Elqueeness - Chapter 28

The next day, along with the representatives of the merchant convoy, the Champagne

Mercenaries gathered to plan a strategy for this unexpected development. Since we were now

aware of the activities of not one, but two Upper Class Monsters, we could not afford to be rash.

Furthermore, the monsters that had appeared were among the strongest even when compared to other monsters of the same rank.

The argument revolved around whether they should try making a run for it, charge through and test their luck, or take a different road and go around. The news that a mercenary company composed of eleven Silver Rank elites was annihilated had already spread all throughout the town.

The merchant convoy began to panic as well, as their control over their own schedules slipped away from their grasps.

If they were to go around, they would be far behind schedule and the consequences of such failure could not be taken lightly. Therefore, they hesitated, unsure of what course of action to take.

The sudden appearance of the two Hell Cerberi was an unforeseen disaster, and all they could do right now was curse their luck.

“*Sigh*…This trip is like a twisted road… Why would Upper Class Monsters appear so close to the town? Just what were the patrolmen doing?”

“The lord of this place fell into corruption a long time ago. Rather than paying for work towards improving the lives of his fief’s citizens, he devotes himself to booze and women.

He neither hires new men as soldiers nor bothers training the ones he already has. Truly disgusting…

The curtains to the long history of the Soltere Empire will close at this rate.”

Isana’s face turned pale at those words. His hand tightened into a fist, but he did not express

any desire to leave. The first thing that he must do when he regains his seat to the imperial throne is to crush the nobles that had fallen into corruption and re­establish a system that can cleanse the dirt that had penetrated so far into the heart of the government.

This was not wishful thinking, but a logical action that came from his pride as Emperor. Hosane had also reached his limit and could no longer bear just sitting and listening.

“So, what can you do? Upper Class Monsters are dangerous opponents. The Bronze Ranked Mercenaries will only be a burden and serve to increase the casualties. Will you leave from the East Gate?”

“It is difficult to say. If we were to head east, we would be at least a month late even if we rode at top speed. If we don’t arrive on time, our branch will be decimated by the competition.

I heard that you are a Gold Ranked Mercenary… Would it still be too much for you?”

“Who knows? With Matthew and I, a single Cerberus would be no problem. That means that the second one must be held off by others. The bigger problem is that we do not have the strength to fight and protect the convoy at the same time.”

The representative’s complexion brightened, but then sank when he heard Hosane’s last words.

This journey would have lost all meaning if they lost their supplies. He knew that people who were busy fighting with their lives on the line had no spare time to worry about the safety of the goods.

When they went back to square one, Trom­Well, who had been silent till now, spoke up.

“It’s not like we’re out of options.”

“Oh!! What is it?”

“If it is too hard to fight and protect at the same time, our company could go alone and subjugate the monsters first. With our strength, we should be able to match the monsters.

After we eliminate the threats, we can resume to our destination as scheduled.”

“Ah, yes! You’re right!”

Irial apathetically replied to the enthusiasm of the merchants. She seemed to imply that they were capable of winning, but had no desire to fight.

“We expect a raise for this mission. The risk a mercenary takes can only be negotiated through money. You are aware, correct?”

“As long as you can get us to the March, we have no complaints about giving you guys a raise.

For us, we must get there as soon as possible. Just name your price. We’ll pay.”

“Fifty silver for every person. Upper Class Monsters are just that dangerous. It’s not even certain whether we’ll succeed or not. We may have to prepare for our own funerals.”

At the price, the representative seemed to be deeply troubled. Individually, it wasn’t a huge sum but, all together, they would need to pay a total of four gold coins.

Because I had only reached a few hundred gold coins for a highly treasured jewel, I could tell that a single gold coin was an astronomical sum for an average household.

No matter how desperate they were, it would be difficult for them to pay such a large fee in a short period of time. As if she had already expected such a result, Irial smirked and continued on.

“Remember that if we do succeed, it’ll be a huge bonus to you guys as well. The hide of the Gatekeeper of Hell Cerberus is worth several gold coins. You should be able to get at least a few dozen gold off of such a trade.”

“What? Gatekeeper of Hell Cerberus? The Upper Class Monsters that appeared are those guys?”

“That’s right. If we do catch them, their corpses will go to you. I don’t see any disadvantages for you guys. If we win, you get richer; and if we die, you won’t have to pay us.”

With Hosane’s clean finish, the representative seemed to have been completely convinced.

“Very well then. We agree to your request. Even though it’s a burdensome amount, if you are able to clear the path for us, we are willing to pay. Please know that this is how much we trust your abilities. I entrust our fates into your hands.”

“We treasure our lives. I have no intention of dying so easily, so be at ease.”

Now that we made a decision, we began to plan our strategy. The people who usually goofed around joking were now completely serious and listened earnestly to Hosane’s every word.

My heart felt heavy as I now realized just how dangerous our opponents were from looking at their attitudes.

“A Cerberus is a beast with three heads. Every head is independent and its speed is formidable as well. Fighting one is no different than fighting three Upper Classes at once. As I said earlier, Matthew and I will engage one and for the remainder…”

“It will be difficult for us alone. Since Irial and Matey specialize in long range support, their attacks lack power against such opponents. A quick and clean victory won’t be possible.”

“Hah, troublesome… Hey, that guy’s name was Pete, right? Isn’t the Captain of the Cocktail

Mercenaries a Silver Ranked? Why don’t we ask for his help?”

It seemed like a good idea to Matey, but the reaction was cold. Hosane shook his head and explained.

“He’s someone who became a Silver Ranked not long ago. Since his company is made up of Bronze Ranked mercenaries, it is highly likely that he has never experienced a Silver Rank mission. He is lacking and only meets the bare minimum of the skill requirement for a Silver Rank. Also, since we agreed to deal with this ourselves, he probably won’t accept our request.”

“But we four won’t be able to win!”

“No, you can. Your skills are at the peak of Silver Rank and near the Gold Rank. And it’s not four, it’s six. Don’t forget about El and Rai.”

“What… WHAT? Captain! Don’t tell me you’re asking the kids to fight as well! No! That’s too dangerous!”

Irial was not the only one who rejected strongly. However, Hosane sternly replied:

“I know the dangers. But we need all the help we can get. Rai’s ability as a Spirit Summoner will prove to be useful. El, Rai?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry. I know this is difficult, but we need your help.”

We nodded without thinking too much at his request. Since we had only been on the receiving side the whole time, Isana’s response was even hotter.

“Without a doubt. Even if you hadn’t asked, I would have asked to join as well. I’m lacking but I will do my best to not drag you guys down.”

“Huh… No, what are you saying?! Absolutely not! Too dangerous! So what if you’re a Spirit

Summoner? You can’t summon anything because of Irial!”

“That’s why I wish to dedicate myself to training today. I may be able to summon Seacuel. That way there won’t be any trouble.”

“What? Are Superior Grade Spirits that easy to summon?”

Of course not. They were second only to the Kings. Comparing the difficulty of summoning a Intermediate to a Superior is like comparing a basin to a lake. Therefore, it was difficult for anyone to believe Isana’s words.

Like Hosane said, they needed every hand they could get.

“El can just stay in the premises. I’ll give you a blade so that if a monster comes at you, rather than attacking, use it for defense.”

“Ah, yes.”

So are they telling me to just not get in the way? Tch. If I knew this would happen, I should have learned the Sword Arts from Trom­Well earlier. But what can I do with regrets?

That night, Isana’s Spartan training began…to be honest, calling it Spartan training was giving him too much credit since the work was done mostly by me. With Isana sitting comfortably on the floor, I poured every ounce of my Spiritual Aura into his body. Isana’s body began to let off a vapor of thin streaming azure fog. But Isana was rapidly absorbing that aura into his body as well.

Satisfied, I let out a smile. At this rate, summoning Seacuel won’t be just a dream.

“Summoning Seacuel isn’t enough. Even if he succeeds, if he can’t control or apply the powers of a Superior Grade Spirit, he will be useless.”

“That’s why I’m giving my all so he can succeed both requirements. He should be able to last an hour with the amount of power I’m giving him. Since I won’t be of use in an actual battlefield, Isana at the very least should carry the weight for both of us?”

“So just say that you’re a Spirit Summoner as well…”

“You know that’s too much, Trom­Well. Summoning a Spirit requires mana, not Spiritual Aura.

If I were to summon Spirits of my own, I would need to consume mana and that mana would need to come from Isana. He won’t be able to take on such a burden.”

It may have been better if I had formed a contract with Lapis. Since a dragon’s mana is overtly abundant, I should have no trouble summoning what I desired.

Should I just have agreed? No, I wouldn’t be able to handle that narcissistic personality of his…

Rude, brash, and selfish would characterize that dragon perfectly. To make things worse, he had a short fuse so his tantrums were hard to endure. Even though his pride was crushed when I shattered his prided spell, it was too difficult to truly break the self­confidence that had accumulated over the course of thousands of years.

But even with that said, I still had some lingering regrets. Even with all the downsides, I could not disagree that Lapis would be useful.

By now, an hour had passed. Since I deemed that he had absorbed enough, I shook Isana back to reality and had him attempt a summon.

“Isana, begin.”

“Understood. <Seacuel>, I summon thee.”

*Flash*.

The sheer cold that hit Isana was on a completely different level compared to when he had summoned Undine. Even though Isana had made great progress over the recent weeks, I could see the visible struggle on his face. Summoning a Superior Grade was truly difficult.

Isana’s face rapidly drained of color and became completely white.

Not only did his expression become twisted, his shoulders stiffened. He was approaching his limit. But I could not afford to have him fail so I poured in my aura at an even faster rate. He was in such a state that he could not even breathe properly.

“Isana, don’t lose focus! Breathe!”

“Ha­ *gasp*… El…queeness, this is too much…”

“Shut up. Don’t be so weak. If you give up, you need to start from scratch. Concentrate. I’m

here by your side. Trust me.”

“Ah, alright.”

When I increased the flow to double what I had originally poured in, Isana’s breathing steadied. His entire body was soaked from the sweat that streamed from his forehead and dripped from his chin.

At this point, I began to worry that he may perish. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ But at this moment, Seacuel’s vague outline solidified into a magnificent creature of a wolf.