Straf hops into his bed with a heavy creak of both the bed and the wooden floorboards.

「Stats.」

He utters out, as he puts his hands beneath his head. Straf grimaces a little as he looks at the numbers on the partly transparent screen.

「Man. All these points, and no idea what to spend them on… Ah!」

Straf rubs his chin for a few moments, then raises his index finger in a burst of genius. He waves his hand across the list of available skills, scrolling down…

[Crafting]

[Active skill]

Allows the user to utilize the crafting menu. The available recipes and their cost is dependent on user abilities. Some components may be substituted, resulting in a different function or form.

「100 points, huh? For that price, it better be good. What else can I get…」

Straf taps his finger and acquires the [Crafting] skill. He thinks out loud as he lazily waves his hand past other skills.

「Oh. This sounds worthless, but fun.」

[Discerning Eye]

[Active skill]

The user can see the attribute scores of other beings by focusing on them. All scores shown are relative to their species and race average.

Next level allows the user to see ability scores relative to self.

「Do I really need this? Nah, not really. I'm too curious about Lia and the chumps in the arena though. Next level would be pretty useful, but I can't afford it right now.」

Straf taps his finger again, and sits up.

「Right. How do I do this? Craft?」

Straf asks somebody, with one of his eyebrows raised. His stat screen is replaced by a list of items, most of which are grayed out, and their description along with material requirements. Confusing symbology adorns the corners of the crafting screen.

「Nice, I love being overwhelmed by too much information at once! Is this a grid view?」

Straf taps one of the confusing symbols, and the items list turns into an item grid.

「At least it's self-explanatory. That must be the search bar, then… Wait, how the fuck do I do this? There's no keyboard.」

Straf squints and looks around the crafting screen for keys to tap at. He finds none, and looks back at the search bar mildly puzzled.

「…Torch?」

He asks the search bar, and a torch appears on the crafting screen, along with its photo-like representation in a gold-framed square. The [Craft] and [Craft multiple] buttons are red, and the materials listed are all colored red as well, except one, 1x stick.

「Okay. That makes sense. FAL.」

Straf says, and three items appear on a list. He clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes.

「Tsk. Of course I meant the rifle. How am I going to build a frigate, or a car?」

He asks the crafting screen, which makes a poor conversation partner, and he taps the listing with the rifle. Straf reads through its massive red list of required materials.

「Wow. That's a lot of shit. I was just curious what it'd take, anyway… Blunderbuss.」

Straf shrugs, and speaks while staring at the search bar again. The rifle is replaced by a primitive black powder shotgun with a flared barrel.

「Ah, the loudest brass instrument…」

Straf grins as he reads its description. His eyebrows rise in surprise as the materials list is comparatively very short.

「Wow, I could probably craft it. Heh…」

He rubs his chin, thinking about the best use case for it.

「I guess I could just leave it laying around on a road somewhere- Actually, maybe better not. While it would be hilarious, I don't want to be around for the long-term results. Slave collar.」

Straf looks at the search bar again, and an iron collar appears on the crafting screen. Straf reads through its specifics…

[Slave Collar]

[Crafted]

An iron collar. Can be locked or unlocked at will of the collar's equipper.

Manatree fragment creates a [Magic Slave Collar], which compels the wearer with painful shocks that increase in intensity to do the equipper's bidding. The wearer will be punished for conscious thoughts of harm against the equipper, for as long as they persist.

The shocks will not stop until the wearer obeys. The collar will not kill the wearer.

Required materials: [0/9 metal fragments] or [0/3 large metal fragments]

[0/1 lock]

(Optional) [0/1 Manatree fragment]

「Nice! Now to find me some catgirl, or something!」

Straf snaps his finger as he finishes reading, and points at the screen.

「Where do I find a manatree, though? I guess I'll have to ask Lia. I hope there's a trader selling all of this garbage, I don't want to run around hitting random boulders for pieces of metal.」

Straf waves the crafting screen away, and kneels on his bed in a meditative pose.

「At least I've got some stuff to do tomorrow while I wait for my matches…」

Straf shrugs, and focuses on his willpower in complete silence…

…

The next very early morning, Louche returns, pushing a contraption from the wagon wright to the front of his dilapidated home. He shoves his shoulder into the door, and enters.

「Millie! I've got it! Wake up!」

Louche announces as he runs in with a huge smile on his still bruised face. Millie wakes up and blinks groggily, then rubs her eyes. She sits up, yawning.

「…Louche? Got what? What do you mean?」

Millie asks, and coughs once afterwards with a covered mouth.

「You'll see! Come, it's right outside! We'll go look for Straf after breakfast!」

「…We?」

She asks as her brother pulls her up and out of her bed, and helps her walk to the door. She hangs off his neck and shoulders, breathing heavily despite only taking a few steps. They walk into the front door threshold, and Louche presents the contraption with his free hand.

「Ta-da! See!?」

He grins ear to ear. Millie looks at the wheeled chair outside, then Louche, then back at the wheeled chair again with a perplexed expression.

「…Brother, what is this?」

「It's a wheelchair! Isn't that great!? It's exactly as Straf described it!」

「Huh… I don't think that's… I'm not sure that is what he meant, Louche.」

「But it's a chair, with wheels, and that makes pushing it easier! It's like a wagon without a horse!」

「Yes… In a way, it is…」

She stares at the wheelchair with a troubled and confused face. Louche takes his sister back inside.

「Come, let's have a breakfast. I'll take you to the flower garden in the square after we find Straf!」

「Okay… But how will I get into that?」

「Don't worry about it! I'll get you in there!」

Louche kicks the door shut as they walk back in…

…

Knock knock knock.

「Sir Straf? Sir Straf, it's me. I've come with your breakfast.」

Straf snaps out of his meditative trance due to a knock on his door, and the young woman's voice beyond it. He jumps out of the bed and swings the door open, paying close attention to its hinges.

「Ah, the six coppers girl. Put that on the table there. Can you do me a favor and ask Lia if she wouldn't want to join me here?」

Straf manages to recognize the barmaid from yesterday, and steps aside to let her in. She sets a juicy-looking steak with a side of mashed potatoes on the table, and bows on the way out.

「Got it- I mean, understood…」

「And stop with that rich people talk. The only people allowed to talk to me like that are old butlers with a British accent. He pays you six coppers, so act like it. Minimum payment, minimum effort.」

Straf lectures the barmaid, confusion sets on her face, but she bows again.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

「Got it, Sir Straf-」

「And call me Straf. Just Straf.」

Straf says confidently with his fists on his hips. The barmaid sighs gently, and allows a relieved smile to appear on her face.

「Thank you, si- Straf. I've dealt with a lot of unreasonable people, and taking it all quietly slowly gets to you. This is not what I expected from someone of your status.」

The barmaid nods with gratitude, as she looks into Straf's eyes. He shrugs.

「Yeah, sucks doesn't it? Do me a favor, and call your boss a prick until he pays you more. You have enough money to quit, don't you?」

「I do now, thanks to you, but-」

「No buts. His name is now Prick.」

Straf interrupts the waitress and holds up his finger. She suppresses her laughter in an almost practiced manner, and bows again.

「Alright, I will. I'm going to get lady Lia's food now.」

She smiles at Straf once more, and walks to the stairs. Straf leaves his door open, and takes a seat at the table. He looks out of the window as the city slowly comes to life, as people leave their homes to go about their days like little worker ants, busily crawling around their anthill.

「What did you say!?」

A familiar voice of the bald man from below echoes out across the hallway, seeping in through the floorboards. A few moments later, the barmaid returns and knocks on Cycelia's door. Cycelia and the barmaid enter Straf's room as he looks out his window with a profound expression on his face. Both of them stop in their tracks.

Ba-dump. (Ba-dump.)

「Straf… Good morning.」

Cycelia says, blushing heavily while fidgeting with her medallion. The barmaid's cheeks are faintly red as well. Straf is lazily propped up on the table with his elbow, and his ankle rests on his other knee. He turns his gaze away from the outside to the two captivated women.

「Ah. Good morning. Have a seat, Lia… The boss wasn't too happy about his new name?」

「Not at all! He fired me!」

The barmaid announces with a smug smirk. Surprised, Cycelia snaps out of her grogginess and looks at the waitress.

「What? Why? You were doing a great job-」

Cycelia asks in utter disbelief as she slides herself into the table on her chair.

「I called him a prick, as Straf asked me to. I told him to pay me more, and he said if I don't like my job, I can find another one elsewhere.」

「Heh. Here, you earned it.」

Straf grins, serving as a textbook definition of smugness. He drops two gold coins into the barmaid's hand. Her lips part momentarily as she hesitates, but then she blinks and closes her hand on them.

「Thank you. This will help me last a long while.」

The barmaid nods with great gratitude again, and with a serious face.

「Should be at least a few years, yeah?」

Straf starts cutting his steak apart.

「…A decade or so, with the amount of money I usually spend.」

「Well, treat yourself to something nice at least. By the way, if he fired you, why are you still here? You're free.」

He asks as he forks a large hunk of meat into his mouth, and begins chewing. Cycelia eating quietly, listening to the conversation without drawing attention to herself.

「He may have fired me, but that doesn't stop me from working for myself now. I just want to make sure your stay here is worth money you paid me.」

「Fair enough. If you love your job, you can dodge all the income taxes you want by claiming you never worked a day.」

Straf shrugs and bites down on another slice of the steak.

「I will be downstairs and insulting the bald prick. Please, let me know if you need anything. I'll be happy to help.」

She bows, and walks out of the room, closing the door behind her. Cycelia stares at her as she leaves, then looks at Straf with huge eyes.

「How do you do it, Straf?」

She asks with complete disbelief in her voice.

「Do what?」

「You just randomly appear, and fix everyone's problems. You… You really sound like the hero from the legends. He just came out of nowhere, and saved everyone.」

「I didn't solve any problems, I just gave her money. The socio-economic problem of workers being underpaid is still there, and that one doesn't have a health bar.」

「The soc… What?」

She tilts her head and furrows her brows. Straf shakes his head with closed eyes.

「Forget it. Lia, where do I find manatrees?」

「Manatrees? If I remember correctly, there was a small grove of them not too far from here. It's close to that place where the hero supposedly left his sword. Why?」

「I need a few bits of them for a little something. Don't worry about it…」

Straf focuses on Cycelia as she's eating her food. She notices his stare, and gets a little anxious.

「Straf… Why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell me there's food on my face.」

She asks, her sense of self-consciousness only intensifying. She looks down at her pronounced chest to see if there are any splatters on her shirt, but she can't see any. Meanwhile, Straf is reading through Cycelia's attributes.

Cycelia Redwing

[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||] Lv. 14

Strength: 9 Perception: 10

Agility: 10 Endurance: 8

Dexterity: 11 Willpower: 15

Luck: 77 Intelligence: 14

Charisma: 54 Wisdom: 12

「Nice.」

Straf utters out, and starts chewing another chunk of the steak. Cycelia blinks.

「Nice? Nice what-」

Cycelia realizes she was looking at her chest just a second ago. She puts her elbows on the table and blocks his line of sight to them with her hands, clasping them together inconspicuously and intertwining her fingers.

「My… What's so nice, Straf? What did you see? Hm?」

She asks again, looking aside abashed and blushing, but also trying to conceal her smile.

「Your charisma. It's pretty big.」

「My, Straf… Why don't you say what you mean?」

She moves her hands out of the way to cover her blush, letting Straf see her chest better.

「You're pretty smart, too.」

「Ah. Why are you so suddenly-」

「And that luck is massive. Dragon's luck, huh…」

「Huh? What?」

Cycelia tilts her head, still blushing heavily but also blinking rapidly in confusion.

「Oh, don't mind me. I'm just testing something.」

「Testing?-」

Her eyes widen, and her lips tighten.

《Oh no. It was a test. He's testing me. He was testing how desperate I am for his attention, and I completely messed up! Oh no… He's now thinking about something…》

Cycelia cringes, while Straf rubs his chin and stares at his empty plate.

《…What is a fragment anyway? Can it be any metal? What makes a large fragment? Will any lock do? A padlock? Door lock? Why was the FAL so expensive to craft? It's a ranged weapon, could it be due to my abysmal perception? Hmm…》

He glances at Cycelia, and her face snaps to the window in embarrassment.

《Ahhhhhhh! It's so over! Even the barmaid has an upper hand over me now!》

「Are you done eating, Lia?」

Straf asks with his brows raised a little.

「Ah- No, I just- I just got lost in thought a little.」

「Yeah, you and me both. Honestly, I can't wait to get out of here already. The surefire way to kill any story is to anchor it in one place for too long. Like a prison, or something.」

Straf says, looking out of the window at the towering arena in the distance. A few minutes later, Cycelia finishes the last of her food, they inform the barmaid below that they'll return later, and they set out to attend the tournament again…