Chapter 101 – Careful Preparation (8)
14. Careful Preparation (8)
Ar responded to the call accompanied by abusive language. It was also because there was less black hair here, and it was a voice I had heard decisively.
‘They’re like wolves.’
The voices got closer and closer. Ignoring Ar, I decided to go my own way.
“Uh? Hey, hey!!!”
The voice faded away again in an instant.
**
A day passed and the long-awaited equipment delivery day arrived. When we submitted the certificate, which had been carefully kept like an heirloom, to the staff, it came back to us, saying that we wanted to see the brilliant armor and weapons that shined like new.
There was almost no change in appearance, but there is something called feeling.
The two-level upgraded armor seemed to be able to block any attack by sticking to the body, and the hatchet seemed to be able to shatter any monster’s head.
The defense, stamina, and attack power of the entire corps of warriors went up, so they became reassured. Seeing Kaya and Shay swinging their weapons around with smiles on their faces also seemed very happy.
‘Good. It’s possible to destroy everything except in the second half of the last dungeon.’
The preparations were completed immediately. The request was accepted right away, and the final pieces were gathered, so all we had to do was start. After being fully armed, the already dwarf Ar looked very poor, but he couldn’t help it. She may sound cold when she says this, but she wasn’t a member of our warrior squad yet. Reconciliation with Kaya was just that they became equal partners for ‘conversation’, it wasn’t like a test to accept them as members of the Hero Corps right away.
It reminded me of the past moments when I graded and changed based on the basic specs, characteristics, and skills I had. It was no different than now.
‘No. You don’t have to feel any guilt. It’s natural for clearing the dungeon.’
It’s not that I use it and replace it for one-time use, I just carefully select it. Back then, when I died, I was a game character who would only slash at the keyboard and curse and play games, but now I am a comrade who shares life and death.
While heading to the place written in the request form, colleagues were talking about various things.
“Nonsense! How did you succeed in a request that took over a week, but only got that much money?”
“I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t been active… At least, I would have received more than that if I had only played the role of porter. Is it exploitation?”
“I am alone. There is no one on my side either. Each one can win, but they’re packs of wolves.”
‘It’s a bit strange for a werewolf to use words like that.’
Well, Ar had never transformed before coming to Salem, and even after transforming, his wolfish characteristics were not so prominent, so his identity as a werewolf might be weak. Her mother said she was human, so maybe it’s because she’s a mixed race.
Anyway, somehow Arr came up with a story about how he ate and lived in Salem, and all of us who heard it were outraged even though it wasn’t something we had to go through.
It was an obvious exploitation. That’s a huge level of exploitation.
“It is too unfair. Have you ever reported it?”
“You’re right. No matter how much compensation distribution is a matter between the parties, this was too severe. And not once, but many times…”
“Do you know that I couldn’t think of such a thing? I am not a warrior. I don’t know, because I’ve never been a non-hero, but this city doesn’t guarantee the rights of non-heroes. Being a hero is also common, so do you think you will protect a powerless ephemera from being exploited by ephemera?”
“That…”
“Then, register as a hero.”
“Do you think you could have done it? The race is being exposed?”
“Ah.”
Even Kayaman tried to kill Ar, whom he saw for the first time. Except for the church members, it wasn’t to that extent, but it was the same that they rejected werewolves. Revealing one’s race at Salem Castle would have been an act of suicide in a place where the branches of various denominations were concentrated in a small area.
“Then why do you keep staying here? It’s hard. That’s unfair. It’s embarrassing. It’s dangerous.”
“I ran away from the cultists who killed my father. Before my dad died, he told me to run away to Salem. That’s why I came here.”
We are at a loss for words. In particular, Kaya and Shay, who are “Persons of the Church,” Even stopped. The werewolf standing in front of the people of the two denominations was the most calm.
“Aren’t you going?”
“No, are you…”
“I don’t even know why I said this. But I just thought the same.”
“Same? What?”
“Just as you see me as a werewolf different from other werewolves, I can consider you a different cult from other cults.”
Ar looked up at me.
“Are they the same?”
“… Okay. It’s the same.”
“Okay. So stop talking about my past, which would be nice. I don’t really want to.”
Because Kaya and Shay stopped walking, Ar, who had been in the lead, returned to his original position, the last row. We walked again Feeling the sound of footsteps getting a little heavy, I opened the request form.
「Extermination of pests and seawater around the western outskirts of Salem」
Salem was a fairly large city, and a city with unusually developed commerce. The primary industry, including agriculture, is relatively poor, so the food self-sufficiency rate is probably much lower than other cities.
One of the few food production spots in Salem was the Salem Livestock Farm located in and around the outermost western part.
It was no different from a restaurant for pests and seawater, and there was no end to extermination, so at Salem Castle, I had no choice but to keep asking for mustard while crying. In short, it was a 24/7 request.
‘The reward itself isn’t that bad, but…’
It bothered me that the typical words of those who experienced the request were ‘It was fucking fucking stupid’, and that it was a request that would make most ephemera shake their heads unless money was urgent. Considering that most ephemera have experienced it, the difficulty level itself shouldn’t be difficult, but the other quests were too trivial or took too long, so there was no alternative.
After walking for about two hours, we arrived at our destination. There were not only us but well over ten people fiddling with weapons and chatting. They glanced briefly at our appearance, then each kicked, spit, or muttered abusive language.
“Those guys…”
“Be patient.”
“Leader.”
“If you insist, we have entered their territory. And there is no benefit.”
“All right.”
In the first place, the target of this request was officially the ‘heroes’. However, the warriors who went to the dungeon where they could get more gold coins than the quest rewards, these requests couldn’t be seen. The ephemera eats it, and the Salem Saints know it but ignore it out of necessity. In their eyes, we look like warriors, but we will look like unlucky bastards trying to steal our small and dirty rice bowl.
‘I’m going to say it once, but there’s no need to cause friction. I don’t know if he jumps at me.’
It didn’t seem like they would all come running. I wonder if the other side knew that too, so I didn’t bother further.
Strength.
Because of that difference, it was possible to be exploited for rewards like Ar from before, and to overwhelm the force even if there were a minority like now. The logic that is used wherever people live is probably the same everywhere, but it was a bit like that for no reason that this kind of logic of the jungle is done in the name of a ‘hero’. They were once heroes too, and there might be some who are secretly maintaining their title… Now he just looked like a bad quality ‘mercenary’.
“Ha… It’s only about this much. So I’ve suggested several times to raise the pay.”
I was immersed in heavy thoughts that didn’t suit me for no reason, but I was able to escape from my short thoughts by the voice of a middle-aged man standing on a small rock and sighing.
He sighed heavily and looked around him, then spotted us and smiled openly.
“I was worried when I saw the list of applicants, but they really came! If you are not a newcomer and have an experienced warriors, this amount is enough! Cancer!”
‘There’s no need to talk about the warriors’ team, man…’
His words, which seemed to be in charge of the commission, were no doubt good. I wanted to quickly get out of this uncomfortable place. That middle-aged man also let out a clearing of his throat, perhaps noticing the atmosphere, and sent us to the place of request first.
“The four of you can go here, to Area 1.”
“Is it okay if we block only area 1?”
“You’re right. Please understand that the livestock farm is so large that we have no choice but to share power.”
“All right. Then, exactly when should we block it?”
“There is no set time or number of treatments, but there is a slight lull in about half a day to half a day. You will know when you see it.”
“From half a day to half a day… What if they keep coming after half a day?”
“Blow this on then.”
It was a very small flute. What do you mean by blowing this? Perhaps he noticed my doubts, he added quickly.
“I will send in reinforcements from those in charge of other sectors! If there is no reinforcement within 30 minutes after blowing the flute, I will not hold you accountable if you retreat.”
“All right. Then.”
He nodded his head when he said that he would not be held accountable even if he retreated. I didn’t hear the risk of dying. The key was how and how much seawater and pests came in, and how fucked up they would be.
The man headed for District 1.
“Beautiful. Have you tried this request?”
“No. No matter how urgent the money was, I didn’t do this.”
“Why?”
“… Whether it’s pests or seawater, you have to kill a lot in one place. If you kill a lot, you will bleed a lot. If you do it slowly, you will get much less money, even less. So I didn’t.”
“No, then why didn’t you say anything now?”
“Because I am not alone now.”
Hmm.
Aar must have been speaking of her own situation, not her literal alone, but her words had a strange echo. I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, because I could see that Kaya and Shay also flinched at the moment.
“Ah. I see you over there.”
“From half a day to half a day… I think the distribution of stamina is important.”
“It would be better to find the source and eradicate it altogether.”
“If that was possible, I wouldn’t have done it sooner.”
A message popped up when I passed the place where the requester had put a sign in advance. It’s been a few days since I cleared it, it felt like I’ve been watching it for the first time in a while.
[You have entered the instance dungeon ‘Relentless Threat’.]
[In instance dungeons, the amount of experience gained decreases.]
[You can retreat in instance dungeons.]
‘It’s a constant threat… It’s grandiose.’
I thought it was right in the sense of constantly threatening Salem’s food condition, and turned my eyes to Ar.
‘Did you open your profile!’
[Ar*Ar]
Race/Gender: Werewolf Female
Class: Werewolf
She entered the dungeon together and was able to check Ar’s profile. Her heart was pounding.
[Ar*Ar]
Race/Gender: Werewolf Female
Class: Werewolf
Level: 3
Max HP: 15/21
Attack power (2): 3~11/3~15
Defense (1) : 2/4
Speed: 4/1
Knight Regeneration/Awakening: 7/10%
Scouting Chance: 27/23%
Positive Characteristics: *Rationality (does not fall into ‘Rage’ state when transforming) / Flexibility (attack range +1) / Quarterly (Speed +1 for the first round only) / Skillful (increases critical hit rate when in human form, when in wolf form) attack power increase)
Negative Characteristics: * Immature Transformation (Cannot maintain transformation for long) / Hemophobia (Mentality decreases with a certain probability when landing a critical hit or killing an enemy) / Death Fear (The amount of mentality reduction increases as one’s or teammates’ HP decreases)
“What are you doing? Stand blankly.”
‘Oh my god… What kind of profile is this?’
I was at a loss for words at the collaboration between the profile of the first time I saw it and the characteristics of the patient.
