SockySake

  Damian's words had caused a crowd of tired adventurers to venture outside into the cold, dangerous world. Not the very warm, very comforting world of the Earthen Spire that housed numerous creatures that wanted you dead.

  After watching many adventurers whose curiosity got the better of them freeze at the sight of the colossus, satisfied, Damian moved inside to coax the man he had saved earlier that day into making a coffin.

  His craftsmanship ended up being excellent. He even made the casket's top removable for easy viewing.

  Ok, so what are our next steps?

  - Make sure this body gets to the Valkyrie for inspection.

  - Can't trust the nobility with it.

  - Get my sword back or a sword. Should have grabbed one while I was outside.

  - Get someone to see what's up with the ape wraith that isn't disappearing.

  - Rest.

  'sigh'

  Looking over at his resting party, Damian could see that Fergus had bothered Donna to summon his cooking equipment. They had st eaten only a little bit ago, but he was already feeling a little famished. Adventurers don't run on empty stomachs.

  "Hey, looks like my party members are cooking some food, do you want to join us?" Damian asked the earth shaper.

  "Ah! Um… No. I'd better get back to my own party." He was looking around awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck.

  "How about you ask them to join us? Our group had just been back from the dungeon and hadn't had the chance to sell our stock. Our cook has amazing skills." Damian insisted. For some reason, he felt the need to tease the poor man.

  "Ok... I'll ask them." The young man began stalking back to his group, and Damian's eyes bulged. He was walking toward the ice caster from earlier.

  Damian didn't remember those two working together at all. The earth shaper was in the healing center, and the ice caster was likely at the Adventurers Guild when all hell broke loose.

  There were two other members of the group. A tall & gruff-looking man who carried a tower shield and an archer, an archer who didn't look to be equipped with a melee weapon.

  The young man was pointing his finger at Damian. Guess I've got to eat my words. Damian waved toward them with the correct arm. Are they going to join us or not?

  He watched as the group got up from the dungeon floor and started over.

  Sorry, Fergus, you're going to have to cook some extra meals... You know what? Serves him right for not even lifting a finger earlier! I'm not in the wrong. I'm just being friendly! Damian tried to convince himself.

  Damian wrapped the earthen chain the shaper created over his shoulder and began hauling the casket. Fergus was looking at him with inquisitive eyes, probably wondering what he was up to. "I'll expin once our guests join us."

  "Guests?"

  "Yeah, I invited that earth shaper who helped and his party. Thought that we could share insight or something."

  A sigh escaped Fergus's mouth as he began to shake Donna out of her sleep, asking her to summon some more food. More sbs of dungeon monster meat started to pour into existence from her skill and onto a tray.

  She kept her eyes closed as she did so.

  Many years of us bugging her in her sleep to retrieve and store supplies had led her to develop an automatic response to dispense or receive whatever someone requests of her.

  When she finally wakes, she doesn't even remember it and gets surprised when she has to store items again. We've trained her well~. Damian insolently thought.

  "We appreciate the invitation." A husky woman's voice rang from behind Damian.

  "Oh, it's our pleasure. If you hadn't acted out against those mercenaries, a lot more people would have died. Most of the people here owe you their lives."

  As Damian said this, distrust was brewing in the back of his mind. Questions like 'Would she do the same to my party?' were popping up.

  Although he had been thinking of doing the same at the time, Damian now felt distrust toward the ice mage. He wouldn't trust his party's back to her in an emergency. For all he knew, she'd stab them and use them as a distraction.

  Thoughts like this just couldn't be helped when someone acted in their own self-interest by sacrificing another, even if it was justified. Their true character would be taken into question—a stigma.

  Unless the ones who suffered the consequences were the ones who struck first, some seeds of distrust would be sown.

  Don't let her know you feel like she'd stab you in the back. Damian thought while doing his best to appear friendly.

  "Someone was bound to do it. First, those greedy bastards leave undead behind our ranks, and then they try to save themselves by luring a tier 6 wraith our way!"

  "I'm Natasha, by the way. You've already met my cousin. The archer is Derrick, and our big guy with the shield is Finn. We go by Finn's Spell Slingers..."

  "There used to be two more of us, but we lost them to an undead in the dungeon... We had just teleported in on the 50th floor and got attacked. Took us a few seconds too many to realize what happened and teleport back out."

  Aside from the young-earth shaper, the rest of their party looked experienced. They had clearly worked as adventurers for some time.

  "I'm sorry for your loss... We also lost someone in the dungeon to an undead. Ah! Where are my manners? I'm Damian. Our cook over there is Fergus. And the sleeping ones are Donna, Alex, and Frey." Damian pointed to each of his party members.

  Damian didn't dare mention that his group's official name was 'Daffid'. It was just too pitiful to say aloud.

  Maybe we'll get a nickname from this disaster. Wind Walker Damian didn't sound too bad.

  "Here, let me get you some ptes. Fergus here has a skill to enhance the fvor, so don't be too surprised."

  Damian grabbed two full ptes from Fergus's side and started to walk over. Before he could make it far, a hand shot up from Damian's side and tched onto one of the ptes. It was Alex in her half-asleep state.

  Damian tugged at the pte, but the woman wouldn't give it up.

  'sigh'

  There was no winning when someone came between Alex and her food—the glutton. Damian let go, and she set the pte in front of her face and started munching with her eyes closed.

  "Kekeke!" Derrick ughed in an unnerving way that made a chill run down Damian's spine. It was worse than hearing wraiths' screams.

  "That just shows how good the food is." Damian tried to py it off.

  Bringing the other pte over, he handed it to Natasha. She and everyone except the earth shaper sat on the casket as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  The woman, as fearless as ever, tossed a strip of meat back. Then, just as Damian expected, her eyes became wide. So wide, in fact, that he thought they'd pop out.

  "Looks like you have another fan, Fergus~."

  'sigh'

  "Why are you sighing? Don't you enjoy cooking for people?"

  "I just don't know about this skill... Can I really call myself an excellent cook if the skill is carrying all the weight? I could probably grill vegetables with my skill, and it'd be better received than if I turned off my skill and poured all my heart into a dish."

  Oh! I didn't think of it like that. Maybe that's why Frey didn't like my new sword. All the work she puts into improving her skill use, and my sword gives a simir result with no work. Hmm...

  "Who cares if your new skill overshadowed your hard work. You got good at cooking so that I'd be happy. Don't worry about anything like that. If it tastes good, it's good. Plus, while you're working hard at cooking and using your skill, it will surely make it taste better~." A sluggish Alex mumbled on the ground while chewing on meat.

  Hmm, only the ends matter and not the means? I don't think that always holds true... But it makes everything easier when you think so simply.

  Hmm... How would I feel if there were a medallion that could make everyone within the party intangible, simir to my skill? Happy that they were safe. And if it was really cheap to buy? Cruddy, since my own skill would be almost useless in comparison.

  Maybe it is best to simply not think about it. Be happy with the result? Hmm... This definitely can't always hold true, right?

  Fergus seemed happy with Alex's response and was already pcing another full pte next to the one she was already munching on.

  Where's my pte, Fergus?

  Fergus handed a pte to each of their guests, leaving Damian for st.

  I guess you are supposed to serve the guests first. But still...

  Looking over at Finn's Spell Slingers, they were all happily eating the meals that were clearly too good for them. This would probably be the only time they'd eat a meal so delicious. They'd either have to become a high-tier who made lots of money or become a merchant to eat something like this consistently.

  Damian had never had a meal this good, or anything close to it, until Fergus's tier-up.

  People with food-enhancing skills were in high demand. Especially ones from higher-ranked individuals. Even those with lesser versions of the skill could retire from adventuring and live worry-free lives.

  It all came down to tiering up. You could obtain a cooking skill as a low-tier, and it was good, very good. But it came nowhere close to Fergus's skill. Being tier 4 made all the difference.

  A low-tier cook struggled to overcome their level cap. Combat was the best method across the board. Even crafters who took up a side job of dungeneering could reach greater heights much sooner in their lives.

  But most people in these professions chose them for a reason and stayed far away from any combat.

  All this reinforced one idea in Damian's food addicted mind. Fergus must be kept safe. No, he needs an organisation... The Cult Of Fergus~.

  SockySake