CH 89

Siegfried immediately returned to Casein Castle after obtaining the Blood Butterfly’s Dance Throwable Set from Quandt.

“What the hell is that thing…?” Siegfried grumbled while looking at the lord’s hall, which was still being reconstructed after it was destroyed by Smooger when it went on a rampage.

However, there was something strange that seemed to be out of place in the lord’s hall.

“Why is that over there…?” Siegfried muttered, seemingly confused.

“Hyung-nim! That is a symbol of your authority, don’t you think so? Hahahaha!” Seung-Gu, who was overseeing the construction site, said with a burst of boisterous laughter before asking, “You’re going to become a Ranker, so don’t you think you need a throne that looks as cool as that?”

“Hey…” Siegfried muttered in disbelief.

“Kyah! Look at that! Awesome! Double-Awesome! Triple-Awesome!” Seung-Gu raised a fuss while pointing at a structure in the lord’s hall.

‘Ah… what the hell is this? Does he even know how much that thing is worth?’ Siegfried thought with his face covered in despair.

‘What kind of an idiot turns a dragon’s skull into a throne…?’ 

Siegfried lamented as his chair, which was previously made out of simple steel and metals, had transformed into a luxury chair carved out of a dragon’s skull.

Michele, who was also overseeing the construction progress, appeared and said, “I believe it will be wise to leave it as it is.”

“Just leave it as it is? Leave that like that?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Do you know how much that is worth…? With that money, we can—”

“Money can only measure an item's present value. Do you not agree, Your Majesty?”

“Huh…?”

“A luxury item is indeed not worth what it costs if you judge it solely by its functions, but it is an entirely different matter if you include what kind of message it sends. A luxury item is a symbol. A throne made out of a dragon’s skull is a very useful thing to proclaim Your Majesty’s authority and glory to those fortunate enough to witness it.”

“But still… isn’t that crossing the line?”

“It is something I decided as the Minister of State, so I hope that Your Majesty will graciously allow it,” Michele added while earnestly bowing toward Siegfried.

‘This damned little brat…!’ 

Siegfried clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Anger welled up inside of him when he thought about how the dragon’s skull was wasted. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to swallow it and cry tears of blood since he couldn’t simply ignore and overturn the decision made by Michele, the Minister of State he had personally appointed.

It seemed that Siegfried was still a good distance away from splurging on luxury items…

***

The next afternoon…

“Then, I’ll leave it to you,” Siegfried said.

“You do not have to worry about anything here,” Michele replied.

“Cool,” Siegfried said with a smile.

He passed everything he had to do onto Michele and left Casein Castle.

It had been a while since he cooped up in his territory. Now, it was time for him to go on an adventure again to bolster his growth.

Woooong!

The warp gate installed in Casein Castle emitted a bright light.

Siegfried didn’t even have to think about his next destination.

‘I’m Level 83, so that place will be the best with my current level…’ 

Siegfried stepped into the warp gate with a specific hunting ground in mind.

***

Flash!

The warp gate let out a bright light once again.

[Southern Tip of the Nürburg Continent: Arachnid Temporary Outstation]

A message popped up in front of Siegfried.

‘It has been a while…’ he thought as he looked around with a smile.

“Looking for party members!”

“Any Healers Level 150 or above?!”

“Personal boosting services, anyone interested?!”

“Buying each mutated beast’s heart for three gold each!”

“Physical damage party on standby! Looking for a Physical Buffer!”

The Arachnid Temporary Outstation was filled with thousands of Adventurers, and the multitude of Adventurers made the entire place look like a bustling marketplace.

‘Nothing has changed,’ he thought, reminiscing about the past.

This wasn’t his first time coming to the Arachnid Temporary Outstation. This place inhabited by mutated creatures was one of the busiest places on the entire continent.

Why?

It was because this place was overflowing with monsters to hunt.

Cryptids, the mutated creatures here, suddenly formed groups one day and started mutating amongst themselves. They mutated so rapidly that it was no longer appropriate to call it a ‘mutation’ anymore.

Thanks to that, the once thriving Arachnid Territory was overrun by Cryptids, and it had been a long time since they turned the place into their lair.

‘Shall we go and get a quest first?’ 

Siegfried scoured his memories and went somewhere.

***

Siegfried went to the Coalition Forces’ Conscription Station in the Arachnid Temporary Outstation.

“I wish to join the Cryptid Subjugation Campaign,” Siegfried said.

“Please fill up this form. Everything will be randomly decided, so just keep that in mind,” said the receptionist at the conscription station.

The Arachnid Temporary Outstation had always been run this way. It was impossible to find the usual nonchalant operation of the Mercenary Guild found in other hunting grounds.

Cryptids were famous for their habit of moving in a group composed of ten at a minimum and up to tens of thousands. As such, it was imperative for Adventurers to work in a systematic manner with the army for this specific hunting ground.

As a result, the Adventurers had to listen to the commands of an army officer assigned to them by the Continent Coalition Forces even though they had already formed their own respective parties.

[Conscription Form]

[Name: Sieg]

[Type: Adventurer]

[Sex: Male]

[Mercenary Guild Rank: Silver III]

[Affiliation: N/A]

[Title: N/A]

[Joining Motive: World Peace]

[I hereby declare that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, and I swear that none of them are false.]

[Signed: Sieg]

Siegfried decided to hide his identity since he wasn’t worried about getting found out.

[Sieg]

[Type: Adventurer]

[Class: Poison Mage]

[Level: 83]

[Mercenary Guild Rating: Silver III]

[Title: N/A]

Siegfried was currently wearing the Metamorphosis Mask he had received from Cheon Woo-Jin, so he managed to hide from the Rune of Insight.

“Oh, you’re Silver?” asked the receptionist with a look that seemed to say ‘where the hell did this even weakling come from?’ while he was looking at Siegfried.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Your rank is a bit low… will you be alright?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Where shall I send you? I will assign you to the area you want, but the squad you will be assigned to will be randomly decided.”

“I think a C Rank area will suffice.”

“What?! C Rank area?!” the reception exclaimed in surprise.

The Arachnid Temporary Outpost was divided into U, S, A, B, C, D, E, and F Rank areas, and the C Rank area was where Level 100 to 120 Adventurers hunted.

“Are you sure? You’re just a Silver III Adventurer…”

“I am. Please just assign me to the C Rank area.”

“Well… I guess it will be fine since you guys don’t die anyway…” the receptionist said. He sighed in resignation while shaking his head before stamping Siegfried’s conscription form.

Tak!

***

[Alert: You have been assigned to Area C-21 ‘Alligator Squad’ by the Continental Coalition Forces!]

[Alert: Go and look for the Squadron Leader of the ‘Alligator Squad’ at Area C-21!]

Siegfried went to the C-21 area within the C Rank area to find his squadron.

“Alligator… Alligator…” he muttered while looking around.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

It wasn’t to look for the Alligator Squad since there were so many squadron flags in the area.

“They’re coming!” one of the soldiers suddenly shouted while pointing in the distance.

Afterward, the NPCs and Adventurers in the area sneered. It seemed each of them had something to say.

“Buahahahaha!”

“Wow… they’re pretty resilient I give them that…”

“Another wipeout?”

“The Squadron Leader survived again? Is he invincible or what?”

“Tsk… Tsk…”

Siegfried listened to the comments from the masses and found that none of them were positive. He turned and followed everyone’s eyes and thought, ‘I guess that explains it…’

He realized why the people were murmuring and sneering.

Losers.

With just a single glance, he could tell that they were losers and the survivors of their squad even from a mile away.

However, the symbol engraved on the flag the losers were carrying was indisputably an alligator. In short, the squad greeted by the public’s sneering and mocking upon returning from the battlefield was none other than the squadron assigned to Siegfried.

And the Squad Leader of the Alligator Squad was…

[Carell de Biermann]

[Type: NPC]

[Level: 71]

[Class: Knight]

[Title: Lowest-Ranked Sword Expert]

[Affiliation: Continent Coalition Forces, 3rd Corps 8th Division 2nd Infantry Battalion Alligator Squad]

[Rank: Captain]

[Job: Squad Leader]

[Title: Undying Loser, Country Bumpkin, Useless Commander, Commander Marked By Death, Expert Loser]

Surprisingly, the Squad Leader of the Alligator Squad was none other than the son of Baron Wegmann. However, Baron Wegmann’s son was supposedly studying at the Royal Knight Academy.

***

Thirty minutes later…

“Adventurer Sieg has been assigned to the 3rd Corps 8th Division 2nd Infantry Battalion Alligator Squad! Salute!” Siegfried exclaimed, raising a salute to Baron Wegmann’s son.

“Salute. At rest.”

“At rest.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sieg. I am the Squad Leader of the Alligator Squad, Carell de Biermann…” Carell introduced himself with a complete lack of enthusiasm.

‘This looks serious…’ 

Siegfried clicked his tongue while observing Carell.

Carell’s current state was extremely pitiful. He was a captain and a squad leader, but he had no air of authority around him. Even the average soldier and Adventurer were more commanding than he was.

Carell’s current appearance perfectly fit the description of a loser returning from war as his eyes were dazed, he was trembling from anxiety, his hair was disheveled, his uniform was torn, his sword was chipped, and his skin looked like he hadn’t washed the filth off of it for several days.

“I hope that we can fight together for a long time… I really hope so…” Carell weakly muttered.

It was then…

“We are going now, Squad Leader.”

“Have a nice day.”

“Let’s see how long you will survive. Let’s wait and see…”

“Ha… How can someone like him be a commanding officer? Ah, everyone died because of him. Tsk!”

“I knew something was fishy the moment I stepped in here!”

A group of Adventurers appeared and gave a one-sided request for dismissal before leaving.

Siegfried could tell at a single glance that they were furious after losing their party members and missing out on Experience Points. They all blamed Carell for their losses.

“Ha…” Carell let out a sigh. He looked at Siegfried and said, “Did you say your name was Sieg? It will be best for you if you request for dismissal as well…”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“You won’t live to see another day if you stay with me…”

“…”

“Nobody has stayed long around me. My soldiers died, and the Adventurers left. It will be best for you to leave before you get disappointed…”

“No,” Siegfried shook his head and said, “This is my first day, so how can I request for my dismissal?”

“You will regret it.”

“We just have to see, don’t we? Anyway, I will be on standby. Salute!”

“Salute…”

Not a single part of Carell looked like a soldier, even as he reciprocated Siegfried’s salute with his own.

***

‘I wonder what the hell happened to him?’ Siegfried wondered as he went around and asked the soldiers and Adventurers about Carell.

The responses he got were all the same.

“Ah… that guy…”

“I would love nothing more than to request for a transfer or get dismissed, but… haaa! The adventurers aren’t professional soldiers, so they can request for their own dismissal or transfer as much as they want, but that isn’t the case for us. Damn it… I don’t think I will get to live a long life because of that bastard…”

“It might be better for us to jump into battle without a commander than let that bastard lead us to our deaths!”

“Ah, I only have a bit left before I level up once more, so I’ll request for dismissal after one more battle.”

“Desertion is my only hope for survival at this point… damn it…”

Every single one of them rated Carell as either ‘pathetic’ or ‘the worst,’ and it seemed that the NPCs' opinion of him was worse than the Adventurers’ opinion of him. It was all because the Adventurers were immortal, so they could just request for a transfer or dismissal after a failed campaign, but that wasn’t the case for the NPCs. They couldn’t do the same, so they had no choice but to put their lives in Carell’s hands.

‘How pathetic is he, though…?’ 

Siegfried couldn’t help but wonder about Carell’s abilities after hearing all the feedback.