Dagger In Crowd (Part 1)

Staring at the mirror in the changing room, I observed every bite Shion left behind.

There were three large bites left on my body. The bites were spread across my neck, shoulder blades, and upper chest.

For fox races like Shion, leaving bite marks is an important ritual regarding our relationship.

For example, Shion's bite left a mark on the lower neck, which indicates that Shion gave her whole body to me. Some fox breeds that leave these bite marks end up as disposable tools to commit major crimes with a guaranteed high death rate.

The bite mark leading to my shoulder blade indicates that Shion entrusts her life's goals to be determined by my will. Even in Shion's love journey with the main character, her life goals fall apart after killing Shouma Hirohito Vi Guderian. After I died, Shion lost her main goal and wandered around as a troublemaker who disturbed the main character's daily life.

The bite mark left on my upper chest is a special symbol of someone worthy of her loyalty. I don't know why Shion left such a dangerous bite mark like this. With three bites left on my body, her entire life was in my hands. Her freedom to do something suddenly disappeared because of this small bite.

When Shion wakes up from her sleep, I will ask this important question.

Why did she put three fox bite marks on my body?

What is the purpose of her life after this?

And, what does she want from me?

To teach Shion a small lesson, I immediately washed my entire body using a wet towel soaked in warm water. The accommodation we stayed in had warm water facilities as an additional service for cleaning the body and it was very useful for eliminating my body odor. After my sweat mixed with Shion's body scent disappeared, I immediately put on spare clothes and threw my old clothes into the inn's trash can. The clothes I'm wearing now look like those of a common merchant who went wandering to sell merchandise in a neighboring kingdom. Luckily, Shouma Hirohito Vi Guderian has a magical capacity that can open storage magic. Without that useful magic, I would look like a stupid Assassin wearing a backpack behind his back.

By leaving a small note about the meeting point between Shion's chest, I left Shion who was still fast asleep on the bed. Before I left her, I left a small kiss on her chest and formed a red kiss mark. That was just my small reply to her stupidity which left rough bites on my body.

Now, let's practice avoiding Shion as a basic practice for blending into society. One of the abilities from Stealth Skills that I want to get is "Dagger In Crowd".

Because Miko Miko Blessing has a complicated game mechanism, terms like "Level is Just a Number" occur significantly in this game. Games that rely on the Souls-Like mechanism make the erotic scenes that occur in the game as sweet reward when the difficulties are successfully overcome. For example, like the Dagger In Crowd skill, blending into the crowd of the general public can only be done when the character does not cause conflict that triggers an armed fight. One of the requirements to get the Dagger In Crowd skill is to participate in NPC activities within one hour.

Miko Miko Blessing has a unique process in developing its main character's skills because the character's special skills and abilities are influenced by the player's habits. If the player tends to be passive in battle, the skills possessed by the main character will focus on supporting attacks. I still clearly remember when this game was first launched, some players complained about not getting skills after completing the first dungeon. Some common skills such as "Fireball" magic can be used after the main character learns Fireball magic by reading beginner magic books in the library. This level of complexity has given birth to a healthy community in the form of a special Wikipedia about the world of Miko Miko Blessing with the main slogan "Realistic Games Without Limits, If You Are Stupid In Understanding Something, Then Leave This Game!"

Sounds very friendly, right?

For an erotic adult game, this is too difficult to enjoy. However, the heroine's beautiful visuals made me feel comfortable falling into the abyss of suffering.

Now, I'm playing this game with the rest of my very real life.

No save point.

No repetition if an error occurs.

Yes, these adult games have become a part of my life.

Right now, I should focus on the rest of my life which is approaching the day of death according to the game scenario.

I walked towards the exit of the inn and felt the cold air which felt cool. The sunlight that was not yet shining brightly was the beginning of my journey to gain stealth skills. The merchant clothes I was wearing had a large hood that covered my entire head. So, walking around in the crowd would protect my face from Shion's search.

Now, Shion's game of avoiding detection begins!

Because Shion entrusted her life's goals in my hands. I will force her to become an obedient fox girl who lowers her sword when the day of my death comes.

How does Shion control the Void to attack the Shirayuki family residence? It's still a big mystery. I will observe Shion's movements during this special training.

My little feet walked along the main street and watched the small traders setting up their stalls. Seeing my new merchant-like attire, they waved me over as a fellow merchant. Apart from getting the Dagger In Crowd skill, I tried to sharpen my social skills to get the Charm skill which is very useful in finding important information.

"Good morning, my brother. What about the condition of your things?" I said as I headed towards one of the people who waved at me.

"Same as usual, my brother. Continuously increasing taxes, additional fees for security services, and a special tribute for additional security," replied the person while arranging his merchandise.

The appearance of the merchant in front of me looked like he was fifty years old, the prominent wrinkles on his head made him look like an experienced old merchant in this place. Reports of additional security services coercing small traders are a widely known public secret. The merchandise he sells is household utensils such as kitchen knives, knife sharpening stones, cleaning fluids, and cleaning tools. The poor quality of the merchandise had given little insight into cutting his financial budget to sell low-quality goods. Small traders like him need to turn around their finances to cover losses from additional security service costs.

One great opportunity crossed my mind.

Why don't I carry out this small Quest to uphold the justice of the small traders?

A personal quest that is not tied to the Adventurer's Guild. Cleaning up the moral turpitude of petty tyranny that has become widespread in this place. Wouldn't that be a pretty good reason to do it?

"Tell me, brother, is this the behavior of a lone wolf or an anthill?" I asked smiling at him.

Hearing my question, the old trader in front of me just smiled and flashed a small smile that adorned his wrinkled face.

"It would be a shame if this is the work of an ant's nest, my brother," he replied with a wry, hopeless smile.

An idiom about the lone wolf and the anthill is a formal form of individual or group work. The answer from the ant nest that I received indicated that there was a certain group controlling this place.

"Is this ant nest wearing gold ribbons or dirty rags?" continued my question.

"Unfortunately, this is the work of an ant's nest of rags, my brother. Even an ant nest that wears the balance of justice has difficulty protecting us from those ants," he said in a flat tone.

"If you want to open a trade route in this place, you will need at least thirty pieces of silver as a reserve budget. These ants will work actively if your merchandise attracts their attention," he continued.

"I don't need to do it if the ant nest is destroyed, right?" I replied in a joking tone.

The answer that came out of my mouth gave a light of hope to the merchant's eyes. He looked at me and observed my body shape which looked like a teenager. A small laugh came out of his mouth along with a forced smile to accommodate my joke.

"Calm yourself, brother. As traders, we have the same principle of avoiding problems without creating big sparks," he said.

I shook my head and took out a kitchen knife, "Can I borrow this?"

Observing the object in my hand, the old merchant laughed again and held his stomach.

"What are you going to do with that thing? Piercing their stomach lining which is protected by thick iron?" he said while holding back a small laugh.

"More than that..." I replied while taking a white feather duster that was next to the kitchen knife.

The little preparation I did was perfect. Carrying out a personal quest to kill someone feels like additional training to maximize stealth skills. The thugs who are the source of chaos for the merchants in this place will be my training material. Putting aside the moral issues that apply to humans, they do not deserve moral sympathy after lowering someone's economy.

"Huh?! Brother! Don't tell me you're a Hidden One?" After seeing my hand taking one of the white duster feathers and slipping the kitchen knife into the long sleeve of my clothes, the old merchant in front of me was shocked and looked at me with sharp eyes.

"Not anymore, only former Hidden One members left due to violations of the code of ethics," I answered with a small smile from under my hood.

"A former Hidden One at such a young age ?!" The answer I gave surprised him with his old eyebrows raising upwards.

"I've heard that the Hidden Ones have become an independent group and only accept dirty work from noble families using the payment of a hundred gold metals," the old merchant whispered.

"That's right," I answered nodding my head.

"If that's true, the payment for your services exceeds my net sales income for one year."

"That's not true, I'm just a former member of the Hidden One. Something I will do comes from my hidden desires. Seeing fellow merchants being oppressed by someone fueled my desire to help each other, my brother."

I extended my hand as a sign of friendship. Since I wasn't the main character in this story, the appearance of skills triggered by the system would be unknown to me. My character's status, there are only two ways to see, namely through the Adventurer's Guild information or reading my character data through the dungeon terminal. However, to feel a skill rising from within me, an NPC was able to feel the changes that occurred and I could feel that I had successfully obtained the charm skill.

The strange movements of the old merchant had signaled a change in his assessment of me. This kind of effect only applies to active charm skills. The benefits of charm skills vary depending on the situation experienced by the main character. For example, with active price bargaining skills with charm skills, the main character can reduce the price of repairing weapons and body armor with a discount of up to seventy percent. But, for a coward like me. The charm skill has another attraction to create certain conversation topics with the target of my conversation.

The old trader accepted my helping hand and formed a special bond between traders.

"I'm counting on you, brother. People like them at least have a fairly long life expectancy if they don't meet you. Since our enemies are the same, why don't you use my trade goods for your urgent needs, brother?" he said.

(...)