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Chapter 82: The Stilted Stampede
🕑 Added 2024-07-26 09:32:31 +0000 UTCA week later, we arrived at Sami, a commercial hub for Elderan. A wooden gate wall contrasted with the paved road leading to it. Sami was closer to the capital, and it really showed by the number of lamps that were lit during the night. The streetlamps stayed on all night. I wondered how many mages were needed to keep these lamps burning. If I recall correctly, a low-level mage could only maintain three or four lamps during the night.
"What a waste…" I muttered as I stared at the lamps. They were spaced evenly every twenty or so meters. The paved road reminded me of Althemer's capital.
"Right? Those damn nobles keep all the mages for themselves. Look at these feystones wasted on streetlights at night." The mercenary nodded to me. "I heard one mage is tasked to maintain one lamp. If only they would lend the border cities more mages, we could have nice paved roads or even some of those lights at the gate."
The nationalist merchant couldn't even argue back at the mismanagement of mages. In Althemer, the capital was slightly nicer than border towns like Shadowstep, but we certainly had our share of mages as long as we had money.
"Well, I guess our escort ends here." We all came to a stop before the merchant's tavern.
"Yes. Thank you for the escort. Here are some of my wares. I hope we can have a cordial relationship." The merchant gave a bottle of beer to the mercs and a bottle of juice to me.
"I am not a kid…" I muttered at the juice.
"Unless you have solid identification, I can't be sure if you are actually fifteen. So, no, I can't give you a beer." The merchant smirked. I pouted at such discrimination but accepted the juice. It didn't seem like he scammed me. This blueberry juice was refrigerated with a magic tool inside his caravan. It was technically more valuable than the beer.
"Well, I don't like wine anyway. Thanks for the juice, but you better treat me like an adult next time. If I remember correctly, it's also against the law to employ underage persons." I smirked back at him.
"If I may ask, what level are you? I need to report to Gulag if the mages are shirking their duties. I thought that refrigerator needed the mana of at least two low-level mages." The mage asked. I was asked to provide mana to his refrigerator on the road. Even though I was reluctant, I did it nevertheless due to wanting to make a good impression in my first commission. People here asked mages to do their bidding like they would ask others to photograph or borrow a pen. They thought it was a small favor.
"I am level 8." Everyone went silent at once.
"Bwahahaha! Nice joke! Level 8, huh? Why would that kind of mage be walking around like a lost child? Well, you're certainly a better mage than others. Maybe qualified for mid-rank." The merchant laughed and then announced to people in his store. He then patted my head. "Look! We have a court mage here! Bwahahaha! It's good to have confidence! Alright, see you. If I need a competent mage, I shall call you. Level 8."
The merchant strode off. Should I tell him that I am also triple elemental? Well, I can't call myself triple, though. My fire and water mastery were only suitable for washing hands and lighting a matchstick. But that merchant sure was rude! Even Alicia or Ludwin never patted me on the head!
"Are you really level 8?" Hellhound asked me with an incredulous face. I smirked at him and rode my horse back to the mercenary guild. After I finish my second commission, I would finally have Elderan's ID.
"Yo, want a commission in Elderan?" R25B called me through my reaper card. I hurriedly strode to an empty chair on the corner of the mercenary guild.
"I thought I would never hear from you again. Where were you?" I asked R25B.
"Well, jobs in Elderan are rare, you know. I won't come over to you just to chat. I have a life here, you know." The easygoing R25B never changed. Hearing his voice somehow soothed me.
"Alright, what's the commission? By the way, did you have any development with the commission I asked you?"
"This commission should be right up your alley. It's about a monster rampage. If you can find out the cause, you will be given 200 points. For your commission, the reaper who provided us the last time already moved to another country, so you might be on your own now."
"Alright." I nodded. I then scanned the surroundings. When I came to the receptionist desk, Hellhound came beside me. Was he waiting for me to go to the receptionist's desk?
"Are you spying on me?" I asked him. I already scanned the surroundings. He shouldn't be anywhere near me to hear my conversation.
"How's the juice? Was it tasty? It is a good habit to scout talented members. I hope you learn that someday. I will pick some harder quests; you may follow. It will still count as your achievement. How's that? You might be a mage, but you certainly can't do everything alone, can you?"
"Why not?"
"Here, for example. This is a bit above your paygrade, but with me, it will be safer." He shoved a commission into my face, "Be grateful. Not every day, you got a quest this nice."
"I didn't recall the mercenary guild having rankings," I questioned him. I would prefer working alone, but this guy certainly has the skills to back up his words. I would like it if he joined as a party member.
"They don't, but they record your achievements and talents. They wouldn't let you handle this quest alone. You could get killed, the quest could fail, and the guild would lose face. Everyone loses. So, they wouldn't give it to solo members. So, how about it?" He smirked. The punk's attitude was getting on my nerves, but he was correct. Moreover, the commission he was holding seemed related to the commission from the reaper guild. The commission was to exterminate the monsters in the mountain.
"Alright."
"First, you need to get thicker clothes. You can buy some in the market. The place we're going to is cold," Hellhound said. He then waved me goodbye. "See you tomorrow. Here at dawn."
I did as I was told and bought a cheap jacket near the guild. When the morning came, we departed for the forest east of Sami. Far in the distance, the capital of Elderan, Elderan City, was visible on the mountain path. I could get inside without an ID, but it would be troublesome. Moreover, even if I forced myself, I likely wouldn't get inside the Monster Tamer Guild without an ID, so I guess I have to do this job.
"Hell, do you know about the Monster Tamer Guild?" I tried to make small talk as we rode our horses outside the city. The horse trotted slowly.
"Of course. Elderan officials are always bragging about it," Hell said as we rode our horses through the forest. When we came to the mountain, I realized it had many forests. I thought Elderan would be more like a wasteland since they struggled with food, but it has many greeneries. I wonder why they struggle with food production. Couldn't they just chopped down the forest and opened up agriculture?
"Really?"
"They even have people selling monsters here for 2 gold and 3 gold for the collars. It's just goblins, though."
"Why aren't we using it?"
"Because it's useless. First, many people bought into it. They said the monsters didn't need food and could work tirelessly forever. But we discovered the monsters slowed down and died about a week later."
"Why?"
"We just found out that monsters feed on mana. Without it, they die and disappear. So, to keep them alive, they have to eat feystones. Ridiculous, isn't it?"
I rolled my eyes. Feystones were priced at about 3 silver per piece in Althemer, but that only applies if the empty feystones were returned later. Since the monsters actually ate the feystones, the price should skyrocket.
"Do we have that many empty feystones?"
"Of course not! And they didn't eat empty feystones either. They need to be filled. Crazy, right? Well, some people can actually afford it. But it was only kept as a pet to impress the capital nobles. If the monster didn't work, the feystone it ate would also decrease."
"I heard from Althemer that you used monsters here because you couldn't afford horse feed."
"Hahaha. These monsters can't even be used as meat shields in wars. Thanks to those fuck-ups, we were almost enslaved by Althemer!"
"We don't enslave people…." I argued. Althemer has no history of enslaving their people. County Shadowstep is a prime example.
"Occupation, annexation, whatever. Words are just words. No way I'm kissing up to mages every day." Hellhound said, "You seemed like a rich girl. Why are you traveling alone?"
"I have business in the capital. With the Monster Tamer Guild."
"I heard ya. But really? No letter of recommendation, no guards, no parents. Only a horse?"
"I can fight, so there's no need for guards. Would you actually accept a letter of recommendation from Althemer? I do have some letters from Claire, but I heard she's less welcome here than I thought." I replied. I don't actually have that kind of letter, but I do have her permission to visit the Monster Tamer Guild. Should I ask R661 to get a formal letter of recommendation from Claire? The thought certainly crossed my mind. But when I heard Claire was not very welcome here, I decided against it.
"That's wise. You would get so much trouble from both factions if they knew you were close to Claire." Hellhound nodded.
"So, what's the deal with the forest?" I asked him.
"Some anomaly. Monsters are more numerous than usual."
"Hm… do they know the cause?"
"If they did, they wouldn't have hired us." We continued our talk to the forest.
"Salamanders!" Archer said as he put an arrow in its eye. Hellhound finished it with his trademark warp skill before he and Archer let out a warning. "There are two more!"
"This one is ours!!" Hell Biter and Hell Knight engaged the other salamander. They didn't have any skills, but they certainly pulled their weight. Hell Knight took on the aggro while Hell Biter attacked its flank. Hellhound finished it with another warp strike to its head.
I looked at the remaining salamander and quickly cast Darkness Bullet. The bullet would make the target hallucinate and shift our positions a few meters away from our real ones. As the salamander leaped and charged into the air, I slithered my tentacle and stabbed it in the neck like Hellhound did. But its scaly skin deflected my blade. The smooth green skin of these salamanders had blended quite well in the forest, making my blade slide out when I tried to stab it. It was harder than it looked, too.
"Hah!" Another warp strike later, the salamander I was toying with was stabbed by Hellhound. I swear, if he were wearing a tuxedo, he would look like a playable character from that famous game back on Earth. It's too bad that this one is dressed like a bandit.
"That sword is unexpectedly sharp…" I muttered.
"First time handling a salamander? Its scales are hard and slippery, so you need to push it with your weight. My skill didn't just transfer me, but the force that was applied to me too."
"Alright." I didn't actually need to do it like that; I could simply entangle it and drain its life force with dark magic. But I guess his method was faster.
"Come on, Eli. Stop being so lazy. You didn't even step down from the horse," Hell Archer said.
"Why? It's comfortable here. The road is muddy." I yelled.
"Well, mages from Althemer sure are a spoiled bunch, hahaha." The party laughed. The corpses of the salamanders we had just defeated disappeared into motes of light, signifying they were monsters.
Monsters can be created from mana particles in the air, but three appearing simultaneously is rare. A premonition flashed through my mind at the possibility of another spawner.
"Have you ever heard of the horde of monsters that infested both Althemer and Elderan several years ago?" I asked the mercs.
"Hm? Yes, We dealt with them all the time. Now that you mention it, the stampede stopped about two or three years ago. It's because the soldiers are clearing the forest between Shadowstep and our border town, right? They took our jobs! Thanks to them, there are fewer jobs in border town!"
I fell silent. They didn't know about a spawner, huh? We continued deeper into the forest. I didn't tell them about the spawner because I wasn't sure this was caused by one either. But I wondered whether I should even mention it. If I have a spawner, the Monster Taming Guild would surely welcome me with open arms.
I wonder what I should do.
