After sending off the Skeleton squad carrying my new Skill Gem Generator back to the Marauder, I returned to Iron and our little client, who had still not decided on which pot to buy. What's taking so long? They're only...

  Never mind. This "store" is only keeping the best wares in stock. I'm talking about magically enhanced, self-cleaning pots, pocket ovens that seem to have some Item Bags technology added to them (if the sign's not lying, that small handheld luxury version could roast a whole adult rooster), and even a portable refrigerator that can make ice cream on the spot! And it has 55 different flavors!! Man, now I want an ice cream...

  "Trouble?" I asked, wishing to return the little lady to her boss, Jumbo, before hell broke loose. If I know my stalkers as good as I wish I didn't, then the guys in edgy clothing hiding in the shadows, even right now, are bound to have their patience run too low for comfort right about now.

  "She is struggling to decide whether to prioritize quality or price," replied Iron for the little Chimera that was too occupied to hear me. And unlike either me or the busy girl, Iron's still cool as a cucumber. Even when we're in a sweltering desert! Now that's the "iron will" of a knight! Hehe~...

  But I'm not in the same category. I'm a lousy demonic backstabber of an Assassin. It's written even on my status page! At least the assassin and demonic part. I only backstab baddies.

  "*Sigh*. Hey," I asked Lily again, this time tapping her shoulder to catch her attention. "If you're having trouble, just try to think what pot would please your boss the most."

  "What...what would please the boss?" - Lily

  "Yup. And don't worry about the money. This might be sounding rude, but I doubt Jumbo would give you too much access to his assets." - Garami

  "Right..." said Lily with an expression that seemed to agree with me, albeit unwillingly. My "pep talk" did seem to work, as Lily suddenly picked up a large, chili-red pot and brought it to the merchant, who was already busy warming up his cash register. What weird gizmo is that supposed to be?

  "Capsaicin Curry Crate. Flawless when it comes to cooking curries, creating hot pots, and all the while, make sure to increase the spiciness of the spices to such degrees that the consumer will learn the skill [Fire Breath]."

  ...Aha. Yeah, that would do the trick.

  ---

  Some haggling later (we couldn't let our client lose all her money), we had quite the happy Chimera walking in front of us, humming a tune as she waltzed through the thin crowd. The pot was a little too big for her to carry properly, so Iron, ever the gentleman, offered to take that load off her shoulders. Literally.

  As for me, I'm starting to get a bit concerned. The stalkers behind us are still sneaking after us. In fact, they've shortened the distance a little since we left the kitchen merchant's stall. I had planned to take them out while Lily was busy choosing what pot to buy, but the existence of the Skill Gem Generator put a pause on those plans. And in retrospect...I shouldn't have helped her choose that capsaicin enhancer that quickly. I must be off my game today. I'll blame the heat. Especially the sun. Just explode already, sun...

  Fuming and grudging celestial objects won't help me solve the current problem, so let's switch gears and think of a plan. Ehm..., let's just dump Lily back on her floatship first, then see how the stalkers react. If they stay, they're probably targeting either Lily or her boss, Jumbo. That would open up a chance to get even more on the spice trader's good side by saving them from these nasty..., uh-oh!

  My [Intuition] skill reacted all of a sudden, drawing a bright red line only for my eyes to see. The origin of the line was from one of the stalkers. Its goal? Me. As if that wasn't obvious enough!

  I jumped off the road and clung to the hull of one of the floatships making up this "road". I didn't even have time to warn Iron and Lily before the attack struck. Heck, my acrobatic feat barely allowed me to escape that sucker punch! It's rare to ever see such a godspeed move, and unfortunately for my companion and client, it's just as difficult to resist.

  "What the-!?" - Iron

  "Ch-chains!?" - Lily

  "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

  "H-help!!"

  The duo, along with many other fellow pedestrians and even some of the stall keepers, had fallen to the ground while glowing, eerie chains had forbidden them from any further movements. Okay, so I was wrong. The guys following us aren't just any stalkers. They're hardcore, crazy criminals that doesn't give a damn about casualties!

  The nature of their attack still eludes me. The chains' nature would make one think of a magic spell, but it was too damn fast for it. [Intuition] starts warning you even when the attacker starts chanting the spell, so unless they had a way to cancel the chant AND super-increase the actual spell's speed, it's not making any sense.

  Whatever trick they have up their sleeves, it doesn't seem to do anything but trap people. No harm's done to either Lily or Iron, according to [Identification], so the other people should also be safe. In that case, let's smash in some skulls before real harm-

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  "Alright, get your bags ready-, *CLANG!!*-!?"

  Real harm... is already being performed. By an unexpected source, nonetheless.

  Just as one of the crooks (read: former stalkers) started to shout out something to his fellow bandits, a frying pan, of all things, came flying through the air and created an excellent "stupid face" replication. And by that, I mean it came smashing into Crook A's face so hard that his imprint was left behind on the frying pan.

  "I KNEW these guys wouldn't make another incident!"

  "Let's give 'em a lesson for the history books!"

  "No mercy to the lunatics of the Church of Chaos!!"

  To my confusion, several of the traders around us had started picking up weapons as they ganged up on the crooks. And looking at their reaction and speed, I can only assume they've been waiting, no, itching for a chance to perform this sneak attack. ...Why?

  One of the merchants called the crooks "lunatics of the church of chaos" or something. Are they some sort of nasty organization of some sorts? In that case, you could say they're a rival to Filyn, but then again, comparing her group to these guys would be an insult. To the sex-crazed succubus warlord, not the crooks-, I mean, lackeys? Maybe? Now I'm not so sure anymore...

  Regardless, this is good. Now I can finish off these "lunatics" without having to worry about any big consequences with the merchants. Heck, they'll probably thank me for assisting them. Still, I'm not going down there to that dust cloud of violence. This hull is quite comfortable to sit on with [Sticky Limbs]. Not to mention the merchants have a frightening look in their eyes right now...

  Let's stop trying to earn the merchants' goodwill and rather help them discreetly. From this bird's eye view position, Magic Eyes are getting the chance to make full use of their capabilities. The blindfold may reduce my range of sight, but the "battlefield" down below is still well within the range of the "3D map" produced by the Nightmare Item.

  That "instant attack" from before could be dangerous to the merchants, so I activated the effect of [Magic Eye of Slowness] in my right eye, making sure to only assign the "lunatics" as its targets. Pinpoiting targets for the Magic Eyes is a damn difficult ability to learn, but I'm damn glad I took myself by my neck and learned it. Those special attacks may not be affected by the speed drop, but the lackeys will turn too slow to get the chance to unleash them in the first place.

  And since I have my left eye unused, I started messing with the lunatics' items through [Magic Eye of Deterioration]. Mostly because I never get much of a chance to use it in the first place. Wild monsters don't use weapons with durability to depelte, unless they are Feral humanoids like the goblins we busted in Velantas, but I honestly never wanna see those guys ever again. It's damn unsettling seeing something that looks so humanoid acting like a feral beast.

  Oho? Some cracks have started to appear on the lunatics' weapons. While my Magic Eye might be speeding up the process, I think most of their gear was on its last legs to begin with. Considering the current brawl down there, it's fair to think that these lunatics have little access to good Crafter help. At least not from any merchants worth their salt.

  Regardless, just spectating the fight is a little cheap. Let's give the traders some helping hands. Or should I say "ghostly hands"~?

  While staying camped on the hull, I started to summon a trio of ghosts. The E-rank "Smoke Ghosts". Unlike the normal F-ranks who look like pale-white bundles of gooey-like smoke, these guys are made of dark-gray smoke and reddish embers for eyes and mouths. Poor Noire and Revi freaked out when they first saw me summoning these. To be fair, it was in the middle of the night while I was experimenting with my necromancy spells, so the fright was inevitable.

  And history repeats itself. When the Smoke Ghost came descending onto the lunatic group, they freaked out and pointed their weapons toward the ghosts, ignoring the attacking merchants. This would be a good time for the merchants to do... something, I guess, but even they got freaked out by the ghosts. So much for my brilliant plan.

  The ghosts didn't care about the nightmares they induced in their surroundings as they started to run through the lunatics with their ghostly, smoky bodies. Passing through them allowed the ghosts to cause burns, breathing problems, and suck some of the lunatics vitality straight out of their mortal bodies all in one go. Seeing that caused the merchants to take more than a few steps back, not wanting to be the next in line after the lunatics.

  "Relax. Those are under my control." - Garami

  Seeing as this would go nowhere, I shouted down to the merchants and told them they had nothing to fear. It helped...just a little bit, but enough to make one of the more courageous merchants take a strike at the back of the heads of one of the nearby lunatics, knocking them out before they had a chance to react.

  And the rest is so anticlimactic that I couldn't prevent a yawn from escaping my mouth. The ghost trio kept on distracting the lunatics, prioritizing the guys who were about to counterattack the merchants, while the traders knocked the lunatics' daylight out of them before putting them in chains and locks. Me? I just gave the lunatics the Evil Eye..., or I wanted to, but I had to settle with the Magic Eyes instead.

  The last lunatic went to the ground in no time flat. Man, this combo is scary. As long as there aren't any exorcists or whatever, this strategy of Smoke Ghosts, Magic Eyes, and some allies could potentially incapacitate any human groups. And this is even when I couldn't summon as many ghosts as I wanted, since I had some Skeletons deliver that Skill Gem Generator to the ship.

  But I have to say, the really scary thing is this group of lunatics. Just what did they do to earn the ire of so many random traders? I'm a little scared to know, but that's nothing new. Let's hope they don't have any more allies here...

  ---

  Meanwhile, on a certain floatship/hideout:

  "S-sir! You have finally returned!"

  "Hehehe~. I found some decent rags for a decent price~. Now, what's the problem this time around?"

  "O-our grunts! They have been defeated!"

  "Why, what a wonder. I am not even surprised."

  "I know how you feel, sir, but this is the worst of the worst! Our grunts have been captured by the merchants! And they're out for blood!"

  "......Daaaamn. You're right. This is the worst. Those guys will sell us out in the blink of an eye."

  "Indeed, sir! That is what I would have done!"

  "It is what EVERYONE worshipping the great Chaos would do, my brother! Let us pray that our foolish underlings act with as much chaotic spinelessness as possible!"

  "Truly indeed, sir. But even so, if we are stopped here..."

  "Argh, true. We will fail the great trial our God has given us if those mad heretics send us to jail. But never fear. I have already played the next move. Soon, a chaos so spectacular that our God himself will bless this desert with his grace."

  "Sir? What does that mean?"

  "Hehehe. Let us not spoil the surprise. Though let me give you a hint: I've found some good deals on more than just amazing clothes."