"Welcome to the inner core, Please remember to always stay within the rules."

That is a lot more plain than the one I got on the previous wall. It has a hefty amount of threat mixed in too.

The mayor did say that they repurposed the stalls as a low??? low rent or free?, anyway they made it for those with little to no income. Does that mean security becomes a problem here?

I doubt that since they are still the closest to the hero's legacy, so they need to keep the place clean. The threat might be because the people living there are barely scrapping by with nothing much to lose. I understand that this place is a tourist spot and most tourist are rich, with their own arrogance. If they started verbally showing that arrogance to them then they might just snap and attack, regardless of dying to the kraken.

The rules are there but I don't see any watchers. Does this mean you can break them as long as you don't get caught? I don't really know to what extent that kraken's perception reaches so its too risky.

Restaurant, cafe, bakery, tea shop, steakhouse, and bars, there are a lot of places to eat here. It is as expected but the temptation of food is too strong. The prices are expensive though. The problem with selling food is that the chef decides the cost of labour. One for the ingredients, one for the cooking equipment, one for the venue, one for the cleaning, one for the heating/cooling equipment and however many for the cost of labour. This means, they can inflate the price depending on their popularity. The more popular a restaurant is, the more you have to pay for 'atmosphere'.

"What is this?"
"This is a delicacy of the demon continent, the blood berry barbecue. Could it be that customer isn't familiar with our food? You must be a newcomer then? How about as a welcome I will give you discount? 3 pieces for 12 copper coins."

I just love how you eyes light up with greed when you say 'newcomer'. Thanks to you, the neighboring stalls are also lighting up. I must say I am impressed with their decorum, even when they know that I am fresh source of money they don't yell and call out to me to buy their stuff. I guess this is part of the minor rules here. Everyone wants to sell their merchandise and no one wants a loud market. You strain your voice, you strain others' ears and you just make a very uncomfortable experience for everyone. A lively market is nice and all but since everyone here are merchant from their respective continents, the competition will be bigger than a normal market. No one would want to visit a shouting merchant city after all.

"Berry? as a barbecue? How would that taste?"

In the modern world, I know that they grill fruits but I am not a fan of those. I prefer my fruits as is, you boil out the good stuff if you cook them. It's not like vegetables that need more prep work to be edible, just wash them and done.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. All the fruits and vegetables in the demon continent are fighters you know. Whether they suddenly launch spines into you as you try to collect it, melt your hands with acid after you pluck it, or be poisonous if you didn't prepare it right, the fruits and vegetables in the demon continent are dangerous. This particular berry can't be eaten until you heat it up to a certain degree, that is why the safest way to eat it is by grilling. The taste is actually quite juicy and sweet while having that meaty texture."
"I see, no thank you."
"Eh? W-wait!"

You lost me at sweet. I enjoy them occasionally but I don't really want a sweet barbecue, I don't even want barbecue sauce on normal barbecue. Besides, I am sure she is trying to rip me off. It's hard to buy something in this place if you don't know the normal market price.

However, I know of a secret way to buy something with a low chance to be ripped off. The requirements is having a higher denomination of the currency, a 'very sure' body language, and an 'irritated' expression. First things first, I need to get away from here since they all know that I am a newcomer.

Now, what do I want to eat? I can make do with water since drinks are more expensive than food. Those are mostly flavoured water, if I want fruit juice I may as well eat the fruit rather than drink the overpriced watered down version of it.

Hmm, oh actual barbecue. That should be fine.

"Arghh!! That damn boss making a loss and taking it out on my pay. You're the one who got outsmarted by the customer!! If you aren't the boss' son then you would have already been sent to the warehouse for some heavy labour!!! If this wasn't the island then I would have beaten you up already! Who cares if your daddy fire me! I have been trading in this island longer than you yet you don't want advice? That is what you get you idiot! If he that much of a brain dead idiot who will leave his incompetent son in charge then your business will go down in fire right away!"
"It sounds like you are having a bad day customer, how about eating to forget all about it."
"Ah? Tsk, give me 5 pieces."
"Thank you for the sale!"

I give him a whole silver coin and she will give me correct change. I'm not intimidating him, I just happen to be in a 'bad mood' because of someone else so I am not trying to scare him, but the hints of me being here long enough plus my bad mood will dissuade him from hiking the price.

"Here is your change. I hope your luck goes back up."
"Thanks."

Ninety-seven copper coins so 5 sticks of barbecue is 3 copper coins? Are they having a special or did he give me extra because of my bad mood? I wanted to know the actual price but I am not going through that with my two-bit acting again. I will just eat at the inn. The inn won't overprice the food since both long time merchants and newbies visit there. If you overpriced it then the regulars won't come anymore which the newcomers will sense and avoid the place. You can't charge different price for the same thing right in front of everyone after all.

A big circular moat about 20 feet across and the structure surrounded by it is a circular stage with marble flooring. How expensive, though it might be cheap here since you can pseudo make marble flooring using magic and a marble golem. Last but not the least, the structure at the center of the marble stage is a decent size circular greek or roman temple. I don't know which but it has a lot of columns, tiled roof, and eight entrances.

I must say it looks grand and majestic. I really love the fact that there are no creepy statues of the heroes anywhere. Unlike the capital of the human continent where they have a huge golden statue of the hero king at the entrance of the castle. If this is all then I can leave it as a collection of sorts but did that hero king really have to also build statues at the four main gates to the capital!!

I thought that since this is a pseudo slums in this city this would be quiet and gloomy but it's exactly the opposite. The people living in the stall homes are quiet but the people at the temples aren't.

"Behold my famous sword dance!!"
"Sword dance are too common, look at my dwarven hammer show!!"

That made me do a double take, its not what I thought it was. Anyway, there are a lot of performers on the circular marble flooring. I say performers but all of them look like warriors, some with huge hulking bodies, and some with a slim body but skillful demeanor.

What the heck are they doing?

"...Is this the place brother?"
"...Yes, rose. This is the place father said that contains the inheritance of all the past heroes. If only that didn't happen, he would have taken care of those assassins without problem."

This voice sounds familiar. This is sending a very strong shiver down my soul. Argh! my skin is crawling just hearing this voice.

"...Are we going to take the trial too?"
"...No, father left behind a warning before to me. That I or you must never take this trial. No one but a hero can pass the trial. The first few trials can be passed but if you dare to venture deeper then the temple will anyone but the hero. I know you are curious because of the legacy but don't try it, not only is it dangerous but it is impossible for us."
"...but we are the hero's children. The hero's blood flows through our veins. We could also use father's power. We as the hero's children deserve to receive their inheritance."

I was right, it is the princess. To think I would run into her here. If she is here then-

"...Please don't do something dangerous, Princess. If you must then please let me accompany you to keep you safe. I would rather die than see you something that might bring harm to you."
"...You really exaggerate too much, head maid."

-this crazy rotting princess-zealot of a maid is here too. Arghh! I want to chop off her arm like she did to me!! No, this is my past, I have a new life, I have a new goal, and I have just started my climb to fame. I know killing the head knight isn't enough to give them problems but I already got my revenge by taking him out with me. I don't and won't live this new life of mine for revenge. They have nothing to do with me anymore!!

The princess is wearing a thick cowl and a veil to match. Her long blond hair is so short now. I guess she is still in the process of recovering her regal look. I can only see part of her forearm, neck, and ankles because of her 'princess' dress but it seems her burned skin is already healed.

"...I-I-I will also a-accompany you princess!"

Oh! I recognize her too. Isn't she that healer that gave me the chance to escape. That saint, ah, uhmm, lina? Is she the one who healed the princess' burn? They could heal burns nicely but I guess hair regrowth isn't part of the deal. I wonder which is stronger, the healing dedicated school of the human continent or the combat healers of the dwarf continent. I experienced, with my very body, of their healing prowess and for teachers, it takes them at least 3-4 weeks to fully heal a person without limbs by themselves.

"...Fine, I won't try it anymore. I can't have our healing saint sacrifice her life with me, right? How can we get our father's legacy though?"

*hug*

They are already that close? They really absorbed the new person of importance to their faction really quickly.

"...I can start collecting some volunteers and train them to be loyal to us so they can devote their life to passing the trial."
"...Won't that take too long brother?"
"...It can't be helped, father didn't tell us much of the trial. However, we have to gather people who has a strong soul to withstand the fourth trial. That is the part father strictly warned us about, the fourth trial that can destroy the soul of those not worthy."

Oh, my, goodness!! I thought I could brute force my way through the temple because of my pseudo immortality but I might really die for real if I try that. No, I'm a technically a hero as well so I might pass that soul check. My body and soul did travel through this world so it should have been strengthened, right?

I need to plan this before I take the trial, the legacy is safe and I don't have to worry about anyone, especially these greedy hero king spawns' underlings, to take them.

"...Right now, we need to find a way to get strong enough to slay the guardians and sea monsters. If we want to unite the whole world, we need the hero's legacy."
"...Right, to make father's dream come true."
"...U-uhmm? Is it alright to plan this sort of thing? Won't the kraken attack us? Won't this restart another huge war? I-I don't think a battle that big could be good for everyone."
"...Miss lina, please leave the talk to the prince and princess. They work to better everyone. The hero's enemy are evil so what they do can only be good! This too is also for good."

Damn zealot of a maid! Don't try to brainwash the healer into your deluded sense of justice. Too bad that she lost some of her spunk from back then. It could just be that she is intimidated by royalty? I mean a healer training in that kind of academy won't really be afraid of blood and guts.

Scheming to take over the world already after you removed the dissatisfied nobles? The princess has grown. I hope you and your forces get swallowed by the kraken. It is time to change the hero kingdom.

"...It's alright, I am sure she will come to see our father's intentions are for good. The kraken won't specifically attack you if you just badmouth it or scheme to kill them. They would even get a laugh off of it. There are a lot who don't like them so its normal for some to curse them. As long as you don't get on top of a building screaming out curses while gathering a small crowd to join along, it would left you alone."
"...What kind of preparations do we need, brother? Is it almost ready? I want to complete father's dream in our generation."
"...For starters, we need some weapons and armour. I have some elf friends that could enchant the equipment but I haven't find a dwarf skilled enough to make them. Their craft is good but they don't sell their highest quality equipment here, unless they find someone worth of it."
"...Someone worthy?"
"...Basically, they only sell their prized product directly to the user they judge as worth of their craft. They won't sell them in bulk to me since they don't know who will use it."
"...What a difficult race! Also, won't the guardian move if we recruit those from the other continents for our plan?"
"...I know but this difficult race are the best crafters in the whole world. Don't worry so much about the kraken, I have been here for a long time so I have come to grasp what we can and can't do. We are not recruiting them for our plan. We are just hiring them to do work for us. It's a fair trade, their labour for our money. What we do with the product is up to us."
"...Oh! As expected of brother! So smart!"

I have to say, even though I am a dwarf by random, I feel a certain sense of pride for that compliment. The fact that the princess' plan is having troubles, gives a bright smile to my face.

"...Look brother, isn't that a dwarf?"
"...Hmm, I stationed some observers at the dwarf gate to look for potential 'business' partners and this little one seems like one of the apprentice."
"...If he is only an apprentice then he is no good to us."
"...Not necessarily, he might still be an apprentice but he will soon be able to craft the level of equipment that we need. It's also easier to persuade him since he is just starting out. Let me handle the talking, head maid try to seduce him if possible. We will attack on two fronts."
"...Understood, Prince."
"...Do your best head maid!"

Oh shit!! They are heading right to me. I got a little absorbed in listening in!! I should have just ignored them from the start!!!

It's alright, they don't know me, I don't know them. They can't do anything to me here and I can easily refuse whatever they say. I don't need to listen to them, they can't take direct action against me! I can do this, kill your rage against the head maid! Don't look at her punchable face, don't remember her cutting my arm every time it regrows.