GILF Hunter

Chapter 436: 436 Inevitably

Carriages arrived at the dust-blown entrance of the canyon.

This was the very site where Behemoth’s subjugation battle had taken place just a short while ago.

The battlefield bore the scars of a massive clash, with sections of the canyon collapsed from Behemoth’s thrashing.

As the carriages drew closer to the canyon, the massive corpse of Behemoth, wedged between the high-rising cliffs, came into view.

On one side, a survey team that had arrived earlier was busy setting up camp.

There were also carriages already parked, their passengers marveling at Behemoth.

Rather than a site of a fierce battle, it looked more like a popular tourist attraction.

The passengers in the carriages, escorted by mercenaries, were tourists who had come to see Behemoth with their own eyes.

Since the location was quite deep in the wilderness, the journey took time, and hiring mercenaries for such a dangerous area was expensive, but…

Where else would one get a chance to see a legendary monster like Behemoth? Despite the exorbitant costs, demand was so high that people had to take numbers and wait for a spot.

A mercenary at the head of the carriage line stood up, pointed toward Behemoth, and spoke.

‘That over there is Behemoth. Until just recently, it was a living, breathing monster.’

‘This is…’

‘How could such a gargantuan monster even exist…!’

The people stepping off the carriages looked up at Behemoth in pure shock. Its body was so immense it was hard to imagine it ever moving.

Even for the people of Labyrinth city, who were sick of dealing with monsters, Behemoth’s sheer scale was staggering.

Some people immediately began sketching, perhaps hoping to capture the scene in a drawing.

‘When Behemoth was passing through, they pinned its feet and leaped from the top of the canyon onto its back.’

‘How on earth did they pin the feet of such a giant monster?’

‘Well, among the mages, there’s a thing called Barrier Magic…’

The person explaining things to the crowd was one of the mercenaries who had participated in the subjugation team.

Although he belonged to the reserve unit and hadn’t actually climbed onto the back, he was still someone who had experienced it firsthand nearby, so there were plenty of people eager to hear his story.

Thanks to this, the mercenaries who had joined the subjugation were earning a significant income by escorting the sightseers coming to see Behemoth.

An opportunity to earn several times the usual commission fee in such safety didn’t come often, so everyone was actively volunteering as guides.

‘Good grief. It’s turned into a total tourist spot.’

Rebecca, looking down at the scene from atop the canyon, smirked. She was Rebecca, a guild mercenary sent to inspect the site.

Rebecca looked down at Behemoth’s massive form blocking the canyon entrance.

The Guild had made plans to subjugate this monster several times in the past, but it always fell through because it was deemed unprofitable. To think they actually caught it.

Rebecca spoke to Ariel, who was standing next to her.

‘Speaking of which, you’ve become quite famous. Congratulations.’

‘What’s the point of becoming famous for something like this? It’s just exhausting.’

Since everyone in the city wanted to hear the story of the subjugation, Ariel, as the person in charge of the team, was being flooded with invitations and contacts from all over.

Leader Ian, who had actually devised the plan, had slipped away and hidden himself, leaving Ariel to deal with all the unwanted attention.

Ultimately, Ariel had used the excuse of being ‘on duty’ to come out to the site—where she didn’t even need to be—just to kill time.

Recalling Ian and the members of his mercenary group, Ariel sighed and said,

‘Phew… it would have been a headache without Leader Ian’s mercenaries.’

Without the roles played by those members who could stop Behemoth, it would have been difficult to handle the creature with just the personnel from the makeshift subjugation team.

They were members who each possessed very rare abilities.

Where on earth did he find and gather such members, when usually it was hard enough to find even one person like that…

When Ariel said that, Rebecca also thought back to the past.

‘I’ve seen them since the beginning, and back then, they were all just ordinary Rank E mercenaries. Does he have a good eye? Or does he have some exceptional talent for growing mercenaries?’

Rebecca, remembering when she first met those members as rookie mercenaries, also felt a bit of curiosity.

While killing time with such small talk, Rebecca looked down at the camp. The work was progressing very slowly.

The distance from Labyrinth city was significant, and dismantling the materials was a huge task. Because the hide was so hard and the size so immense, it was unknown how long it would take.

Another drawback was that the materials were excessively heavy and hard, which strictly limited their potential uses.

It was no wonder most of the subjugation team chose to receive a reward fee instead of materials.

…Seeing that even Leader Ian took his share in cash, there really must not have been much use for the parts.

Instead, Rebecca watched the crowd gathered in front of Behemoth.

Looking at that enthusiastic crowd, she figured there would at least be a market for souvenirs. A piece of Behemoth would make for quite a keepsake.

Though the sightseers were getting in the way of the work, the Guild didn’t bother controlling the site.

This popularity and heat had to be maintained as much as possible until all the Behemoth materials were sold.

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As evident from the tourists traveling all the way to the remote site, Labyrinth city was buzzing with rumors about Behemoth.

A body as large as a mountain.

A giant monster living in the deep wilderness that most people had never even seen.

The news that such a monster had been caught was naturally enough to pique everyone’s interest.

Moreover, the people who caught it weren’t in some far-off land; they were right here in Labyrinth city. The names of the participating mercenary groups spread in an instant.

For that reason…

Rin, Lia, and Tanya had been holed up in the Ian Mercenary Group’s breakroom for several days.

If they went outside now, they would be subjected to a relentless barrage of questions.

The novelty of being treated like celebrities lasted only a moment. After being asked the same questions dozens of times a day, they eventually had no choice but to flee.

There was the option of taking off their mercenary emblems and pretending to be unrelated, but as the number of people recognizing their faces grew, even that became difficult.

Some mercenary groups used this fame as an opportunity to make a name for themselves, but for those who didn’t need it, the situation was nothing but a nuisance.

‘Sigh… what a pain.’

‘It’s always like this. It’ll quiet down once the trend passes.’

Ian spoke to Rin, who looked more exhausted than when she was training.

As he said, the only saving grace was that this wasn’t personal popularity, but simply temporary interest in Behemoth.

Once the interest in that died down, this annoyance would decrease as well.

In the meantime, Tanya, who had stepped outside for a moment, came back in with a pile of letters.

‘Another letter for Airi.’

‘Another invitation? Famous people really have it hard.’

News that Airi had participated in the Behemoth subjugation had spread, and dozens of letters inviting Airi to hear her story were flying in every day.

Tanya had secretly been a bit envious of Airi becoming famous…

Now that Rin had experienced something similar, she felt she understood why Airi detested invitations.

Airi was currently away, but if she saw these letters, she would surely go ‘Eek!’ and shake her head, refusing to go.

Rin spoke while thinking of Airi, who had gone out with Mika.

‘She said she was going to the Association. I wonder if they’re okay over there.’

‘Those two have been hanging out a lot lately, haven’t they?’

‘I guess it’s because they’re fellow mages.’

‘…Airi was an archer.’

‘You’re the one who made her learn dark magic, Leader.’

…That was true, but he had only taught it for auxiliary purposes.

Airi and Mika had somehow become partners in joint research. It seemed she had more of an aptitude for magic than expected.

Just then, the sound of the door opening was heard. It was the sound of the two who had gone out returning.

‘We’re back…’

Mika and Airi, who said they were going to the Mage Association, returned with a huge pile of things.

‘What is all that?’

‘Research materials from the Association. They said it was okay to look at them, so I borrowed copies.’

‘The stuff you’ve been researching lately?’

‘Yes.’

Mika answered while slightly avoiding Ian’s gaze.

…Is she really that unwilling to share her research topics?

‘Well, good thinking. It’s better to reference what others have done.’

Ian wondered why she was trying so hard to hide it from him. It didn’t look like dangerous research, and he had no intention of interfering with or obstructing their work.

…Is it perhaps some embarrassing research topic that’s hard to tell others? If so, I guess it can’t be helped.

It was a thought that would have made Mika angry if she heard it, but there was no way to prove otherwise.

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‘…’

Mika, who was reading the research materials brought from the Association, closed the page.

It was already late at night.

She wasn’t physically tired yet, but there was so much work piled up that she had no idea when it would be finished. Mika let out a small sigh.

Ingredients that could be combined with a Mandragora…

Recalling the contents she had been investigating, Mika pondered for a long time before muttering.

‘…As I thought, I need the Leader’s semen.’

‘Eh…?’

Hearing Mika’s mutter, Airi, who was sitting next to her, flinched and raised her head.

Airi’s face suddenly turned bright red.

Of course, Airi knew what that meant. Right now, that was the only ingredient worth trying to combine with the Mandragora.

‘Do… do we have to ask the Leader for it then?’

‘No! If we ask for it directly, it’ll be obvious. We have to do it without getting caught…’

A Mandragora, and his own semen.

No matter how ignorant Ian was about magic, he would immediately realize they were researching something targeting him.

‘Th-then how do we get it…?’

‘It can’t be helped… We’ll just have to take it secretly.’

Airi flinched as she met Mika’s gaze.

‘M-me too?’

‘We agreed to cooperate! The Leader’s life is at stake.’

It was the all-powerful reason that appeared whenever Airi hesitated, one she simply couldn’t refuse.

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