Chapter 191
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191
If this wasn’t an opportunity, what was?
Only then did Rene and Melju grasp the situation, their eyes wide with wonder. For the first time in a long while, Swallow and Patrick found themselves in perfect agreement, clasping hands in a firm show of shared resolve.
“I wonder if the Boss has finally developed some foresight after being cooped up in this dungeon for so long…”
“I’ve been here longer than you, you bastard.”
“In any case, you saw right through my intentions! I, Patrick, am deeply moved! …Yes, indeed! This is the ultimate opportunity! An egg from a monster that matures into a Great Evil Cave boss! If we hatch this—”
“Huh? Why would we hatch it?”
“Pardon?”
“We’re going to eat it.”
“Pardon?”
“Cooked.”
“…Pardon?”
“Calamidad’s eggs are one of the world’s greatest delicacies,” Swallow stated plainly. “They taste amazing whether they’re grilled, steamed, boiled, or eaten raw. Was it about six hundred years ago? I happened to try one when I visited the North, and I can still remember the taste. Right?”
“Pardon?”
“The Sky Turtle lays dozens of eggs at once, doesn’t it? Listen up, everyone. We are taking all of them. Other monsters will be targeting them, so if you run into any, beat them up first. Even if Bathory tries to take them, hit her first and ask questions later. They’re all mine. I’m not sharing with anyone.”
“Uh, Boss?”
“Rene, go call Scobina right now. Have the Leprechaun Merchant Guild mobilize all their forces to begin the egg recovery operation.”
“Yes, Lord Swallow!”
“What about hatching it? The monster? A reliable powerhouse for the dungeon? Hello?”
“Melju, go sweet-talk that old hag and get some Malgam.”
“I’m in her bad books after the last incident. Going there is… a bit much to ask.”
“Then Basilisk, you go.”
“What exactly do you want me to do…?”
“Just go pull up a few trees from the forest or something.”
“Huh? Is that really okay?”
“You’ll be the one taking responsibility.”
“Pardon?”
“Just go.”
The monsters who received their orders departed one by one. The Yaksha Sisters were also dismissed, tasked with organizing a recovery team before returning to their room.
Soon, only Patrick remained, standing frozen and utterly alone.
Swallow let out a sigh of profound satisfaction. “To think a day like this would finally come, after eating nothing but Rene’s cooking until I was sick of it.”
Thud.
Patrick slumped to the floor.
* * *
Having received her orders, Melju de Limp Agrea headed to Room 4. She recalled Patrick’s earlier words: “Go and see for yourself.” Now that she was here, she was certain of one thing—Patrick wasn’t sane either.
“…So you are my new Demon King’s Army.”
New? Could she even call them that? The number of unfamiliar faces was staggering. No, “staggering” was an understatement; they made up the vast majority. For a few seconds, even Melju couldn’t hide her bewilderment, her mouth hanging agape.
Perhaps expecting such a reaction, the monsters kept their heads bowed in silence as drool threatened to spill from her slack jaw.
Just in the front row alone stood:
—Alraune, Rusalka, Graiai, and Trent.
“Did… did Sir Patrick assign you to me?”
[We volunteered. We swear to serve the great Lord Melju as our new master from this day forward.]
Graiai stepped forward and knelt, her words echoing directly in Melju’s mind. Setting aside the insolence of speaking via telepathy, she claimed they had volunteered. What was so great about getting beaten to a pulp that they would actively seek this out?
“…Is that so?”
Did they actually enjoy being beaten? Were they looking for a master who would thrash them?
“I understand your… preferences.”
As Melju replied, the Earth Dragon standing behind the Demon King's Army nodded its head as if giving a silent command.
A transparent monster approached and placed a chair beside her. It was a massive seat, fully worthy of being called a throne.
“Very well.”
Melju lightly swung her staff. In an instant, her child-like form morphed into that of an adult, and she settled upon the throne. With 2 Ounce wagging his tail by her side, she looked every bit the part of a majestic ruler.
“From this moment on, I shall bestow ranks upon each of you and assign you to your posts… However, there is something we must do first.”
“And that would be…?”
“An important mission that Lord Swallow has entrusted to me and all of you.”
At the mention of Swallow, the soldiers of the Demon King’s Army gulped audibly. With over fifty monsters swallowing in unison, the sound itself was impressive.
“The mission is…”
—to go steal turtle eggs.
Melju hesitated before letting the words slip out. It sounded like the work of a petty thief. This… lacked dignity.
“We are going to plunder the treasure of another Great Evil Cave boss.”
The soldiers’ eyes widened. Entrusting them with such a monumental task for their very first mission must have come as a massive shock.
“Missions of this nature will be frequent from now on.”
Judging by their reactions, they were all overwhelmed by her majesty. Satisfied with her Demon King-like command of the room, Melju allowed a faint smile to grace her lips.
“Such a heavy duty… Is it truly alright for us to undertake it?”
This time, it was Alraune who spoke, raising her head slightly. As always, a relaxed, unreadable smile played on her lips—the same fake smile she had shown Melju during the test.
“Do not smile.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“It looks as though you’re looking down on me.”
“…”
* * *
An investigation into the Beast Kingdom, Rium.
An investigation into Calamidad’s southward path.
“…Sigh.”
What were they trying to do this time?
Inside the carriage heading back to the merchant district, Scobina let out a deep sigh. She should have been thrilled to have secured two highly lucrative requests from the Primordial Core, but her stomach was in knots. It was a burning feeling she tried to cool with each heavy breath.
Every time the carriage wheels struck a stone, the chassis jolted, and Scobina’s small body swayed helplessly.
Inside the swaying carriage, Scobina slowly recalled memories of the past. North, the guild member who had previously managed the Primordial Core account, had also sighed constantly, even after securing major deals. Back then, she hadn’t understood him. But damn it all, now that she was in his shoes, she understood perfectly.
So this is how it felt.
Requests were broadly divided into two categories.
One was safe transactions. From a merchant guild’s perspective, these were the most welcome deals. They carried little risk, and even if an accident occurred, the guild could resolve the matter internally. These were low-risk jobs, like procuring a few ordinary pieces of equipment or supplying food on a regular basis.
The other was high-risk transactions. These involved tasks that were difficult to handle and carried immense danger, where a single failure could lead to a string of funerals within the guild.
A monster merchant guild was not some underground assassination syndicate. They didn’t operate on a “we’ll do anything, no questions asked, as long as you pay” basis. When a request came in, they would relentlessly scrutinize its details, thoroughly calculating how the task would affect the guild’s image and future profits. A request was accepted only after all calculations were complete.
—But that common sense did not apply to the Primordial Core.
If they were told to jump, you jumped. There was no telling how the outcome would affect the guild. Even if a problem arose, protesting to the Primordial Core was unthinkable. Unfortunately, the small, pitiful Leprechauns had only one life to lose.
…And she was currently on her way back after receiving two of the latter type of request.
Rium is one thing, but…
The guild had been the one to report that Rium was preparing to “dispatch an envoy.” It was only natural for the Primordial Core to want more information, so that request wasn’t much of a burden.
But why on earth Calamidad?
“Why do they want to know about her…?” Scobina muttered aloud, unable to comprehend their motives. “Why? Why? Why on earth?”
If they had simply asked her to investigate Calamidad’s southward path, she could have accepted it… but the problem was the scope of the investigation.
What was her final destination? What route had she taken so far? In what direction had she headed south in the past? What were her characteristics? When and where was she likely to lay her eggs? They had demanded a complete file containing every conceivable piece of information on Calamidad.
How are we supposed to find out things that Calamidad herself probably doesn’t even know?
No, even that much was manageable. She could just do her absolute best. If the results were lackluster, she could beg on her hands and knees before Rene or Patrick. Both of them were surprisingly merciful in that regard; they wouldn’t kill her.
The real problem arose when she took her thoughts one step deeper.
Why are they demanding this kind of information?
“Senior.”
As the carriage entered a smoother stretch of road, the rattling subsided. Only then did she hear a voice from the seat across from her. Snapping out of her thoughts, Scobina looked at the boy sitting there.
“You look very worried.”
Aina. That was his name. He was an apprentice merchant whom the guild had assigned to her for field experience. The small Leprechaun boy was looking at her with an anxious expression.
“It’s nothing.”
“Did the deal not go well?” Aina asked.
Scobina shook her head and held up two fingers. Instantly understanding she had secured two deals, Aina’s mouth fell open.
“Two…!”
Finding his look of admiration not entirely unpleasant, Scobina cleared her throat softly. Yes, just as the boy’s reaction showed, securing two deals was an impressive feat. She knew that herself. However…
…However.
What would this boy think?
“Aina.”
“Y-Yes!”
“You’ve heard the rumors going around about Lord Swallow lately, right?”
At her sudden question, Aina straightened his back and nodded.
“W-What rumors do you mean?!”
“The bad ones.”
“If you mean the bad rumors… are you talking about the ‘Great Evil Cave Slayer’?”
“Yeah, that.”
That rumor was Scobina’s greatest concern. It was a bizarre conspiracy theory circulating among monsters, suggesting that Swallow might actually be on the side of humans. Of course, public opinion had quieted down after he completely annihilated Riaze, but as the saying goes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Most members of the Leprechaun Merchant Guild didn’t speak of it to outsiders, but they knew the truth—a few months ago, Swallow had also clashed with Erebos in Hastin. Adding Kurak and Hexabel to the list, Swallow had defeated three Great Evil Cave bosses all by himself.
…If he had already smashed three, what was to stop him from making it a fourth?
If Calamidad were to vanish at Swallow’s hands, only three Great Evil Caves would remain… and an era of chaos would return. The fragile hierarchy implicitly established among monsters would collapse. In such a world, commercial rights could never remain secure.
Right now, Scobina felt like she was helping to dig her own guild’s grave.
“No, never mind.”
Scobina shook her head. Accepting the request had been unavoidable. Making the subsequent judgments and taking action was the job of Guild Master Valer, not her.
Clack. The sound of wheels rolling over stone echoed noisily once more as the carriage, which had briefly stopped, moved forward again. Staring blankly out the window, Scobina pulled a random document from her pocket to kill time.
It was a copy of the report on Rium that she had given to Patrick.
“…Rium.”
Just as the guild had first reported to the Primordial Core, this was a situation that everyone in the Leprechaun Merchant Guild—including Valer—and indeed, all monsters, were watching closely.
The beastkin were an ambiguous race, positioned somewhere between humans and monsters. Some treated them as human, others as monsters. To make matters worse, they had lived for a hundred and fifty years with almost no interaction with other nations. It was impossible to even distinguish friend from foe.
“The Liberation War.”
The carriage was noisy enough that Aina wouldn’t hear her. Scobina murmured the words softly.
In the past, the beastkin had been slaves to humans. While humans typically killed monsters upon capture, they abused beastkin until the very end of their lifespans. In a way, their treatment was even worse.
The uprising of those beastkin became known as the Liberation War. Since it was an internal rebellion, she had heard that the casualties on both sides were catastrophic.
The victorious beastkin established the Divine Tree Kingdom of Rium on a small plot of land. Meanwhile, the human kingdoms that had conceded defeat banded together, eventually giving birth to the Empire.
From the beastkin's perspective…
The Empire was the object of their hatred—a coalition of the very humans who had abused and slaughtered their people. That hatred wouldn’t vanish simply because a few generations had passed.
Given that, they could have used the collapse of the Imperial Capital as an opportunity to wipe out the Empire for good, but…
If that were the case, they wouldn’t have dispatched an envoy.
If that had been their intention, half of the Empire’s territory would have fallen into their hands by now. But they hadn’t mobilized their army; they had merely sent an envoy.
Were they being cautious? Did they have another purpose? There was no way to know.
Finding that out was the task now assigned to the Leprechaun Merchant Guild.
I hope this ends well, and the beastkin become our new clients, too.
Neigh!
Just as she folded the paper and slipped it back into her pocket, a horse suddenly neighed, and the carriage shook violently.
“Ah!”
Aina tumbled to the floor at the sudden, jarring stop. Fortunately—