As we approached, I couldn't help but be in awe. These Rodenti were different from Rex. Their fur was more on the brown side. At least a part of them. There were others with gray fur like our companion. But there were few and far between. The brown Rodenti were moving around. Children were playing, people were tending to the fields. It felt in every way like a regular human village with the exception that the people were giant rats.
It was a strange concept for something so mundane. But as we approached, the Rodenti quickly started to gather. Some with weapons, others just curious eyes.
When they realized that our group consisted of mostly Rodenti, they relaxed. Even then, some still had their spears and stone knives at the ready.
"Let me speak," one of the survivors turned to me.
I nodded. Just now realizing that I didn't bother to ask about the names of the Rodenti we saved. Either way, he stepped forward and, after hugging a couple of the people from the village, started speaking.
Unfortunately, there was no way for me to listen since they were down the hill. There were a good 200 meters [656.2 ft] between us. A distance that the Rodenti themselves said would be enough for the village to feel safe. We waited and continued to watch as the people from this village went about their lives. Some of them completely unbothered by our presence. That is until a couple of the Rodenti, who were part of our 'welcome party', started running across the village. They seemed to be speaking words of warning as the Rodenti slowly moved back inside, vanishing from sight. In just a handful of minutes, everyone was gone.
With the exception of the fields that were clearly being cared for, and the group of a dozen Rodenti or so in front of us, there was no sign anyone would be living in this place.
It was rather impressive to see how quickly they could vanish from sight. And in a way, this felt very on brand. Rats always were good at hiding, and that might be something they just decided to keep in their culture.
"Quick question. Is there a reason why the rest of the Rodenti that came with us is not going down there?" Michael turned around, seeing the anxious eyes of the people we saved.
"Saved them. They not abandon us," Rex replied.
"But that's really not fair. Just let them go," Michael glanced back one more time.
"I agree. Can't you tell them they are free to go?" Riley turned to Rex.
"But... saved them. They want pay back," our Rodenti companion had a confused expression.
"Even then, little man, it looks weird. Almost as if we are keeping them hostage. If they want to repay us, they could just go down there and say we are good and should be allowed to stay." I did my best to explain that idea, but there were some concepts that the Rodenti struggled to understand. Luckily, this didn't seem to be the case as Rex's eyes sparkled for a moment before nodding and rushing to the other Rodenti.
This conversation was much quicker than the one they were having down below. Once Rex was done speaking, all the Rodenti started heading down. But not in a rush or anything of the sort. Instead, they made a point to pass by us and say thank you. Some even giving small bows before moving towards the village.
Even Rex followed along since, after all, he was an ambassador of sorts. It made sense that he would be there to negotiate our permission to enter the village. As the Rodenti moved down and Astrid, Michael, Riley, and I stayed behind, the people from the village seemed to relax even more. A few of the weapons pointed our way were placed to the side. Still in the hands of the guards, and ready to attack if needed. But not already hostile.
We waited, then waited, and waited some more. The Rodenti that we saved from Nithera were already gone with the exception of the first who stepped forward and Rex, who still were talking with the guards. But they were all very relaxed, as if our presence was no longer their problem.
And I was pretty sure I understood what was going on. They had passed the information to someone higher up on the command chain and were now waiting for their orders. It was the type of thing that would happen back in the Hidden Horn village too. It was rare, but still happened.
Another 20 minutes passed, and I was starting to get annoyed. While I didn't want to start a fight, there was something about having to wait like this. With the people who were supposed to give us passage talking without a care in the world. That really pissed me off. And I seemed to be the only one.
Riley was doing something with their silk. Likely trying to come up with another spell. Astrid was trying to make gloves or something. While Michael just prepared more arrows. More specifically, he kept working on various arrows that were already in his possession, trying to make them better.
I would love to do something with my subclass as well. But it wasn't as if I could start cooking right now. Hell, I would appreciate even some spices just so I could taste them and get used to the flavors.
But before I truly lost my temper, a large Rodenti came rushing out of the village. In just a few moments, he reached the guards and quickly said a few words.
The guards then turned to Rex and the other Rodenti that came with us, and the two ran towards us.
"We can go!" Rex said with a smile.
"Chief confirmed," the other Rodenti nodded.
"Really? Thanks Peco!" Michael said with a smile.
"Peco?" I asked.
The archer gave me a blank stare. "That's his name. You didn't know?"
"Not really. I never asked about it."
"What? You think they wouldn't have names?" Michael crossed his arms.
"No. It's not that. Just there's a lot of people and I was worried I would mix up their names or something."
"Then just ask the System to help you with that," Michael tilted his head with a look of confusion.
And I really didn't have any answer to that. It was a very obvious answer to this issue. And I could do that in the future, but right now what was done was done.
Okay, we approached the guards, and the chief of this village took a step towards us and offered his hand to shake.
"Thank you, thank you all for saving family. Apologies for making wait. When saw my son forgot what was doing."
I nodded and shook his hand. "It's okay. It's understandable that something like that would make you forget what was going on. I do appreciate you running all the way here because, honestly, I was starting to get a bit frustrated with all the waiting."
"She means angry for waiting. Not with you. But frustrated," Rex glanced towards me.
"Yes, Rex is right. I'm not angry with you, Chief. Just bored for not being able to do anything else."
"I see, I see," the chief didn't seem to be fazed and started to greet the rest of the group. "I Rico, chieftain of village. Please, come. We need thank you."
We started following the chieftain. He took us into one of the buildings that was near the edge of the village and revealed that there was also a tunnel inside. Which is why we only saw those with brown fur empty outside. The gray, white and black ones were all underground. But this likely had something to do with their ancestors. The type of rat that they originally came from.
Some more adapted at working in the outside than others. And in a way, that made a lot of sense. I knew for a fact that I, for one, didn't have to worry as much about getting sunburned as people like Astrid, who were completely pale. Not that I could just let myself go. There were some other dangers related to it but I couldn't really remember what exactly they were. Wistra used to talk a lot about that, but I don't think I ever truly paid attention.
And the inside of the village was absolutely massive. At least, to my standards. The entrance opened onto a large open cave where there were a few dozen small burrows with maybe a hundred different Rodenti walking around. That was without a doubt one of the biggest villages I had ever seen. The only one that could compare was the one where we first met Rex since there the numbers were even bigger. But I didn't really have a chance to check and see if all the houses there were occupied or if there were more general buildings for other functions.
Just as we seemed to be arriving at one of the largest buildings in the village, the smell of food hit my nose. Not cooked food but meals that were starting to be prepared. Noticing my reaction together with Astrid, Riley, and Michael, Rico smiled and said, "While I kept you waiting, told people to start making food. You brought children back. Deserves party."
I chuckled, and my companions smiled, knowing that at the very least we would have some good food, but I also decided to take a chance on something else.
"Say, Rico, any chance I can help with the cooking?"
"No, no. You guests. You don't work."
"I really don't mind. Besides, this is part of my subclass." I didn't feel the need to lie or hide that aspect of my abilities. After all, cook seemed to be a very generic subclass even if it could be very powerful. But unlike what my companions were doing, it was a subclass that required a specific setting to be used.
But hearing that was like saying a magic word. The moment I said that I had a cooking subclass, Rico's entire demeanor changed. He was already happy, but he now seemed ecstatic and nodded his head vigorously.
"Of course, of course." He turned to one of the guards that was accompanying us. "Muli, take her to kitchen."
Muli, one of the first Rodenti who lowered their weapons, smiled at me and pointed to another building different from the one the 'party' was happening.
The rest of my companions continued moving to the party itself. But I really didn't mind splitting off. Not because of any specific reason, I just wanted to test some stuff with my subclass and didn't have enough supplies to do so in the past day.
When Muli dropped me off, I saw another five Rodenti preparing all the dishes. Some had excited expressions, while others seemed annoyed by the situation. The Rodenti guard quickly introduced me and said that I was there because I had a cooking subclass related to cooking. The five Rodenti gave me approving nods, but one of them, an elderly woman who seemed to be leading this kitchen, asked, "What skills?"
"I only have two right now. Can make food give more Energy and give some buffs."
When I said that, everybody froze and just kept staring at me.
"Did I do anything wrong?" I asked, starting to get worried about their reaction.
"No. Not wrong, just unexpected. Never saw skills that give Energy. Or buffs," another one of the cooks spoke.
"Wait, really?" I frowned. "It seems like the most standard thing to do. What do your skills do?"
"Make tastier. Make healthier. Make easier to make. Make bad parts good," the leader of the kitchen spoke.
While I was saying that my skills were very standard, so were the skills they were talking about. When thinking about a class related to cooking, making things tastier and making it easy to make dishes would be the most obvious types of skills. Maybe I truly was leaning towards something different since mine seemed to focus more on what one could gain through combat than just the pleasures of food. I didn't dwell that much on it. After all, we had a feast to prepare, and I was going to make sure that I was pulling my weight.
"What do you need? What can I do?" I asked, already tying my hair up using a piece of fabric that Astrid had given me for this exact purpose. The last thing we needed was my hair to start falling into the food that we were making.
Although, considering I was working with Rodenti, maybe I wasn't the only one who would end up shedding over our meal. Kind of hard to stop that kind of thing when your entire body is covered in fur. Still, we were in their village, so we wouldn't need to worry about their people complaining. And I could practice my cooking chops on a large number of people.