Chapter 9: News from the Desert Mage

“The spiders’ poison stingers can’t pierce heavy armor. And they’re extremely weak to fire. Just a touch of flame will make them drop dead. Like most insect-type monsters.”

I gathered the team members and calmly explained.

Heavy armor that looked tough just by looking at it.

It was quite expensive equipment, but it was worth it for safety. Besides, I had plenty of money.

If I had my way, I would have made everyone wear it, but Lucia refused, no matter how many times I recommended it.

Something about how it’s hard for a mage to concentrate on magic while wearing heavy armor.

She was also confident she wouldn’t die to mere spiders.

“How do you know the characteristics of spider monsters in such detail?”

Galen asked with a puzzled expression as he tightened his helmet strap.

“Experience.”

“As expected of someone from the Adelheit family.”

I answered simply, but inwardly, I had other intentions.

This was a golden opportunity to confirm how similar this world was to the game I knew.

If it really doesn’t work…

Well…

Me, Aria, and Lucia, the three of us will somehow survive.

My conscience pricked me slightly for thinking this…

But what can I do? I’m just a single human being, after all.

“We’ll use this formation. Galen, Tom, and Jane will form a defensive line at the front, while Aria and I provide support from the flanks. Lucia will be in charge of finishing them off with fire magic from the rear.”

Though their expressions were half-doubtful, the team members nodded.

“Is the fire magic ready?”

“Ready anytime, brother.”

Aria was silently inspecting her sword.

No emotion could be read in her red eyes, but the aura emanating from her entire body was enough.

The presence of an Expert-level swordsman was something that couldn’t be hidden.

“Then let’s go in.”

The moment we stepped into the cave, the temperature dropped noticeably.

The damp air clung to our skin, and a strange scratching sound coming from somewhere sent a chill down my spine.

“Ugh, the smell…”

Jane grimaced.

A foul stench of rotten meat and spider secretions mixed together filled the entire cave.

When the torchlight illuminated the cave walls, it revealed a complex web of sticky spiderwebs.

And in between them, I could see things glinting.

“There!”

Tom shouted, aiming his spear.

Red dots, clustered in groups of eight, began to appear one by one from the darkness.

Giant spiders, the size of an adult man.

Their hairy legs, sharp fangs, and the poison stinger at the end of their abdomen gleamed ominously.

“Aaargh!”

Jane let out a small scream.

Even if she was from the Royal Guard, this must have been her first time facing monsters like these.

“Stay calm!”

I shouted loudly. A spider shot a poison stinger, but it was just as I had expected.

Clang!

The poison stinger bounced off Galen’s heavy armor.

It failed to pierce the steel plate and fell to the ground.

“It really… can’t get through!”

Galen’s voice was full of amazement.

“Do you believe me now?”

The spiders started to swarm towards us, but I grinned and drew my sword.

Spiders whose poison stingers were blocked…

There was no reason to fear them.

Dodging the spider’s straightforward attack by moving to the side, I imbued my sword with mana.

In a single strike, I sliced off two of the spider’s legs at once.

The mana-infused sword strike split the spider’s exoskeleton like cutting through butter.

I cut off the legs on the other side in the same way, then finished it with a downward strike.

But the real masterpiece was Aria.

Swish, swish!

Aria didn’t retreat a single step towards the lunging spider.

Instead, the tip of her sword precisely lopped off the spider’s head.

It was as precise as if she were using a scalpel while looking at an anatomy textbook.

“Whoa…”

Tom let out a sound of admiration. But the real show was just beginning.

“Lucia!”

As I shouted, Lucia’s voice came from the rear.

“Fire Ball!”

An orange fireball flew and exploded in the middle of the spider pack.

“Uh, huh?”

Lucia seemed flustered.

It clearly wasn’t powerful enough to kill them, but the spiders were dying too easily.

“It’s a trait of insect monsters. Their reproductive ability and toxicity are strong, but they are extremely weak to heat.”

My heart pounded as I explained.

I had confirmed that the game’s settings applied exactly the same in reality.

“Then I’m the star of the show!”

Lucia, excited, launched fireballs in succession.

Small flames flew, illuminating the inside of the spider cave, and with each one, the spiders fell one by one.

“No way…”

Galen muttered. The development was completely different from the fierce battle he had anticipated.

A perfect combination where Aria and I drew the spiders’ attention, and Lucia’s flames finished them off.

Galen? Tom? Jane? Sorry, but you’re just here to fill the numbers.

When the last spider fell, scorched by Lucia’s flame, silence fell upon the cave.

“It can’t be… this easy…”

Galen muttered with an expression of disbelief. His eyes were now filled with awe instead of doubt.

I cheered inwardly. My game knowledge worked perfectly in reality.

Now I could be truly certain.

My second greatest weapon in this world was this very knowledge.

“This should be enough to fulfill the subjugation quota designated by the guild.”

“We can’t end it here. Let’s go deeper.”

The victory was short-lived as I stared into the deeper parts of the cave and spoke.

I could see a passage leading into the darkness.

“Brother, we’ve already dealt with enough spiders…”

“Captain, the mission is already complete. There’s no need to take unnecessary risks…”

Thinking logically, it was wise to complete the mission safely and return.

But I was sure.

There was always a special discovery deep inside a spider cave.

It rarely ever ended as a simple subjugation mission.

“At worst, there are just more spiders. We just proved they’re no match for us.”

Lucia’s triumphant expression. She seemed to have gained confidence in exterminating spiders.

“That’s right, that’s right. With my fire magic, spiders are nothing…”

She created a small flame at her fingertip. I could feel the confidence from her overwhelming performance just now.

After a moment of thought, Galen nodded.

“Then… let’s go a little further. But if it seems dangerous, we retreat immediately.”

“Of course.”

And so, we headed into the deeper parts of the cave.

The passage was narrower than I thought. We had to walk in a single file.

Galen led the way with a torch, followed by me and Aria.

“The air is getting colder.”

Just as Tom murmured, the temperature was dropping.

It was natural for the temperature difference with the outside air to increase as we went deeper underground.

“The humidity is worse too.”

As Jane said, I could hear the sound of water droplets falling from the walls.

Drip, drip, drip.

The regular rhythm echoed in the darkness.

Where the torchlight didn’t reach, it was complete darkness.

The anxiety of not knowing what might jump out from that darkness weighed on the members.

“Captain, are you sure this is okay?”

Jane’s trembling voice.

“It’s fine. Just a little further.”

I replied. At this distance, a wide space should appear soon.

And indeed, after walking for a few more minutes, the passage suddenly widened.

“Whoa…”

Lucia let out a gasp.

Where the torchlight shone, a vast cavernous space unfolded.

The ceiling was so high it was out of sight, and the floor was packed flat.

“This must have been the spiders’ main nest.”

Galen said, looking around. Spiderwebs were intricately entangled everywhere, but they were no longer dangerous as their owners were gone.

Aria quietly approached my side. Her sharp senses seemed to have caught something.

“Is there something?”

I asked. Aria silently pointed to one side of the darkness.

As I approached the direction Aria pointed with the torch, a dazzling sight unfolded.

“What is this…”

Galen gasped.

Embedded in the spiderwebs were gold and silver coins.

“Spider monsters have a habit of collecting shiny things.”

I explained.

“I think I might have heard something like that at the academy.”

“My goodness… so much money…”

“Let’s collect it carefully. There might be poison on the webs.”

The members began to carefully collect the treasure.

“Captain, you’re amazing. How did you predict something like this?”

“Experience.”

It was the same answer as before, but now the members no longer doubted.

Our performance so far proved everything.

But the real discovery was something else.

While busy collecting treasure, Aria suddenly stopped.

Following her gaze, a shocking sight came into view.

There was a person, wrapped tightly in spiderwebs, unconscious.

“Over there!”

I ran immediately. It appeared to be a middle-aged man.

Aria carefully began to cut the spiderwebs with her sword.

“This is strange. Spiders don’t usually store their prey for this long…”

“He was probably caught recently. The webs still look new.”

Once all the webs were removed, the man’s full appearance was revealed.

“This man is a mage!”

“How do you know?”

“Look at that staff. It has a mana crystal embedded in it. And there’s a magic circle embroidered on the sleeve of his robe….”

“So you can tell at a glance because you’re in the same line of work.”

“Exactly.”

“Let’s move him outside first. It’s hard to give proper first aid here. Tom! Galen!”

I instructed Galen and Tom to move him.

It was the moment a simple spider subjugation mission expanded into a rescue operation.

This was one of the events I was aiming for, the ‘Rescue a High-Level Mercenary’ event!

But I was only expecting to hire one more person from the Royal Guard at best… recruiting an additional mage.

I’m in luck.