Spending My Retirement In A Game

"Oi, old man, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

The moment they realized what Eisen was trying, a group of players approached him. They were clearly showing off their weapons, as if trying to prove how strong they were. Of course, Eisen could tell that these guys weren't even level 200 yet. Meanwhile, Eisen was close to level 400 at this point. And strength didn't exactly proceed in a linear way in this world. He was many, many times stronger than these young folk.

"I'm making some food. Consider it charity, in some way," Eisen pointed out, looking away from the players as he properly continued cooking. He was trying to make congee. Specifically, he was using a chicken congee recipe. Since cockatrice has a similar texture and flavour profile to chicken, it was a pretty good substitute. Plus, the extra mana inside of it would make the dish not only taste better but a bit more filling at the same time, while not making it any harder to digest.

These people hadn't eaten properly in a while, so they needed something that their weakened bodies could eat properly. Luckily, congee was relatively easy for Eisen to make at scale a well.

"Charity?" one of the players scoffed, "I don't think you understand the situation you're in right now. This is the territory of the Black Dragon Clan, alright?"

Eisen stopped, finally looking back at the players, "Ah... alright, so you're all champions chosen by the black dragon that lives in the forest? I'm glad to hear that it's actually around here, that makes things a lot easier."

The players started laughing, "Easier? What, did you want to join us, or something?" they asked, "You know, we do require certain... contributions before we show new recruits the actual way to the dragon. That means either paying a hefty sum, or doing some quests for us."

The old man stared at the players. They were cocky and annoying.

"How many of you guys are here in the village? Rather, how many people does the 'Black Dragon Clan' have?"

Not sure why Eisen was asking that right now of all times, the players hesitated for a moment, but they replied soon enough anyway, "About a hundred as of recent, but wh-"

The player wasn't able to finish the sentence before his head slid off his neck. Eisen's demonic greatsword was able to move independently to a degree, being a rather intelligent ego sword, and against people like this, Eisen didn't need to get involved directly.

"Damn... Eisen, are they..?" Sky asked with a wry, startled smile, staring down at the head as it was slowly dissolving. Bree was stood next to him, similarly surprised, but a bit more curious than her brother.

"Yup, they're artificials, so just get rid of them if they bother you," Eisen responded, and by that point, the players finally realized what just happened. They brandished their weapons, trying to attack, but before they could, Bree had already taken out her hammer and crushed the skull of one of the other players. Sky had to concentrate on keeping up the story of the 'King who ruled the kitchen', so he couldn't get involved himself, but he wasn't really needed in the first place. Bree was doing a pretty good job on their own. Since they were artificials, and as such didn't actually die when killed, there was little reason for Bree to hesitate when faced with these people.

The small group of players was dispatched in just a few moments, before any of them could even attempt counter attacking. The villagers stared at Eisen and his companions, scared that they would be killed in just a moment as well. But Eisen quickly tried to calm them down.

"Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you. Rather, I think I'll get rid of this 'Black Dragon Clan' after I'm done preparing some dinner for you all," he pointed out, but the villagers didn't seem particularly convinced. They were scared, either way. Not only were they just stung by bees that injected them with some weird potion, but the people that they were so scared of were killed in an instant. But even so, maybe because of how rough their lives have been under the Black Dragon Clan, there was still some hope left. One of them, a young man, not any older than Benji, stepped forward.

"You're... you're sure you can do that? Why would you dare face these people? They're more dangerous than you may think, you-"

"Take it easy and just stay calm. Instead of freaking out, just collect any villagers that need to eat. Prioritise kids. But either way, everyone will be able to eat," Eisen explained, facing Fafnir to speak to Sigurd, "Bring out some barrels of fruit juice, by the way. Plus, bowls, spoons, and cups. Get as many ready as you can."

Sigurd didn't even need to come out to confirm and just got started right away, preparing everything that the old man asked for.

Before long, Caria and Sal came back with the first batch of cockatrices. Eisen had given them both an hour, but it seemed like they came across a small flock and were able to take out more than they could carry otherwise. The dead monsters were quickly given to the Inkheart apparitions created by Sky's skill, and they quickly prepared the carcasses by plucking their feathers.

"There were some artificials bothering us near the wall. I hope it was fine that we got rid of them," Sal pointed out as he dropped the monster carcasses, and Caria shuddered lightly.

"Urgh... they were saying some really creepy things, you know? Do all artificials say things like that to girls?"

Eisen hesitated on what to say to that for a few moments, "Not all of them, no... but far too many. Did you get rid of everyone that said bad things to you?"

"Almost," Caria responded, "Some of them ran away, but they seemed so scared that I figured I shouldn't bother."

"Hm, alright. I hope you-"

"Yes, of course I marked them with my spores," as if it were obvious, Caria let out a long sigh, "They already reached their hideout, so I called on my puff cloud myconids. The whole building should be covered in my mushrooms and kiddies now~!"

With a smug expression, Caria grinned at Sal, "Meanwhile, they cut through Sal's threads, so he lost them."

Eisen almost flinched, "They cut through his threads? Seriously?"

"Huh?" Caria let out, "Yeah, so what?"

"..." Eisen hesitated for a moment. People around the level of those players from before shouldn't be able to do that so easily. Thinking about it, if all of these people were the black dragon's champions, they had to be given the special ability that dragon could bestow, "What domains were black dragons again? Death, curses, poison... that kind of thing?"

Eisen looked at Sky, who quickly nodded, "Yeah, usually. But the specifics are always different."

The old man looked over at the nearby villagers, who were too stunned to move away, and clearly too scared to do anything else either, "What do you know about the black dragon? Or better even, what do you know about the abilities that these people were given by it?"

Still hesitant, the villagers looked at each other. But after a few moments, they seemed to understand that if they had any hope at all, it could come from telling this old man the few things that they knew.

"It's... it's as you said, they all have abilities related to curses."

The old man raised a brow, "Curses, huh? Yeah, alright, I can work with that... Any specifics? Is it a particular type of curse?"

"No, not really... they all take different shapes depending on the wielder. It's like the cursed energies dye the abilities they had before..."

Eisen thought about it for a few moments. So it was a rather versatile ability. Even better. Maybe Eisen could use it to make some cursed items, "Got it. Thanks. Anyway, as I said before, but please go gather the other villagers. The first batch should be done in around thirty minutes. Anyone that arrives beforehand can have something to drink already as well, it's some fruit juice. Just go over there to my companion, she'll hand everything out," Eisen started, pointing at Bree who had already put down her hammer and was now standing next to the large barrel that Sigurd had brought out, "And don't hesitate to go for seconds or thirds. There's plenty to feed everyone in this village a couple times over."