Chapter 178 - Accursed Land

"Kuu, cover my rear! Raksha, Attack together with me! Let's go!"

Woof! Woof!

*Jiggle Jiggle*

With the order in place, Sheila and Raksha, the a.d.u.l.t grey fierce wolf, immediately launched themselves straight toward the countless giant ants in front of them. Kuu, the Giant Slime, also started to enlarge itself to the point that it almost touches the cave's ceiling to defend their back against a surprise attack from the Giant Ant on the outside. Among the three, Kuu has the highest vitality, even higher than Sheila's. So, it is no brainer for her to leave Kuu at the back to protect their rear.

It has been a week since then. During the seven days, Sheila had been spending most of her time in reality by entertaining herself with her hobbies. Of course, she also didn't forget to use the other half of her time to train in the Trial Tower for the quest. In essence, Sheila considered balance in mind so that she won't break apart if she ended up pushing herself too much. 

Her current level is 37. It seemed all that hard grinding she had done so far is not a total waste at all. From her observation thus far, she concluded that the Giant Ant Queen is the Boss for this floor. And if she managed to clear this floor by killing the Giant Ant Queen, she had a feeling that she will level up by then. 

Without looking back, Sheila charges forward with a blazing red sword in her hand. The sword had somehow turned out like this mostly because of her skill, Swordsmanship. It wasn't just her level that increased during the hard grinding, some of her most-used skills, also follow along with it. 

"Infernal Sword Technique — Hell Slash!...just kidding~ it's just a normal slash."

Though she called it 'normal slash,' the outcome of it is that the small number of Giant Ants approximately close to her was all split into two. The Giant Ant's exoskeleton is very tough and can even deflect a bullet from her Magic Gun, yet here and now, it was killed just like that with a swing of her sword. Of course, if Sheila had spent more mana into her bullet, the power from that single bullet should be enough to shatter their exoskeleton to pieces. However, she didn't do so. 

For a specific reason, she now wanted to practice more on her sword technique than just finishing them off with the magic gun. To Sheila, specialized in one aspect is not enough for her. She might be greedy, but for the sake of keeping her loves one safe from harm, she needs to be more than that. In fact, if she's going to be a leader of her organization, she has to be powerful. She needs to become extremely powerful, so powerful that it will bring fear to others and enough to overwhelm them that they have to think twice before making a move on her and those close to her.

Sheila may or may not have been influenced too much by her hobbies. Nevertheless, it isn't wrong to be prepared in advance for the worst-case scenario. 

Woof!

With a howl, Raksha dives straight into the group of immobilized Giant Ants before shredding them all to pieces with its sharp claw. Afterward, Raksha immediately moved on to another giant ant close to it and bit it in the neck. While Raksha is tearing them apart like a crazed wolf, Sheila is also having the time of her life practicing her sword skill on the giant ants. There was also a time when the two decided to partners up to cover themselves while Kuu is busy fighting against the agitated giant ants from the outside. But at the end of it, Sheila and her tamed monsters are just too strong for normal giant ants to handle.

If both of them, Raksha and Kuu didn't evolve the day before, they would have a bit of a problem against that many giant ants. It was very recently that she found out that she can leave her tamed monsters in the Trial Tower once she had summoned them before leaving. If she hadn't forgotten about Raksha, she would not have known about this. One can even say, finding fortune within misfortunate.

When she's relaxing outside the Trial Tower, two of her tamed monsters were left behind to grind level by themselves. It didn't take long for both of them to reached level 30 and evolved. Sheila was actually quite surprised at the time when she found out that Kuu also evolved, following Raksha's footsteps. As its level increased, the only thing different for Kuu is it's getting bigger and bigger, the higher the level. And finally, a miracle happens once it reached level 30 and evolved to Giant Slime, it also gained a few useful skills.

"Yes, I can feel it. I'm sure of it now that by the time I clear this floor, I'll level up."

Woof! Woof!

"Yes, yes. You also did a good job there, Raksha."

Sheila spoke while patting the head of the a.d.u.l.t grey wolf in front of her. Though she wants to do this some more, she has to move forward, or it will be a hassle if the queen gave birth more than she can possibly handle. If it is a wide-open space, she would not have any trouble fighting against an army or two, but that's not the case here. 

Although the inside of the cave looks spacious for the giant ants to move around without any trouble, it is not wide enough for her trump card. For now, she has a feeling that she can take care of the queen and the soldiers protecting it, but if she gives it time, it might not be the same. With that thought in mind, Sheila stopped patting Raksha and went to collect the loot scattered on the ground before diving deeper into the cave, followed by a small blob and an a.d.u.l.t wolf.

***

Room 7, Second Floor, Public Apartment.

"Are you sure you want it at this price?" 

Sara asked. Honestly, she didn't need to ask as she understood that the man in front of him is very desperate in selling the cursed land. After reading his background information, she judged the man to be unlucky.

After graduating from college, the man soon found a decent job and though it took a while, he found his soul mate right after. And a few years later, both of them finally decided to tie the knot. Life has been very good to him up until then. But one day, he was browsing through the internet and came across a single ad. At that time, he was looking for a house, but his budget is nowhere enough to get him a dream house. 

But at that time, the single ad he came across to, it feels like a light shining in a dark sky. Just as he was about to give in and find a cheap apartment, the ad came, which showed him a mansion and its surrounding land is up for sale. Believing that nothing is wrong from the way the client spoke, the man ended up buying it all.

For the first few days, everything is fine. And just as they thought of having a kid in their new house, both of them suddenly felt abnormal ill at once. Thanks to his strong will, the man managed to call on an ambulance just before both of them lose unconscious. Later on, he woke up and found out the truth from a doctor about the mansion and its surrounding land. It was then that he learned the world could also be cruel sometimes. Without any other choice, the man ended up putting the land back on sale.

"Yes! I'm sure of it. Is it a deal?"

It has been a few days since. He thought no one would buy the house since the rumors about it is actually pretty famous. But, who would have thought that there's another idiot like him? There's no way he would let go of this god-given chance!

"Hmm. How about checking the site first?"

"Y-Yes? Yes, we can do that. When are you available again, or do you prefer now?"

'Damn it. I don't want to go back there, but I don't have a choice here. And here I thought she's a stupid woman like me. But it's okay, the site actually looks good, and nothing seems abnormal, or different. One won't be able to tell that there's some kind of illness there unless they live there for a week or two. I just hope that this woman won't search up online about the site, or I might not be able to sell off the cursed land.'

"Yes, now should be a good time for me."

"Alright, then shall we head out now?"

Sara nodded her head in agreement as she immediately gets on her feet before walking toward the exit, followed by the man right behind her. From the information gathered by her, there also seemed to be rumors about there being an evil spirit. When an incident brought the mansion to spotlight, there used to be many people going there just to do some investigation of their own. While most didn't find anything abnormal, some who stayed for a prolonged amount of time said they saw a dark figure at the corner of the view. But because they didn't record their finding on their camera, people didn't take heed of their word seriously despite some also agreed with it.

As someone who knows about certain things, Sara knew that it is possible for there to be an evil spirit in that place. Although it doesn't sound powerful since those who had seen it is still alive to tell the tale, it would become stronger if no one is there to cleansing it for good. If an evil spirit truly exists there, then she might need help from her daughter's friend. However, she had to check it out first before that. Even if there's an evil spirit there, it should be weak at the moment since it's the afternoon where the sunlight is the brightest.

"So, Is this it?"

"Yes. The mansion over there had been reconstructed a few weeks ago, so it still as fresh as one can get. As for the land, It reached as far as our sight can take. Did you see that sign over there, at the side of the road? That's the limit. How is it? It's pretty spacious, isn't it?"

"Indeed, but something is strange."

"W-What is it?"

Sara took a moment as she observed the surrounding land before she opened her mouth and said.

"It's just...based on the market price, the land and the mansion should be very expensive. But the price quoted by you is actually quite affordable, I had thought the land to be on a much smaller scale with that price, not expecting this one at all. So then, this is my thought; What if, the reason you're selling the land and the mansion much cheaper than the market price is that there's something wrong in them, aren't they? Am I wrong to assume this?"

"T-That is..."

'H-How did she knew the market price? Damn it, she must be that type of person who did a bit of research before purchasing a house. That's bad, really bad. I need to sell it to her ASAP before she came to know about the history of this accursed land. Looking at her behavior and attitude, I can tell that she either came from a wealthy family or that she's wealthy herself. No matter what, I have to—' Just as the man was about to conclude his thought, a voice interrupted him and brought him back to reality.

"So, where would you like to sign the deal?"

"H-Huh?"

"I'd like to buy this land, that is all. So, are you going to sign the deal now or what? Or I can just look for another land somewhere else."

"N-No! Sure, let's sign the deal, right here and now! The contract is sitting in my car, hold on a moment. I'll be right back!"

The man quickly answered before heading off toward his car. It only took him a couple of minutes to return with the contract and pen in his hands. It almost seems like he desperately wanted to sell off this land as quickly as possible. But that is fine, after observing for a bit, Sara determined that this land does have that unique characteristic. Because she's so used to the Trial Tower where mana concentration is more abundant than in reality, she can faintly sense that there's a bit of mana concentration in the surrounding land. Though it can't be compared to the Trial Tower, it is much higher than anywhere else she had visited within these past weeks.

"...alright. This contract has proven that now this is your property."

"Yes, thank you very much."

'Ah! Why did I quote the price as low as that! Now I can't even increase it as this woman is adamant about buying the land at that price. Money! I can't believe I lost my chance to gain more money! My guess was right after all, this woman is definitely wealthy! She didn't even blink an eye when she signs the deal as if the money is not a big deal to her...the reality is truly disappointing.' thought the man helplessly as he gazed at the car driving off into the distance.