46 Just because I like it doesn't mean I'll pay for it

"How can that be! We all clearly saw that there was a giant winged monster here, how could you possibly miss it?"

"Are you insinuating that I'm lying? Quite rude for someone who has yet to even state their name."

"Oh, I apologise if I had come off as such, I am Thurbal, the leader and tank of this party and as I'm sure you can tell I'm a Dwarf. To my right is our party's archer, she is an Elf called Alais. To my left the Giant warrior Verog. Finally, we have behind me, our mage, Liliana, a Human."

I know what warriors and archers are, and I've pretty much figured out that mages are people who use magic. But I've heard the word tank and tanky thrown around and I don't have any idea what the hell that means. I'm pretty sure my students back on Earth used those words too, but I never cared enough to learn what they were. Whatever I can just ask Milla about it next time I see her if I still don't know by then. For now, I should focus on finding a way to a nearby town.

"And I'm Cordelia. Now then, I've given you answers so how about some in return, how do I get to that town you spoke of, Hoplanick was it?"

"Not from around here are ya? You just have to head straight from the direction we came from for about thirty minutes and you'll reach the town. Now are you absolutely certain that there wasn't a giant monster around, we are obligated to report any potential dangers to the Adventurers Guild. I don't mean to say that your lying, we just have to absolutely certain."

"Yeah, other than me and the now dead rats, there hasn't been anything else in the surrounding area until you four showed up. Now if there is nothing else I'll be on my way."

"Of course, sorry to have kept you here miss."

Bidding the adventurers farewell I begin to make my way towards the town. They remain behind in the scorched area for some reason but I don't think I need to worry about it. I also got that weird chilling feeling again, and if the previous times I felt it are anything to go by, then I'm pretty sure one of them used an inspection type skill on me. I wonder what my status even looks like when I'm in this form.

********************Thurbal********************

With the Dragonoid in the distance, I turn my attention to the ground that's been burned and look around the surrounding area.

"So what do you guys think about her and what she said?"

At my question, we all turn towards Alais.

"Why are you all looking at me? Why do you all always turn to me when it comes to stuff like this, just because I have the highest level Analysis between us doesn't mean I use it all the time."

"But did you?" I ask.

"... Yes."

"So what do you think? Was it really her that did this? And regarding that giant monster, I think she's hiding something."

"If anything, she is certainly hiding stuff. You guys really should have looked at her status for yourselves, I hadn't seen anything like it before. All of her stats were hidden for some reason, I couldn't see her level, STR, VIT, MND, or anything. They were all marked as unknown, same goes for her class. All I could see was her name, Titles, and race. But other than her name, the others were also weird. Her race was listed as Dragonoid Ancestor, I've never heard of this race before. And I only saw a single Title when I looked but it seemed like there were more so I closed her status and checked again only to find a new title in its place. She probably has more, but I wasn't able to keep looking before she left; from what I saw she had the Titles, 'Brave Explorer' and 'Immortal Slayer'. So as far as her being the cause of the destruction here, I don't know for certain, but I would lean towards her words holding a degree truth in regards to the death of the rats."

"Well, if she has the the 'Immortal Slayer' Title then she must be quite formidable. For now, lets look for any stragglers and see if the Dragonoid missed any rats, but keep an eye out for traces of that giant monster."

********************Thurbal End********************

So my race shows up as Dragonoid Ancestor, well from a species perspective I guess it makes sense but I myself have never given birth to any children. And I can apparently choose a Title to display and if I don't choose one then a random one will be displayed. This is a little problematic if some of my more undesirable Titles get shown, so for now, I'll just set Immortal Slayer to be displayed. My stats have remained unchanged from in my humanoid form, but I did get something new, I have a class section on my status now, called Dragon Elemental Master (False). Fales is listed in parentheses probably because I'm not truly a humanoid lifeform but a monster masquerading as one, so I don't truly have a class.

With some light jogging, I arrive at the entrance to the town of Hoplanick much sooner than I was told, not that I'm complaining, I do only have so much time before my shapeshift skill wears off. The town itself seems a little on the small side, but when taking the location and the geography of the area into consideration, this makes sense as the steppe climate isn't the most suitable place for sedentary peoples. Not to say it is impossible, just that it is uncommon. There is an arching signboard around the entrance denoting the towns name in a completely unfamiliar language, yet I can understand it without trouble. Next to the towns name is an insignia, a Dragon with spears standing straight behind its wings, the insignia of the Dragon Bandits. I'd assume this is how they denoted which settlements are serving as their tributaries and are under their protection.

Taking a look around the town, there are only a handful of locations for travellers. A couple of diners, a few shops, an inn, and a branch of the Adventurers Guild. I'm curious about the Guild, but I think I'll take a look at some of the food around here first. But before I enter one of the nearby diners, I find a decently sized bug on the ground and encase it in ice, killing it and stuffing it into my pocket.

I enter the best looking of the few diners around and find that it is somewhat similar to restaurants from Earth. Although the place is small, there are still quite a few customers happily chatting with each other and eating. The service is similar as I am directed towards a seat by a waiter. There isn't a hand menu, instead, there are just some pictures on the wall to denote what I can order. Although there isn't much in terms of variety, as it is mostly two different types of meat prepared and served in different ways.

I ordered a bowl of some kind of shredded meat, and it wasn't the best thing I've ever eaten since I come to Grauntia, but it still pretty decent. That doesn't mean I have any intention of paying for this though. As I am a little more than halfway done with the dish, I take a quick look around and make sure no one is watching. I a hurry a bring out the insect a killed and bury it a little inside of the remainder of my food and remove the ice casing and burn it a little to make it seem as if it was cooked.

"Oi! Where is the person in charge, I need to speak with them!"

Raising my voice with a hint of anger in it, the waiter runs towards the back and brings out an aged Dwarf.

"I'm the owner of this establishment, just what seems to be the problem, Miss."

I Point to the insect I had placed in my bowl and bring it to attention before I begin to complain.

"As I was eating I found this insect buried within my food and I have since lost my appetite!"

"That is certainly a problem, Miss, I assure you this has never happened before. I will personally speak with the chef who made this and make sure they are reprimanded. As compensation, I won't don't ask you to pay for your meal. I apologise for the lack of supervision of my chefs. I hope this incident will not deter you from visiting my restaurant in the future."

Turning to leave with my back facing the elderly Dwarf who was bowing to apologise, a smirk sneaks its way onto my face as I left the diner. That was too easy, the old man must not be used to people trying to swindle him like that.

Now then, let's take a look at what this Adventurer Guild thing is.