Volume 3 Chapter 81 The Vanished ‘Lion’s Companion
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Ten days ago, we got a rescue call from Ramsey’s Adventurer Guild in the north grain belt. The report said every night, people in the town streets were getting their blood taken, then killed. On top of that, the dead would rise from their graves and attack the living.”
”We immediately tried calling the advanced-rank Adventurers to send help. But, it seems Lord Owl in charge on the front lines refused to accept any Adventurers. Luckily, there was one party of advanced-rank Adventurers outside the fortress, so we asked them to go help.”
Friedrich and Izerland Fortress’s Guild Master Gonzales speak seriously.
Friedrich’s men stand in a line behind a glass door in the ‘Izerland’s Treasure Box’ tavern, which feels super weird and tense.
”So, it’s not the enemy Necromancer doing this, yeah?”
Rufna, who had been scribbling in her notebook at Kian’s seat, looks up.
She, Natra, and Sarah all suddenly have masks on their faces.
Friedrich shakes his head and says, “Probably not.”
”They say the damage hits both sides. Hairkin Races are calling the local Adventurers directly, without Guild approval, while Lord Owl’s using his own troops to handle it. So, these unknown monsters ain’t made by either military──they’re a third force, real in this world.”
’That dragon witch was explaining it to Oswald, huh?’
(Yeah, I was just ignoring it, thinking it’s none of my business, but now, with Rean missing, it looks pretty serious.)
”There have been sightings of a monster. ────Here are drawings of its appearance made by several informants. Also, the corpses that have been found are generally human-shaped, but they reportedly go berserk and transform into terrifying creatures. This is what the transformed creature looks like.”
The Guild Master, with makeup-wearing, butt-jawed Gonzales, pulled out several sheets of paper from between his bulging pectorals.
Natra and Sarah stood up and moved the plates from the center of the table.
(This is────)
He narrowed his eyes at the spread-out pictures of the monster.
The monster was depicted as something like a flying bat and others with clawed human-like appearances.
Some had tentacles with indecent shapes writhing out from their bodies.
Never in his ignorance had he seen or heard of such monsters.
Yet, the risen residents had a sense of familiarity with the monster’s transformed features.
”Long, bony limbs with a sturdy jaw, black beard and hair────. The details differ, but it looks a lot like Remi Cain. A member of the Cain species, an advanced-rank Bloodsucking Kind. A powerful type that can lurk in the shadows.”
”There are also reports of people turning into werewolves. This one’s not credible… but the important thing is that the hostile creatures have the ‘ability to make allies’. They can create allies and cleverly evade our search net. ────The other day, the top brass of the Frontier Guild, including myself and Friedrich, recognized this monster as Rank 1 for extermination.”
”And we got the information on the monster’s appearance 3 days ago. Around the same time, ‘Lion’s Companion’, who was heading towards Ramsey, disappeared. It was near the ‘Snow Past of the Giant’ leading to Lord Owl’s forward base in the Black Forest. They were supposed to meet up with the advanced-rank Adventurer party ‘Gray Bear’s Group’ after parting with the supporting Guild staff. But there was no word of a meeting, and when the staff returned to check, only the cobbler’s carriage was left there.”
”Cobbler carriage?”
”It’s fake. Friedrich came up with it to avoid Lord Owl’s blow-up. When it comes to war, those traveling salesmen who sell shoes to soldiers make a killing, you know?”
The cross-dressing Guild Master winks super hard.
No one knows why he winked, but he did.
Natra, who was just quietly listening, raises her hand faintly.
”Are you saying the ‘Grey Bear Group’ also vanished like the ‘Lion’s Companion’?”
”Yep. The only fortress adventure party I ever sent out was them. They’re… how to say, bunch of craftsmen types. They hated taking Guild support. If Lord Owl found out, they’d be bound up tight──so they only sent one message when they landed, no extra talks.”
”From what I heard from Her Excellency Maribel, 4 parties were sent from East End, right?”
”Three of them are already caught and chained, stuck in merchant city Ramsey under Lord Owl’s watch. The last one… tried to skirt around the frontline base to investigate but got caught by the enemy. No one knows if they’re alive or dead. But a guy from the Hairkin Races, who has a personal contract with some adventurers, saw them being dragged to the ‘Storm Herd’ camp.”
Friedrich looked over Kian, Serena, Natra, Sarah, and Rufna, one by one, then spoke again.
”I don’t expect much from you. Just follow those missing ‘Lion’s Companion’ and ‘Grey Bear Group’ and protect them. Of course, we all know how dangerous this mission is. As I said, that monster causing chaos in Ramsey can make more friends──best case, Rean and the others may already be captured and turned into monsters.”
”And about retrieving the missing kids, it doesn’t matter if they’re alive or dead. I want you to help, but if rescuers become victims themselves, then it’s all for nothing. You decide on the spot whether to shoot or break it.”
”I see. But hey, we’re a Lower-rank Adventurer party, right?”
Rufna took careful notes, but she glanced at Kian’s face before speaking up.”
”We were planning to work in East End for a while, just casually gathering funds and leveling up. We know something big is happening in Ramsey, but fighting for righteous anger and honor won’t put food on the table. Requests like these for charity should go to an advanced-rank Adventurer party that’s got more resources and skills.”
”Exactly. In a war zone, everyone’s short on cash, and tackling small quests at the same time won’t bring in any money. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to go to Ramsey just out of goodwill.”
”What does Serena think?”
Kian turned to the quiet Wolfmen girl, who had been listening.
”Tengu and okina have their views, but what about you? If you go to Ramsey, you might run into your old teammates. You know you can’t go home until you take your revenge, right?”
”──Revenge?”
”It’s a long and dark story, so I skipped it earlier. I’ll tell you later.”
Serena responded to Sarah and then looked up at Kian.
”I don’t mind getting close to the ‘Storm Herd.’ I’ll just do my job and come back home. If my parents find me, they might send me back, but I don’t even know if it’s really them. If it’s some distant Branch Family, I think I can at least talk to them.”
”Oh, are you related to the ‘Storm Herd’?”
”I was part of it before. Now I’ve been left behind in the herd… Kian’s party picked me up.”
”Left behind? Ms. Serena, you just said you left the herd earlier.”
Serena shook her head at Sarah’s words.
”I think I was really kicked out. Sorry… I don’t really wanna talk about this one.”
”No… it’s me who should be apologizing.”
”Don’t worry about it. ──So, I follow the party leader’s orders. But just going to Ramsey normally for a rescue mission might not be worth it.”
”Of course I won’t let you guys get hurt.”
Friedrich leaned forward and said that.
”Earlier, I said I’d do a job in East End to gather funds, but if you finished the job in Ramsey, I’d triple the contribution points, and pay 50 Silver Coins extra from the East End branch. If you get captured by Lord Owl on site, you just need to do monster hunting under Margrave’s control. Only at set times and within a set area, but you could earn pretty big.”
”And if you rescue the ‘Gray Bear Group’ or ‘Lion’s Companion’ that are missing, I and Friedrich will send you 80 Gold Coins each. If you find their corpses, you lose 3 Gold Coins per body. Even if everyone survives or everyone gets wiped out, after returning to East End or Izerland, your quest contribution points for 2 months will be tripled.”
”Triple!”
Even with glasses on, Kian can’t help but get excited.
Three times as much is no joke.
For example, if it takes 3 days to finish one quest, then clearing 3 similar quests, with rest days in between, takes about 11 days.
And in this threefold period, he can make the same amount ── 3 days’ worth of work.
The efficiency is totally different.
It’s gonna be tough to rank up to intermediate by the end of this month.
Maybe by next month, he’ll already be an advanced-rank Adventurer.
”Haha…”
”Three times is amazing…”
Rufna and Sarah also lit up their eyes at this.
Friedrich cast his drooping eyes toward everyone and continued Gonzales’ words.
”Because of the enemy’s ability, if we send in a mediocre force, they might just get absorbed. If we’re going to send someone, it needs to be a small elite team. There are some advanced-rank Adventurer parties in East End, but even considering them, I feel it’s best to leave this to you all. Please, will you take this request?”
”We will provide as much support as we can. Master Kian, I ask for your cooperation.”
”────”
Kian looked around at everyone’s faces at the table.
Going to Ramsey means there’s no time to leisurely boost Serena’s ability, but getting 3 times the contribution points is a huge deal.
He knew it was dangerous, but Adventurers were supposed to take risks to grab results.
When everyone nodded back, Kian turned to Friedrich and Gonzales and gave a single nod.
”Understood. I will accept this search request.”
* * *
He just signed the delegation papers on the spot and decided to leave the rest of the process to Friedrich and the others.
Friedrich stood up after collecting the documents for Kian and the other 4.
”We will take our leave now. We have to go meet Princess Maribel.”
”Her Excellency is currently speaking with Lord Renaud. I don’t think she’ll be back until the morning salon opens.”
”Really? Is that true?”
Friedrich and Gonzales exchanged glances.
Gonzales nodded once.
”Well then, though I’m not thrilled about it, I guess we’ll have to participate in the salon. Friedrich? Until then, let’s go check out this morning’s victims.”
”This morning’s victims──are you talking about the casualties from the Bloodsucking Kind incident at the fortress?”
When Kian asked, Gonzales replied, “Yeah.”
”Looks like another body showed up this morning. It’s at the tavern in Eastern Town. They’re rushing to confirm the identity, but it’s probably one of our Adventurers. That’s the eighth one now. The guard isn’t reliable. We have to handle this ourselves.”
”Have you heard anything from Her Excellency Maribel?”
”I was asked to search for a monster, but Lady Eleonora insisted that she and her Knight group would take care of it, so it just kind of got dropped. Her Excellency said she’d send a request to me later. Did it come?”
”I don’t know. If the princess delivered it, it’d probably be through the fortress Guild. Gonzales?”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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