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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“…Tsk. Is that so?”
No matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem to have any intention of betraying us, but rather were afraid of being betrayed themselves.
Well, after directly witnessing our strength, they probably couldn’t even dream of betraying us.
I wondered why they had accepted the request if they were going to be like this, but at a time when their growth was just starting to accelerate, such a large sum of money must have been irresistible.
It wasn’t even that difficult a request.
“I should have just shown some hostility at the beginning.”
“…I didn’t expect them to be so well-regarded in Normary Village. To have that kind of reputation after just one request… I’ve never seen the village chief of Normary Village welcome someone so sincerely.”
“It doesn’t seem like they’ll leave right after this job is done. Wouldn’t it have been better to become friendly? Then we would have worried less.”
“…It certainly would have been beneficial to become close to that team. Moreover, there’s still some prejudiced views remaining…”
“At least Tildi and Annelise seemed okay, didn’t they?”
“…To be precise, only Tildi is okay. For some reason, Annelise seems to be facing opposition.”
“Ah, that. It’s obvious. Judging by how those women Athena and Kayla dislike her, it’s about romantic relationships.”
“Hm? Hasn’t Annelise never made that kind of mistake?”
“This time seems a bit different. In a way, I think that side is more dangerous. Even though the real power is the warlock, he doesn’t seem to ignore those two’s opinions…”
Overall, the tone was critical of Annelise.
As I listened to their conversation, I smiled slightly.
I had thought there would be some division, but it was happening faster than I expected.
‘I guess what happened in Normary Village was a bit too much?’
The actions I had taken for the sake of reputation had paid off greatly.
‘I thought it would take a while because their teamwork was good…’
This was good for me.
Slow but steady.
I had planned to bring them down eventually, which was why I had let Annelise openly draw the ire of Kayla and Athena.
Cereo seemed to be separating public and private matters better than I had thought, but…
‘What can you do when there’s internal division.’
Additionally, the frequency of glances towards Annelise was subtly increasing.
Steadily, the work was piling up.
Even if it didn’t explode during this request, after doing a few difficult requests that would be hard for one team to handle, sparked by this incident…
‘There are plenty of excuses.’
Things like expanding connections through them, or for the sake of raising reputation, or to increase fame more quickly.
It was a step-by-step process.
If luck was on my side, it might end with this opportunity, but judging by Cereo’s attitude, it didn’t seem likely.
As day broke, we headed towards the second destination.
Since we were moving deeper inside rather than at the entrance, our speed was inevitably slower compared to yesterday, and by the time we reached the second destination, it was almost dusk.
Instead, thanks to moving safely, there were no battles.
“…It’s not here either. But… I found traces. Is this right?”
What Athena had discovered was clearly a Minotaur’s footprint.
“That’s right. How did you find it?”
Honestly, I had been planning to search for it myself, so I couldn’t help but be a bit surprised when Athena brought back a clue.
“The monster distribution was strange.”
She spoke quietly so that only I could hear.
“We had experience making maps before, remember?”
She said that was how she was able to notice the strangeness.
It seemed she was referring to the time in Evergreen Forest Village.
‘Not bad.’
When genuine Minotaur footprints were discovered, Cereo’s group also showed quite a surprised look.
“I didn’t expect to find it this quickly…”
Because it was late, we rested for another day and started tracking the Minotaur’s traces from the next day.
Swoosh.
“…What kind of place is this…”
“…I never imagined it would be here. I couldn’t have imagined it.”
Cereo’s group muttered as if dumbfounded.
It was a place they hadn’t even included as a candidate.
It wasn’t for nothing that I had said it couldn’t be found easily.
The habitat of the Minotaur tribe was… a cave behind a small waterfall.
‘To be honest, even calling it a waterfall is an exaggeration.’
It was more like a valley, and not even a big one at that.
But behind that valley, there was a hidden cave, and the interior space was said to be incredibly vast.
‘It was quite a famous story.’
They said it was a scale that couldn’t possibly be imagined considering the size of the valley and the scale of the waterfall.
Because of this, even after completely wiping out the Minotaurs, it was said that those skilled enough to come here would visit once after hearing the rumors.
“…It really seems to be the right place. They’ve tried to erase the traces somehow, but it’s certain.”
It was visible that they had made efforts to erase their traces, perhaps in an attempt to hide their location.
‘But in the end, they’re still monsters.’
“Let’s go in right away.”
There was no reason to wait.
“From here on, we’ll take the lead.”
I immediately placed the Living Armors at the very front, with Kayla and Athena right behind them.
Baldur seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking a position around me.
‘Does he feel uncomfortable leaving me alone?’
“We’ll support you as much as we can. Though we can’t help with the Living Armors, of course.”
Tildi said with a smile.
Annelise also remained tense, holding her bow.
That was natural.
Supporting one’s own group and supporting skilled individuals or Living Armors were different stories.
It could even be a hindrance.
They hadn’t seen my group’s battles often either…
‘It might be completely beyond their abilities.’
Especially for Kayla and Athena, unlike Baldur, they were extremely fast, so it would be difficult for someone of Annelise’s skill to support them.
“The cave entrance is… quite large.”
Everyone except me nodded at Cereo’s words.
As we entered the cave, we could see that the inside was bright.
“…Luminous stones? What is this…?”
Flana, the spear wielder, muttered in a surprised voice.
Indeed, the interior of the cave was very bright, with luminous stones embedded everywhere.
It was surprising.
Luminous stones were quite expensive.
To have them embedded everywhere like this…
Moreover, the scale of the cave itself was beyond comprehension.
It was large enough for even medium-large monsters like Minotaurs to run around in.
However, no matter how surprised they were, they shouldn’t have made loud noises.
We had already entered the cave, and because of that, Flana’s voice echoed loudly.
Cereo’s face turned as white as a sheet, and Flana also covered her mouth, seemingly realizing her mistake.
Disapproving glares from our group were directed their way.
In a situation where emotions weren’t great to begin with, such blatant trolling was bound to be unwelcome.
If it had been Tildi, who was at least somewhat better, it might have been okay, but while he showed a lighthearted demeanor, he didn’t make such small mistakes.
“Quiet.”
I warned briefly, and they bowed their heads as if apologizing.
Thump. Thump.
However, it seemed to be too late.
A Minotaur that had noticed the commotion came out to the cave entrance and immediately discovered us.
“Moooo!”
An enormous sound echoed inside the cave.
Thud thud thud thud.
At once, four Living Armors rushed towards the Minotaur.
Kayla followed a bit behind, surveying the surroundings, while Athena hid herself among the shadows of the cave.
‘This environment must be perfect for Athena.’
Although luminous stones were attached everywhere, there were numerous stalactites, stalagmites, and columns creating many shadows.
There were points where she could hide her body here and there, and it was an environment that could maximize her ambush abilities.
The Minotaur wasn’t holding anything in its hands, but despite this, it didn’t retreat at the sight of us charging towards it.
It swung its fist towards the approaching Living Armor.
However, the Living Armor effortlessly dodged the attack and then swung its mace at the Minotaur’s hand.
Crack!
“Muaaa!”
It screamed in pain, but still endured with the toughness characteristic of medium-large monsters.
At the same time, it swung its arms to the sides to fend off the Living Armors trying to surround it.
The Living Armors were sturdy, but they couldn’t underestimate the Minotaur’s strength.
They maintained a certain distance while looking for an opening, and that was when Annelise aimed an arrow at the Minotaur.
Ping!
“Mu!”
It seemed she had aimed for the eye, but the Minotaur quickly turned its head and deflected the arrow with its horn.
It was a failed attempt, but a good try.
It actually helped.
Kayla took advantage of the moment when the Minotaur was deflecting the arrow and fending off the Living Armors.
“Mua!”
Her sword, now enveloped in aura, sliced through the Minotaur’s wrist unlike before, and Athena didn’t miss the opening that followed.
“Grrrk!”
Somehow, she had suddenly appeared sitting on the Minotaur’s shoulder, swiftly slashed at its vital point, and then hid herself again in the shadow of a stone column.
There was no sound at all throughout her movement.
‘Ghost-like movements.’
Up until now, Athena had fought like a warrior, using speed as her weapon in open spaces, but this made me realize anew that her aptitude wasn’t in that direction.
The Minotaur collapsed, and the Living Armors finished it off.
“…There’s nowhere to hide. Tsk.”
We had taken down the monster quickly, but its warning cry had already spread throughout the cave.
‘We would have been discovered soon anyway, but I wanted to proceed slowly and carefully.’
It would have been worth trying with Athena there, but it was a shame it turned out this way.
“We’ll proceed quickly. Let’s strike before they come.”
“Understood. …I’m sorry.”
Cereo apologized again on behalf of his group.
I shook my head lightly as if to say it was fine, and then led the Living Armors to quickly traverse the cave.
Because of this, we couldn’t pay proper attention to our surroundings, and our discovery was a bit late.
‘This… doesn’t seem to be an ordinary cave.’
There were strange drawings here and there on the walls.
Considering that it would later become something of a tourist attraction, it was strange that these hadn’t become a topic of discussion.
‘Were they damaged?’
Come to think of it, the luminous stones were the same.
There hadn’t been any such stories about them…
‘Something, some intervention must have happened.’
I couldn’t help but have such suspicions.
“Moooo!”
Monsters that had heard the news and realized our invasion blocked the path.
However, our side’s proficiency was rapidly increasing.
Kayla used instant high-speed movement to dive into the midst of a few Minotaurs and swiftly cut them down, while Athena successfully ambushed them repeatedly, taking advantage of their distraction by the Living Armors and Kayla.
The Minotaurs discovered in small numbers were immediately executed by us, and even those that grouped together seemed to hold out for a while but soon lay on the ground.
While Kayla and Athena’s activities were significant, the small support from Annelise and the Living Armors enhanced by my magic simply plowed through them, causing even the grouped ones to not last long.
Additionally, when the numbers seemed significant, I would launch Dark Balls to start, sometimes resulting in situations where larger groups fell even faster.
Cereo’s party was struggling just to keep up with our side’s high combat ability, and several of them were muttering in amazement.
“…Mana, mana… Someday, Cereo will also reach that level…”
Arahard, one of the shield warriors, muttered.
It seemed his desire for a mana breathing technique had intensified.
‘Not all mana users display such combat abilities, though.’
Athena was a genius, and Kayla was a former knight.
Moreover, they both had mana hearts, and Athena even possessed a relic-grade artifact, so simply desiring mana based on their combat prowess alone would be a pipe dream.
‘Well, they probably envied even just seeing Baldur fight.’
Baldur was currently guarding my surroundings, so he wasn’t directly displaying his combat power.
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[Damn athena became an assassin, i feel like there is yandere potential there]
