Three days had passed since the duel between Lux and Shadow Tempest Party. A commotion happened in the Figaro Gardens, which made all the Dwarves leveling in the area abandon it completely.
According to the report of those who managed to flee in time, the Red-Striped Predator Mosquitoes and the Obsidian Spite Mosquitoes were regularly conducting swarm raids in the Figaro Gardens.
Because of this, most of the Dwarves decided to boycott the North Zone of the Beginner Village in fear of getting themselves surrounded by thousands of bloodsucking mosquitoes.
The Adventurer's Guild had also issued a Class B Extermination Mission to clear the pests that were becoming a threat to the outer area of the Beginner's Village.
The Village Chief, Cedwyn, was also worried that if things continued to get out of hand, another Monster Outbreak would occur and, this time, they would be fighting against swarms of mosquitoes that thirsted for blood.
The Elders of Leaf Village believed that the threat the Mosquito Swarm posed had even surpassed that of the Undead Army that had raided their village not long ago.
Grandma Annie, the old woman that had fought alongside Lux during the Monster Outbreak, had a grim expression on her face as she voiced her opinion.
"I think we need to stock more food in our underground shelter," Grandma Annie proposed. "Unlike the Undead Army, these mosquitoes can get past our defenses because they can fly. Also, the paralyzing effect of their bites can cause countless casualties on our side. It is best to not fight them, and just wait until they leave the village."
Cedwyn and the Elders of the village nodded their heads.
"Fortunately, all the houses and other establishments of our village have underground basements," Cedwyn said. "If going to the shelter is impossible, hiding in the underground basement is also an option. As long as the mosquitoes don't see any live targets, they will leave on their own."
One of the elders rubbed his beard as he made his concern known. "Has there been any news from the Stronghold of Norria? We sent someone to inform them of the current threat we are facing a day ago. We should have gotten an answer from them by this time."
Cedwyn sighed. "I'm afraid the Stronghold is busy right now. Our neighboring village, Lindow, was attacked by a notorious bandit group. The Warriors of Norria are scouring the nearby areas to find their main camp, but the bastards are like slippery eels that couldn't get caught. It will take a while before they can spare us some manpower to handle this threat."
Grandma Annie shook her head in disappointment after hearing the news, but there was nothing that they could do about it. They were not the only villages that were under the protection of the Stronghold of Norria. Other people needed help from them as well, so they needed to handle the situation on their own for the time being.
"Tell the Adventurer's Guild to issue an announcement to the villagers, as well as the Foreigners, that going to the Figaro Garden is forbidden," Grandma Annie stated. "Although it is impossible to close off the entire area, giving a warning to everyone should at least have enough effect."
Everyone in the room nodded their heads as they concluded their meeting. They set out to do their assigned tasks to ensure that their village would not suffer many casualties if another Monster Outbreak were to happen.
—--
East Zone, Aspiration Plains…
"It's too bad. We can't go to the Figaro Gardens," Colette said. She was sitting on top of a carriage.
"I heard that there have already been two casualties due to the Mosquitoes Mob Strikes in the garden," Matty commented from the side. "It is better to stay away from that place for the time being."
Helen, the Cleric of the group, nodded. "Let the adults handle this matter. This is something that is beyond our abilities. By the way, where is Big Brother?"
Helen had started to imitate Colette, calling Lux Big Brother as well. It didn't seem wrong either since he was the oldest and tallest in their party.
"Big Brother said that he still has other things to do, so he can't accompany us on this escort mission." Colette pouted. "I wonder what he is up to…"
The Goldenslayer Party had taken an escort mission to protect a merchant caravan from bandits and wild monsters. They were headed to a village called Lindow Village, which was one of the trade partners of Leaf Village within the territory of Norria.
Robin, who was also seated in the carriage, had his arms crossed over his chest as he looked outside the window.
The investigation about Lux's identity was not proceeding smoothly because they couldn't gather any information about how he appeared in Leaf Village.
Although Foreigners could visit the Kingdom of Gweliven from their homeworld of Solais, all of them were Dwarves. There had not been a single instance where a different race had appeared in the Dwarven Lands, which was why Lux's case was being investigated critically.
Even the Stronghold of Norria had been keeping an eye on the Half-Elf's movements through the men that they had stationed in Leaf Village.
As Colette's party continued their journey, the Half-Elf who didn't accompany them was busy getting chummy with the Ants inside the Figaro Garden.
Using the Elysium Compendium as a translator, Lux communicated with the Ants while he hid in their underground colony. He asked them of the latest news of what was happening inside the garden.
According to the information he gathered, the number of Obsidian Spite Mosquitoes was growing at a fast rate. This was due to them drinking the blood of stronger monsters as they terrorized the ecosystem that had lost their Alpha Beast.
According to the Elysium Compendium, it would take a week for Alpha Monsters to spawn after they were killed. This prevented newly ranked Apostle Parties from hunting them indiscriminately.
Also, the Ants told him some information that made him frown.
The dozen Obsidian Spite Mosquitoes that had feasted on the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis had all evolved into Iron Scaled Torment Mosquitoes, which were Rank 2 Monsters.
In the Beginner's Area, the strongest monster was the Field Boss, Forest Wolf King, followed by the Alpha Monsters.
The tiers below them were Rank 1 and Rank 2 Monsters.
For a party that had just arrived in the Beginner's Village, they could at most handle common monsters like Horned Rabbits, Skeletons, Lady Bugs, and Forest Wolves.
After they became stronger, they could then challenge Rank 1 Monsters.
After they get used to fighting strong monsters, they could then challenge the Rank 2 Monsters, which would help them level up faster.
This would also allow them to gain enough stat points in order to deal with the Alpha Monsters in each zone of the Beginner's Village.
In the absence of the Alpha Monster, the current big boss of the Figaro Garden were now the Mosquitoes. No creature within it would dare to poke their noses out while these bloodsuckers were becoming more and more active in their territory.
While Lux was chatting with the Ants about mundane things, Diablo gave him a mental message which made the Half-Elf grin.
'I knew it!' Lux thought as he gave an order to his Named Creature. 'This is the perfect opportunity to farm points!'
Lux was different from the Elysians and Solaians.
He didn't get experience points through killing monsters. He received points directly after absorbing Beast Cores and finishing quests. Right now, no Dwarves were loitering in the Figaro Gardens, which made this the perfect spot for him to loot the goods that the mosquitoes left behind.
The mosquitoes only cared about blood. They would immediately leave the body of their prey once all of its blood had been sucked out of its body.
What did this mean? It meant that Lux could get Beast Cores without having to do anything!
Diablo and the Skeleton Warrior would scout the areas where the Mosquito Swarm had just passed through. He got the information about the monster raids from the Ants, who shared information through their colony.
With such a powerful information network, which covered the entirety of the Figaro Garden, aiding him, Lux could collect Beast Cores without any problems, even if the mosquitoes were still active in the area.
After all, Diablo and the Skeleton Warriors were just walking bones. As long as they didn't actively attack the Mosquitoes, the Swarm would just leave them alone.
This created the perfect opportunity for Lux to collect Beast Cores and materials which he could sell back in Leaf Village to earn coins.
Of course, the Ants also got some benefits from cooperating with Lux. They had agreed into a seventy-thirty split.
Seventy percent goes to the Ants, while thirty percent goes to him.
The Figaro Garden was a very big place, and Lux understood that he couldn't cover them all. This was why he had made the Ants his business partners for a win-win scenario.
His Skeletons would scout the area to tell them if the coast was clear. After that, the Ants would then send their scavenging parties to haul the dead bodies of the Monsters back to their colonies.
This partnership allowed the Ants to safely stock up on their food sources, without worrying about being targeted by the troublesome Mosquitoes that could poke them to death.
Lux would then get thirty percent of the Beast Cores of Rank 1 and 2 Monsters, as well as their materials after the Ants had collected their bodies.
Although the number of Rank 1 and 2 Monsters only numbered about a dozen or so, having two to five Beast Cores a day was something that Lux wouldn't dare pass up.
—-
(A/N: In case I haven't mentioned it before, the people in Solais that go to Elysium can level up to become stronger. Likewise, the people of Elysium also level up by fighting monsters and using Beast Cores.
Once their combined stat points reached a certain threshold, they would be able to break through the Rankings.)