TL: Knight Errant
As dawn broke, Dio struggled to open his eyes.
‘I thought my neck was going to break.’
Unlike in the game, Dio felt the full fatigue of sleeping rough and massaged his shoulders.
However, unable to show his tiredness, Dio stretched nonchalantly.
After completing all their preparations, the mercenaries and Clara silently gathered around Dio.
Raymond, still visibly upset about yesterday’s events, wore a sullen expression.
However, including him, the group had agreed to follow Dio’s lead and were waiting for his instructions.
Dio then spoke.
“We’re heading to the cave we talked about yesterday.”
At his words, the mercenaries began to murmur among themselves.
“Are you sure there’s really a cave?”
“I’ve roamed around this area quite a bit and pride myself on it, but I’ve never seen it…”
Despite agreeing to follow Dio’s lead, the mercenaries were still doubtful.
Clara, trying to avoid the friction of yesterday, suddenly spoke up.
“How do we get there?”
Her pitiful attempt to prevent any discord was evident.
Noticing this, the mercenaries waited quietly for Dio to speak.
“This way.”
Dio spread out a map on the ground and pointed to the path ahead with a stick.
“If we head northwest, we’ll come across a stream. Following that stream leads to the territory of a pack of werewolves. There’s a way to avoid crossing their territory.”
The mention of werewolves made the mercenaries flinch, but they couldn’t object to Dio’s plan of avoiding them.
The moment they decided to pass through Dunville Forest, their fate was sealed.
The D-grade mercenaries had no choice but to trust and follow Dio if they wanted to survive.
Slusss-ssss-
The sound of water flowing from the stream could be heard.
Upon reaching the spot he had in mind, Dio glanced at Clara and then raised his fist, signaling everyone.
“Stop. We’ll take a break here.”
Noting Clara’s exhaustion, he halted everyone for a rest.
“Once we leave the stream, we enter werewolf territory. No one should go off alone.”
Dio, as tired as Clara, advised the group without showing his fatigue.
Indeed, choosing to accompany Clara on this mission was a wise decision.
Although it was different in reality, the mercenaries, influenced by Dio’s words about prioritizing the client’s protection, didn’t argue and took their rest, staying on guard.
Exhausted, Clara rested, and in the midst of this, Raymond stealthily got up from his place.
Dio, who didn’t miss this, spoke to him.
“Where are you going?”
“Do I need permission for every little thing I do? Tsk.”
“Just don’t stray from the area I designated.”
“Hmph!”
Despite Dio’s warning, Raymond snorted and walked away.
Dio watched his back, intuiting something.
Given Raymond’s rebellious nature, he likely wouldn’t take the warning seriously.
But that was okay.
To the others, he had mentioned a pack of werewolves, but around the stream, they would only encounter a small werewolf patrol.
‘This is actually an opportunity.’
Dio envisioned a scenario where he could put the assertive leader, Raymond, in his place and began to fine-tune his mace.
-Ugh, Aaaargh!
“What! What’s that?”
“What’s happening? Raymond!?”
At Raymond’s scream, the resting mercenaries were startled and jumped to their feet.
[Party member Raymond is afflicted with the status ailment bleeding.]
Dio, realizing that Raymond was afflicted with a status ailment, spoke calmly.
“See, I told you to be careful.”
Still tending to his mace, Dio addressed the mercenaries looking at him without any intention of getting up.
“What are you looking at? I warned you. Save him or don’t. It’s up to you.”
Seeing that the strongest member of their party had no intention of moving, the mercenaries clenched their teeth and began to ready their weapons.
“What should I do?”
Clara, visibly scared, asked Dio, who gestured her to stay by his side.
“Stay with me. It’ll be the safest.”
“Yes… Yes!”
The assurance of being the safest was not just for Clara, but also for Dio himself, though the rest of the party was unaware of this.
Including Laika, the mercenaries also thought it best to stick close to their protection target, so they hurriedly rushed to Raymond’s aid.
‘So, they are still above level 100.’
Dio muttered, watching the swiftly moving mercenaries.
Though he had told them to handle it themselves, Dio saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate the prowess of an A-grade mercenary and turned his head to look at Clara.
“Let’s go too.”
“What? Ah, yes!”
Clara, filled with worry, quickly nodded at Dio’s words, and they slowly headed in the direction the mercenaries had gone.
Dio, lacking the ability to chase after them.
With a leisurely stride that belied his true intentions, he moved slowly towards the scene of the commotion with Clara clinging to him, terrified.
‘The scouting party consists of at least one, at most three.’
Dio was simulating the situation in his mind.
Considering the skills of Raymond and the mercenaries, he judged that they wouldn’t easily be defeated by two or three werewolves.
“Is it okay not to hurry?”
“It’s fine. They are D-grade mercenaries, after all.”
Dio reassured Clara and soon spotted the mercenaries, who were in the midst of a ruckus.
[Party members are in a standoff with werewolves.]
[Werewolf/Common Monster/Lv. 124]
‘Two werewolves. Both at full health, and Raymond’s lost a bit of his.’
Raymond, clutching his left arm, was yelling at the werewolf.
“You damn mutt!”
The mercenaries were engaged in combat with the two werewolves, trying to protect Raymond.
“Kill them!”
“Haap!”
The mercenaries, divided up appropriately, were fending off the werewolves’ sharp claws and teeth and counterattacking effectively.
There’s no winning against a mob.
Although the werewolves were of a higher level than the mercenaries, the difference wasn’t so great that they couldn’t handle them.
But the true value of werewolves isn’t just that.
While they were holding up for now, if the werewolves’ unique ‘skill’ were activated, even the mercenaries would struggle to deal with them without significant injuries.
Waiting for that moment, Dio watched the mercenaries’ battle, maintaining a calm facade yet not letting go of his tension.
“Huff! Huff!”
“Good! Keep it up!”
“Drive them back!”
The mercenaries were gradually getting exhausted.
One of the werewolves suddenly lowered its stance and began to glow its eyes red.
Now!
“Everyone, back off.”
Dio, leaving Clara who was checking on Raymond’s injury, inserted himself between the mercenaries and the werewolves.
“What are you talking about? We’re winning here!”
The mercenaries expressed their anger at Dio, who had suddenly intervened in their seemingly advantageous situation.
-Grrrrr…
However, their anger was petty compared to the intensified fury of the werewolves.
“What, suddenly?”
“This is dangerous!”
“Eek!”
The werewolves’ completely changed demeanor alone was enough to break the mercenaries’ momentum.
Facing the true power of the predator, the mercenaries instinctively felt danger and staggered back.
“Uh, what…?”
“Be careful!”
Crack!
The werewolf, its eyes turned red, struck a mercenary’s shield with its sharp claws.
Not only splitting the sturdy shield in two but also a huge maw drooling like a mad dog lunged towards the mercenary’s head.
“Eek-!”
Bang!
The mercenary, with eyes tightly shut, braced for the werewolf’s immense strength.
But something was off.
Why haven’t the beast’s teeth… touched him yet?
“Huh… Huh?”
When the mercenary opened his eyes, to his surprise, he saw a mace shoved into the werewolf’s mouth over his shoulder.
“Move aside.”
The owner of the mace, Dio, pushed aside the mercenary trembling in fear and grabbed the werewolf, slamming it to the ground.
Bang-!
[You have defeated the werewolf.]
‘Good thing I invested in strength stats.’
Dio nonchalantly pushed aside the corpse of the werewolf he had instantly killed.
The mercenaries didn’t know.
They didn’t realize that the werewolf was in the midst of its final struggle before death.
The unique skill of the beast, ‘Berserk.’
When nearing death, these creatures receive a berserk buff similar to that used by Berserker players.
A monster under the influence of berserk significantly enhances its physical abilities, making it more difficult to deal with.
However, the solution was surprisingly simple.
Either run away until the berserk buff disappears.
Or use ‘Purification Herb’ capable of dispelling the berserk specific to beasts, thereby removing the buff.
That’s all there is to it.
The werewolf that had just been hit by the mace appeared to have been instantly killed due to this principle.
The berserk skill, which allows it to act even in a near-death state, was dispelled.
‘In my newbie days, not knowing this trait made it tricky to deal with monsters with berserk skills.’
But now, Dio, who knew the exact strategy against berserk, didn’t see it as a problem.
In fact, it was easier to handle.
The ‘predetermined pattern’ due to berserk.
In the recent case, Dio didn’t catch up to the werewolf’s speed.
It was because he vividly remembered the pattern, allowing him to respond adequately even with slower speed.
“Everyone, back off.”
Dio spoke, twirling his mace as if annoyed.
The mercenaries, having witnessed the fearsome might of the werewolf, hastily retreated as if waiting for his command.
With only Dio remaining in front of the werewolf, the other one, now in berserk mode, charged at him.
A movement incomparable to when it fought with the mercenaries!
Dio, only level 10, couldn’t possibly keep up, but he wasn’t worried.
It wasn’t a life-threatening gamble.
The movement of the werewolf.
Having experienced it countless times, he just needed to move in advance.
Predicting its inevitable actions and moving to the position in advance was more than enough to compensate for the 100-level difference in speed.
Bang!
With just one movement, Dio dodged the werewolf’s charge.
After that, Dio raised his mace, now thickly coated with Purification Herb, towards the werewolf that had charged into empty space.
Berserk gains power at the expense of the caster’s consciousness.
For Dio, an experienced player, monsters turning dumb due to berserk only became easier targets.
Thump-!
Dio’s mace hit the spine of the werewolf that turned its back to him, and immediately the effect of the Purification Herb began to take over the werewolf’s body.
The werewolf’s consciousness returning.
At that moment, the werewolf was as good as dead.
But Dio didn’t miss the opportunity and, for show, swung his mace.
Thump-!
Once.
Thump-!
Twice.
Thump-!
Even after the werewolf collapsed with a groan, the mace didn’t stop.
The berserk effect on the werewolf had worn off, and it was essentially dead even if left alone, but Dio casually swung his mace to the side, crushing its head.
Thud!
Without a chance to scream, the werewolf’s head was crushed, and its movements ceased completely.
Whoosh-! Flick.
Dio flicked off the blood from his mace with a single motion, and the party members could only watch him with stunned expressions.
In reality, the werewolf had recklessly charged at Dio, who was wielding the mace, and brought about its own demise.
However, to the others, it must have seemed like Dio’s skill was genuine.
[You have defeated the werewolf.]
[You have gained 3620 experience points.]
[You have gained 3620 experience points.]
[Experience points are not applied as you have not undergone class change.]
‘Tsk.’
It would have been an opportunity to gain a substantial amount of experience points if he had undergone a class change.
Dio felt frustrated at missing the chance for a rapid level-up.
However, Dio returned to the party pretending to be nonchalant.
He raised an eyebrow as he saw Clara using her holy power to heal the injured Raymond.
“It seems like the roles have reversed, getting help from our employer. Thank you, Priestess. I’ll compensate you for the healing separately later.”
“What? Oh… No, there’s no need for that.”
“No, it’s a fair payment. Besides, it’s my fault Raymond got hurt since I chose this dangerous path. Are you okay, Raymond?”
In reality, Raymond bore a greater share of the blame for not listening to Dio and venturing beyond the perimeter.
Yet, Dio, an A-grade mercenary, didn’t show any sign of blame and took responsibility himself.
This made Raymond recall a story he had heard long ago, a tale that circulated among mercenaries.
-From A-grade mercenaries, the very foundation is different.
Raymond had always thought they were just arrogant due to their rank.
But it wasn’t that.
It wasn’t just a difference in rank but a fundamental difference he now understood.
They say seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.
Only now did Raymond withdraw his skewed perspective and replied with a tone full of respect.
“Oh, no… Yes, hyung! I’m really sorry! I’ll be careful not to let this happen again!”
‘Just as planned.’
Meanwhile, Dio inwardly smiled, content that everything was unfolding according to his plan.