[The rest of you lowlifes will be staying on the first floor. Also, you are banned from eating meat or any food from the Weekday Dungeon.]
The crowd was immediately turned into an uproar.
They all quickly surrounded the fairy.
"Hey, how come the rest of us are staying on the first floor?!"
[I don't know and don't care. Just that master says so.]
"If we can't eat the food from the Weekday Dungeon, what are we supposed to eat then?!"
[Not my problem. You can still eat the potatoes on the first floor's cupboard though.]
"P-potatoes?!"
That last announcement from the fairy made me smile like a birthday girl.
I saw it now. The reason why master prepared all these nice facilities.
At first, I was confused as to why master was rewarding everyone with improved lobby when each of our contribution was not equal.
Apparently master was perfectly aware of our problem and was now solving it for us.
"This is not right! There're plenty of rooms left on the second floor! Why can't we stay there?!"
"Yeah! There's no bed on the first floor. How are we supposed to sleep on the ground?"
The crowd continued to fly objections to the fairy.
I could see anger welling up inside her.
A man then stepped up in front of the crowd. He was the one I saw chattering on the square last night.
"This is not fair! How could master treat us this way?!"
[Just shut your mou--]
"Isn't it obvious? Master simply thinks you're worthless."
I interrupted before the fairy finished her sentence.
The man and the crowd immediately turned to me.
"What did you just say?"
He asked.
"You wanted to hear it again? I said, 'You're worthless.' Each and every one of you."
I repeated to him and the rest of the folks with the fellow.
The crowd suddenly shot me with hateful looks.
"How could you say that?! We trained ourselves in the training ground every day!"
"Oh, please. You weren't even trying to become stronger. You just wanted to look busy in front of master so you wouldn't get synthesized."
My words struck them like a dagger. They knew I was right that they could not refute me right away.
"W-well, not all of us could become as strong as you folks in Party 1. We weren't fighters to begin with!"
The man from the square shouted.
"Spare the excuses of your origin. Jonah was a shepherd and Shanny was a maid. And yet they could become this strong. You folks just did not try hard enough."
"Still though, not everyone has the talent for fighting!"
"In that case, you should've made yourself useful in other ways like Tarran did. You could help out in the kitchen or in the workshop."
"Not everyone can cook or craft weapons. We won't be helpful at all!"
"Then at the very least you should help out gathering materials from the Weekday Dungeon. But all you guys did was just play around and let us do the heavy work for you. No wonder master thought you are worthless."
They tried to object everything I said but I countered them back with more irrefutable argument.
It was definitely a fact that they were not helpful in the lobby.
All they wanted to do was to laze around and enjoy the perks of the lobby's facilities, while the rest of us were dying in the battlefield.
"Even so, this is not right! How could master tell us to stay on the first floor? How are we supposed to live down there?"
The man complained one more time.
"Well, if you can't accept master's order, you know where you will end up, right?"
I walked to the edge of the square and looked down to a two-storied building by the first floor's square.
They all followed my gaze and found me staring right at the synthesis chamber.
No more words of objections flew out of their mouth.
Fear of synthesis had paralyzed each of them.
As they were silenced with dread, I spoke to them with some mercy from my heart.
"If you wanted to live a better life in this forged land, then prove yourself to master that you deserve such treatment. Either as fighters, cooks, crafters, or gatherers, if you contribute well to the lobby, then I'm sure master will reward you accordingly."
Having heard of those words, the crowd no longer objected the arrangement.
They all had seen synthesis and knew it was the only alternative if they disobeyed master.
Though some of them were still displeased with the decision, most of the crowd had accepted the fact that they needed to prove their worth if they wanted to live in comfort in the lobby.
[Alright, show's over! You can all disperse now.]
The fairy said concluding master's announcement. She disappeared instantly after.
The crowd then began to descend the stairs to the first floor.
Pauline and the cooks as well as Gerrits and the craftsmen started to make their way back to their stations too. Tarran joined them along the way.
"That was a bit harsh of you, don't you think, Serafina?"
Jonah said approaching me.
"If I didn't step up earlier, they all would had been synthesized by now."
I spoke back to him with a slightly regretting smile.
"I, myself, would not mind seeing some of them got synthesized. You're a great fighter, shepherd. But you're also too soft for your own good."
Shanny said smacking his back.
"Hopefully the others will start helping out now. Surely they will work harder so they could live on the second floor, right?"
Trudy asked us.
It was not certain yet if master's arrangement would improve the efficiency in the lobby.
But at the very least a merit system was established.
Time will tell whether it would work out.
"Well then, shall we see what else is new in the lobby?"
I told my comrades.
The four of us turned our gaze to the lobby's second floor.
"The training ground here looks much better than the one downstairs."
Jonah said.
"I wonder the purpose of that caged field over there."
Shanny remarked.
"Is that another space-time rift at the other side? It looked like the stone gate down below."
Trudy said eyeing the far side of the lobby's second floor.
It was then that the fairy appeared before us again.
"Geez! Do you always have to appear so suddenly like that?"
Shanny grunted at the tiny creature.
[Cool your kettle. It's not like I enjoy having to see your faces over and over again.]
The fairy spoke back uninterestedly. She then turned to Trudy.
[Anyway, I'm here to deliver master's orders. Trudy, you are now back in Party 1.]
"R-really?!"
Trudy asked in delighted surprise.
It was expected that this would happen though.
Although her skills were still not on par with Jonah or Shanny, Trudy was the best combatant we had outside of Party 1.
She also worked well with us, which could not be said for the others.
Even without master's order, I would had asked for Trudy to be reinstated in our party.
[Now I want you to take this stone and enter the rift of space-time on the first floor.]
The fairy flew up to Trudy and handed her a blue stone.
It was the Replay Stone we obtained in the Isralta Mine.
"What's that rock?"
Shanny asked.
"It wasn't in the storage before."
Jonah stated.
"Gerrits and I found it earlier in the mine. We don't know what it's for though."
I told them.
"Why do I need to go to the first floor's rift? Why don't I go to the one on the second floor right over there? And why do I need to bring this rock with me?"
Trudy asked the fairy.
[Just do what I say and see for yourself.]
The fairy insisted before disappearing, uninterested to answer Trudy's questions.
The Replay Stone was not something Gerrits and I were familiar with. So we did not know what it was used for.
It seemed we were about to find out.
"I guess I'll see you guys later."
Trudy said while descending to the first floor.
"Be careful, Trudy. We don't know what master is making you do."
I told her.
"Don't worry. I'll tell everything that happened once I'm back."
She said before her back vanished below the flights of stairs.