Chapter 9 – Party

Bern was a city that actively traded along the Ain River, so the pier was developed. Dozens of ships were docked, and Ed followed a man to the furthest corner of the dock. Ed stroked his new bow and barrel as he went to the place where only five speedboats were. These were the minimum conditions to receive a 100-gold artifact from a black dealer. However, he was satisfied that he had acquired an item that costed more than 200 golds and a 30 gold barrel. The demon had to be caught anyway, but there was no reason to refuse if there was such a pay. Sona from Akalan was supposed to come tomorrow, but he didn’t care. There may be a reason why she came to see him, but it’s not him who’s sorry. And whatever she wants, there’s no way he can pay her. When he went to the place where the speedboat was, people were already out. The four mercenaries who survived the last attack. There were savage warriors in chain armor, fairies with bows, fairies with canes, and men with six swords. Apart from what Arien told him, no one was on a lower level. They are of a different class from Tomio or Bardell, whom he met on Baron Beryl’s estate. These are the real stuff. At least he could tell that they won’t be disturbing him. Then the man who guided Ed opened his mouth.

“You can go up from here.”

Today was the day of the squad’s departure. In Arien’s words, Ed’s joining was spontaneous. All those who were waiting at the pier got on the speedboat. The man who guided Ed untied the rope from the pier and finally hopped on the speedboat. The speedboat began to move slowly. The speedboat, which used oars to exit the pier, began to speed up. A savage warrior carrying Battle Axe on his back stared at Ed and opened his mouth.

“The increase in the number of people does not change the pay.” “Of course.”

The savage warrior, who heard the man’s answer from the black dealer, approached Ed and reached out his hand.

“We already have a archer. I don’t know why she hired another one. By the way, I’m Gerrard.”

Ed took the hand of a savage warrior who introduced himself as Gerrard. If he was a savage warrior enough to be hired to hunt demons, he thought he would’ve been a significant character in the demon Age 2.

“Ed.”

Gerrard’s eyebrows wriggled at Ed’s short answer and soon burst into laughter.

“I’m glad you’re quiet.”

Gerrard was too talkative to suit his size. He was introducing the others.

“That lively fairy is Hamel, and that mystic fairy is Sirke. They told me that the swordsman over there is Ford.”

He wondered if he really needed to introduce them, but Gerrard’s mouth didn’t rest.

“And you’re Ed? I’ve never heard of you before.

Yes, this is normal. There were so many people who he recognized even if there was no Internet. He was rather embarrassed by the fact that there was no one in the Church of Astron who didn’t know about Baron Beryl. Ed looked at the others. Their eyes met with only a slight nod and they were sneaking away at Gerrard. Sirke was looking at him with rather grateful eyes. Ed knew what Gerrard was being treated like after seeing their looks. It seems like he talked too much, but savage warriors are basically seamen. Those who specialize in fighting on board. He was probably the most helpful of them in this battle. So Ed decided to take him from time to time.

“Have you ever fought a demon?”

When asked by Ed, Gerrard’s mouth quickly turned into a motor, perhaps judging that he was willing to talk to him.

“Demons? Yeah, I’ve seen such tiny things here. I’ve hunted about three so far, but nothing special.”

Hunting demons alone is nothing short of proving one’s worth. He should’ve seen a couple of dumbass knights getting beaten up. Most likely they were lower-level demons. They can’t easily come across an intermediate demon, even if they wanted to. Gerrard kept harping on unasked things.

“I’ve heard that fairies have a history of demon hunting. Only the swordsman over there has never hunted a demon, but his name is the most famous of them all. He’s a mercenary.”

Ed looked back at Ford, the swordsman. If a mercenary is a gold medalist, he is reliable, and his skills have already been proven. He was the highest grade mercenary that money could buy. Above that, there are two types of mercenaries, but they are almost in the position of leading a mercenary corps. Those who can only be hired for war. Looking at Ford, he could see that the black dealer intended this. Ed looked at the river thinking he didn’t need to worry. The Ain River was wider than he thought. The other side is horizontal and wide. In this place, it would be difficult to wipe out demons on a speedboat. Ed’s eyes turned to the man on the rock who guided him.

“Have you located the thieves?” “We’ve got an approximate location. And if we go near it, there’s a good chance they’ll raid first.”

Gerrard stood next to such Ed, saying.

“As soon as I get over to their ships, they’ll be over. Hope you don’t disturb me because you shoot the wrong arrow.

This guy’s confidence was up in the skies. Ed nodded and looked up at the sky. Holding the stars in the sky in his eyes, Gerrard took some ham out of his waist and said, while eating.

“Do you want some?”

Ed lowered his head and looked at Gerrard. This barbarian warrior has a pretty good personality.

“I just want to take a break. I was called in all of a sudden today.”

Gerrard felt sorry, but Ed had no intention of playing with his rhythm. Ed sat on the floor and closed his eyes still. Gerrard moved on looking for another conversation partner, but everyone was busy looking elsewhere. Gerrard let out a blast of excitement at the sight and concentrated on eating ham. As Gerrard shut up, all he could hear was a bump into the river over the speedboat. Ed looked at his status window with his eyes closed. Ed, who checked the status window before starting the battle, felt worried that he had not tried the new bow in advance. Since he is an archer, he has low magic power. He hasn’t checked how many arrows he can shoot in advance, but he was going to use them in this battle. He needed to know his limits clearly so that he can fight properly. The reason why he was able to achieve the top spot in the one-deal world rankings was his ability to see the gap, but the accurate distribution of magic power was also very important. If he uses too much magic, he won’t be able to use his skills when he needs them the most.

“Huh? Why is the fog so thick?”

Ed opened his eyes to Gerrard’s voice. And he heard the nervous voice of the man who was in charge.

“A sudden fog. It’s very likely they are here.”

Judging from the tension and anger in the voice of the man, the survivor of the combat team must be this man. He thought it was great that he accompanied the group. The fact that he came back to this path after meeting the intermediate demon in person. Ed slowly got up from his seat. It doesn’t matter if visibility is not secured by fog. When the opponent approaches with intent to murder, the gap is read, and the sense of reading like that can pinpoint the opponent’s position more accurately than the eye can see. As they enter the fog, only the contours of those close to it can be seen. The fog was thicker than he thought. Ed approached the player.

“I’ll go first.” “How can you fight if you can’t even see?”

Then Sirke, who was holding a cane, said.

“When the battle begins, I’ll clear the fog. But can you sense the enemies?” “I can.”

Ed said so, stood at the front, pulled out an arrow and bow. Then he listened with his eyes closed, feeling the strong wind.

Psshh.

He could hear the boat bumping into the river in the distance. Ed opened his eyes and pulled the bow toward it. Ten thieves. There is no way that an intermediate demon can move around as a group of ten. Maybe nine intermediate demons and possessed humans could move together. Ed sensed the evil in the fog and felt his gap. He felt that the ice bow was able to shoot farther than the bow he had used so far. So when the enemy’s speedboat was detected at the end of the interval, he exhaled and fired an arrow. As the speedboats on both sides rushed toward each other, the gap was rapidly narrowing, and one of the opponents fell into the river by his arrow. It wasn’t even an arrow with cold air, but the arrow that flew out of the fog was stuck between the opponent’s eyes. Ed fired a series of arrows before they could even see the player fall. Five arrows flew in one breath. It is difficult to see an arrow in fog unless it is an intermediate demon. So when he knocked down six possessed men, one from the back came forward. Just in case, he shot an arrow and he simply swung a knife and struck it. It was an intermediate demon. His experience of killing demons wasn’t much, but he was confident that he could kill that demon. Ed took a step back and said.

“Clear the fog.”

Sirke murmured quickly and raised his cane high. Then a strong wind sprang from her cane and poured towards the front of the speedboat. A strong wind quickly pushed the fog away. And the wind was so strong that the waves rose in the river. The speedboat, which was approaching, slowed significantly as waves rose nearly three meters high. Gerrard looked back at Ed after seeing the speedboat of the thieves.

“What, did your arrow kill him?”

Instead of answering, Ed replied by looking at the person who was showing his teeth while standing.

“There’s no point in trying to catch the men. We need to catch that one.”

If the demon comes out alive, they’ll be seduced and outnumbered again. Gerrard grinned at the words and picked up his Battle Axe.

“Yes, I shall cut the enemy captain’s head.”

Hamel started firing arrows while Gerrard was giving off a ferocious look. Hamel shot seven arrows in a moment. As expected, fairies were different. However, the general arrow attack is meaningless as the intermediate demon is in the front. All the arrows fell on the sword wielded by the intermediate demon. Gerrard burst into laughter at the sight.

“Hahaha, you archers can watch me now.”

The speedboat of the thieves turned. And as the distance neared, the intermediate demon blew himself up first. Gerrard’s Battle Axe flew in with a big trajectory towards the intermediate demon. But the intermediate demon escaped the attack by turning over in the air, perhaps unwilling to accept the power. And the knife swung past Gerrard’s left shoulder. Behind the intermediate demon, Gerrard turned around screaming while bleeding. Then, in the flying Battle Axe again, the intermediate demon bent over, dodged, and swung his sword in place. Blood spattered from Gerrard’s thigh, and muscles, then he fell to the floor. He must have been a big-mouth fighter. Looking at him collapse in vain. The intermediate demon swung a knife at the neck of the fallen Gerrard. Even though Gerrard had a big mouth, he couldn’t let him die like that. Even though he looks insignificant now, he has a talent that can be related to the black dealer, and he should be saved in order to be used to fight other demons later. When Ed flew the arrow with that mind, Hamel felt the same way, and at the same time, the arrow flew toward the intermediate demon.

Bang.

The intermediate demon was struck with two arrows between his teeth and smiled.

“Yeah, that guy doesn’t matter.”

The red eyes of the intermediate demon turned to Ed.

“I need to kill you first.”

Realizing that Ed was the one who killed his subordinates, the intermediate demon stormed to the deck.