Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 113: Overwhelming (1).

Group Leader Allen gathered as much information as possible about the monster.

The bleating sound of a goat.

Bipedal walking like a human.

A goat’s head, a lion’s torso, and a monkey’s arms.

A gigantic build.

With this, Allen roughly deduced the identity of the monster.

Vendradan—also known as Goat Head.

The fact that even a mere monster had a name indicated it was a close aide among the demon’s minions. Naturally, its combat power was also considerable.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to make him tremble in fear, but it was certainly a tough opponent for a mediocre Southern mercenary group. Moreover, since it commanded the beasts of the Demon Lands, the difficulty level was even higher.

Since it was a beast summoned from hell through summoning magic, there was also a way for the summoning mage to reverse summon it. However, seeing that they had no idea about the mage’s whereabouts, it seemed that the mage had already been taken out by the summoned beast… Well, even a beast would know that there was nothing good about keeping a mage alive unless it was a fool.

…In fact, this situation didn’t originally start in Berge, but since Berge was the only nearby city directly connected to the Demon Lands, they ended up cleaning up someone else’s mess. But what could they do? In the end, as the saying goes, the one in a hurry digs the well; it’s the way of the world.

Anyway, based on that information, Allen rearmed the mercenary group. He changed the shields in the first row from large and heavy tower shields to slightly smaller and lighter round shields, bought holy water in bulk, and even prepared a silver dagger just in case. Although holy water or silver weapons were not more effective against monsters, they were very deadly to demonic beasts.

And since monsters generally attack from all directions, they practiced changing their formation from a column to a circular formation. Fortunately, they had used something similar to a circular formation during the Siren’s Song incident before, so the members quickly adapted to it.

…The next thing Group Leader Allen did was to handle the remaining detailed negotiations.

For Southern Village Girl Charlotte, who thought the discussion would proceed simply and verbally, Allen’s sudden formal approach to creating a negotiation table was baffling.

Of course, Allen was never the kind of person to go easy just because the other party was an acquaintance or almost became his fiancée. As the Group Leader of a mercenary group, he knew how to separate business from personal matters.

“…What?! You’re saying to add two hundred more gold coins?!”

Unlike the startled Charlotte, Allen remained calm and composed.

“The monster is called Vendradan. It particularly craves human brains and is extremely difficult to deal with… Honestly, I can’t help but think that a thousand gold coins are too little to risk our lives.”

“But twelve hundred gold coins, honestly, that’s way too much…!”

Considering that the one-month hiring fee for the Charlotte-Mercenary Group slightly exceeded 100 gold coins, it meant that the short-term hiring fee for the Allen-Mercenary Group was more than ten times that amount. Furthermore, they needed to match the fee for the accompanying Pharos-Mercenary Group, which would require over two thousand gold coins in total.

“You’re only spending an additional two hundred coins anyway. There’s no way His Excellency can’t handle that, right? The revenue from the copper mines must be enormous…”

“But that doesn’t justify wasteful spending.”

“It’s not waste; it’s a rightful demand. Weren’t we supposed to finalize the detailed negotiations after coming here and verifying the situation? That’s what I understood.”

“…But still.”

Honestly, there was nothing to argue against… In the first place, this was the first time she learned that the beast’s name was Vendradan.

After cornering the opponent as much as possible, Allen slightly loosened the grip.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure the money is well spent. There won’t be any complaints of it being a waste… For now, isn’t it more important to resolve this situation by any means necessary?”

Charlotte, after long deliberation, finally agreed.

“…Alright. I understand.”

From her perspective, having the negotiation fall apart over a mere two hundred gold coins after coming this far was the last thing she wanted. Of course, Allen was counting on that.

“A wise choice. As expected, Group Leader Charlotte’s insight is exceptional.”

Even though it was a flattering remark, she didn’t dislike it.

In any case, as per Allen’s wish, they agreed to add two hundred more gold coins. Thus, the hiring fee was twelve hundred gold coins… Honestly, it was an unimaginable amount in the South, but having already experienced the prices in Vermandois, Charlotte no longer thought it was an unreasonable cost. Of course, persuading her father, Count Eibreheim, was another matter.

Fortunately, the generous and kind Count easily accepted his daughter’s request and issued the final approval order. Even if it meant paying a bit more, he seemed to think of it as a valuable experience for his daughter.

Thus, the Allen-Mercenary Group, the Pharos-Mercenary Group, the Charlotte-Mercenary Group, and two miscellaneous Southern mercenary groups, making a total of five mercenary groups, decided to head towards the Demon Lands, where the demonic beasts were, three days later.

And the final three days of preparation.

In the meantime, the members of the group each made their preparations in their own ways. Group Leader Allen also checked the status window daily to monitor the condition of the members.

Even after the friendship sex on the first day, Itty Titty Natasha still visited Allen every evening, craving a friendship kiss as usual. The only difference was that the caresses, which used to be over the clothes, now went underneath.

However, like an unspoken rule with the Milk-Jug Mage, Allen tried to avoid sex during missions as much as possible. The incident on the first day was an exception due to its suddenness… Instead, everything except sex was allowed.

Interestingly, the sexual desire was much stronger from Itty Titty Natasha than from the Milk-Jug Mage.

Elena tended to avoid contact with Group Leader Allen as much as possible until her mission was completed. Occasionally, on days when it was particularly hard to resist, she would secretly visit and eagerly suck the Group Leader’s delicious cock.

However, Natasha was truly an incarnation of lust. Every time Allen checked her status window, he saw the phrase that she desperately wanted sex. It was as if it was a built-in feature from the beginning. Furthermore, every night before bed, she would come and give him sticky, lewd kisses… Honestly, it was tough for Allen to hold back during those times.

Anyway, just as the breast sizes of the two women were vastly different, so were their sexual styles. As they say, you never know until you try, and it was exactly right.

…And the three-day preparation period passed in the blink of an eye.

The Allen-Mercenary Group, having completed all preparations, went out to the outer courtyard of the Count’s Castle before dawn. Soon, the other four mercenary groups gathered and finished their preparations for departure.

Just before departure, the five group leaders gathered in one place. Four of them gave a brief report to the representative, Charlotte, and boarded the carriage.

“Depart!”

The carriage carrying the Charlotte-Mercenary Group set off first, followed by the other four mercenary groups in a line.

With five carriages carrying the mercenary groups and two carriages loaded with supplies, a total of seven carriages quickly left the mid-sized city of Berge, clattering along the dry dirt road. Occasionally, when the wheels hit the sand, long trails of dust fluttered in the wind.

The mercenary group camped for a night halfway and arrived at the fortress at the entrance of the Demon Lands early the next morning. Due to the mine being halted for several months, only a few guards were stationed there.

Captain Malcolm of the guards warmly welcomed the mercenary group. They parked their carriage in the fortress, took a brief rest, and then gathered their belongings to finally enter the Demon Lands.

Whether it was the central or southern Demon Lands, the Demon Lands were indeed the Demon Lands, and their eerie atmosphere was equally terrifying. However, the seasoned members, having experienced many battles, were certainly more composed compared to the other Southern mercenary groups.

Allen particularly instructed the Blind Saintess to carefully detect the evil aura of the demonic beasts. Unlike other monsters, the beasts harboring the dark mana of demons would emit a sinister and dark aura different from ordinary mana…

He also gave instructions to the Milk-Jug Mage—to conserve mana as much as possible until they encountered the demon. As an elemental mage, Elena’s single-hit damage was very powerful, so it would be most effective to unleash all her mana when the demon appeared. It was honestly a waste to use such powerful magic on other creatures in the Demon Lands. Moreover, her magic wasn’t particularly efficient either.

…And always be prepared for emergencies…

Having been severely beaten in the game [Guild Master], Allen didn’t trust appearances. It wasn’t just once or twice that he had received a simple monster-slaying mission, only to be suddenly and harshly attacked by some demon out of nowhere.

Still, the current strength of the Allen-Mercenary Group was quite considerable, so unless a high-ranking demon appeared, they should be able to handle it. Of course, no matter how much of a shitty luck game this was, it was rare for a high-ranking demon to suddenly appear in such a godforsaken place. It was almost never the case.

Moreover, it was only Chapter 2. Honestly, even lower-ranking demons appearing would be almost forced… But this shitty game sometimes forced such situations, so one had to be prepared.

Allen let out a self-mocking laugh at himself, who had been clinging to this game of utmost irrationality for over ten years.

…Perhaps the true [Masochist] was himself.