3 bar menu

CHAPTER 236: THE HUNTING GROUNDS MONOPOLY

 

≪There are about 10 or so Adventurers gathered in front of the tower as we speak, at about 11 o’clock from the position that I am currently staying at. They are probably the ones who had the monopoly on the Hunting Grounds within the tower, so they probably belong to the Calvados camp as well.≫

 

The report from Nelfie, who had gone out to scout our surroundings, was actually half unexpected from me.

 

≪They are monopolizing the Hunting Grounds from such a low level of the Advanced Level……?≫

 

≪What should we do now? The enemy does not seem to have noticed me yet.≫

 

≪I would like to see how they are going to react, first. You can come back to us for the time being, Nelfie.≫

 

≪Understood.≫

 

The most efficient way to monopolize the Hunting Grounds that Calvados was carrying out was to block the passages in front of the stairs leading up to the Boss room, or beyond that, to the higher levels.

 

According to Nelfie’s information, there were about 10 enemies present, divided into about 2 or 3 smaller parties, but that seemed like the bare minimum number of people to carry out a task such as this. If they were actually serious about blocking the passages here, they would need way more people to carry that strategy out, and I have heard that more than thirty people were mobilized to block the passages in the Highest Level “Tower of the Dragon”.

 

「Well now, I wonder how the other guys will respond.」

 

「If we get into a fight, should we just lightly injure them all?」

 

「Hmm, well…… Either way is fine, I guess. If they are clearly going to try and kill us, we can’t complain if they get injured back, and it would be annoying to have to be so considerate of them. I thought it could be an opportunity for Curulario to grow some more, but…… There will be plenty of opportunities like that in the future.」

 

「「「Understood!」」」

 

As we talked like this, we slowly made our way towards the tower where the Adventurers were all gathered.

 

Naturally, as we got closer, the Adventurers in front of the tower began to form defensive formations, and one of them came forward and spoke to us. In the end, he was probably the leader of this entire group.

 

「I have never seen you guys around here before. Judging from your clothes, are you perhaps foreigners?」

 

「Yeah, that’s right. By the way, you are in our way, so could you please step aside for a moment?」

 

We proceed with the conversation pretending to be unaware of the information that they were blocking the passages and monopolizing the Hunting Grounds beyond that point.

 

It’s been over a month since we came to Wislo, so it was not surprising that they knew about us, but we did not want them to think that we were on good terms with Tekirana, and we did not want to hint at our relationship with Curulario.

 

Besides, we, the members of “Seiha”, were a “Solo Force” that does not belong anywhere to any group, place or nation. We had no intention of changing this stance, even now.

 

「Is this your first time in the Advanced Level tower? You are the newcomers who do not know the rules and how things work around here, right? Also, you should be careful with how you talk to others.」

 

「You guys should be careful with your choice of words and actions as well. Especially you, second from the back…… You should control your murderous intent a little bit better. I’m not the type to be patient, just to let you know.」

 

「…… Are you planning to defy us? You can probably guess what’s behind us, right?」

 

He was talking in a more roundabout way than I thought he would be. I guess the purpose of those guys here was for Calvados to recognize a new enemy and to put pressure on them if need be.

 

Well, I guess they could not just openly say “Calvados has monopolized the Hunting Grounds here!” but…… it was still a bit confusing. I really wanted to try nad provoke those guys a little bit more now.

 

「It doesn’t matter. But can we take that as hostile intent?」

 

He now spoke a little bit more forcefully, adding some anger into his words.

 

Drake and Cinque also took a step forward, intimidating the enemy’s group.

 

Looking at our enemies with “Appraisal Eye”, I found out that they were all around level 40. The only leader, a man named Banza, was level 50. He seemed to have a certain level of standing within the organization as well.

 

Even so, as people in charge of sealing off the passages of an Advanced Dungeon where B Rank monsters roamed freely, it seemed that they understood to a certain extent the difference in their abilities even without fighting.

 

「Don’t you value your lives? We have many comrades here. No matter how strong you guys are, you don’t want your life to be threatened for a silly reason such as this, now do you?」

 

「No matter how much you guys try to threaten us here, we are not scared of you in the least. But if you are going to make such a bold threat, it means that you’re all prepared to scatter your guts here and there…… right?」

 

The air was tense, and it would not be strange if a single trigger were to ignite a spark of battle here.

 

Then, after a few seconds of silence, the leader spoke with a reluctant look on his face.

 

「…… Tch. Let those guys through……」

 

「Banza, are you sure? You can’t let a newbie underestimate us here……」

 

「Are you stupid or what? Don’t forget your role here. We will back off for the time being.」

 

「You surely are pretty understanding. You are the type of person who will live a long life, for sure.」

 

Banza gave his order, and the way forward opened for us, leading to the previously blocked tower entrance. We passed by them without a word and entered the sealed tower, but there was no sign of a surprise attack coming our way.

 

They backed off so easily that it was almost disappointing, but perhaps Calvados did not want to increase their number of potential enemies for no reason. Although we kept each other in check, we did not cross the line and there was no battle.

 

— However, just as the entrance was slowly closing in…… I realized from Banza’s words that we were already being marked.

 

「…… I will give you one word of advice. Just because you are of “Seiha”, you shouldn’t get too carried away.」

 

「Hah, that’s actually none of my business. And I take back what I said earlier. You are definitely the type to die young.」

 

We did not reveal our identities or names. Despite that, Banza was able to guess our Clan and name without any hesitation.

 

This meant that Calvados had already begun to gather information about us.

 

I put my somewhat unsatisfied feelings aside and turned my back on the completely closed door, and my eyes fell on the stairs leading to the next floor. A floor that could monopolize a Hunting Ground is either a Boss room or a floor close to it, and it was a floor where you could expect items to drop. Well, even if it’s the Advanced 10th floor, it’s not likely that we will have any trouble with this level of difficulty.

 

However, when we opened the door at the top of the stairs, the reason why Banza and the others had backed off so easily became clear to us all.