Episode 256: Just Attack the Weaknesses (1)
There are things people can do and things they cannot do.
How many would you have to catch per day to catch 100,000 in half a year?
It was an absolutely impossible task for them, as they were only beginners.
“… … .”
The knights who had been keeping silence looked at Kaor.
He should have been having a seizure, but he didn’t respond. He just held his head up high, as if he was confident in something. Judging from his expression, it seemed like he had already been warned.
‘Well, that kid is crazy too.’
‘Do you think you can catch 100,000?’
But they are normal people, normal people. They have to say that things that don’t make sense don’t make sense.
So the knights had a fit instead of Kaor.
“No! Does that make sense? How can we catch 100,000 in half a year with our skills?”
“Is there anyone in the world who can do that?”
“We are beginners! Please be considerate!”
Jiselle said indifferently, pretending not to hear.
“Have you tried it?”
“You don’t have to do that to know!”
“I’m telling you to catch it because you can. What can’t be done? Has there ever been anything that couldn’t be done before?”
The knights could not bring themselves to refute that statement and changed the direction of their attack.
Even if you could get stronger through training and catch it, there was still another problem.
“Are there really 100,000 monsters living there?”
“Stay alive. The Shadow Mountains are very deep and wide. If there are no more monsters here, they will continue to crawl out from somewhere else.”
Jiselle continued with a confident voice.
“If the speed at which the monsters are recharging is too slow or their numbers seem to have decreased, go to the mountain next to you and catch them. If they’re not there, try going next to it. Find them and catch them somehow.”
“… … .”
“Send me the leather equivalent of 100,000 monsters within half a year. Also, secure as much tendons as possible and send them. If you work hard, you can do it all. Once you’ve filled the quota, I’ll swap you out with other knights.”
As always, the lord was not listening. So the knights tried some mild threats.
“Have you ever thought that we might run away without meeting our target?”
“It’s okay. If you want to wander the continent and live in hiding until you die, you can run away. By the way, I have a very persistent personality.”
I know that very well. I’ve seen it happen so many times that once they get hooked, they’ll push through. If you run away, they’ll definitely send pursuers to chase you until you die.
The knights sighed deeply and pleaded.
“… … I don’t think our skills are really up to that level.”
“You just have to keep fighting fiercely. That’s how I trained here.”
Jiselle chuckled. He had some really special memories of this place.
Before earning the title of Mercenary King in his previous life, his nickname was ‘The Slayer of the Shadow Mountains’.
‘Oh, I caught a lot back then.’
There was a time when I was burning with rage and endlessly seeking out fights. This was because the only way to quickly improve my skills was to fight in battles where my life was at stake.
The Forest of Demons was being developed by the Delphine Dukes, so I couldn’t go there. The alternative I found was the Shadow Mountains.
I lived here for several years, practicing. I killed so many monsters that there was a time when part of the mountain range was completely empty.
‘He would often come here later to earn some pocket money with his subordinates.’
Thinking back now, it was a pleasant memory. Even now that I’m back with new subordinates, I’m still happy with the memories vividly coming back to me.
Fun is fun and practice is practice.
‘Let’s all roll around until we die.’
The knights looked puzzled at Giselle’s words that they had to fight no matter what.
Because the unit itself was too high and Jiselle spoke so confidently, it didn’t feel real.
‘I guess that just means let’s work hard?’
‘Our lord is originally quite large in scale.’
‘Yeah, I guess I just set my goals big.’
Even with such hope, the uneasy feeling did not go away, because all the things Jiselle had done so far were extraordinary.
“Looking at the hesitating knights, Giselle said:
“Don’t be scared, everything will work out. We’re going out hunting right away, so everyone, get your weapons ready.”
At Giselle’s words, the knights brought out dozens of huge wooden boxes and placed them down.
The box contained a huge two-handed sword. It was big enough to shatter or blow away the head of any monster with one hit.
Kuung!
Jiselle laughed as she held the greatsword in one hand and struck the floor with it.
“Okay, let’s go now. Let’s break the monsters’ heads.”
* * *
Before leaving, Jiselle did not go outside, but rather moved inside the city center.
Kaor asked Giselle about that.
“Where are you going? If you want to get out of the fortress, you have to go the other way.”
“Human resources.”
“Why? Can we save people here too?”
“We can’t carry all the monsters we hunt, right? Instead, we need people to dismantle them and collect the byproducts. We’ll hire porters.”
“aha.”
Kaor and the knights quickly understood that carrying too much luggage would inevitably distract them from the battle.
As you hunt more, your load will increase, which will put a lot of restrictions on your movement.
“But are there many porters here besides hunters?”
“Well, people tend to gather where there is money to be made.”
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“Wow, there’s nothing our lord doesn’t know. As expected of the northern money grubber… … . Swish!”
Kaor, who had been hit once, rubbed his eyes and followed Giselle obediently.
There are many people here who gather to make money, just like Jiselle said. They are mainly merchants who process the hunters’ hunts and people who do various chores for them.
There were also hunters who tried to make money without fighting.
It is the law of the world that when people need something, people start a business targeting that need.
Some of the top companies not only handled the goods, but also set up professional manpower agencies to hire porters.
Kaor and the knights opened their eyes wide in admiration as they arrived at the center of the fortress.
“Wow, there are a lot of people here?”
“It’s no different than the big cities in the north?”
“Except it’s a bit dirtier.”
Because the fortress was so large, its center was developed to the point where it could rival the commercial district of a decent city.
Among the many shops, there were many people buying and selling things. There were also workshops for dismantling monster byproducts.
Small groups or individual hunters may also find parties here.
Since porters were essential for the hunters’ hunts, the area around the manpower station was very noisy with the voices of people soliciting customers.
“We have many veteran porters with 5 years of experience!”
“I’m a former hunter, so I can fight when needed!”
“A S-class hunter hides his power and acts as a porter!”
Jiselle went to a reasonably large manpower agency and spoke to a busy employee.
“I will hire 100 people.”
“Yes! Ten people! Just a moment! I’ll bring them over right away.”
“100 people.”
“Yes? 100 people?”
The employee asked back in surprise.
The average number of porters hired by hunters is around 10. Since it is difficult to hunt for a long time anyway, there is no benefit in hiring more than that.
Only fairly large hunter guilds or large parties employ a lot of porters.
The clerk looked Jiselle up and down for a moment and then asked again.
“Are you going to war somewhere?”
“My motto is to bring a lot at once. We have a lot of people.”
The manpower agency employee nodded after checking the number of about 50 people waiting outside with swords.
“There are only about 30 of us right now.”
“I’ll hire everyone.”
Jiselle went around the manpower center and filled 100 people. When about 150 people including the knights moved, the hunters looked dumbfounded.
“They just got here, right?”
“You probably don’t even know the geography of this place, so aren’t you trying too hard from the beginning?”
“They seem to be quite capable, but they’re too greedy. Those kinds of people are the ones who die first.”
“Let’s see how many I can catch. I probably won’t even fill half of them. Hahahaha!”
Leaving behind the laughter and murmurs of the hunters, Jiselle moved forward with pride.
The porters were initially confused, but they seemed to feel a little relieved because there were so many people.
“Come on, let’s go quickly. We have to sweep away all the good hunting grounds first.”
Hunters call the monster’s territory a hunting ground. There are countless hunting grounds, but among them, there are places that are good for hunting and places that are not.
It was an unspoken rule that if a party had already settled in a hunting ground, they would have to leave.
Of course, if you are confident that you can kill all the parties there without getting caught, then it is okay to stay.
Kaor asked Giselle again, seemingly curious.
“Is there such a thing as a good hunting ground? If we subdue them anyway, isn’t that the end of it?”
“After a few days, that place will be filled again. The types of monsters will be a little different, though. Anyway, it’s a place with a suspiciously large number of monsters.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. There really are a lot of monsters. But how does your lord know all of them?”
Jiselle didn’t answer and just laughed it off. It was common sense that hunters who had been here for a long time would naturally know.
In fact, he knows because he has been there often in his past life. The exact reason was not revealed even in his past life.
In front of the fortress’s great gate, numerous wagons and coachmen were waiting.
Their job was to guide the hunters comfortably to the entrance of the mountain.
Since we have to go into the mountains, we can’t take the horse. But it’s still quite a distance to walk to the mountains.
You can’t build a fortress right under a mountain because you never know when a monster might pop out.
It’s even harder when you finish hunting and bring back all the monsters’ byproducts.
So, naturally, there were people who would take advantage of this situation to make money.
“Basic fee of 5 silver per person to the mountain entrance!”
“We will serve you as quickly and comfortably as possible!”
“A S-class hunter hides his power and becomes a groom!”
Kaor and the knights laughed in disbelief at the sight.
“There really is everything here.”
In order to survive in a dangerous place, you have no choice but to develop quickly to suit the environment. The fortresses built in the Shadow Mountains were all developed in a way that increased the convenience of hunting.
The group all rode on several large wagons that pretended to be carriages. This was a quick and easy way to get into the mountains.
Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that I would be able to come back this comfortably.
The coachmen who don’t like taking risks leave as soon as they drop off their guests, and the only people who remain at the bottom of the mountain are those who want to make more money.
Doo doo doo doo!
The horses galloped powerfully. The faster they went, the more the cart shook violently.
Rattling! Rattling! Rattling!
The ride was extremely uncomfortable. That’s because it was just a carriage converted from a cart to carry as much luggage and people as possible.
“I’ll get it to you quickly! Just leave it to me!”
The grooms ran happily, receiving many guests at once. They headed to the foot of the nearest mountain.
Since there were certain areas that hunters frequently went to, it was standard practice to go there without being told.
But Giselle, who was riding in the lead carriage, said to the coachman.
“Turn around. Don’t go there, go in the direction I’m pointing.”
“Yes? Why?”
“The place I usually go to will probably be hunted by other hunters too. Since I hunt them almost every day, there will probably be fewer monsters.”
“omg?”
The coachman made a terrified expression. The place he had originally planned to go was also dangerous. The places that hunters often go to were like that, so it was only natural that other places would be even more dangerous.
Because there are no continuous subjugation, there are many more monsters.
“No, the place we’re going now has a lot of monsters too! That’s the route that the most monsters take to get to the fortress! That’s why the hunters hunt there the most!”
“Why are you talking so much when the guest is leaving?”
“Is this your first time here? Why go to a more dangerous place? I’ll just show you around!”
“This isn’t your first time. You’re trying to catch more, so turn around quickly. You’re going to destroy the carriage?”
No matter how much he tried to persuade her, it didn’t work. The groom eventually changed course due to Giselle’s persistence.
“I’ll be back as soon as I get there!”
“Okay.”
The porters looked anxious. If you go to a place where you are not familiar with the terrain, it is difficult to avoid any danger that may arise.
But Giselle and the knights looked like they had nothing to worry about.
It was because Jiselle had a lot of experience and the knights still had no idea. It didn’t feel real.
The carriage finally stopped in an eerie place where a cold wind blew. The great shadow of the mountain range seemed to weigh heavily on everyone.
Now that they have set foot here, they will have to face numerous monsters. The knights finally show signs of tension and caution as they face the unknown threat.
But Giselle got out of the carriage and laughed.
“Come on, there are a lot of monsters here, so let’s go quickly and clear them out while we train. There aren’t many strange ones like in the Demon Forest, so you don’t have to worry. There are just a lot of them.”
As soon as Giselle finished speaking after getting off the carriage, a monster’s roar was heard.
Kaaaaaaah!
“… … .”
The knights were speechless. They hadn’t even climbed the mountain yet, but the monsters had already rushed out, as if they were happy to see them.
“Wow! A monster has already appeared!”
The monsters that appeared were a group of owlbears. They were ferocious monsters with a body like a bear and the head of an owl, and they were taller than the average adult male and boasted a huge size.
“The Owlbear has descended!”
“I told you not to come here! Why didn’t you listen to me!”
The grooms and porters were terrified. There seemed to be dozens of owl bears running towards them.
The former hunter porter who had been hiding his powers immediately got back on the cart and shouted as he tried to run away.
“What are you doing! Let’s run away for now! There are too many of you!”
At those words, everyone started to panic. The coachmen could run away, but the porters had already received their money.
If you run away like this, it will be difficult to find work in the future.
The knights also briefly looked puzzled as they watched the herd of Owlbears running towards them.
‘What the… … Owlbear came down from the mountain?’
‘What is this place? Do they really train in a place like this?’
‘There must be a place as f*cked up as the Forest of Demons.’
Owlbears originally live deep in the mountains. Coming down to the bottom of the mountains like this means they were pushed out in a territory fight or are crazy.
Kaaaak!
The owl bear in the lead was the largest and fastest of the group. The other owl bears could not keep up.
Was he really crazy? His mouth was dripping with dirty liquid and his eyes were red.
Looking at that sight, Jiselle smiled with a satisfied expression.
“Hey, you can get good leather from the start. Everyone, watch carefully. From now on, I’ll teach you how to kill monsters easily and get leather cleanly. Just attack the monsters’ weak points.”
The knights nodded at the confident words of Giselle. Any monster becomes easier if you know its weaknesses and know how to attack it.
The grooms and porters also paused for a moment because Giselle looked so relaxed.
Strong hunters can fight dozens of monsters alone. I thought that might be the case.
Jiselle raised her hand and shouted loudly.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The knights prepared for battle with their greatswords drawn. Of course, they did not rush out first.
Because Jiselle decided to show us how to exploit weaknesses first.
Ugh.
Giselle’s eyes turn red. Just by looking at the eyes, it was hard to tell whether Owlbear was crazy or Giselle was crazy.
Boom!
Jiselle ran out, exploding with mana.
