The Lion King of the Valley (1)
Most requests had their ranks assigned according to the level of danger involved. But since the people doing the ranking were only human, mistakes occasionally happened and a request would be graded incorrectly. When a lower-rank job was bumped up to a higher one, it was almost endearing. At least with thorough preparation, no one would end up injured or dead. The real problem was the opposite situation. In those cases, you might survive if you were lucky, but the vast majority of the time the entire party would be wiped out due to insufficient strength. The heroes of Gideon called such requests malicious quests.
"The Lion King of the Valley, huh."
"Yeah, it's a complete mess over there right now."
"...It brings back old memories."
At the time, Zeek had still been a guild trainee and couldn't handle requests alone. If they'd had three more years, she might have been able to solve the problem of the lion tribe in the valley. The very same malicious request that everyone had avoided—the Lion King of the Valley.
Welcome to the Exiles' Guild!
— Excerpt from page 2, Volume 4 —
The chilly winds of spring had completely vanished, replaced by the scorching sunlight of summer. Surprisingly, nothing had happened during that time. Even Isaac found it strange. In the original story, the Hades Guild had been a dominant force that enforced their own laws through a ruthless survival-of-the-fittest philosophy. The Iron Shield, by contrast, had essentially declared open defiance against them. Isaac knew this better than anyone. He had naturally assumed the Hades Guild would send people to punish them for it.
Yet no matter how much time passed, nothing occurred. This is odd. There's no way those bastards would stay this quiet.
Knox felt the same way. Though overshadowed by the Hades Guild, when looking purely at their history of domination, Knox was a force equal to or greater than them. And yet they remained silent? Maybe it would be better to strike first. No, that didn't fit Isaac's concept of treating guild members like family.
It was while Isaac was wrestling with these internal conflicts that a voice called out.
"Got a moment?"
Sophia opened the door and stepped inside. Isaac was about to greet her warmly when he noticed the parchment in her hand. It bore the emblem of the Hades Guild. Oh ho, it's finally here!
"A declaration of war from the Hades Guild!"
"What? It's not that..."
"How dare they touch my family. I'll crush them completely."
"Will you listen to what I'm saying?!"
Finally losing her patience, Sophia shouted, putting an end to Isaac's nonsense. After earning himself a solid smack on the head that left a bump, Isaac crossed his arms and spoke.
"I see. So the Hades Guild specifically requested us for this job."
"That's right."
"May I take a look?"
"Here."
The parchment Sophia handed over had the words Lion King of the Valley written on it. In summary, it was a request to deal with the lions inhabiting a valley in the northeast of the Mikas Kingdom.
"Subjugating lions. Not demonic beasts, but regular wild animals?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but isn't C-Rank pretty standard for a normal request?"
On the surface, even the request to escort his own daughter in a safe territory had only been rated D-Rank. C-Rank was essentially the most basic monster subjugation request that heroes received. Of course, I already know the full truth!
The Lion King of the Valley was the main story of volume four. However, it was an incredibly bleak tale. This arc properly shed light on the darkness within Gideon's heroes. But spoiling it would go against Isaac's personal beliefs, so he did his best to maintain a naturally ignorant expression.
Sophia let out a sigh and spoke.
"Look, I get that you don't like Hades. But openly showing it isn't a good choice."
Sophia saw this as a warning from Hades. Complete this request, and they'll pretend not to see anything. Of course, Sophia wasn't so spineless that she'd bow to the strong, but she wasn't stupid enough to misread the situation either. As much as she hated to admit it, the gap between Iron Shield and Hades was like that between an adult and a three-year-old child.
Sophia clicked her tongue.
"Right now, we need to lower our heads. We have to wait for the right moment."
"Once you lower your head, you stay lowered forever."
"Aigoo, you thick-headed Master. Please!"
"Still, this request does interest me."
"Why? Planning to go with Zeek again?"
Isaac nodded. Sophia sighed. If this was how things were going to be, it was probably for the best. She handed the parchment to Isaac and headed back downstairs. Subjugating lions shouldn't cause any problems. It was a truly complacent thought.
A carriage was both a means of transportation and a signboard that announced a guild's status. The massive guilds that valued splendor sometimes used golden carriages fit for an emperor of the empire, or silver carriages pulled by winged horses. The carriages varied as much as the guilds themselves. Of course, depending on a guild's scale, some had shabby carriages or none at all.
The Iron Shield was a brand-new guild that had only just been established. Unfortunately, they didn't own a carriage. While they had the funds to purchase one, the biggest issue was maintenance costs. To manage horses, we'd need stables and a coachman right away. We have the money, but the current situation isn't exactly ideal.
The Iron Shield had openly rebelled against Hades. For some reason the Hades Guild was staying quiet for now, but there was no telling when they might suddenly turn hostile and impose sanctions. In preparation for that moment, Sophia had suggested saving as much money as possible, and Isaac had agreed that her reasoning made sense.
The result was the cargo wagon they were currently riding.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"That's a relief."
Right now, Isaac and Zeek weren't riding in a guild-owned carriage, nor even a rented one. They were hitching a ride on a merchant's cargo wagon. As a result, they were constantly being jostled by the cargo piled behind them. Since renting a proper carriage cost a considerable amount, Isaac had chosen to ride the cargo wagon to save money. He was also serving as an escort for the merchants in the process.
The Mikas Kingdom was quite a distance from Gideon. One might suspect that they were deliberately sending Isaac far away so they could attack the Iron Shield in his absence. But Isaac was certain the Hades Guild wouldn't do that. True to their survival-of-the-fittest philosophy, they were the type who would always choose to clash head-on and destroy their enemies. That's exactly why the protagonist wiped them out in the end.
Some people cursed the Hades Guild for being stupid, but Isaac couldn't bring himself to insult them. In a way, they were just like him. As a concept-obsessed person himself, he couldn't criticize their convictions.
"What kind of place is the Mikas Kingdom?" Zeek asked.
"It's a land where technology has advanced based on abundant iron ore."
"And they're requesting help to subjugate lions from a place like that?"
Zeek's question was entirely reasonable. For a nation with that much power to be unable to handle a single pack of lions? It was naturally suspicious. Isaac nodded.
"That's exactly why you need to examine a request carefully."
"So there's another hidden motive, just like with the first request."
"Correct. I'm glad you realized it on your own."
"Hehe..."
Isaac smiled with satisfaction and stroked Zeek's hair. Perhaps because of the warm touch, the girl unconsciously broke into a bright smile, savoring his hand. Soon he withdrew it.
"We're almost there."
"Is that...?"
"Yes. It's the Nemea Fortress, located in the northeast of the Mikas Kingdom."
The Nemea Fortress was literally named after the valley. Zeek lifted the flapping tent flap and took in the sight of the fortress. True to its purpose, an enormous wall greeted them.
"It's a bit smaller compared to what we saw in Salen."
"Any castle would look shabby compared to Salen."
"That's because Behemoth left them with an abundance of resources."
The Nemea Fortress stood as the ultimate gatekeeper controlling access to the valley. The tightly shut gates opened, and Isaac and Zeek naturally entered alongside the merchants.
"..."
However, unlike the majestic exterior of the fortress, the interior was in complete chaos. Broken weapons lay scattered across the ground, and injured people who couldn't fit in the infirmary sat beside them.
"It looks similar to the corpses we saw in the village."
Surprisingly, Zeek observed the scene with composure. It wasn't much different from the corpses she'd seen in her hometown. If anything, this was better. At least these people hadn't lost their lives.
"Master, I'm starting to understand now."
"What have you realized?"
"The cut surfaces are clean, like they were sliced by a blade."
No beast's claws or fangs could create cuts that clean. Yet most of the wounds on these people were clean incisions from sharp blades. What that meant was obvious.
"The lions of the valley aren't real lions. They're people."
She had thought it was strange from the beginning. A C-Rank danger level for subjugating mere lions that weren't even demonic beasts? But now it made sense. Their opponents weren't ordinary animals. Faced with this perfect answer, Isaac could only nod.