The Rank 4 Adventurer party, “Dawn Mercenaries.”
The members consist of: Rank 4 Warrior, Dagart. Male, 31 years old. Red hair.
Rank 3 Heavy Warrior, Randy. Male, 29 years old. Blond and balding.
Rank 3 Scout, former hunter Duncan. Male, 30 years old. Black hair.
Rank 3 Magician, Glinda. Fire and Water affinity. Female, 26 years old. Dagart’s mistress.
They are my targets. They embezzled a requested item that they were supposed to retrieve, and the noble whose family heirloom, a magic tool pendant, was stolen by them, requested the Assassin Guild to assassinate them and retrieve the item.
If I intended to oppose the Assassin Guild, there would be no need to assassinate them, but this time, a liaison from the Assassin Guild is supposed to be dispatched to the Royal Capital, so for now, I should refrain from suspicious behavior to keep the Guild off guard.
In that regard, it’s fortunate that they are villains… Also, I felt disgusted by those who would steal family heirlooms, and I quietly clutched the amulet bag that was my mother’s keepsake.
The Dawn Mercenaries, as a typical party, may have a small number of members, but they are well-balanced, and they should be able to delve fairly deep into a Dungeon.
If they delve too deep, it will be difficult for me to catch up alone. If I were to safely eliminate them, I should do it either in the Royal Capital or in the town with the Dungeon to the south of it, but if I can’t catch up by then, I’ll have to aim for when they return to replenish their supplies.
Still, the most certain place is probably inside the Dungeon.
The Royal Capital is too safe, which makes it dangerous in a different sense. But in a Dungeon, my life is also at risk, but that’s the same for them, and the more dangers there are, the more opportunities for openings arise.
Thinking too much about various things is a bad habit of mine. But if I prepare countermeasures by anticipating various situations, I can immediately take action when they actually occur.
Even so, it’s better to act now than to think about various things from afar.
Assumptions and hypotheses can easily change depending on the local environment and situation. Detailed information was necessary to improve the accuracy of the considered predictions.
I stayed in this town with the northern branch for about three days, preparing at the Guild and in the town before departing for the Royal Capital.
Even during those three days, I couldn’t find out who the liaison was. I assume they will make contact locally, but what I wanted to know was how many liaisons there were.
As long as they are there, I can’t take strange actions. Even if I were to eliminate the liaisons, if there are multiple and I fail to eliminate them all, my betrayal would be exposed.
I can only hope that they are easy to deal with…
There are two routes to get to the Royal Capital from this County of Hedel.
One is the relatively safe route that Elena-san should have used, passing through the County of Sentorea, where I worked last time, and taking the main road along the coast.
The other is the dangerous but faster route, heading straight south from Dandole and passing through the mountain valley.
Of course, I will use the dangerous valley route.
If you use a dedicated high-speed carriage like Elena-san, I think you can arrive faster on the main road along the coast. However, if you travel on foot or by shared carriage that stops in various places, it will take about a month and a half.
It’s not that carriages can’t pass through the valley. It’s just that ordinary carriages and travelers don’t pass through the valley because many bird-type Monsters appear there.
Ordinary carriages and travelers do not pass through the valley. The only ones who pass through it are the merchant caravans that are escorted by the Dandole defense force once a month.
Even ordinary Free Citizens can get a seat on the merchant caravan’s carriage if they buy a pass issued by Dandole, but the pass is quite expensive, and since there are other safe routes if you don’t mind the time, almost no one uses it.
Besides, it’s only once a month, so if the timing is bad, you’ll have to wait a long time until the next departure, and I, who have been avoiding Dandole because there are people who know my face, can’t possibly use it.
I spent another ten days heading south through several noble territories that were vassals of Margrave of Dandole, and arrived at a Barony near the mountainous area.
Even for me, a Free Citizen, I don’t spend that much money if I don’t stop by big cities. Even so, I paid one Silver Coin, which is the toll, to enter the last town, and bought food and necessities. Then, when I asked about Monster information at the Adventurer’s Guild in that town, the staff member, who was lamenting that this Guild was a place where hunters only brought materials when they hunted troublesome Monsters and that there were few full-time Adventurers, told me in great detail.
There are several types of Monsters that appear in the valley, but as expected, high-rank Monsters like Griffons are immediately dealt with by subjugation squads, so their appearance has not been confirmed for about ten years. In the first place, they target horses, so if they were to target travelers on foot, they would target cows in a pasture instead.
When passing through that valley on foot, the problem is small and medium-sized bird-type Monsters.
The Falcon-type “Wind Bird,” which cuts up prey and devours it at tremendous speed, and the Crow-type “Giant Crow,” which catches travelers and takes them back to its nest to devour them, appear.
The small Wind Bird is a Rank 1 Monster, and the medium-sized Giant Crow is Rank 2, but in the Adventurer’s Guild’s estimated difficulty, Wind Birds become Rank 2, and Giant Crows are classified as Rank 3.
The simple reason for this is that the location is a valley with no obstacles or ceilings, and the opponents are birds.
It is difficult even to hit them with arrows using Rank 1 or 2 archery, and even Rank 2 or 3 Warriors cannot attack unless they come down.
If you were to hunt them properly, a Magician who can use attack-type Wind Magic is essential, and it is difficult to hunt Monsters in the valley unless you have a party that can prepare a shield to protect the Magician.
…“Normally.”
I will be passing through the bottom of the valley, but the width of the valley is up to about 10 meters, and the cliffs are about 50 meters high, so it is dim except during midday.
But if there is a way to overcome the darkness, it is safer during dark hours. Because they are Monsters, they sense and attack, but even so, perhaps because of their poor night vision, their detection range narrows when it gets dark.
I have been traveling while training in a certain Dark Magic on the way here, but it is still difficult to activate, and as I was practicing while walking in this valley, the sun, which had risen directly above, illuminated the valley, and finally a Monster found me.
“…Here they come.”
My ears caught a slight sound of wind cutting through the air, and in that instant, the Search Skill caught a small presence approaching from behind.
Reflexively, I twisted my body as if recoiling, dodging and swinging the Black Knife as I passed by, but the owner of that presence also dodged the Blade as if spinning, and circled in the sky as if mocking me.
Falcon-type Monsters—Wind Birds—attack humans not alone, but in groups.
As expected, it’s difficult to hit a flying opponent with a Knife. If they can perform that maneuver, relying on luck is the only way to know if throwing a Knife will hit.
While I was thinking that, a second Wind Bird attacked from directly to the side.
Is its speed about the same as an arrow? It’s difficult to see through it with the naked eye if you fight it head-on, but the Wind Bird’s speed drops for an instant just before it moves to attack.
Concentrating so as not to miss that instant, I used Search and threw a “Blade” at one of the Wind Birds that attacked again.
The Wind Bird rotated in the air to dodge the Blade, and I manipulated the thread of the Pendulum that I threw in response.
“Gigyatt!!”
The Wind Bird, its feathers cut by the Pendulum’s Blade, crashed violently into the ground. I won’t finish it off. After all, it can’t possibly be unharmed after falling to the ground at that speed.
I released the Pendulum from my left hand as well, and slashed the feathers of another Wind Bird that attacked again with a curved trajectory.
Without staying in place, I dodged the Wind Bird’s attacks with intricate footwork, and used the Pendulum’s Blade to launch curved attacks, knocking down the Wind Birds.
I don’t mind if I miss. A Blade hit rate of about 30% is good enough. But even if you dodge the Blade, it’s meaningless unless you dodge the thread that controls it, and the Giant Spider’s thread that I’ve strengthened with my Mana cannot be cut even by the Wind Bird’s claws.
With their feathers slashed and colliding with the threads, after a few minutes, when more than a dozen Wind Birds had fallen, one of the Wind Birds that had stopped approaching me and was circling in the sky fired “Wind-colored” Mana Particles.
The name Wind Bird is not just for show, these guys can use [Wind Cutter], which is Level 1 Wind Magic.
Wind-type Magic is fast and difficult to dodge because it is invisible. But with my “Eyes” that see Mana Particles in color, it’s not difficult to dodge as long as there is distance.
Even if I could use the Wind Bird’s Mana Capacity, it would only be once or twice. If I used it twice, my Mana would be exhausted, and my speed would drop drastically, so 【Wind Cutter】 could be considered the Wind Bird’s last resort.
Growing impatient with me dodging it, one of the Wind Birds attacked me, unleashing 【Wind Cutter】 from point-blank range.
“——【Magic Shield (Shield)】——”
A “shield of light” about 30 centimeters in size appears in my left hand.
I pressed the Magic Shield (Shield), imbued with the minimum amount of Mana, against the densest part of the approaching wind Mana Particles, deflecting it diagonally as if to let it flow, and then slashed the wing of the Wind Bird that came straight at me with the Black Knife.
Most of the attacking Wind Birds were shot down, and a few that had lost their Mana flew away into the sky as if fleeing——
『Kaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!』
Perhaps it realized it couldn’t defeat me, or perhaps it feared “this.”
A high-pitched cry echoed through the valley, and a giant black bird spread its wings and descended as if darkness were cleaving the valley’s sky.
【Giant Crow】【Race: Great Raven】【Difficulty Rank 3】
【Mana Capacity: 69/73】【HP: 212/215】
【Overall Combat Strength: 145】
The Giant Crow flaps its wings, which span more than four meters, and attacks me directly.
I throw the Pendulum Blades from both hands as if to intercept it, but the Blades are deflected, only slightly scratching the black feathers. Seeing this, the intelligent Giant Crow points its sharp claws at me as if mocking me.
At that moment, I manipulate the threads with my fingertips and 【Thread Manipulation】, wrapping the Pendulum’s threads around the black wings.
『Kwaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!』
The Giant Crow, realizing this, lets out an angry cry and flaps its wings, trying to carry me, along with the Pendulum’s threads, into the sky.
But I won’t let it. I pull the threads strongly to hinder its flapping, quickly strike the heels of my boots together, and kick the Blades that pop out of the boots into a nearby rock.
The boots I received from my master, which he used to use, were modified so that when a certain amount of impact is applied to the heel from a certain direction, small Blades pop out from the toe and heel.
I fix myself to the ground with the heel Blades and pull the threads with all my might, using Body Enhancement.
I’m still only at Overall Rank 2, but some of my support Skills have risen to Level 3.
I circulate Mana throughout my body with Level 3 【Mana Control】, stop the Giant Crow’s movements for a moment with Level 3 【Intimidation】——
『Kaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!』
“Taaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
While being dragged along the ground, rocks and all, by inertia, I put all my strength into slamming the Giant Crow, which was screaming in terror, headfirst into the ground.
The training and combat experience so far have become a definite strength within Aria.
Next time, the first Royal Capital.
Due to work, the next update is scheduled for Sunday.