Chapter 93
Chapter 93
Ch. 93 .｡.:✧ Chapter 93 ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Then as we discussed yesterday…”
“Let’s search in order.”
“Ah, Inha.”
At that moment, Servisso called out to me.
“After this request is completed, the branch manager would like to extend an invitation to you and your companions.”
At the mention of the branch manager’s invitation, Cereo’s party members’ pupils dilated.
“I understand. We’ll accept the invitation.”
“Thank you. He wanted to invite you earlier, but due to scheduling…”
“I’ve heard. It’s fine.”
It seemed he wanted to say that they hadn’t discriminated against me for being a warlock.
‘There’s no need to be that careful…’
It appeared that Otriokar’s influence was greater than I had thought.
After this brief conversation, we set out from the territory.
The first place we headed to was Normary Village.
Naturally, we received a warm welcome, and Cereo’s party members’ eyes widened noticeably when they saw that we were even provided with lodgings.
“We don’t need lodgings. We’re planning to go straight into the forest…”
“That’s a shame. But could you spare a little time…”
It turned out that the two survivors I had rescued in the past wanted to meet me.
As there was no reason to refuse, I nodded readily.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, my daughter and I were able to survive.”
“Thank you…”
“So you’re mother and daughter.”
“Your wife…”
“She passed away long ago…”
“I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
“No, it’s alright. Please speak freely…”
“This is comfortable for me. I’m glad to see you’re in good health.”
“If you ever need anything, please call on us anytime. We may not be of much help, but…”
This was somewhat unexpected.
Even if they had been saved, people usually hesitated to approach a warlock who had helped them…
‘They’re good people.’
The timing was especially good.
As I glanced at Cereo’s party, their agitation was palpable even from where I stood.
“…We’ve visited here often too…”
“Come to think of it, wasn’t their request just a one-time thing?”
“To receive this much recognition for just one request?”
Their evaluation of us, especially me, was rising in real-time.
‘We’re lucky.’
While there was no need to become close, a basic level of trust was necessary.
‘Though that will become a trap for them.’
Seeing their agitation, Athena looked extremely proud.
She had always disliked how I was despised for being a warlock, and now that we were receiving all sorts of recognition here, and it was being witnessed by the mercenaries who had been wary of us, she seemed to be feeling vicarious satisfaction.
Seeing Athena like this, Cereo’s party members cleared their throats repeatedly.
Tildi, the priest, chatted excitedly, saying it was the first time he had seen a warlock welcomed by a village, and Athena, seemingly pleased with Tildi’s reaction, shared stories about the previous troll subjugation as she conversed with him.
Thanks to this, we were able to enter the Monster Forest in a much improved state compared to before, and pass through the entrance of the forest in a relatively better atmosphere.
Just as we passed the entrance, Cereo spoke up.
“From here on, you need to be careful.”
Even without his words, his companions were already tensing their bodies.
“Advanced monsters occasionally appear in this area.”
“Advanced, you say…”
“Basilisks. …Although it might be somewhat better since all of your party members can handle mana…”
Basilisks.
With their tough bodies and petrifying gaze, they were tricky monsters to deal with.
“That wasn’t in the subjugation requests, do they appear often?”
“There used to be requests, but they were never caught. Plus, sightings have decreased recently, and since they never came out to the forest entrance in the first place, even the guild doesn’t pay much attention to them these days.”
‘That’s unexpected.’
There had been no mention of basilisks being found near the Minotaur tribe.
Although it was a search request, there was no need to turn back, so I had planned a route that would naturally lead us towards the Minotaur tribe after visiting a couple of places.
‘After all, the terrain where medium-large monsters like Minotaurs can live is limited.’
If I could roughly estimate the scale, I could have the options.
Cereo offered opinions and listed candidate locations, and I just had to make appropriate choices from those.
Therefore, guiding wasn’t a particularly difficult task.
‘I was active in this area, but I never heard rumors about basilisks…’
Well, I had been targeted by Cereo’s party and had mostly operated alone, so I had never gone deep into the area.
I hadn’t had the opportunity to see requests for advanced mercenaries either.
So it wasn’t strange that I didn’t know about this.
“Also, you might know this, but in this area, monster territories change frequently. It gets even worse as we go deeper.”
“Things probably haven’t changed much from what I know, but just in case. If we cause a commotion, it could trigger a chain reaction among the monsters.”
If that happened, exaggerating a bit, it could lead to a small-scale monster wave.
‘That would be troublesome.’
Although I called it a small-scale monster wave, at its core, it was a territorial dispute.
It was called that because the scale could grow due to the commotion, but there were limits, and it wouldn’t affect areas outside the Monster Forest.
The reason it could be troublesome was simply because our stamina wasn’t infinite.
‘Although we have undead, most of us are human after all.’
This place was a complex battlefield.
Even low-level monsters that survived in the depths had their reasons for doing so.
Moreover, in an environment where territorial disputes occurred frequently, once you started losing, it was over, so they were likely to fight desperately.
So Cereo’s warning to be careful certainly had merit.
I brought out all of the Living Armors that I hadn’t taken out because there was no special need for them, and Cereo’s party flinched at the sight.
“…Hmm, you certainly are a warlock, and a necromancer at that.”
Tildi, the priest, spoke as if finding it interesting.
“I could sense magical power, but I was a bit suspicious because of your personality…”
The magical power they sensed was due to the artifact since I used pure magic.
‘Can priests detect it?’
He probably couldn’t distinguish it precisely.
He wasn’t an advanced priest, just an apprentice as he had said.
It was more likely that he used that term because everyone else referred to it as magical power.
Still, there was a slim possibility, so I judged that it was good to have brought the artifact.
“They might not be good at concealing their presence, but they’ll be helpful in emergencies. You don’t need to worry about the rear.”
Honestly speaking, with my support, they would show performance surpassing Cereo’s party.
‘While magical power is weak against divine power, it’s a different story with pure magic.’
With pure magic, the side with more quantity had the advantage when clashing with divine power.
Therefore, even with a party that included a priest, the four Living Armors would likely be stronger than Cereo’s party.
“Wow, to think I’d live to see the day where we’re under the protection of undead!”
At Tildi’s carefree words, the two shield warriors shook their heads, and Flana, the spear wielder, seemed to barely suppress saying something.
If it hadn’t been for the attitude shown by the villagers in Normary Village, they would have said something long ago.
“This is interesting. The material is strange. Hmm… Is it the carapace of a giant ent?”
“That’s the base, mixed with various other things.”
“It doesn’t look ordinary… Was it made by a skilled craftsman?”
“Let’s say it was.”
Indeed, perhaps because she was an intermediate mercenary, despite her young appearance, Annelise seemed to immediately notice that the Living Armor’s body was no ordinary armor.
‘Well, it was made by a dwarf, so it’s certainly different.’
Cereo took the lead while maintaining a solid formation.
There were a few battles during the journey, but there was no danger.
In the process, we were able to confirm the skills of Cereo’s party.
‘They work well together.’
They were very stable and organized.
Their individual skills were not lacking, and their teamwork was among the best at the intermediate level.
The performances of Cereo, the leader, and Tildi, the priest, were particularly noteworthy.
‘The amount of divine power is small, but he has a good eye.’
He knew exactly when and how to provide support.
‘If it weren’t for the lack of divine power, he would have become an advanced priest long ago.’
Perhaps, if I hadn’t had the artifact, he might have even noticed that I used pure magic.
‘I shouldn’t underestimate him.’
For reference, Annelise also showed an impressive performance.
Despite using a bow for long-range support, her accuracy and firing speed were not bad, to the point where it was surprising.
‘Is she using mana?’
Her strength was incredible for a woman.
‘It’s hard to have that kind of strength with that build…’
I thought that she might possibly be a mixed-blood with another race.
Of course, considering her human appearance, even if her blood was strong, she would be at most a quarter non-human.
I couldn’t know for sure.
When we arrived at the first location, we confirmed that an orc tribe had settled there.
“It seems this isn’t the place.”
“We can’t expect to succeed on the first try.”
“Just in case, I’ll scout the surroundings once more.”
“I’ll do it.”
At that moment, Athena stepped forward.
“It could be dangerous. I’m more familiar with this area, so I should…”
“Can I go?”
Athena ignored Cereo and asked me, and I nodded.
“I’d appreciate it if you could.”
“I’ll be back.”
At this complete dismissal, the faces of Cereo’s party members noticeably frowned, but Athena paid no attention to it.
Despite having fought together once, Athena didn’t speak to anyone except Tildi.
It seemed she was in a foul mood due to their extreme wariness at the beginning, and even though things had improved somewhat after Normary Village, they still occasionally looked at us with suspicious eyes.
Athena returned before long.
“There’s nothing. This area is completely orc territory.”
“We can’t expect to succeed on the first try. We’ll rest today and go to the second location tomorrow.”
Since I had already spotted a suitable resting place during our journey, it didn’t take long to set up camp.
Cereo’s party looked surprised when they saw our tents and boundary stones, which were everyday use artifacts.
“…That’s completely overkill in terms of money.”
“Watch your mouth, Flana.”
“…Yes, leader. Sorry.”
Considering the skills of our party members, they all probably heard that comment, but no one reacted.
‘Well, it’s a fact.’
Indeed, it was quite extravagant for mercenaries to use.
Especially without connections to the Magic Tower, one would have to go through merchants and pay an exorbitant price.
Of course, we had just picked up what Kuman and the lord left behind when they died, so it didn’t cost us a penny.
“We’ll take the night watch…”
“We appreciate that.”
We were the employers.
So they seemed to be showing consideration.
There was no reason to refuse.
At a time when everyone was asleep, I was awakened by their chatter during the change of night watch.
“…He’s no ordinary warlock.”
“Did you see those undead?”
“Of course. We’re still seeing them.”
I hadn’t put away the Living Armors in case of any unexpected situations.
“…The leader said he’d have a hard time defeating even one of those.”
“Come on, he could at least beat one. He even bought a mana breathing technique.”
“What good does that do? His mana amount isn’t much. How long has it been since he bought it?”
“Ugh… Is that so?”
“Besides, you saw their skills, right? The other three are a problem too.”
“…Tsk. But his personality seemed normal so far.”
“How long have you been dealing with warlocks? How do we know he won’t snap at the last moment? How many warlocks have caused trouble and disappeared like that?”
“Don’t worry. If that happens, they’ll never be able to work as mercenaries again. Even though the Mercenary Guild operates on a branch basis, they would never accept them again. Unless they hid their identities for life…”
Rabid said in a self-deprecating voice that our lives weren’t worth that much.
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[hmmm i wonder if this tildi dude is gonna turn out to be some psycho or somethin what are yall bettin on?]
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