The masks

Ed strolled around the city wandering around and checking out every food stall he came across. He and Suika tried out the foods and were very happy with what they were eating. Ed didn't forget to get Raikou's share and store it. Thankfully his Inventory kept the freshness of whatever he put in it. It would be as if time stood still inside of it.

One of the foods that Ed found very enjoyable was a hamburger-like sandwich that used a monster's meat that was called cockatrice. Ed had heard about the cockatrice and knew it was a relatively dangerous monster that could petrify its enemies.

He was happy to be able to eat its meat in an unknown shop in this city. He asked the shopkeeper where he could get such meat from and he was told that people usually hunt the monster and put it on sale in an auction in the capital.

Most of the luxury items are treated that way and merchants pay people with item boxes to keep the freshness of the ingredients while they travel around selling it. Ed took a mental note to visit the auction in the capital and check out the items there.

Ed also asked the shopkeeper for the sauce ingredients that was used in the sandwich since he found it delicious but he was turned down since it was their secret sauce. Ed understood what the shopkeeper was telling him and left after paying and taking Raikou's share with him.

Ed moved to a Bazaar-like area and was intrigued by the different items that were on display. They ranged from cosmetics to clothes to hanging dried heads. Ed found it weird but remembered this was a world where magic can be used so he thought it would be used in witchcraft somehow.

Ed was walking around when he found a stall selling Hanya masks, they also had Kitsune masks. Ed was intrigued by the shop and was looking around when he spotted two masks that only had the eye slits without any other decorations. The masks were white and black and looked appealing to the eye. Ed decided to buy them and paid 5 gold coins for them. It wasn't that bad since they were well made and he would need them in case he wants to sell monster corpses in the future. He scanned them and found out that they were of a rare quality which meant they would be almost one of a kind.

Ed strolled around a bit more until he found a coat's shop and bought a black one that covered most of his body and even had a head covering. Ed bought for a mere 2 gold coins and didn't even bother to haggle for it. He also bought a white coat but it wasn't as glamorous as the black one.

Ed also bought two sets of shirts, pants, and boots that were black and white. He was getting overboard with his sopping but he could now cosplay the two ninja sword brothers.

After Ed was done clothes shopping he went to buy some materials to craft chainmail armor. He wouldn't be messing around from now on as he didn't know who was friend or foe in this foreign country.

Ed checked the map before and it didn't show him any red dots so he was relieved. But the system warned him not to rely on the map as it wouldn't be too accurate. If he doesn't recognize someone as an enemy the map wouldn't recognize it either. While he was thinking about this he suddenly got an idea.

"System can I use the Upgrade card on you?!" Ed quickly tried to confirm his idea.

[No. The system evolves along with host so until host gets stronger system cannot get better] after Ed heard the system he felt down. But the system continued talking.

[However, host can use the Upgrade card on the Map function. As it is a part of the function Gacha it can be directly upgraded. The gamer interface has been integrated with the system so this does not apply to it]

"Wait. Isn't the Map also part of the Gamer interface, wouldn't that also make it unavailable for an upgrade?" Ed found trouble understanding the difference between the two.

[The Map might be related to the Gamer interface but it was gotten on its own from the Gacha so it didn't integrate with the system]

"Alright then use the Upgrade card on the Map"

Upgraded Map function.

Ed opened the map and noticed some changes. The full view was now much larger than before and he could use filters to make it easier to understand. However, he still couldn't see any red dots so he was a bit skeptical.

"System do I still need to confirm other's an enemy for it to generate red dots?"

[No, the map now will display all your enemies as red. In case nothing appears, that means no one is harboring any bad intentions towards you]

Ed found it a bit hard to believe since he had offended the noble earlier at the inn. Knowing his personality he guessed he would try to get revenge on Ed.

He either didn't care much about what had happened or he already left the city. Ed hoped he wouldn't meet him any time soon.

Ed finished all the shopping he had to do and headed back to the inn. He got Alice and her family some gifts as thanks for taking care of him. He had gotten Alice a golden necklace, while he got her some earrings. He didn't know at first what to get Eric, but he decided on some nice looking clothes. The family didn't want to accept the gifts at first but he insisted and they couldn't help but accept.

Ed also informed them that he was leaving tomorrow morning so they didn't have to cook breakfast for him and his companions. After hearing him Alice suddenly felt down and sad, she didn't want him to leave, while her parents understood he had things to do so they wished him a happy trip.

Ed then excused himself and went to his room and Raikou came out of his shadow. Raikou ate all what they had bought him and then the trio went to the bath. It was late as Ed would always take the last bath since he didn't want anyone to notice Raikou. After finishing their bath, the trio returned to the room and Ed trained his KI control before going to sleep.