Chapter 223: Yutaka
The guides are more polite than the gang. Than the Gloomspire gang. They even offered them tea and cake, but Lady Slave humbly declined.
"So you want a guide not only for hunting in Gloomspire but to cross the mountains into Umbracrypt City? You should know that with the war, there’s a high shortage of guides, and that means our prices have gone up.
"If you want a quality guide, it’s going to cost you a lot. A real lot."
From the manager’s tone, Vacuse could deduce what the man meant. Simply put, Lady Slave and Red Eyes Slave did not look like people that could afford a high-quality guide.
Although they wore quality clothes, they themselves looked as if they had been dragged through the mud half their lives, and the manager had seen enough hunters to smell fakes from miles away.
Most times, hunters formed into large groups to hunt monsters. That was one of the sure ways to guarantee that everyone at least had a chance at survival.
But sometimes, real deals appeared that hunted alone because they were strong enough to handle it. The thing was, Vacuse and Lady Slave did not look like people that could handle anything.
Lady Slave cleared her throat. "Give us a high-quality guide. Look at it this way. We are going to hunt here in Gloomspire, and after the end of the week, we can talk about crossing the mountain or not."
The manager gave them a dubious look, but in the end, he agreed. "Very well. This is a standard contract. After the end of the week, we can look at more. Please note that this contract is binding. Breaching it can lead to death."
There was no threat in the man’s voice, only fact. The truth as everyone knew it. Although the guides appeared to only be a business-neutral group, they were actually one of the most dangerous organizations in the mountains.
Lady Slave imprinted her fingerprints in red ink at the bottom of the contract, and then the manager smiled again. "Payment will be at the end of the month when your hunting permit ends. Take this and take it to the end of the hall. Your guide will meet you there shortly."
And that was it.
They left the manager’s cave room and returned to the big chamber to hand over some documents to one of the attendants, who nodded at them and told them to wait.
They did not have to wait long for their guide.
The guide was a young man, probably sixteen or seventeen, with a face full of youthful eagerness. "Hello, I’m your guide, Yutaka!"
Lady Slave looked him up and down in doubt. "Have you really done a lot of guiding?"
Yutaka was not put off by her tone and even smiled widely at her. "I graduated just two years ago, and I’ve taken part in lots of guiding missions and even large clearing missions. I might be young, but I have the skill."
Lady Slave looked back at Vacuse, but he did not give her any reaction. So she sighed. "Alright. Come, let’s go."
With that, she gave him their hunting permit, and Yutaka studied it with a slight frown on his face. "You have been given the Longleg Spider’s Nest to hunt. Take me to the rest of the team so I can lead all of you there."
Lady Slave grimaced. "This is all of us."
Yutaka froze when he heard that. His eyes widened, and Vacuse could practically see the warmth drain from his face. "What? What? Just the two of you?"
Lady Slave shrugged. "Right."
The boy who had been filled with youthful energy just a moment ago swayed and leaned against a wall. His mouth trembled a few times as if he were trying, and failing, to come up with what to say.
Vacuse was amused by his reaction. "What’s the hold up, Lady?"
Lady Slave directed her icy expression over to Yutaka. "Well?"
Yutaka gave her an annoyed expression in turn. "Just the two of you? And you want to fight the Longleg Spiders? Are you insane? Fuck! So the guide finally wanted to get rid of me! I should have known after they gave me a new mission after a month of doing nothing!"
Lady Slave’s frown deepened. "Explain yourself."
"You don’t understand. The Longleg Spiders are one of the strongest monsters in the Gloomspire territory. And they are also the most dangerous! Not because of their individual strength, but because they have numbers. There are thousands of those spiders in their nest! A team like yours is not only a joke, but it’s stupid!
"Only a large team of forty can begin to stand a chance of at least harvesting some of the dead monsters! The gang only gives the nest to large hunting teams as well. So what did you do? How did you piss off the Gloomspire?"
Vacuse directed the flood of information slowly, and then he frowned. ’I’ve not even been here for long, and someone’s already trying to kill me?’
"We just got here. In fact, the Gloomspire are the first gang we will be meeting since we entered the mountains. And you, is it because of you? Why did your guide want to kill you?"
Now it was Yutaka’s turn to grimace as he shook his head. "It’s an offense that I committed. It’s nothing. Also, the guide cannot interfere with the hunting ground selection, so this is from the gang.
"If you give me a few minutes, I can go and find out something. At least to know a little of what’s going on."
Lady Slave and Vacuse did not mind, and thus they waited for him by the busy tunnel, leaning against the wall. After a moment, she finally said something to him. "I feel like you are the one bringing bad luck. Don’t tell me that people would try to kill you everywhere we go?"
Vacuse did not give her a reply. Why should he? She was bad news herself, the type that went around killing slaves for fun. And yes, he was trying not to think of the fact that people usually did try to kill him every time.
It was nothing though. It was just the life of a prince.