CH 40.2

“Hahaha! There are nothing but weaklings around here!”

Aldis cleaved several Rank 3 rock trolls with a single blow. Normally, one would have to aim at the parts of the rock surface that were not the actual rocks, as they looked more like a fusion of a rock and a big man.

Aldis, however, would wipe them out regardless of whether they were in a swarm or not. Some parts of these demons might be valuable, but they wouldn’t pick them up, because for Yggdrasia, even that work would be too much of a hassle since it would only be worth a small fortune.

“Can’t we get some tough ones?”

“Not around here, no. And it’s also precisely why the Royal Capital is here.”

“That’s right. I’m going to have to teach a lesson to those damned weaklings who are struggling against even this level of trash. Hahahahaha!”

‘Even though you lost to the cheeky Dorland not long ago’, Clarine thought, but she didn’t voice out her words.

She looked away from Aldis, who was smiling broadly, or rather laughing foolishly, and noticed something approaching from the distance. Coming from the distance was a group of what appeared to be adventurers. From the way they were dressed, you could tell they were of a certain rank.

“Ah? What… adventurers?”

“Those rock trolls over there. Did you guys defeat them?”

“What if I say yes?”

“We don’t like trouble. Would you mind handing over the proof of subjugation to us?”

Sometimes there were adventurers who would take other people’s achievements. Most of them were like hyenas, sneaking off after a job was done.

But this group was different. The Grand Sharks, a notorious party of robbers, consisted of some of the most prominent members of the Royal Capital’s Adventurers’ Guild.

“You’ve heard of the Grand Sharks, right?”

“Aldis, Grand Sharks is a pretty decent bunch of guys. The leader of the Grand Sharks is a Rank 2 adventurer. They’ve bullied many adventurers, and they’ve even banished some of them.”

“Well, that means they’re a bunch of jerks. Okay, I get it.”

“Aldis…?”

Aldis directed his palm at the leader, who had just questioned him. Instantly, the leader was put on fire, screaming and rolling around. Zhul then grazed the remaining members with his knife at an unbelievably fast speed. One by one, they all lost strength from their knees and could not stand.

Within seconds of the encounter, the party, which included the 2nd rank, had been completely defeated.

“I can’t stand up, I can’t…”

“That knife is poisoned, so the attack just now had put a little bit of poison in your nervous system.” 

“Zhul, I’m going to use them.”

“Okay, that’s good. Anyway, we were just in need of a few more hands.”

Aldis magically extinguished the fire that had seriously injured the leader of the Grand Shark’s party. Then, after a few more rounds of combat, the trampling continued until they were weeping.

Satisfied with the leader’s tearful apology, Aldis finally stopped.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“I hope you understand. You guys do the chores until we get to the Royal Capital.”

“Oh, we’re…? We’re…? – That’s…”

“You are a Rank 2, aren’t you? Well, I can’t show my bad appearance to the dignitaries who recognize me, can I?”

“Yes…”

“Well, I promise I won’t make you look bad. Maybe.”

Perhaps it was simply a lucky coincidence that Aldis had gained a new toy.

But this time it was a well-known party. Clarine was concerned that it was a bit risky to do something so shady.

Then Clarine remembered the girl they left behind in the Demon Forest. Just as she was thinking about that girl, suddenly a girl jumped into Clarine’s line of sight.

“Oh? What’s with that kid? She looks so skinny.” (Clarine)

“Well, that’s an orphan. We’d been using her to handle all the odd jobs and chores for a while now.” (Shark Boss)

“Ha, you have poor taste.” (Clarine)

“No, that’s not what I’m trying to…” (Shark Boss)

The girl in the dirty clothes was younger than that girl.

At first, Clarine thought of using this girl as an outlet for her stress, but she felt this girl would not last long.

Clarine thought to herself, ‘The previous one was really an abnormal kid. Could she even survive from that place? No, that’s not possible.’

However, just as she continued to think about the peculiar girl, she suddenly felt a chill.

“Hey, Clarine, what’s up? Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Even though she tried to hurt that peculiar girl so much during their journey, that girl still didn’t die. Now Clarine wondered why she had felt that way out of nowhere, and an unfounded sense of unease began to grow inside her.