Judgment Zone

"Hum~ Baby don't love me~ No more~!" Jackal hums a soft tune as he skips toward his home.

He is caked in filth but he couldn't be happier. After going through tens of war shadows patiently, Jackal returned once to excrete all the stored energy, and this time, he found that the Silent Goblins had filled that spot again!

He could hear those goblins this time!

By now, he is clear that the silent goblins are not usual and all signs point to magic.

Monsters CAN use magic. But it's not like chants and whatnot. Magic is part of them. A racial trait...

But something hints to Jackal that when it comes to Silent Gibbos, they might be using MAGIC magic. After all, if he compares the Goblins to War Shadow, he did not gain any ability to phase through things but the silent goblins somehow earned him the reflexive ability to 'hear' silence.

'Still, even with that apparent magic, those Goblins are only slightly better than the usual rank 1 Goblins. Anyway, thinking too hard in this situation won't do me good. My only objective is to grind monsters, that's all. Only when I am the strongest can I run my shop peacefully, beat Bete whenever I want, tease Finn and Riveria, and maybe even pick up fights without caring? Ah, the grand aspirations of a wife beater run through me true.'

Anyway, the second trip lasted more than 7 hours and it was already dawn on the second day.

'I totally did not forget Lili...' He flinches for a moment before shrugging.

"There you are!"

'Oh, Eina! God bless her pure soul... wait... that's some power walk! Woah, too quick!'

With baggy eyes under her glasses, the bespectacled Half-elf sitting on his distant doorstep glides across the street's pavement with loud thumps of the heels of her black boots against the surface. Still, in her uniform and more than tired, she snaps, "What gives—?!"

And then the musk of hard work and pure badassery hits her right in the nobbin as she reels back just as quickly and growls, "You're filthy! Bathe now!"

"Right here?" Jackal sighs and begins undoing the straps of his armor, "What? No!" She holds his collar and drags him to the front of his house.

'Huh... Elves surely react more than humans during their 'time' of the month. Or is it just Eina? I've heard that beast girls are especially dangerous... and somehow, Amazonesses never go through with it and remain ready to be impregnated at all times. Cool world.'

Jackal brings out a small red marble that he waves across the larger device on top of the door and then unlocks his door. "Wait... you didn't get the shock treatment, did you?" Jackal points at the orb set on the top of the door.

"I PASSED OUT!"

'Huh, so THAT'S why she's pissed.'

"I just knocked on your door but that item registered me as a threat!"

"Did you try peeking through the window?" Jackal looks back and smiles. Only cold silence answers his questions.

"Come on in, make yourself at home."

"Never. Especially not yours!" She scoffs and takes a seat while Jackal chuckles and enters the bathroom before serving her anything.

One hot shower and he is all ready to prowl the dungeon again!

"Yo," now into a fresh set of shirt and shorts, Jackal grins while drying his hair with a towel, "Sorry for making you wait too long. Let me get... Oh... you really made yourself at home..."

Eina gloomily stares at Jackal while sipping on her juice and then biting on her piece of sandwich. In between, she grumbles, "After passing out, I waited the entire time thinking I'd miss out on meeting you but you never returned! Then I... I thought you died!"

"You could imagine something better, right?" Jackal huffs, "Like me catching Ishtar's eyes and in return her giving me the best night of my life? Although... now that I think about it, as a Goddess well-known for her laziness, she might as well act as a dead fish in bed..."

"What are you talking about?!" Eina exclaims with a bright red face as Jackal smiles and sits across her.

"What did we talk about being calm, Eina? As a dungeon advisor, guild employee, and normal civilian, retaining one's calm is incredibly useful. And thinking of horrible things will make you spiral out of your own control."

Eina looks at her sandwich and musters, "I'm just... I just feel hurt. That's all... and I am aware I shouldn't feel like that. But I cannot sit still at the thought of you... in that place."

"You mean the dungeon," Jackal blinks, "Didn't intend to hide it from you... it was more of a planned surprise..."

"Planned surprise?" Eina looks up.

"Yeah," Jackal leans forward and picks the other half of the sandwich from the plate and bites on it with a sigh, "You know, lay low for a while. Reach levels 5, 6, and 7. Kick everybody's butt and be all like— Ta-da!"

Eina chokes a little on her sandwich before sipping on her glass of juice. Glaring, she exhales heavily, "You know it doesn't work like that!"

"Well, if you'd trust me," Jackal smiles heartily, "It's going great."

After a moment of silence, Jackal finishes the sandwich, "That was great, thanks."

"It's the least I can do after raiding your fridge..." Eina looks down in guilt.

"So... which Familia did you join?" Eina finally inquires.

"How about I surprise you later?" Jackal smiles, making Eina adjust her glasses.

"Fine..." Her cheeks inevitably puff out.

"Now I feel bad... I ruined your sleep last night, too. And you didn't get much today, too..." Jackal sniffs and points out.

"Then you should make it up to me," Eina rubs her eyes.

"Not today..." Jackal shrugs, "In fact, do me a favor, would you? I'll make up to you at the end of the month, promise."

Eina sinks into a thoughtful silence before she questions, "Anything I want?"

"I'll even put out~!" He winks, causing Eina to sputter, "Who would want that?!"

"Ah... well," Jackal shrugs, "No worries. I won't put out then."

"A- ah, I mean... grrrrr!" Scratching her head violently, she exclaims, "Just tell me what you want!"

"Could you tell Miach-sama, or her familiar Naaza, that I won't be coming in. So they need to cook their food and ah, tell them to ask Lili to stay. She can leave if she likes but it would mean a lot to me if she waited another day for me."

Eina frowns and nods, "Fine... remember, end of the month!"

"And not putting out, yes," he nods.

Blushing faintly, Eina huffs, "Exactly! It won't be anything like that! Goodbye!"

She chugs down her juice and leaves.

'See? What a holy soul. God bless her.'

Jackal smirks. After locking the doors, he confirms that the Counter Block is still working and he starts to expel items out of his body.

'Hehe... tomorrow will be a surprise for everyone in the shop! Suck on that, Loki!'

---

Jackal keeps himself on the sixth floor. Any further and the risk of encountering Killer Ants increases and those beasts are mean motherfuckers to newbies. Instead, Jackal decides to explore the floor and look for monsters otherwise common on deeper floors but rarer up here.

There are some needle rabbits to be found but they are a no-go. In terms of strength, they are between a goblin and a kobold and provide next to nothing to Jackal. Even if their number increase, Jackal would rather search for the two specific monsters.

Cleaving through a small group of needle rabbits who proved slightly annoying due to their small size, Jackal continues on his way calmly. Three more war shadows snuck up on him around this time, or at least, they tried.

The two monsters that he is looking for are the Purple Moths and Blue Papilio.

The Dual Potion from his side is only effective on level 1 adventurers most likely because it is from a simple plant. But if he kills a monster like Blue Papilio whose materials are used in true health potions that are used across the board, he might have a good item in his hands.

As for Purple Moths, they can poison others. Call it genuine curiosity but after seeing things from Silent Goblin and the War Shadows, Jackal wants to see a good poisonous item in his hand for convenience's sake.

He might just spike Loki's candy with it and give her a 'freebie.'

'Heh~!'

He looks around, avoids other adventurers to a fault to not attract any attention, and spends his day well.

Although he finds purple moths eventually, Blue Papilio still eludes him. But that's not to say he was unhappy.

Far from it.

'I feel... strong...' Jackal clenches his fist and notices the increase in his bulk.

Well, aside from seeing the muscles of his forearm pump post-cleaving, the fact that he almost bifurcated a Frog Shooter in a single hit is simply amazing.

Usually, due to their fat, it's hard to cause large damage to them by newbies... Jackal had that problem yesterday. Not by the end of this day!

'It's done! There's no way I am changing my schedule from now on. Weekends belong to the grind!' Jackal gushes and returns to his house. He needed to get out of the dungeon quite early to purchase material for bento tomorrow so that's that.

'Maybe I should make it a little spicier for others, too?' Jackal muses as he holds large bags filled with groceries, "Nah... if the kids ate spicy food, they wouldn't nap well later on. Oh, I also need to buy potatoes for Ais. Hmm, cooking is fun if you know what you're doing~!' He promptly cleans himself and ties a red apron before getting to work.

---

Stretching her limbs and wearing her glasses, Eina looks at the time, 'Hmm, it's 8 a.m.'

'Wait...' she starts, 'It's already 8?' Tilting her head, she tosses her usual robe on herself to cover her body and frowns, 'Jackal-san didn't come here... or did he come and I wasn't awake... and I hate Misha for ruining the word come for me!'

As she walks up to her door, a small note can be slipped into her house. Curious, she picks it up and reads it.

— I felt bad, you know. I really did. If someone ruined my sleep directly or indirectly for two days, I'd be pretty mad but you clearly are the better of the two of us.—

She sniffs in agreement and tilts her chin a little high haughtily while she reads calmly.

— Anyway, I didn't want to disturb you today. I've taken your Bento hostages. Meet me in my store with Rose and Misha if you want them uneaten.

Kisses.

Bento Napper Jack.—

Eina puckers her lips. If she wasn't sure before then she is sure now that Jackal enjoys pulling her leg a lot more. But calmer than most, Eina muses, 'Maybe it is because of how I... let him get away with it constantly? Encouraging bad behavior...' flushing slightly, she groans, 'is wrong... if I let him eat our Bento, he will become even more demanding... heh, kisses...' She shakes her head.

Folding the note, Eina sets it inside the drawer of her nightstand where many other personal letters she has received can be seen.

---

Jackal admits that his thick skin has limits and these limits were tested this morning when a questionable loli-bait of a Lili decidedly tackled him the moment he entered the Blue Pharmacy... unsuccessfully. Instead, the girl had her body plastered on him like some kind of a sloth, her eyes already wet as she began to sniff and sob softly.

"I feared the worst Jackal-sama! You did not return last night and that strange pretty half-elf looked like she'd seen a ghost! I- I-" burying her head into his chest, Lili mewls, "I missed you a lot, too... of course, I would wait for you! I shall do anything you wish and command."

"Oi... Naaza... what's with that judgment in your look," Jackal winces for a moment, "Go back to your resting bitch face!"

Eyeing him critically with her not-so-bored eyes as Lili continues to motorboat his slightly pronounced pecs, Naaza tilts her head sideways, "How can I judge you? Apparently, staying in the dungeon for hours if not days, and leaving a stranger to our care is well within your reasoning. No matter how outlandish the said reasoning is."

'Woah, sarcasm much? How?' Jackal muses and pulls Lili back and holds her high in the air by the back of her pajama's collar.

"Hi," Jackal grins.

"Y- yes, of course, Jackal-sama," Lili stammers with a faint blush.

Tilting his head with an odd expression, "You're a weird one, huh? Not that I mind it. Why don't you dress up? I'll bring you to see my store and we'll discuss your future."

'Our future, Jackal-sama~' Lili tries to lean forward but he sets her down and pats her head with a smile, "The store gets really hectic in the morning. Take your time, yeah? I have a few new goodies to show Naaza here... and a few more bento boxes to bribe her with for my ideal no-judgment zone!"

"As if that would work..." Naaza mutters under her breath while Lili nods earnestly, "As you say, Jackal-sama!"

She hurries along inside the building of the familia while Jackal wags his brows, "So? What do you think of Lili?" he questions Naaza, "She can sell a lot of things in my store, right?"

"A salesgirl... huh..." Naaza nods before sighing, "Your products currently belong only to your shop. You don't even need a salesgirl as everyone, especially the wealthy Familia would buy it for their weaker members since level 1 themselves cannot afford these potions constantly."

A regular health potion, the weakest one, can be sold for 100 Valis while Jackal's weakest dual potion is at thousands.

"Well, if they get bored from the novelty goods, I'll whip up some serious stuff, hopefully. Anyway, let's get inside. As I said, I have a few new things to show off."

Naaza nods before eyeing him seriously. Her gaze lingers around his shoulders, then his arms and legs. With her brown brows scrunching ever so slightly in a mulish manner, Jackal grins, "Rest easy! I am perfectly fine!"

"I don't remember asking that," Naaza mutters, "You are free to enter the dungeon, after all." The sourness in her tone becomes evident by the end of it. But like always, Jackal couldn't care less.

He shrugs and follows her while Miach is already waiting for them in familia's living hall.

"Good morning, Miach-sama!"

"Good morning, child. It's great to see you uninjured and in such high spirits. Naaza had to sit Lili down many times as the girl was set on finding you," Miach shakes his head with a chuckle, "I hope your trip was fruitful."

Slumping on the sofa and smiling at Miach, he shrugs, "I kind of lost count after running through the 7th ax of the day. I think I got monsters upto triple digits, in the higher end, of course."

Miach and Naaza blink before the latter's furry ears twitch in an effort to strain themselves and she musters, "Say that again?"

"High monster count, high ax count. Now I only need to work on my Goddess count and I'm set on being the guy every adventurer looks up to," Jackal grins as Miach, finally, for the first time, snorts into a bout of a chuckle.

Of course, this earned the duo a judgmental gaze from Naaza but that came to a stop when Jackal began to set a stack of Bento boxes on Naaza'a side, after the third one... he set a fourth one while smiling at her.

This got her into a more relaxed state.

Hey, Jackal isn't above bribing others!

"Anyway... as I said, I have new goodies," Jackal exhales and began fishing into his back.

First, the vial of purple liquid from Purple Moths. As expected, it is poison.

Next.

*Thud*

A palm-sized, brown plate carpeted in small, distinct brown scales is observed with interest by the Miach-Familia.

"What is this?"

"I don't know..." Jackal exhales.

"It feels like a magic item. Anyone adventurer can push some mind into it and activate it slightly to test its effects," Naaza frowns, "You taught me the basics."

Jackal's brows sink and he heaves heavily, "Sweetheart, you think I don't remember? But... my mind is 'locked.'"

"What do you mean?" Naaza furrows her brows slightly as he shrugs, "I don't know what to tell you. Initially, I was excited to test them myself and just show off here for the wow factor but... as I said. My 'mind' is locked. I CAN feel it... but it won't budge. It's heavy... stubborn."

Naaza looks at Miach for clarification but the god shakes his head with a small frown himself.

"So... use it, won't you? I want to see what it does," Jackal smirks and slides the small, scaled plate toward Naaza.

Sighing, she picks it up and observes it carefully before humming in surprise, "Oh, look here. This scale can be lifted and it's hiding a leather ring inside."

Wearing it on her middle finger as it covers the back of her left hand completely, Naaza stands from the sofa and strays a bit away before willing her mind to the item and igniting the spark of energy held within.

*Whoosh*

With a flicker of light, a brown glow ejects from the fine edges of the scales embedded together and takes on the shape of the same plate but larger. Almost 60 centimeters in length, meaning, a little above a third of Naaza is covered by this sith shield.

"Try hitting it," Naaza looks at Jackal and he nods. Walking up to her, he cocks his fist back—

"I'll think you need your ax—"

*Booom*

His fist screeches forward and tears into the glowing brown shield with a small crackling sound as Jackal experienced a moment of resistance... something his momentum tears through like a hot knife piercing butter.

*Whoosh*

With a soft whine, the glow recedes and the plate in Naaza's hand shatters into dust.

"Huh," Jackal pulls back, "Felt exactly like a Dungeon Lizard."

Nodding, he quickly goes back and picks another of these shields and hands it to her, "Use it again. I want to test something."

Naaza blinks in surprise, still reeling from the earlier punch.

'Just how long has he been adventuring for?' She needs to know. Because all hints suggest— not long. And if his words and suspicions are true and the shield is similar to a dungeon lizard's hide then... it shouldn't be so easily blown away by blunt force! After all, in the upper levels, the Dungeon Lizard's back is extremely tough and others choose to aim at its fleshy underside.

Activating another shield again, Naaza watches Jackal punch the glowing surface lightly. Once, twice, thrice... dozen times, and then more.

"It doesn't look like the item is gonna give in like usual magic items," Jackal frowns and assesses, "It's exactly like Dungeon Lizard's back and shatters only when the shield is completely broken despite it being energy so no self-healing properties. Quite good... Dungeon Lizard's back would even have War Shadows floundering."

Jackal grins and returns before starting to scribble a price on the paper. With his knowledge of the prices due to the insider info from Humble Store, he can set it just high enough to make wealthier guild scramble. Meanwhile... all of it will be pure profit.

"Jackal-san... have you already encountered War Shadows?" Naaza questions as she takes her seat.

"Encountered?" Grinning impishly, he cackles, "I doused them with Love Potions and then Lazy Potions. Using one alone doesn't work all that well but the two of them work like a charm. It was therapeutic to see a war shadow just lying in a pool of its shadow."

'Of course, it was. Because that's good therapy, right?' Naaza narrows her eyes and scoffs drily.

"Next!" Jackal grins, "This one I can actually show off!"

Placing a green, palm-sized pouch on the table with the mouth of the frog acting as the mouth of the wallet, {A/N: Naruto's wallet.} Jackal unzips it and details, "It's got better storage than its size. I tested it last night and calculated that it has 2 cubic meters of space. And... get this, no weight constraint on the supporter!"

"It's good... and might I add, cute," Miach reaches forward and takes the pouch. Smiling almost childishly, "Can I stuff my hand in?"

"You can stuff a lot more, but not in here," Jackal grins as Naaza's lips part in shock before blushing hard.

"Miach-sama will not stuff anything anywhere!"

"Oof," Jackal shakes his head while Miach continues to rail the poor pouch with his arm.

"Okay, two more items and I'm done. First... is this."

He sets a red marble on the table.

"I don't know what it does."

Naaza nods and picks it up before straying farther once again. Pushing her mind into the marble, she waits...

But nothing happens.

"I can sense magic in the item but... it's more like a drop material. You'd have better chances of realizing its true effects with the help of a smith... potioneer, or... and item maker," she squeezes out the last bit with a glum tone.

Jackal nods and sighs.

"And here you go, the final item."

Jackal places a pitch-black flask similar to the Love Potion with a similar goblin's head on its lid.

Understanding Jackal's intent, Miach tastes a drop of potion like usual while Naaza sits down once again.

"Oh, it's a silencing potion," Miach responds, "A nightmare to the mages, but one of the best support items for rookie assassins and hunters as it seems to silence bodily noises as well."

Jackal nods, this is pretty much what he thought. But... Jackal poses, "Can I take a broom from you guys? Oh, and let's settle the transaction after Lili comes down... Another thing that I should have said before but do me a favor."

Jackal leans forward, "Would you be willing to sell the magic items? As usual, Blue Pharmacy will get one of each for 1 Valis, and the rest can be placed in your shop for commission. Oh, and please don't sell anything for the next half hour."

Naaza and Miach look at each other. By now, they weren't averse to Jackal's generosity but his list of demands is... definitely strange.

"Hmm," Naaza nods calmly, "I don't mind selling a bit late. We have a new wave of customers aside from the regulars because of you."

"And like your regulars, the new ones will become loyal, too. I mean, you charm others quickly with all that humble look on your face."

Naaza thins her lips and scurries off as her ears wobble slightly and her soft brown tail sways ever so slightly.

'Alright... it's rush time now!'

After a few minutes, a youth could be seen running with a large backpack on his back and a Pallum stuck on his torso.

Sharing bento with the kids and Maria's spicier bento— done! She did seem like she wanted to say something but held back given how he looked in a rush... with a stranger on his chest.

Unlocking the shop and checking all the magic defenses— check!

"Lili!" Jackal looks at the girls seriously as she jumps down and awaits her orders.

"Do me a favor and clean the basement!"

"Yes!"

Lili distracted— check.

He then installs the cover against the window and closes the blinds before opening his humble store.

Breaking the market by purchasing good stuff for 1 Valis each— check!

***

Alternate Title: What Da Dog Doing; Bento Daddy Strikes Again; The Shiro Effect; Naaza— Hunger is the enemy, Shiro... er, Jackal!; First Cute Employee, Get!; The Shield Breaker; War Shadow Therapy; Naaza Feels a Disturbance in the Force; The Lili-koala!; Maria Be Like *In Saitama's Voice* Who is this lost child?

***

A/N: Don't worry, Lili has more facets I have yet to show. Her arc is far from done. Jackal commits to his employees, after all. *Syr* Nnnghhh~! Hey, What? Get out, this is the author's section!

Syr: No.

Yes, my queen.

***

Ps: I realize I forgot to add Jack Bird's item in the roster. I'm currently writing chapter 27 so I will try and incorporate it there or just leave it like a... plot hole it is. Of course, we won't talk about it. *Points gun at you, the reader* Right?

***

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