Chapter 18 - Chapter 18: Venture (4)

Outside of the castle, in the fish farm that turned into a giant lake, merfolks from different tribes were being served cool refreshments by Anise.

For the sake of their mission assigned by their tribe chief's they did not cause conflict with Anise who is a Naga and to the others who belong on other tribes.

"There's already a lot of them, so we should start now, right?"

"Yes, we should"

[A message has been sent by ]

[Would you like to open it?]

"What?"

"Um... yes?"

[Information we got here in the demi human city]

1.) Map

2.) Famous people

3.) State of the World

+

"For now, we would like to see the 'State of the World' AQA"

[State of the World]

- The world is divided into eight different parts. The south west is dominated by demi humans. The north west is dominated by beast kin. The south east is dominated by humanoids. The north east is dominated by the savage beast species.

- The eastern sea is dominated by the higher beings. The southern sea is dominated by the primordial sea serpent. The archipelago in the west is dominated by black magicians. And the frozen north is ruled by giants.

- Currently, each place is tense since a war might break out any moment. Not to mention, our place is pretty much in the eye of the storm.

- Etc...

+

"What does he mean by 'Eye of the Storm'?"

"It can't possibly mean that we... check the Map!"

Ping!

A panel appeared in front of them. In that panel, there was a letter 'X' which showed the land in the world.

It showed the different kingdoms and tribal villages that Marco learned from the Vermillion mountain city.

"Wow. We really are at the center of the world!"

Charlie panicked as he could not believe the difficulty rose even more while the other two were forming ways how to devour the neighboring places.

"We still have things to do so... show us the last one"

[Famous people]

1.) Pacifist of the East / Species unknown / Male

2.) Witch of the West / Species unknown / Female

3.) Lunar Moon of the South / A primordial Sea serpent / Female

4.) Frozen Heart of the North / Ruler of the Giants / Male

5.) The "Dragonfly" / Species unknown / Male

6.) The Seer / Elf / Male

7.) World's Bane / Dragon /Female

8.) Saint of Purgatory / Angel / Female

9.) Cardinal of the Land / Beast kin, specific species it belongs to is unknown / Male

- These people are known as the capable of destroying an entire continent by themselves. They possess tremendous power, authority, and influence all over the world and are seen as almighty beings.

- This list is made from strongest to weakest.

+

"So... we will be meeting them in the future, huh"

"That sounds simple and imposing at the same time"

"Anyway, I will go and see if my 'charm' will work on them"

"It will since merfolks are classified as in the market"

After combing his hair, Leon went out to see the merfolks.

Seeing him at first sight made the merfolks somehow close to him. As if there was a sense of camarederie between them and Leon.

Due to Leon's class that make's anyone who is classified as make them open up to him, causing a seed of trust to bloom inside of them.

Leon sat down and dipped his feet on the water.

"Before we begin, I would like to say first that we did not had a choice but to fight back. Despite living here without doing any harm to the Blue Coral tribe, they still went ahead and attacked us with their full force.

I hope you all understand what I am trying to say"

"Do you have any ill intentions to us merfolks due to this unfortunate event?"

"Not at all. I, as one of the five individuals who is ruling over this castle, can assure you that we do not bear any ill will against the merfolks. If anything, we would like to establish friendly relations with you. Although I may be human as well, we also hate the kingdom of Ghalvhir"

The tension of the merfolks increased after hearing his words.

"How can we believe that?"

"Look at us, do you really think citizens of Ghalvhir, who is infamous to reject and hate other species, be so open to other races?"

The merfolks looked around.

They saw a naga. A ghoul. An elf. Trolls working hard on their own without a sense of hatred on their faces.

Such a sight made Leon's words convincing along with the feeling of trust they had for him upon seeing him.

"As citizens of the sea, you all do not want to trouble yourselves with matters of the land. But will you really let the kingdom of Ghalvhir to continue on kidnapping your kind and enslaving them just because they can?"

Their expressions hardened as they realized that their attention and hatred were directed at people who share the same pain as them.

It made them feel ashamed and subconsciously made the seed of trust inside them sprout even more.

"How gullible of them"

Tony said as he watched from the watchpost.

"It is normal. Merfolks decide things with brute force unlike those in the land who has to come up with all sorts of tricks and traps to snare their opponents with words"

"This world is base on 'Law of the Jungle' where the 'Strong preys on the weak'. And yet only those who live in the sea are the ones who abide by this saying"

"It cannot be helped. Those with the desire to live will use any means necessary to accomplish their goals"

"Of course, the same thing goes for us"

"Yes... we will also have to do the same"

After a day of rest, the merfolks who had a good time talking with Leon went back to their tribes to share the good news.

The news that the people in the caslte who defeated the Blue Coral tribe are on their side and that they are also against the teachings of the kingdom of Ghalvhir.

[The mission has been completed]

[Biggest contributor ]

[The three will receive <30> points]

[The biggest contributor will receive <50> additional points]

[Additional reward: The castle has increased its affinity with the merfolks by 2%]

"Good... good... we should think of a name for the castle"

"Yeah. Especially the name of the country we will make"

"We need to think of a good name at all costs!!!"

The three then spent the whole day thinking of different names they can use for the castle and the country they will make.

...

The next day, the mayor of the Vermillion mountain city signed the contract with the full support of everyone in their city, especially the elders. Making their connection bound by the contract.

[The mission has been completed]

"Hope we earn a lot this time"

[Both players have played a big role and will be awarded with <150> points]

[The castle has increased its affinity with the citizens of the Vermillion mountain city by 65%]

[Effect: Every citizen in the Vermillion mountain city will be friendly with the citizens of the castle ]

"This is a good thing. But the castle not having a name bothers me"

"I'm sure we can figure out something along the way"

[Exclusive mission has been generated]

[Mission grade: C]

[Mission difficulty: S]

[Protect Vermillion mountain city]

Mission description: The city is rich due to the ores mined on the mountain. This made the other demi humans near them envious, and want the mountain for themselves.

Objective: Protect the city from unknown amount of wave attacks

Reward upon completion: May depend base on your actions. Points (May vary depending on how you will resolve the problem)

Failure to complete the objective: Affinity with the city will decrease. Your source of income will be erased from the map.

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"I've been wondering this for a long time now but... what does the 'Mission grade' suppose to be?"

"I think it is related to how it concern us in making our country"

"How so?"

"Depending on the level of the grade, it will tell us how much it will affect our country-making plans. Just because we may lose this city does not mean we can't make another deal with another city"

"And the other times... we had to complete those missions because it directly affects us!"

"Exactly. Anyway, what are you doing in my room?"

Aldo asked to the one who was doing a reverse T-pose headstand.

"I am thinking"

"Do what you want then"

Aldo ignored him and went back to sleeping.

...

[Sixtieth day]

The soldiers of the Vermillion mountain city prepared itself after they received a warning from their priestess.

[The first wave will commence in two minutes]

"Aldo, take care of the things here. I will be rooting out the problem from the source, m'kay?"

"Just make sure you don't die. It will be a pain if I had to look for your corpse"

"Hahaha!"

Marco laughed as he rode a horse depart to do the plan he came up with.