Read Novel Full Volume 1 Chapter 8
Hunger boost
I ran down the mainstreet of the Holy Knights District and reached the large gate at thedistrict border. It seemed that my five senses had becometerrifyingly sharp from my state of starvation. For example,everything appeared like it was daytime to me even though it wascurrently night.
My sense of smellwas also… how should I put it, the scent of human beings smelleddelicious. Just ahead, two gatekeepers stood at their positions. Theone that looked delicious was the man on the right with the strongbuild. When I tried to compare their statuses with the <Appraisal>skill, the right man was better. In other words, my sense of smellidentified the power of strong people as a delicious aroma.
I presumed that thiswas the effect of the Gluttony skill wanting to devour souls, and assuch, gave a boost to my body. However… even so… it was painful.Even now, this almost blinding starvation was periodically attackingmy body.
I should hurry upand go ahead. If I became crazy and devoured that guard, it would bean awful problem.
Now that I was aservant of the Heart Family, I carried a pass certificate. The rulewas to show it to the gatekeeper on both entry and exit. If I lostit, they would not allow me through, so I had to be careful not todrop it.
"Hello, thanks foryour hard work."
I approached thegatekeeper with a warm smile. Leaving the Holy Knights District solate in the night, I wanted to alleviate my suspiciousness even justa little bit. However, the moment I was close enough to show them thepass that I had taken out of my pocket,
"Eeek!"
The gatekeeper tooka step back, shrinking away from me. For some reason, his expressionwas frigid. Then, the other gatekeeper who thought something wasstrange stepped closer, and he reacted exactly the same. Both of themhad frozen in place. Somehow the situation was worrying.
I hurriedly showedthe two guards my pass and rushed past them towards the CommercialDistrict. As to why they had acted as such, I voiced my concern toGreed who answered rather pragmatically.
"They saw yourpupils, and were paralysed on the spot like deer in headlights. Yourred pupils have that power. Those lower in status than you will notbe able to move. Well, in the state of starvation, this is atemporary power for the Gluttony skill to consume souls efficiently."
"Those gatekeepersjust then, I wonder if they suspected me?"
"It was the firsttime they experienced this. They do not know what you have done, andwill simply think they saw a strange man. After this, if they neversee your red eyes again, they would just think they saw somethingweird as an effect of being tired from working late. However, shouldyou continue to show your anxiety like this, they will definitelyfind you suspicious."
He certainly had apoint. I considered this as I strode stately through the commercialarea, when I smelled something sweet. It was unimaginably delicious.I lost against temptation and detoured onto the sidewalk away fromthe main street, quietly searching for the source of the aroma as Istayed in the shadows.
At the far end ofthe road were three figures walking along, concealed in black hoods.I tried to find out more through Appraisal, however, the distance wastoo far. In the next moment, just from the moonlight, I saw one oftheir faces.
"?!"
I drew in my breathsharply. Why did I have to come across them at such a time? There wasno mistake, that hateful face belonged to Rafal. In that case, thetall man walking next to him would be the second son, Hado, and thesmallest figure should be Mimil, the youngest sister. Without themknowing that I was following, they entered an exclusive luxury storejust for VIPs. Only high ranked people like the Holy Knights wereallowed in there. Feeling uneasy, I watched from the shadows as manyother black hooded figures also entered the store.
I could tell fromtheir scents. They were all Holy Knights. There was no doubt aboutit. What kind of meeting are they holding at this time of the night?I continued to watch the store for a while since I felt worried.However, the window curtains were all closed so I had no way oftelling what was happening inside.
Guuuu…
At that moment, aloud rumble came from my stomach. I could not help but feel troubled,yet I had an urgent matter to attend to right now. Soon, mystarvation would reach a critical point. I left the place with apainful reluctance.
At the large easterngate of the Commercial District leading outside of the capital,nighttime was vastly different from day, and was much quieter. Therewere no wagons travelling by, and there were many warriors hangingaround the front of the gate instead. Anybody could tell from theirequipment that they were skilled and experienced. Compared to theother morning when I went to hunt goblins, the average ranks of thesewarriors were much higher. I felt a great sense of intimidation.
"Their purpose isnight hunting. The moonlight is bright today and they can see betterthan usual, and even demons need to sleep. Hence, even if they killeda lot of the same type, the hate effect is unlikely to occur.Attacking while they're asleep, they can defeat a large amount ofdemons this way."
"I see."
For ordinarywarriors, night hunts were something they would definitely never do.On the other hand, it was an effective method to earn lots of moneyfor experts who were well-versed in their skills. UnderstandingGreed's explanation, I crossed paths with a party of warriors. Atthis moment, one of them with an ill-shaven beard called out.
"Oi, you. Ihaven't seen you before. You're hunting with that kind of dingyequipment?"
"Yeah, so?"
When I answered assuch, he burst out laughing loudly despite it being the middle of thenight.
"Oi, listen upeveryone. There's an absolute idiot here!"
Even though I hadnot wanted to stand out, all the stern faced warriors gatheredaround. All of them were sneering at me.
"You, coming herewith that get up, you must be pretty strong, huh?"
Saying that with asmirk, he was just being sarcastic. What he meant was why a trashyperson like me had come to a place like this.
"What's yourlevel? Go on, let us hear it. We won't laugh."
"Are you done? I'min a hurry."
My hunger hadreached its limit. I ignored them and left to continue on my way.Those warriors had not hesitated in the slightest even when they sawmy red eyes. That meant their status was above mine, so I was notabout to waste time checking their skills one by one throughAppraisal. Their voices followed me as I passed through gate,stabbing me in the back.
"Did you hearthat? He probably couldn't say it because he's low levelled.Seriously. This is why I can't deal with beginners."
"You think he wasprobably trying to get into our party?"
"Ah, that must it.But, I'm not letting him in."
"Oii, trash-levelkid, come back. If you're lucky, someone might let you into theirparty."
"Impossible withme though."
"Ah, I don'tneed you either."
"Right?!Gahahaha!"
Talk as much as you like. Either way,this Gluttony skill prevented me from joining a party. That's why Iwill use my own methods to grow stronger than all of you.