Chapter 37

Villаgе Сhiеf Adrian оf Нugо Villаgе.

He was аn еlderly mаn over siхtу, уеt still роssessed а sharp mind аnd а robust рhуsiquе.

Нis sturdу build was suсh that, аside from his fасе, оne would hаrdly bеlieve he wаs in his siхties.

“But why arе уou only repоrting this nоw?!”

“I-I’m sorry!”

Adrian was аngrу at the guаrd’s mistakе, but аt thе sаme time, it felt as if а lifeline hаd bееn thrown to thеm.

‘А knight frоm Kilphеon and а mage who cоmmаnds such a knight hаvе cоme to thе village… Thеse must bе рeople sent bу the gоds tо hеlp us!’

If it wаs a knight from Кilрhеon, loсatеd аt thе hеаrt of thе Кingdоm of Sinsiniеl, thеy should be able to defeat a griffin with ease.

And just how powerful must a mage who commands such a knight be?

‘If only I had known this before the Subjugation Force departed first, we could have reduced the casualties… What a shame.’

Regretting it wouldn’t change anything, so Adrian composed himself and asked the guard again.

“So, do you know where they are now?”

“I tried to accompany them and show them some restaurants and lodgings, but they said it was fine… Still, they’re probably somewhere nearby!”

“Hmm, you go find them immediately and respectfully bring them here.”

“Understood!”

“Are the adventurers truly all wiped out?”

“…Yes. Judging by the fact that no one has returned, it seems they were annihilated.”

“Still, there might be adventurers still alive, so we need to dispatch a rescue team as quickly as possible. Understood.”

“Yes…!”

After the guard left, Adrian quickly began to think.

There were no troops available to dispatch a rescue team to the rocky mountain range where the griffin was now.

The situation required hiring adventurers who had come to the village, but hiring adventurers in such a dire situation would cost a considerable amount of money.

‘I should immediately announce the news of the annihilation to the entire village.’

Doing so would likely bring not only adventurers capable of forming a rescue team and defeating the griffin but also the knight from Kilpheon and the highly skilled mage to the chief’s office.

‘If they initially expressed intent to participate in the griffin subjugation and then suddenly reversed their stance… what they want is clearly money.’

Rather than distributing a lot of money to many people, giving more money to a reliable minimum number of people could actually be a way to save money.

Village Chief Adrian promptly announced this news to the entire village and then sat in his office, waiting for the mage and knight the guard mentioned, along with other adventurers, to come.

* * *

Near Hugo Village, monsters frequently appeared, making it a village visited by adventurers from all over the country.

Therefore, the village streets were filled with shops selling delicious food for adventurers.

Crunch. Crunch.

Munch. Munch.

The adventurers of the Bellop Guild, eating the village’s specialty fried chicken dish, were too busy tearing into chicken legs to speak.

Then, the conversation coming from behind made all members of the Bellop Guild stop their actions.

“Hey, did you hear that story?”

“What story?”

“I heard the Subjugation Force that left to defeat the griffin was wiped out. Soon, the griffin will invade our village…”

“What?! Then we’ll all die…!”

“Rumor has it that even the Village Chief heard the news and, having no other options, hasn’t given any orders…”

The news that the adventurers who had gathered to defeat the griffin that appeared in the rocky mountain range were annihilated.

“Wow. Crazy. For real? If we hadn’t listened to the Captain, we might have been dead too?”

Teo, an adventurer of the Bellop Guild, said with a surprised voice, a chicken leg in his mouth.

Roan also looked slightly surprised as he glanced at Bellop and spoke.

“Over twenty adventurers with decent skills gathered, yet they were annihilated by the griffin… So it really wasn’t an opponent to be taken lightly…”

“Decent skills? They were far from skilled; they were just greenhorns.”

“Anyway, it’s a good thing we didn’t participate in the griffin subjugation as the Captain said. Those greenhorns would have just held us back, and we might have died too.”

The expressions of Teo and Roan grew increasingly stiff.

They were adventurers who traveled all over the country, taking commissions and earning rewards.

Doing this kind of work, you never know when you might meet a meaningless death, and thanks to Bellop, they had been saved more than once or twice.

Bellop, who had been quietly chewing chicken until now, finally spoke.

“Be quiet and just eat.”

“No, Captain. You have to tell us. Are we giving up on the griffin subjugation then? If we use the terrain of the rocky mountain range well, don’t you think the three of us could defeat it?”

However, Bellop’s reaction was not encouraging.

Given Bellop’s personality, not discussing matters related to work meant he intended to completely withdraw from this griffin subjugation.

‘This gut feeling has saved me more than once or twice. As expected…’

Bellop chewed his chicken thoughtfully, once again glad he had followed his instincts.

Earlier, when they expressed their intent to participate in the griffin subjugation and went to where the adventurers were gathering, Bellop felt chills run all over his body.

A feeling that if they didn’t leave this place immediately, they wouldn’t be able to avoid death.

Since childhood, Bellop had survived dozens of times thanks to this instinct of his.

“Captain! If it’s the three of us, it’s definitely possible, right? Huh?!”

“Quiet. We’re giving up on this griffin subjugation.”

“No, we’ve been to the rocky mountain range over twenty times… If we use the terrain and features well, don’t you think the three of us could defeat it? Huh?”

“Captain, plus, if we defeat the griffin by ourselves, we can get an unbelievable reward…!”

Teo and Roan had no intention of giving up on the griffin subjugation.

Now that numerous adventurers had failed at the griffin subjugation, if they succeeded, they could gain immense wealth and fame simultaneously.

Shiver.

Bellop could still clearly feel it.

Every time he thought about challenging the griffin subjugation, a chilling energy swept over his entire body.

“Absolutely not. If we go, we will definitely die.”

“Sigh, Captain. Don’t be like that, think about it again. Is that gut feeling of yours screaming not to go again?”

“Yes. So don’t make me say the same thing again.”

“Phew…”

Since they had survived multiple times thanks to Bellop’s instincts, Teo and Roan didn’t say anything more.

But then.

Thud. Thud.

Suddenly, a man who had been eating chicken at the next table approached Bellop.

“You guys managed to stay alive, it seems.”

“What’s this? It’s that scrawny guy we saw at the checkpoint earlier.”

Khan ignored the snarky Teo and spoke to Bellop again.

“You seem to know the rocky mountain range well. Let me make a proposal.”

“You bastard! How dare you ignore me…?!”

Tsk.

Teo, having been blatantly ignored, flinched as if about to rise from his seat immediately.

But before he could, Bellop reached out a hand to stop him.

“Your name is Khan, right? What is… your proposal?”

“How about we go defeat the griffin together?”

“…Pardon?”

At Khan’s sudden proposal, Bellop opened his eyes wide and asked again.

“Just as I said. The Subjugation Force was annihilated, so let’s join forces and defeat the griffin ourselves.”

“……”

Bellop, who had just said he would give up on the griffin subjugation, looked at Khan with trembling eyes.

‘The chilling energy that enveloped my entire body… it’s vanished as if washed away…’

Teo and Roan, who had been viewing Khan unfavorably, also kept their mouths shut for this moment.

Just in case Bellop changed his mind and decided to go defeat the griffin.

“If we join forces… do you think it’s possible?”

“Of course.”

From Khan’s mouth came an answer filled with conviction, without a single second of hesitation or doubt.

Bellop, hearing that answer, pondered briefly before finally speaking.

“Alright. But, before that…”

Bellop’s own instincts were telling him.

If he went with this man before his eyes, defeating the griffin would be possible.

However, a simple confirmation was necessary.

To see if Khan truly was a highly skilled mage.

He couldn’t just rely entirely on his gut feeling and go defeat the griffin with this man named Khan.

“Ha! This bastard…! He keeps using informal speech with our Captain from the start!”

But then, an unexpected situation occurred.

Teo, who had been holding back until now, threw a punch at Khan with all his might.

‘If this guy is really a mage, he should be able to block this easily.’

In a way, Teo was also testing Khan’s skill by throwing the punch.

But.

Whoosh!!!

Thud.

A hand truly flew like an arrow in front of Khan and lightly caught Teo’s fist.

“Huh, when…!”

The person who blocked Teo’s punch was none other than Byutek.

He had been busily tearing into chicken at the next table, saw Teo’s punch, and instantly rushed over to block it.

“If you act any more rudely, I’ll break your fist.”

“……”

Bellop, Roan, and even Teo.

These three couldn’t even see when Byutek had appeared before their eyes.

‘An incredible powerhouse…!’

Bellop clearly remembered what happened with Byutek at the checkpoint.

Teo and Roan, with their mischievous personalities, had picked a fight with Khan’s party, especially needling Byutek.

‘I had no idea he was such a skilled knight…’

He hadn’t believed his words because he never expected a knight from Kilpheon to visit such a rural village.

‘It seems what he said about being a knight from Kilpheon was true.’

Clearly, that knight named Byutek was said to be Khan’s Escort Knight, so Khan’s skill was obvious even without seeing it.

And the woman eating chicken nom nom at the table would be the same.

‘Since she called this Khan her Master, she must be his Disciple. That Disciple must also be highly skilled.’

Actually, Bellop had never seen a proper mage before.

In the case of mages, there were many frauds, and they were much rarer to see than knights.

So he didn’t know how strong a skilled mage could be.

‘As much as I’d like to confirm it right now… It wouldn’t be too late to do it at the rocky mountain range.’

For now, he thought that with just this one knight named Byutek, they might be able to defeat the griffin.

But then.

“Judging by your expression, it seems you want to confirm my skill before going to subjugate the griffin.”

“A-ah, no…! I apologize on behalf of my friend for what he just did…”

“No need. I’ll show you.”

Hum…!!

Khan gently drew up his Mana and used two Skills simultaneously.

Hum…! Hum…! Hum…! Hum…!

Whoosh!!!

Suddenly, numerous Magic Arrows appeared around him.

In his palm, a massive Flame Sphere was blazing fiercely.

“Is this enough?”

Khan looked down at Bellop with an impassive expression as he spoke.