RE: The Extra's Dominance-Chapter 33 - Sophistry

(Oscar POV)

We entered a portal-type dungeon yesterday at [5:00 PM]. The portal appeared three days ago in Earth’s time.

Time in other dimensions sometimes flows differently.

Anyway, my point is—dungeon overflows usually emerge from portal-type dungeons a week after they appear, so we have four more days in Earth’s time left to clear this place.

And as we were exploring the dungeon... We reached a meadow full of herbs. We have an appraiser, so we confirmed that those are indeed herbs.

And they are all high quality ones!

"What do you think, Sir Clifford?"

I asked the guildmaster. We are in a forest-type terrain, so it’s pretty normal to see herbs here, but there are too many in one place—it’s suspicious.

"I don’t know, but let’s not overthink it... Those herbs are valuable, that’s all."

Sir Clifford said. What he’s saying is correct—there’s a huge amount of herbs in front of us. It’d be stupid not to harvest them.

While thinking... I remembered that something was following us. I can’t sense it anymore, which made me frown.

’What is it doing?’

I asked inwardly.

"Let’s get it all!"

Then our appraiser exclaimed happily. I still had some doubts about the situation, but I didn’t stop him from approaching the herbs.

But as he was reaching out to one of the herbs—

Tap—

Something landed in front of him!

"...?!"

What appeared was a black cat. We all got alarmed at its sudden appearance and took our fighting stances!

’Where did it come from?’

I asked myself frustratedly, as my trait’s effect [High Senses] didn’t detect the cat approaching at all.

"You should all calm down if you don’t want to get hurt."

It was then that the cat talked. My eyes widened, and just as I was about to speak—

I felt a sudden majestic presence coming from it. It made me feel like I was standing in front of someone superior!

"...?"

Which gave me complicated thoughts.

Then at that moment—

TAP!

Sir Clifford walked forward, standing a few centimeters away from the cat.

He looked down at the cat.

"What do you mean by your words?"

He asked, as his presence became bigger and stronger.

’I still think Guildmaster is awesome every time he’s like that.’

Anyone subjected to such a presence would have problems breathing.

"Huh?"

But I saw the cat casually looking at the Guildmaster in the eyes. It wasn’t even showing a hint of fear.

’Unbelievable...’

Disbelief washed over me, and as I was in a daze...

"As I said, you’ll get hurt fighting me."

The cat replied calmly.

"Why so?"

Sir Clifford asked again, now in a more threatening tone.

The cat didn’t answer immediately and looked at the members of our group one by one.

"If I were killed, my killer and their relatives would receive a curse. That’s why."

Then it declared unenthusiastically!

Sir Clifford frowned at the cat’s words. Not just him, but all of us who heard it wore complicated expressions on our faces.

"Doesn’t that mean it’s okay to attack you as long as we don’t kill you?"

Sir Clifford said and emitted an even heavier pressure. It was strong enough to make me and the others step back slightly!

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"..."

The cat didn’t even bat an eye!

That surprised the hell out of us.

’That cat has something more to it other than speaking human language!’

We all thought as we became wary of it.

"Are you sure that’s the best choice? If you hurt me—a neutral being—you’ll just harbor a negative impression among other non-hostile creatures here."

The cat replied casually. We couldn’t deny what it said.

"So what do you want? That we should not take any herbs?"

Sir Clifford asked, displeased at the thought.

Well, everyone was disappointed by that.

But contrary to our expectations, the cat shook its head.

"You can take three-quarters of the herbs here."

Its words surprised us.

"Why would you give us that much?"

This time I asked. I didn’t hide my doubt, but who would decline such an offer quickly?

The cat looked at me. It didn’t reply immediately and just frowned.

But after a few seconds, it opened its mouth.

"As I said, I’m a neutral being. And all the evil beings are bothering me, so I want you guys to kill them for me."

Its cold, monotonous voice made me frown.

"And why would we do that?"

Now Sir Clifford asked the cat with a prideful tone.

"Because it’s the best choice for you guys."

The cat responded with a smirk.

"You might think that the curse I mentioned is just bullshit but..."

The cat looked at Sir Clifford with indifferent eyes.

"...What if it’s true?"

Then it said mischievously. Its words complicated our thoughts. The cat was clearly playing a psychological game with us.

"Also, evil beings will attack you guys the second they see you, without hesitation. So in the end, you’ll kill them anyway—whether it’s my request or not. So my offer is the best way of getting free herbs safely, right?"

The cat explained with a smug expression and tone.

Then it looked at us one by one. In the end, its attention went back to Clifford. Its eyes showed no clear emotion—just boredom on its face.

"Don’t take unnecessary risks because of your greed."

The cat said as a warning. His tone and eyes were like testing us.

"..."

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There was an uncomfortable silence for a while. All the guild members were tense and nervous. To be honest, I was fine accepting the cat’s offer.

But in the end, our leader has the final say in it. And so—we all looked at him.

"..."

And after a while... Sir Clifford looked at the cat seriously.

"You’re a good talker. We’ll take three-quarters."

Then he said that.

The cat smiled and wings grew on its back.

"Just as I thought."

It said and then flew away.

"What the fuck... A talking and flying cat."

One of our male members said. Following his words, we questioned ourselves too—what the fuck we had just seen.

*****

(Raven’s POV)

"Phew..."

I sighed as I saw Clifford and the others leave. As we agreed on, they just took three-quarters of the herbs in the meadow.

"That pressure is on another level."

I frowned as I remembered Clifford emitting heavy pressure earlier.

If not for [Calm Thinker] and [Monarch’s Presence], I might have passed out.

[Wow, you just ripped off a quarter of the herbs they were supposed to get for free.]

The system said as I was calming my breath.

I transformed back into a human and started gathering the herbs left by Clifford and his group.

"Do the herbs have an owner? No, right? They also just got them from the dungeon, like me, so I didn’t steal anything from them."

I rebutted.

[You’re great at sophistry.]

"They left satisfied, so it’s fine."

I casually said, then continued to harvest the [Mellow Flowers].