Chapter 92 The Subjugation Reward (3) The Ambush

"Stop!" A man with a horse stopped in front of Lyan's wagon, forcing the wagon to stop.

Right at the moment the wagon stopped, tens, dozens, and finally, a hundred people riding on a horse surrounded the wagon completely. All of them are carrying weapons while looking at the wagon with greedy eyes and nasty smiles like a bandit.

"Yo, Evocatore. Isn't it cruel for you to leave the city without sending us any farewell? Let's have a proper farewell with a handshake just like what you did with Lichia's friend, Rea?" The man that seems to be the leader approached the wagon while holding his dear magic saber. The red gleam on the sword indicates that he's constantly supplying the sword with mana, ready to deliver a magic attack of the saber anytime.

But even after knocking and yelling of other men chimes in, there is still no reaction from inside. Even the coachman that is wearing a weird attire remains silent.

"You still dare to ignore me... Magician!! Burn them!!" Shouted Jean as he gritted his teeth. The magician that he brought for this vile act was the magician man of his troupe, not the usual magician girl that has been sleeping with her almost every night at the subjugation. He wouldn't want the girl to see him doing such things, after all.

*Boom!!*

As the fireball hits the wagon, the wagon exploded, and the whole wagon got engulfed in flame.

"So he died just like that, huh... What a loser. Then I guess the golds and his girls will be mine. The golds won't burn, and I can take my chances while making up a story to play with his girls," (Jean)

"Hahahaha! You're so horrible, boss!"

"Just like a bandit, hahahaha!!"

"Of course not. Unlike bandits, I'm gentle to women- Wait, something is moving over there!" Jean noticed in the middle of the flames, a shadow is slowly walking.

"That is..."

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---Several minutes after Lyan left the guild---

(3500 Gold... He's as wealthy as a decent feudal lord now... Buying a huge mansion and living in luxury for the rest of my life wouldn't be just a dream anymore if I marry him...) (Lichia)

(And he did it in less than two weeks... But Belle and the others are already in a relationship with him. It seems that the three of them are... But with that amount of money, he could easily take care of four wives and several children, right!? He seems like a person that will make even more money in the future as well!) (Lichia)

(His face is handsome, his eyes are sharp and brimmed with intelligence, he's tall, his body under the cloak is muscular, and he's sensitive and kind. And not only that, he's now rich as well!! Isn't he far better than the ideal man I have inside my head?)

"But he's going to leave the city soon... Wait, he looks rather young as well... If we disregard his mature eyes, he seems to be younger than me..." (Lichia)

"Um... Miss Lichia?"

"Y-y-yes!?" Lichia let out a startled voice as she suddenly got called in the middle of thinking such an embarrassing thing.

"Ah. Mr. Rockbottom. I've signed the quest you're going to take. I'll send someone to notify the merchant who asked for the quest," Lichia immediately regain her composure and reply with her usual business smile.

"Thanks. You seem to be out of it, Miss. Is there something happened with the devil mercenary? You seem to be muttering the name Evocatore for a while..." Asked the mercenary.

"Eh!? Ah... It's nothing. I'm just a little bit curious about him, you see... It's just that he's so mysterious and stuff," Lichia disregarded his concern with a smile.

"I see... According to the rumors, he's super strong, but they must be exaggerating. It's a shame, but it seems that he wouldn't go back to this town, and his career as a mercenary might end since he attracts a troublesome group,"

"Hm? End? Why is that?" (Lichia)

The mercenary approached her slightly closer and whispered.

"I heard from my friend that the Crimson Talon is aiming for him. I don't know what the problem is, but I heard that the leader is constantly glaring at him, and he's going to hunt him together with not his party, but with almost the half number of his mercenary troupe!! Even for the famous newbie... Facing lots of veterans alone will definitely be difficult..." The mercenary said as he let out a sigh.

"It can't be..." Lichia feels like her knees getting weak when she heard it.

(Jean... he's going to do it again... He'll destroy him because I got close with him... I should have known!!) (Lichia)

"Eh? Miss Lichia?" The mercenary exclaimed in surprise as Lichia suddenly run outside the guild.

As she run outside the building, she went straight towards the stables and took one of the horses.

(If I go now, I might be able to stop him. If it's my words, Jean will definitely hear me!) (Lichia)

As she was about to gallop her horse, the three muscular staff that just got a tip from Lyan appeared while holding some big crates.

"Miss Lichia? Where are you going?"

"Ah! The three of you got some tip from Ly- Evocatore, didn't you? Come with me! He's in danger!!" (Lichia)

Without needing any confirmation about her words, the three of them dropped the crates and went to take a horse for each of them.

"We'll assist you, Miss Lichia,"

"Good! Thank you! Let's go! We're going to the north!!" (Lichia)

Without any delay, the four of them galloped their horses and went to the northern route as fast as they could. The horses in the guild's stable are all well-trained by a professional horse trainer. They are used for the guild's staff, and sometimes they were given to the promising mercenaries as a gift or a reward bonus.

"We're entering the north route, Miss Lichia!" One of the mercenaries said as they arrived in front of the junction separating three different routes.

"Yeah! Don't slow down!" (Lichia)

As they entered the northern route, some scenarios went through Lichia's head.

(The wagon's speed is not even half as fast as our horses in full gallop. If they are going to intercept him, they will ambush him at the part where the highway got surrounded by the thick forest) (Lichia)

(At the very least, we'll arrive right when they're about to ambush him! Please, god. At least make it be so! Make me make it in time!!) (Lichia)

After galloping for one whole hour, they finally arrived at the part of the highway with thick forest vegetation surrounding them. And as Lichia expected, the ambush happened right around this area.

Not long after they entered the area, rowdy voices of the mercenaries at the front sounded. As they approached them, Lichia was about to shout to stop them and ask what they are doing. But-

*Boom!!*

Before she could muster her voice, the magician had finished his chantation and sent a blazing fireball to the wagon, engulfing the whole wagon in flame.

"You must be... Lying..." Lichia get off her horse and was about to approach the wagon, but her feet felt weak, forcing her to slump down on her knees.

Looking at the person with the brightest smile before the blazing wagon, the frustration and sadness Lichia felt turned into anger. She grips the sword on her hip strongly, thinking about the ways to kill him.

As the senior receptionist and the treasurer, Lichia's fighting skill is as high as a gold-ranked mercenary. There is an appropriate portion of fighting training laid out by the guildmaster for all of the guild staff.

So when the time where their words won't work, they would be able to use their swords to talk instead.

As Lichia was about to draw her sword, the flames on the wagon suddenly got bigger as if they were raging, and a shadow could be seen slowly walking through the flames.

It's using a fancy cloak, but strangely, the cloak doesn't seem to be getting burnt by the raging flames.

The figure slowly raises his hand, and *Snap!*

Right at that moment he snapped his fingers, and several heads of the mercenaries around them flew to the sky.

"W-What is happening!?"

"Reddy!! He's dead!!"

"Cooper and Yola too!!"

Again, *Snap!*

Another series of head flying occurred, increasing the panic amongst the mercenaries.

"What is happening...?"

"Leader! What is happening here!!"

The other mercenaries asked Jean in a panicked manner, but he himself is trying to figure out what happened.

"It's a shadow... A shadow passed and chopped their heads..." The saber on Jean's hands got covered in burning flames. He's thinking of using one of the sword's magic skills the moment the shadow once again appeared because of the snap of fingers, but-

*Snap!*

"[Burning Slash]!!!!!" Jean shouted as he saw the shadows appear and beheaded his men again. But the flames didn't get shot out by his saber.

"W-What is... This...?" Jean uttered in shock as he saw his magic saber.

"Black... Ice...?" (Jean)

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Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Gold-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,541,722,400 Elnes / 3541 gold 72 big silver 2 silver 4 big copper

Weapon: None

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime, Galewing Butterfly, Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly, Ice Golem (Lv. 50)

Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army