering points by the sea."

We ended up going to the beach together, even though we were supposed to do individual activities.

Leo, who was leading the way, was running around looking for "good tide spots" from the rocks, then returning to where we were and going back to look again, like a child on a family trip.

The beach in Sekan is mostly rocky.

There are occasional small sandy beaches, ten to twenty meters long. It's too early for swimming, but it might become a private beach when the season comes.

I enjoy observing marine life on the rocks, and since the beach is nearby, it works out.

"Ah, found a gathering point!"

"Wow."

"It's [Sekan's Seaweed Salt]."

"There's no seaweed, but it's called seaweed salt?"

"Ha!"

"Nice swimsuit, Leo."

Leo equipped a red boomerang. Or rather, he took off his clothes.

"I caught some for everyone, how about a level 6 one?"

"No thanks!"

"Don't need it!"

"I'll pass."

"Enjoy it yourself."

"Where did you get it?"

Despite refusing to take it, Ochazuke was very interested.

"I learned the fishing spots in Sar from a muscle enthusiast. You can catch this in a spring, and if you throw a weapon into the spring, a [Spring Spirit] appears."

According to the muscle enthusiast, if you wear the caught bikini and throw a weapon into the spring, the expected spirit appears.

I didn't throw it in; I kicked Leo in, and what came out was a god. And Leo was wearing the bikini.

Maybe it was because it was a level 10 bikini, or because it was thrown into the spring with the bikini. Anyway, Ochazuke seems to have received a yellow boomerang from Leo, which matches the color of the star effect of the running skill.

I'll try to stay away from it.

"Found a hermit crab!"

"There are crabs too."

Digging in the sand, we found clams and razor clams.

We enjoyed the beach with laughter and giggles.

Then I realized.

The reason my cooking level isn't going up.

I've been buying and using regular seasonings.

If I can gather seaweed salt, there must be other seasonings that can be gathered as well. It's a trap to handle low-rank ingredients. I'll look for seasonings at the consignment shop, not the residents' store, later.

I'll stop making things with ingredients that can be obtained outside of gathering skills.

"Hey, you with the big fishing flag, I'll buy fish from you next time we meet."

Leo started focusing on fishing, so we dispersed after he called out.

While hunting stray Sheeple and cow-like Bluep from Kikuhime and Shin, we returned to the city. Ochazuke said he got the fishing skill and will fish with Leo for a while. Since many titles affect the party, Ochazuke's fishing will probably be a feast.

Sheeple drop Sheeple meat, Sheeple wool, Sheeple horns, and occasionally spare ribs. Bluep drop Bluep meat, skin, horns, and occasionally milk.

"If you give me the meat, I'll return it as a herb-grilled or steak."

"Wow!"

Encouraging Shin, he got enthusiastic.

He enthusiastically caught over twenty Sheeple.

"Whoa!!"

"Whoa!"

"Ah! Sorry!"

Shin ran over.

The Sheeple came charging with a ground-shaking sound.

"Come over here!! Idiot!!"

"But going to the city is bad too!"

I stopped Shin from changing direction at Kikuhime's shout.

"Let's just die. But they're not that strong, so we might be able to handle it."

"Can't be helped."

Kikuhime, regaining her composure, poured a life activation potion on her shield and changed her equipment.

"Let's do this! Come on!"

I called out to Shin and summoned Kurohoshi.

"Sorry!"

Without a moment's delay, the Sheeple group charged at Kikuhime, who