Chapter 6: The Demon Tribe Assembly

Returning to Howling Mountain Town, Naya and Leon divided a bounty of 150 silver coins.

***

After dusk, inside the equipment shop—

“How does it feel? How is it?”

Naya slipped the chainmail onto Leon. She meticulously adjusted the edges and corners of the armor, observing him closely.

“It’s tight around my chest, making it hard to breathe,” Leon replied, a look of discomfort on his face.

“You’ll probably get used to it after wearing it for a while. The first thing we need to do after getting the bounty is to upgrade your equipment.”

Naya glanced at a magnificent armor set displayed in the cabinet. “What do you think of that armor?”

‘110 silver coins… The price is truly moving, but maybe 100 if we haggle?’

“Ugh, I’d look like a can in that. Forget it, something lighter suits me better…”

Leon had barely tried on the chainmail before he immediately took it off, not wanting to wait another moment. As for the armor Naya had merely glanced at, he turned and practically fled.

“Leon—” Naya chased after him. “Heavy armor can significantly improve your defense! As… your teammate, I have to be responsible for your safety.”

“But those really don’t suit me. They’d slow me down.”

Naya was left speechless.

“Come to think of it, you’re right. Leon, your fighting style is a bit like a berserker’s, but… it doesn’t quite match your physique.”

“Berserker? Is that also a type of warrior class?”

“Hmm, actually, when I was filling out your profession on the registration form, I was still hesitating what to put. The guy from the other team we collaborated with, for example, he’s a standard warrior.”

“No wonder you wanted me to wear something like that…”

“No, it’s not that! Leon, I support your own style! I’m just… afraid you’ll get hurt.”

“Aren’t you here to protect me?”

With his back to the setting sun, Leon smiled at her.

Naya inexplicably blushed again.

“Actually, it’s you… protecting me. I’m just supporting you,” she stammered.

Unbeknownst to himself, Leon found Naya’s blushing expression incredibly cute. Under the glow of the setting sun, her silvery-white hair shimmered with golden highlights.

“Don’t worry about my equipment and profession,” Leon said. “If there’s a ‘Hero’ profession, I’ll be the first to take it.”

“Hero…?” A hint of confusion flickered across Naya’s flushed face. She was utterly unfamiliar with the term. In her memory, that word only applied to those who saved the world from impending doom.

‘If Leon were to become a Hero one day, then she would certainly become the Priest accompanying him.’

‘This scene, this plot… if it continued, would it perhaps develop into something more, a “relationship” perhaps!?’

Alas, it wasn’t that simple—

The hunter girl, who had helped them defeat the Cockatrice, ran over from a distance, rushing towards them.

“I finally found you two,” she said, panting heavily.

‘She used her tracking skills to find people!?’

Naya and Leon gazed at her, their faces etched with confusion.

“It’s like this,” she explained. “The Adventurer’s Guild wants all teams currently in town to gather. They say it’s to discuss something very important…”

‘Something important? What could it be?’

Naya and Leon, filled with questions, followed her back to the Adventurer’s Guild in town.

The moment Naya and her companions stepped inside, they witnessed a peculiar scene: over a dozen people gathered around several tables pushed together to form one large surface.

Naya immediately recognized Ael, the Paladin, seated with her back to them, her long ponytail trailing down her back.

Also present were the five renowned members of the one-star adventurer team, “Hunter’s Blade”—

Margo, the Shield Warrior of Adamant Armor;

Grimfell, the Dark Knight of Necrotic Blade, a follower of Raphas;

Xuan En, the Blade Dancer rogue who wielded throwing knives;

Banglitz, the Trap Master;

And Ouka, the Greatsword Wielder.

Every single one of them was a monster-level powerhouse.

What was even more astonishing was the presence of the solitary bounty hunter, “One-Eyed Owl”! This ruthless individual, known only by his moniker, with hair like a hedgehog and an eyepatch over his left eye, was also seated among them.

His gaze, fixed on Naya, was akin to a predator eyeing its prey.

The sky gradually darkened. The clerk lit a single candle on the table, casting long shadows that made everyone present seem even more unfathomable.

Ael immediately beckoned Naya and Leon to sit beside her, while the hunter girl returned to her two teammates.

Alright! Everyone was here. Every adventurer in town was gathered in this very room!

“Have any of you heard of the Demon Tribe?” the clerk asked everyone present.

‘The Demon Tribe—?’

Silence fell upon everyone. Naya looked towards Ael, who seemed to know something. It was the first time the usually energetic young woman had worn such a serious expression since her introduction.

“The Demon Tribe refers to creatures that appeared after the Calamity,” the clerk explained. “Legends say they are connected to magic, hence the name. They might even be the product of a mage’s curse after the disaster.”

As he spoke, he slapped a wanted poster onto the table. “This thing,” he declared, “is what I mean by the Demon Tribe.”

‘This is!?’

The dark armor.

Naya’s eyes widened the moment she saw it.

‘That culprit! The one who annihilated her former teammates! Was the Adventurer’s Guild finally taking its existence seriously!?’

“This mysterious armor lurks in the nearby area,” the clerk continued.

“Each time it slaughters, it deliberately leaves one survivor, seemingly intending to spread its terror and make its existence known to more people.

Currently, ten teams have already perished by its hand. Therefore, by order of the Adventurer’s Guild headquarters, I have assembled all of you to collectively hunt it down!”

“It leaves a survivor every time? What a morbid sense of humor,” someone remarked.

“It’s just one monster… you could have simply posted it on the bounty board. Or just handed it over to our team. Why go to all this trouble?” the Greatsword Wielder scoffed.

“No, no, no. Given the extent of its danger, after careful consideration, headquarters has classified its challenge level as—A+.”

“A+ that high?” The Greatsword Wielder sounded quite surprised.

“Haven’t you heard it’s already killed twenty people?” his teammate chimed in.

“Didn’t it just kill some rookies?”

“Among those it killed was a one-star team.”

“Huh?” The Greatsword Wielder wondered if his ears had deceived him.

‘Only A+????’

No—

Naya’s emotions were spiraling out of control.

By merely classifying it as A+, they were clearly underestimating the dark armor!

Most of the people in this room would die!