Chapter 49: Assemble

By hunting monsters inside the monster infested area like Dark Forest, adventurers and some people will get a lot of resources.

It could be said that this kind of resource is similar to gold mine but in many different forms. The monsters not only provide monster cores that are useful for energy supply and alchemy products, their corpses are also useful to many things.

Some parts of it could be useful for medicine, some could be used as a base for weapons and arms, some could become a very luxury of clothes, and many others purpose. The only limitation is people need to hunt this dangerous monster first.

Because of this, there are many adventure guilds that are flourishing in the Heart kingdom. The Guild in this world is almost the same as the company on Earth. Except in here guilds consist of strong people and rather than workers.

The adventurer guild also got more jobs and hired during this time of period. Like the Blue Feather adventurer guild that is being hired as additional manpower and guide for the investigation team.

Adventurers may not be as strong as the kingdom army since people who are high grade usually will be hired by the kingdom or open their own guild, however nobody will underestimate their expertise in hunting monsters.

Like the old saying before you go fishing, ask the advice of the local fisherman. It means to ask the local expert to guide you in a new environment. This way the team will get less trouble during their investigation.

'Alright, now it is time to go.' thought Duke Victory while looking at the clock. 

Done with his work, Duke Victory immediately leaves the house manor in the capital and teleports to one of his residences in the countryside. From there he needs to get by himself towards the Dark Fortress that he saved last time.

The teleportation device may seem convenient, however it could also be sabotaged by others to launch a surprise attack. Because of this reason, people only put them in safe places with heavy fortification.

Unstable place like Black Fortress, cannot have the teleportation device since it is often attacked by monsters and leaves them vulnerable.

The duke didn't immediately depart to the Black Fortress, but rather waited in front of the teleportation device. After a while, the teleportation device hummed a little bit and teleported a few people in battle attire.

Looking at this, the Duke Victory gives a friendly smile towards the newcomers. As for the newcomers, after they adapt to the disorientation from the teleportation device one of them greets Duke Victory.

"Good day, I hope we are not late Duke Jacob." said of the man in the front.

"Hahaha, long time no see my friends, Maro, Fyi, and Gibbs. Nope, you arrive just at the right time." replied the duke.

After that they exchange some pleasantries and greetings with each other. Once again the teleportation device hummed. But the spatial fluctuation this time is many times stronger than before.

"Duke Victory, did you expect someone to come?" as all of them ready their battle.

It is not uncommon for the teleportation device to be sabotaged by someone after being used. Furthermore, the teleportation device usually only gives small spatial fluctuations unless they teleported someone from far away or it is being sabotaged.

Teleportation from far away is very rare. So, it's normal for them to think that the teleportation is being sabotaged.

"Hold your weapon, my friends." said the duke without giving further explanation.

They immediately lower their weapon but still put their guard in case something is wrong. Minutes later, an elves come out from the teleportation device. 

Looking that the one that teleported is an elf, they immediately put their guard down. Although elves are hailed as the strongest race in civilian society, they rarely cause and hate conflict.

They are also famous for being a peace loving race unless they are being provoked by others. Some myths said that they are the descendants of dragons, since they are very strong but never care of the world unless being provoked first.

After adapting a little bit to the spatial disturbance, "Good day,  I hope I am not too late."

"Don't worry master Sylva. You arrive just on time." replied the duke.

"Gentleman, this is master Sylva Windspear. He will be the leader during this mission." introduced the duke towards others.

After they greet each other, "Alright, shall we go now?" asked the duke.

Getting confirmation from the others, the duke summoned his [Fire Wyvern]. Soon, all of them hopped into it and departed towards the Black Fortress.

The investigation team is divided into many groups according to the alliance between kingdoms, each of these groups has their own rendezvous location. For the Heart kingdom alliance group their meeting point is Black Fortress.

It will take some time before the other kingdom delegation comes to this place, they will stay here for a while before departing into the deep of Black Forest.

The other kingdom delegation cannot come over via teleportation device to avoid any conflict between these kingdoms. Beside the elf kingdom, the other kingdoms never fully thrust each other despite them being allied.

So, to avoid unnecessary conflict they agree to send their delegation through the border rather than using a teleportation device. Although it will take more time, they also have a lot of time before the monster overlord launches its full attack.

Sixty months means around five years in this world. Five years time is not too short and also not too long for the world that consists of many long life people on it.

However, they need to gather intelligence of the new monster overlord before the five years time to create some sort of counter measure towards it.

Like an old proverb saying If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Beings arrive early at the Black Fortress also to increase the fortification in case of monster attack. Three of Duke's victory friends are grade five while Sylvan and Duke Jacob themself are grade six.

This kind of power line up could easily overpower a small kingdom. Moreover, there is also a Blue Feather guild member that is being hired by the kingdom. 

They not only became a guide in this investigation mission but also provided additional manpower to stay inside the Black Fortress in case the monster wave attacked.

Beside that, the king himself commanded one of the three dukes left to stay at the black fortress for the time being. Normally, the black fortress area is under Duke Victory jurisdiction. 

However, he needs to go along the investigation team. So, the king ordered other dukes to stay at this place.

The duke's in Heart kingdom is the highest noble beside the royal family. For them to get into this position they need at least to have the power of grade five or above.

Considering there are only four dukes in the Heart kingdom, yet they sent two dukes to fortify the border of Dark Forest. This shows that the importance of monster overlord matters towards the Heart Kingdom.

Arriving at the Black Fortress, Duke Victory greets General Borkins before letting the others to rest inside the fortress.

"Borkins, how is the situation?" asked the Duke Victory.

"The situation is not too bad since there is no other attack besides the last time. However…"

Hearing the tone of his friend, the duke also became more serious.

"None of them who got inside the forest managed to get back. Even all of our magical spy eyes are being destroyed the moment it enters the forest a little bit." [Borkins]

"Moreover, there is also something inside there that jammed our detection device." Explain the dwarf general about the current situation.

"Hmm… It means we have lost our eyes and ear inside the forest. Since when did this happen?" asked the duke solemnly

"Since the last attack. I tried to hire some high grade adventurers to know what is going on inside the forest but none of them have come back since then." [Borkins]

"If this is not a forest invested with monster areas I believe that someone is trying to hide something from us." Explain Borkins

"Alright, I will ask the master Sylva if he knows something about this. You did a good job, Borkins." said the duke.

"Ahh.. there are other things." interrupt the dwarf before letting the duke got away.

"What is it?" asked the duke

"I hear you are part of the investigation team this time. I have a bad feeling about this new monster overlord, I could only hope you to be careful. This forest is nothing but the embodiment of evil especially in time like this."

Hearing the warning of his old friend, "I will keep in mind that." before the duke rested in his own room.

He knows that the dwarf general rarely gives warning towards him. As someone who has lived for more than hundred years, the general dwarf intuition is most likely to be true.

The duke needs to be ready in every situation. Although as a grade six, he has a better chance to escape even facing a monster overlord, but he still needs to be careful especially after the last lesson where he got injured and almost lost his life.

The duke is not gotten into his current position only with his power, he also has a good head to read any scheme that leads into his current position from the lower noble.