Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 7: The First Expedition (3).

The first night at the mining fortress passed without incident. Except for the two surprise wake-up calls that rang throughout the night… The wake-up calls were due to the members on night watch having seen suspicious movements.

Because of this, Allen kept yawning despite the morning sun rising buoyantly. A feeling of heaviness in his head due to fatigue… Not just Allen, but the majority looked similar.

After breakfast, Charlotte gathered the officers again. She scanned the faces of the seven others, excluding herself, and then opened her mouth.

“Let’s take turns exploring the surroundings from now on. Since it was mentioned that the presence of a monster was felt last night, if that’s true, there must be traces left behind. However, do not venture too deep. Just take a quick look around. In case the monster launches a surprise attack, we’ll come out to help immediately.”

“Understood.”

With that plan in place, the four mercenary groups decided on their order. The Charlotte-Mercenary Group was first, followed by the Allen Mercenary Group.

In turn, the Charlotte-Mercenary Group left the fortress first. The efforts of the subjugation force officers, who went out a short distance to see them off in order to make a good impression on the lord’s granddaughter, were commendable. Of course, Allen also saw them off, but he didn’t fawn over them.

The members watching their disgraceful behavior from a distance snickered and whispered among themselves.

“They’d probably drop their pants if asked to.”

“Do you think she needs a low-grade cock? She needs a high—grade cock.”

“What about the group leader’s dick?”

“…Well. But it doesn’t seem like they are getting along that well. The atmosphere seems that way.”

To the mercenaries, quick at reading the room, the stiff air between the two nobles was already noticeable.

“Then is the group leader’s cock mine?”

“You loose cunt bitch, even your dreams are wild.”

“Baby wee-wee can go fuck off.”

When Allen and Aiden returned, the gossiping behind their backs ended. Perhaps because of the conversation they were having, everyone’s gaze briefly landed on the group leader’s crotch before moving away.

Allen reminded them not to lower their guard even in broad daylight. Because even during the day, it couldn’t be guaranteed there wouldn’t be a monster attack.

He then slowly walked around the fortress, inspecting here and there, in case they missed something.

It wasn’t long before the Charlotte-Mercenary Group returned to the fortress. The area she was responsible for was the eastern district of the fortress. However, it seems they didn’t find anything in particular.

Next in line, Allen prepared the mercenaries to go out for investigation. Soon, fully equipped, they headed to the southern district of the fortress.

“Report anything suspicious immediately.”

Whether it was day or night, wandering through the always dark and gloomy demon lands was something that required more than ordinary courage. Allen too struggled with the fear that monsters might suddenly jump out of the darkness, but somehow, he managed to endure it.

Showing weakness here would surely lead the members to look down on him. For the sake of the future mercenary business, he had to persevere.

“Fuck, it’s creepy.”

“My asshole is tingling.”

“It’s leaking shit, isn’t it?”

“So that’s where the stench is coming from.”

The joking around ended briefly. They, too, lacked the energy to continue it further.

In the midst of this, Captain Aiden discovered something and sharply whistled to catch Allen’s attention. The group leader, stepping on to the sticky ground, approached the captain. The captain, squatting down, gestured a ‘take a look at this’ with his eyes to the group leader.

Ugh.

As he got closer, a foul smell wafted up. It was a huge amount of excrement. And it hadn’t hardened yet.

“…A monster must have been here.”

“It’s still a bit soft. Seems like it was done overnight. …It appears that what we saw last night wasn’t an illusion.”

This was the moment when the night watch’s tale was confirmed to be true. At the same time, Allen’s prediction was also proven correct.

The demon hounds were lurking around, watching them—.

“These ones already know the taste of humans. They’ll definitely come again.”

Allen instructed his members to roughly count the number of footprints around. Just to get an approximate number.

“There seem to be about five or six.”

That means there are at least five or six of them. Considering a typical pack of demon hounds numbers around ten, the count seemed about right.

“Got it. Let’s head back now.”

Since they had found evidence that those creatures were still lurking around, there was no need to unnecessarily risk their safety and waste energy wandering.

The Allen-Mercenary Group soon returned to the fortress. As soon as Allen got back, he immediately went to Charlotte and reported what they had found.

“Group Leader Charlotte. There were traces of monster excrement nearby. It seems to have been excreted last night…, they are probably still prowling around this area.”

“…Is that so? Understood. Good work.”

Charlotte responded nonchalantly and averted her gaze from Allen. He couldn’t help but let out a silent chuckle at her cold demeanor.

Wondering if it happened again, he checked, but it wasn’t her period. She apparently just didn’t like him.

After Allen returned to his spot, it wasn’t long before the third order mercenary group left the fortress. Bald Dolkin climbed up the stone wall to stand guard.

The sun, which had reached its zenith, now began to slowly descend. Soon after the third mercenary group returned, the fourth group took the baton.

Now, Allen’s body seemed to have gotten somewhat used to the deadly air of the demon lands, he was much calmer than yesterday. However, he never let go of the tension until the end.

Although it was all seen and experienced within the game, he knew the terror of the demon lands better than anyone.

At a moment of carelessness, he had experienced the situation of being completely annihilated so many times!

Meanwhile, the day had already begun to darken. The sunset seen from the fortress somehow felt ominous.

Before the sun set, the fourth mercenary group that went out for the last investigation also returned to the fortress. It seemed they too had found the monster’s excrement, as they made a fuss and went to report to Charlotte.

Cooking smoke was rising, and after the subjugation force had their fill, they each went back to their places.

Perhaps, the night of the demon lands was even more dynamic than the day.

The mercenaries, who could sleep anywhere and anytime as long as they laid their heads on the ground, slept again after having slept their fill during the day, of course, ready to wake up at any moment in case of an emergency.

They’re definitely coming. No doubt. They’re coming.

Allen was certain of it. Whether it would be tonight or tomorrow night, he didn’t know, but it was clear they would come.

Such were the devil hounds. Even while thinking it would be hot, they would still touch it at least once… Moreover, they had already succeeded once and had savored human flesh. Then, they would be even less likely to give up. Not until they get severely burned.

The noble young man, watching the sky turn increasingly black, slowly turned onto his side. Beyond the crackling campfire in the distance, he could see the small tent housing the lord’s granddaughter.

…She’ll do a good job. Yes, this time I’ll watch and learn. It’s my first real experience, after all. Yes. Let’s watch and learn. Don’t be scared. I can do it. Yes. I can do it…

Allen, quietly observing this, suddenly found his memory cut off at some point.

Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding────.

– Wake up, Wake uuuuuuuup────!

Charlotte, who had been soundly asleep on a makeshift bed made of wool, snapped her eyes open at that loud call.

Ah…

Before her thoughts could reconnect, eerie screams erupted from all around, piercing her ears. At the same time, the entrance to the tent was flung open, and the captain appeared. He was urgently looking for her.

“Group Leader Charlotte, we’re under attack!”

Charlotte couldn’t scold him for daring to open a lady’s tent without permission. …No, it was more accurate to say she wasn’t in the right state of mind to do so.

Until just before she went to sleep, she had been determined, but now faced with the monsters’ attack, her mind went blank.

“Group Leader!”

The captain called out to the dazed group leader once more. Only then did Charlotte snap back to reality, hurriedly climbing down from the bed and running out of the tent.

Outside was already in chaos. A monstrous creature, so eerie and terrifying that it made one feel nauseous just by looking at it, was biting people. The one caught by the creature was a porter, without even a decent leather armor.

With a crunching sound, a torso was torn apart. She hadn’t known that a human body could be so easily ripped open. Nor did she know it contained so much blood and intestines.

…Ah….

The confidence that had filled her to the brim was instantly devoured by terrible fear. Her head, once full of pre-arranged strategies and tactics, now malfunctioned and wouldn’t turn.

The subjugation force naturally gathered in one place. In the middle, non-combat personnel who couldn’t fight were pushed in, and the rest surrounded them, engaging in a bloody battle with the monsters.

“Kill them, haak haak, kill all these sons of bitches!!”

“My arm, my aaaaarm.”

“Snap out of it, you motherfuckers! To the side, to the siiide!”

The mad screams of a half-crazed mercenary, the wails of those whose limbs were torn off crying in pain, the deranged sobbing of the porters… In the hell of screams, Charlotte could do nothing but crouch among the porters, shivering.

The number of the demon hounds, Nasmoon, was much more than expected. Although it was estimated to be around ten at most, the number that appeared was nearly double that. Therefore, even the thirty-member subjugation force struggled. Moreover, with the command system down, the situation did not easily improve.

But at some point, the Allen-Mercenary Group began to stand out, gradually defeating the monsters. Allen, the youngest son of the Pomwell trading company, rumored to be a coward, unlike other non-combat personnel, stayed close to his members and issued various commands.

“Dolkin, hold the front—! Olga, cover Dolkin from the back—! Don’t face them all at once—! Eliminate them one by one—! One by one, methodically deal with them and eliminate them—!!”

Of course, he wasn’t this proactive from the beginning. Like Charlotte, he was flustered and stammered at the onset of the attack. He was prepared, but the monster was far more terrifying than imagined.

However, as death approached too closely, oddly enough, his mind cleared. It was so close that it became invisible.

It didn’t mean his rationality was intact. His mind was directly getting hit by the swirling excitement, unable to be controlled.

“Vorgor, Vorgor you son of a bitch! Snap out of it! A fucking son of a bitch popped out from the side just now! Do you want to see us all dead?!”

Empowered by Allen’s commands, the monsters were falling one by one. However, there were too many demon hounds. They were managing to eliminate them one by one, but it was still hard to make a noticeable counterattack.

The stamina of the mercenary group was gradually running out, and the minor mistakes were increasingly becoming more frequent. Time was now of the essence.

This wasn’t something that could be solved by just Allen and his mercenary group doing well. Everyone had to defeat them simultaneously, as quickly as possible, before something worse happened—.

Fury reddened Allen’s eyes as he scanned the surroundings with an excited face. It was clear that the subjugation force was in disarray. However, Charlotte, who should have quickly assessed the situation and issued orders from behind, was nowhere to be seen.

“That fucking bitch, what the hell is she doing now!”

While frantically looking around, Allen found her crouched among the porters, shivering in fear.

“Itt, son of a, bitch…!”

Ji-hoo had lived a relatively decent life on Earth, but seeing that idiotic sight, he couldn’t help but curse.

He immediately ran over, grabbed the fucking bitch by the scruff, and hoisted her up. Then, shaking the hand that held her scruff, he cursed at her frightened face, not giving a shit if his spit was flying or not.

“You fucking bitch, are you not going to snap out of it quickly?! You fuck, we’re all going to die at this rate, you fucking bitchhhhh!!”

Honestly, right now he was overwhelmed just covering his own mercenary group. He didn’t have the capacity to care about anything else. In such a situation, how could he not be angry when things were spread out like this?

“Ah, ah, uh….”

Charlotte sobbed. Unable to contain his anger that reached the tip of his head, Allen slapped her across the face. It was a shock strong enough to whip her head around.

Tah, ack-.

“Hurry up and go, you fucking bitch! Hurry up and handle those sons of bitches!!”

After pushing her towards where the Charlotte-Mercenary Group was, Allen then ran back to where his own mercenary group was. It was a situation where every moment was urgent.

Perhaps because she was harshly slapped, her wandering mind snapped back to reality.

“O, oh, Em, Emily, Emily—! Pollock’s back is empty. Pollock—, back is—, empty—!! You need to cover it—! Don’t you know your role—?!”

As the group leader quickly assessed the situation from behind and began giving orders, the once flustered Charlotte-Mercenary Group gradually started to find their footing. Only then did the subjugation force catch a breath of relief.

The monsters quietly slinked away only after about half of them were dead and collapsed.

With a woeful cry, they swiftly retreated like the tide going out, each with a corpse in their mouths, of course.

The battle that had abruptly started went on for quite a while before it just as abruptly ended.

The subjugation force won. They withstood the monster’s attack and repelled the enemies.

…However, there were no cheers for the deeply wounded victory.

Only rough breathing, sobbing, and the relief of having barely survived.