Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Suspicious Hills
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Tadot—
The faint sound of stepping on small twigs echoes softly from all directions.
‘This guy’s trouble.’
Amid it all, Jay—one of the Third Subjugation Squad members—let out a low breath as he watched Cain leap silently onto the branches just like him.
The youngest among those in the subjugation squad, but his skills placed him at the top.
At first, everyone, including the squad leaders, had suspected he might be a spy sent from somewhere, given his strength that didn’t match his age.
‘Who’d send a spy to a place like this, where there’s nothing to scavenge except for merits acknowledged by the state?’
“From here, we split up. Lakeside, cliffs, and hills. Any volunteers?”
As the members of the Third Subjugation Squad rolled their eyes, gauging each other at Jay’s words, Cain raised his hand.
“I’ll take the hills.”
“Why?”
The hills were particularly full of minor low-level monsters, making it a poor choice for racking up merits.
Yet it didn’t seem like he was holding back either—those fierce eyes like a dawn moon said otherwise.
“Does there need to be a reason?”
The other squad members glanced at him sideways at that bold statement. In the regular subjugation squads, where strict hierarchy reigned unlike the outside world, it could come off as arrogant.
‘Something’s off.’
A nobody acting all stiff would just be annoying.
“Fine, Cain takes the hills. The rest of you?”
But someone with that level of skill was different.
Jay divided the team into three. He and Cain to the hills; the remaining six split into pairs of three for the cliffs and lakeside.
“Why only two for that one?”
“Jay’s there. A Third Subjugation Squad member can handle three people’s worth alone. It’s natural for the strongest to look after the newbie.”
As they split off toward their assigned areas amid the rustling wind, Jay suddenly glanced at Cain at the drifting murmur.
‘The strongest should look after the newbie, huh.’
That wasn’t it. If dividing purely by skill, Cain shouldn’t have been on the same team as Jay.
‘But.’
He was curious.
How strong exactly was this newbie, who was clearly stronger than him? And what was in the hills that made him choose it?
Jay’s instincts told him Cain hadn’t picked the hills for no reason.
“No breaks. We run nonstop.”
“Got it.”
To shorten even the return trip, they moved by stepping on thin branches and leaves high in the trees. Unlike Jay, where twigs snapped or leaves tore off with each step, Cain left no trace at all—like a bird alighting and taking flight. Seeing his path, Jay hurried to follow.
* * *
“So, while I was sleeping earlier, someone put up a mana barrier, and the mana rippled. They were definitely talking behind my back.”
“Finish eating before you talk.”
Before horned boar remnants could spray from her mouth, Luna shoved bread into Raychel’s.
I sliced off a piece of the horned boar steak with my knife and popped it in.
It cut like butter, but when chewed, it didn’t just melt—instead, it had a perfect chew with juices blending richly with the sauce.
The fishy smell was tamed, but the unique meaty aroma remained, enhancing the flavor. Dipping it a bit more in the special sauce made from ground mint...
“Tasty.”
The clean finish refreshed the palate, countering the heaviness from the juices and thick sauce.
“Mana barriers are a bit cheat-like. Thanks to them, I miss out on a lot when scouting for info.”
Raychel snorted at Zero, who openly lamented the woes of eavesdropping.
“There’s a way to break them by clashing mana, but that’d disrupt the conversation too, so it’s pointless.”
“Still, I can guess the gist.”
Luna mumbled around boiled young corn she’d picked from the salad.
“What do you think it was?”
At my question, she flicked only her eyes toward me and grinned.
“Probably trash-talking Raychel and trying to undermine our party.”
Luna beamed proudly, saying it was obvious from how strong and seasoned our party looked.
I turned a wry gaze her way.
Probably the exact opposite.
“Two things to watch out for this time. First, Rip—be careful not to get hurt badly.”
Normal wounds could be regenerated and passed off as potion recovery, but if his head got lopped off like when we first met Cain and he was fine, that’d be trouble.
Avoid any major dismemberments.
“Second, don’t show our full strength.”
I’d told Cain the same: hide about two-thirds of our real power, like, “Shouldn’t we be careful around kids, women, and old folks?”
But adult men are the ones you watch out for in the martial world.
Isn’t that just “watch out for everyone”?
Anyway, I rinsed my mouth with wine and continued.
“Our party’s concept is Zero’s happy rich-guy vacation.”
“I’m the one who’s miserable...”
Ignoring Zero’s grumbling, I spoke up.
“Our ace is Raychel. We need to readjust everyone’s strength relative to her.”
“Oh, based on me? Then I could chew up everyone here.”
Luna tilted her head at Raychel, who’d been chomping even the decorative flowers and herbs on her steak plate.
“I heard rumors that Reinhardt, the supreme commander here, is super strong?”
“Oh, that stiff? Yeah. Strongest human I’ve seen lately.”
She cackled to herself, muttering about how chewing wrong might cost a tooth, while Rip shook his head.
“How strong?”
Reinhardt from earlier that day came to mind, so I asked Raychel. She rolled her eyes upward as if recalling, then spoke.
“Strongest human in this whole area, for sure? Stronger than me.”
Her “than me” of course referred to her current polymorphed human form with self-imposed limits.
‘Even so, that’s stronger than most aura users.’
“Aura Master?”
“And top-tier for his age, too.”
Typically classified as: aura user low/mid/high. Then aura master low/mid/high/top. Followed by swordmaster.
Luna was low aura user now; Cain had at least reached low aura master. Zero varied but swung between mid and low aura user.
‘Raychel’s probably capping herself at high aura user.’
If Reinhardt was top aura master, you’d have to head to the capital to find a match around here.
“Most aren’t fresh-faced aura users, so they hide their realms with mana control. Anyone below Reinhardt wouldn’t notice even if they saw.”
Raychel smirked, wiggling her nose like, “You can’t fool my eyes.” I gave a half-hearted thumbs-up.
“Here’s the plan. Our party’s most likely to be placed up front. If we seem weak, we’re meat shields; if strong...”
With Raychel, obviously they’d shove us in to read and harass the Twin-Headed Ogre’s patterns.
Borderlands were dangerous, so jobs and money flowed plenty—some parties spent years hunting eggs and subjugating.
In the original story, they’d repeatedly tried dragging in the solo Raychel until the duke overdid it, making her sick of it all. Probably no different now.
But since Raychel, who’d normally stay solo until the Cyclops descended and razed everything, joined our party because of me, some wouldn’t like that.
‘If they think rough, they might try snatching easy-looking Zero and prying Raychel out.’
Forming a party once is hard, but twice?
“Our party looks strong, so they’re checking us?”
Luna asked with an aggrieved face. I glanced down, pretending to slice meat.
“Come on, without me, no one’d think this party has aura users.”
“Why?”
Luna’s pink eyes widened in disbelief, ears perking up as Raychel scoffed.
“Be real. Even with talent, we all look freshly adult.”
In this borderland packed with average age around 40, who’d see you as proper mercenaries? Raychel’s fact-bomb left Luna and Zero opening their mouths indignantly.
“We’ve suffered so much, drinking green juice! And it’s been ages since our coming-of-age!”
“I’m older than I look.”
—They all reek of greenness, Administrator.
Rip’s deadpan remark as Luna pouted made me burst out laughing.
Well, leaving Raychel aside, Rip had lived at least a thousand years.
Though mostly dormant in the airship, so wasted years, really.
“Wait, by that logic, right now...”
“Eh? Yeah?”
Then Zero and Raychel stared at me; even Luna paled.
“Y-Young master’s the younge...”
“Stop right there.”
I cut off their fraying nerves—or shared thought—like that.
“Anyway, to others, our party looks like a ragtag bunch without Raychel.”
But we’d outperform that and deliver real results in the Twin-Headed Ogre subjugation.
“Then I can snag a spot in the next big beast hunt I’m eyeing. That’s where my goal starts.”
Same as the military here.
More scary than enemies: incompetent allies.
If it’s a hopeless loss, sure, borrow a cat’s paw. But otherwise, people naturally fill spots with proven folks.
Especially for riskier jobs, you seek trustworthies—which is why I’d piled points doing minor subjugations here.
Mercs often illiterate and sword-for-brains: take commissions then delay, bail late, or batch-route them till villages suffer.
Meanwhile, our party took one or two at a time, prepped instantly, and cleared. So points weren’t lacking.
‘So if we stamp our strength in this Twin-Headed Ogre subjugation too.’
Perfect.
I speared a soft slime pickle in sour fruit juice and sugar.
Finger-sized jelly-like monster slime for sure...
Baby slimes before acid cores mature won’t melt tongues, or whatever.
Like chewy dried jelly with fruit juice and sugar. Soft, gummy, sweet-sour, digestion aid too.
‘All good, but ingredients like this scream unreal without the luxury feel.’
Black sesame specks? Nah, eyes. Cute and tasty.
“Tasty, right? If we’ve got money, grab some dried slime pickles. Great emergency rations.”
“Don’t wanna agree, but yeah, tasty.”
“Then let’s stock up.”
Plenty of room in sub-space.
“Or let me try making some, Lady Adelian.”
Zero mumbled around a huge slime bite bulging his cheek. Rip quickly circled it on his chalkboard.
“After the subjugation, when we’ve got time?”
More urgent stuff now.
Zero nodded; Raychel lifted the slime plate and chugged the brine.
“Eat up and work starting tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah. Body and soul devoted, huh?”
She growled; that line must’ve irked her bad.
“Young master, I can devote body and soul in loyalty too.”
“I already have.”
Zero gazed afar, like he’d pledged even his throat. I waved it off.
—Administrator. You should know: I can serve without eating or sleeping if you wish.
Why this suddenly?
“Let’s just catch the Twin-Headed Ogre properly, us.”
“Yes. Hide our strength, right?”
“No worries, young master.”
I chuckled softly at their sudden weird fire.
And that casual mindset was just the other day.
“Fuck! Block it!”
“Bad intel!”
Thanks to fires flaring everywhere, I blocked the acrid air with my sleeve, glaring ahead as I breathed.