Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 149

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Chapter 149 – The Value of Information

“Hmm… so you mean you defeated all the ants one by one until you reached the deepest part of the area?”

“There were some that passed me by on the way, so it wasn’t all of them. So I don’t think the number of ants I defeated along the way is that relevant.”

“So the most likely possibility is the ‘egg’?”

“Personally, I think it’s the most likely possibility. Even if it was an unpopular hunting ground outside of the Queen Ant’s appearance period, it’s still strange that it hasn’t been discovered until now. So I can only think that we’ve done something that other hunters haven’t. Of course, there’s also the possibility that it was just luck…”

There’s also the fact that I used Call for Assembly, but if the monster-specific skill was a condition for appearing, I don’t think there are nine magic gems in this world, and King Ant’s skill didn’t have Call for Assembly, so the line of being brought out by Call for Assembly is probably out.

“Crack a lot of eggs… Normally, if you’re after the materials, the basket would be full long before that. Without the determination to throw the materials away like Loki, the idea of cracking eggs wouldn’t even occur to you. The only time you’d be willing to take on such a challenge is when the Queen Ant is around, but if the Queen Ant is also a condition for this to happen… no one’s ever done it, but it seems like it could be possible.”

If we look at ants as simple ‘living things,’ it’s just luck.

I can’t think of anything other than the element of luck that it just happened to be there.

However, if we consider the fact that the Queen Ant has a cycle of about six months and the game-like elements that make it seem like it’s just a glimmer in this world, then the King Ant is like the ‘hidden boss’ of the game.

If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if the King Ant had some kind of “appearance requirement” attached to it.

This could be the reason why there are so few magic gems in the world.

“There are two people in the party, and it has been about three months since Queen Ant was defeated. Along the way, we defeated the ants with such force that we almost wiped them out, and we broke at least 100 eggs in the depths. If you destroy them, a golden ant may appear in the middle. After that, you’ll just have to try different things and check the conditions. If you can’t get rid of them, it might be down to luck, or maybe it’s a special monster that won’t appear again once you’ve defeated it, or maybe the cycle is unusually long. I think this could prove any of those things.”

“I see. It’s our job to figure out how to use this information to get the hunters to move. Let’s consider different things.”

“But to be honest, I don’t think you can win with half-baked power, you know?”

“Hmm… what kind of attack methods did it have?”

This is the kind of information I can provide because I’m the one who did it.

The fact that I can gain experience points for the monster’s skills also means that I can find out what kind of skills the monster has.

Since I only defeated one monster, I can’t find out the skill levels of the monsters below level 2 this time, but if it’s a hidden boss, there’s little chance that it would have such low-level skills.

This is a deal where I can get paid for the information.

Even if I have to leave out some details, I’ll tell them as much as I can.

“First, when I cracked the egg, a ray of light came at me at an incredible speed, like a surprise attack. It was definitely lightning because it also caused numbness. And to make sure you can’t escape, it uses Time Magic to slow down your party’s actions. The chant is pretty fast, so it’s probably best to assume that this ant has an Omission Chant. If you notice it, it’ll come flying at you, so if you’re targeted, you’ll probably die or be mortally wounded if you can’t escape. And after it slows you down, it’ll wake up the eggs of the surrounding ants all at once.

When the golden ants themselves start blinking, that’s the signal. The contents are still growing ants, but there doesn’t seem to be much difference in strength between them and the adults, and their abilities should be improved with Inspire. The surrounding Leviants will gather the young ants to protect this special ant, so you won’t be able to reach it until you’ve destroyed the awakened young ants. Also, these golden ants fly just like the Leviants. On top of that, it seems to have the Body Strengthening skill, so even though it’s small, you should consider it different from normal ground-crawling ants. Status effects won’t work on it either.”

“…..”

There’s also the fact that it has a high skill level for the Magic Power Auto-Recovery Increase skill, so it seems like a strategy aimed at running out of magic power is out of the question, but…

There’s no point in telling them more.

Maybe he wanted to take a breather after the performance was over, but Orlando-san was completely frozen, still holding the cup of tea in his hand.

His face looked serious, but his eyes weren’t quite focused.

“Orlando-san? Are you okay?”

“Ah, no, I’m not okay, but I’m okay…”

“I thought you died holding the cup.”

“…That’s right, Loki. How did you defeat it…?”

“Huh?”

I’m in trouble now, Orlando-san.

I just fought desperately with those subordinate ants while enduring pain that made me think I’d rather be dead.

It was Ril who defeated it, and I myself never faced the King Ant directly. I was unconscious when King Ant was defeated anyway, so there’s no way I could know.

I find myself looking up at the sky while holding my cup of tea.

“Fuh… I guess it was my fighting spirit…”

“I-I see…”

“”…..””

Actually, we both got beat up, but I think we beat it with sheer determination… I don’t think I’m lying.

While answering the questions that came up afterward, I gently confirmed things like the existence of hidden bosses and the differences between them and normal bosses.

And whether Orlando-san could defeat it or not, when he was satisfied with the information, we talked about the reward.

“I never thought I’d hear such useful information. I’m sorry I doubted you at first. Unless you were involved, there’s no way you could have known such detailed information.”

“Oh, that’s okay. We’ve already made a deal.”

“Now, about the reward. First of all, I want to confirm that there will be no problem if I take this information to the guild headquarters? If I do, it will be made known to the entire Hunters’ Guild.”

“If I’ve been paid for this information, I’ll leave it up to you, Orlando-san, to decide what to do with it, but that means there will be more people trying to defeat it, more rivals, right?”

“That’s right. This is the first time we’ve had detailed information about the monsters that possess the magic gems. In the past, hunters have brought in magic gems, but I don’t know of any cases where this kind of information has been gathered. In other words, not only will hunters from every country come who are confident in their abilities, but there’s also the possibility that strong individuals who don’t usually appear in public will become hunters and come to Malta in the hope of getting rich. On the other hand, the guild headquarters will see great value in this information, so the amount of the reward will be different from my personal judgment.”

“I see. I can see where you want to go with this information, right, Orlando-san?”

“Yes. The Hunters’ Guild in Malta will become more prosperous, and high-ranking hunters will flock here. That’s the ideal for the guild master, and it will also lead to a good reputation for me. At first, I was thinking of stopping the information myself and trying to gather the B-rank hunters in Malta, but… from what I hear, I don’t think it will make any difference even if I gather the B-rank hunters.”

I guess not.

If there were 100 or 200 young ants, even if they all came at me at once, I could still hold out.

At this point, I personally think my ability is around B to A rank, but if you asked me if I could do anything with that ability against a King Ant, I’d immediately answer that I couldn’t do anything at all.

Even now, after killing it and raising my level, I still can’t.

I know this instinctively, so I can somehow predict that it would be impossible for an A-ranked party to defeat the King Ant, let alone a B-ranked party.

If that’s the case, then if Orlando-san stops the information, the reward will be small because there’s no way to defeat it, but if the information is taken to the guild headquarters, the reward will be large.

And my disadvantage is that the information will become known, so the number of competitors will increase, and… is there anything else?

“If the information gets to the Hunters’ Guild headquarters, it will be spread around, so sooner or later, this country will find out, right?”

“That’s right. The guild will definitely not go out of their way to tell anyone, but if they give the information to the hunters, sooner or later, this Kingdom of Lagreath and other countries will find out. But even if there is a mistake, Loki’s information will not be leaked. I will only tell the headquarters about the possibility of this monster’s appearance pattern, its abilities, and the fact that it possessed a magic gem. If Loki sells us the ‘magic gem’ you are worried about, I will go to the headquarters with the actual gem, and if you sell us the material, I will go to the headquarters with it. Showing it directly would increase the credibility.”

“I see. So, Orlando-san, you would prefer that I sell both of them here if possible?”

“That would be my honest opinion. But I don’t want to push my luck. In that case, I guess I’ll have to ask the guild master of Bezarth to be a witness.”

“Huh? Yagov-san?”

“Huh? Do you know him?”

“Yes. I am from Bezarth.”

There’s also the matter of my reward, but it’s hard to carry around any more cash anyway.

I figured that if I was going to sell the King Ant material, I had no choice but to use it, so I handed the folded letter from my pocket to Orlando-san.

“What is this?”

“It’s from Yagov-san. It has my hunter information on it.”

“To a D-rank hunter? I guess that was my mistake in the first place.”

Orlando-san mutters to himself as he silently reads the letter.

As I sip my cold tea, he begins to nod in front of me as if he has come to some kind of understanding.

“I see. So you were a unique existence from the beginning, in a good way.”

“I was just desperately trying to defeat the monster. I was wondering what to do, but since I’m going to use the letter here, please leave the reward with the guild. Also, since it’s needed for evidence, I’ll sell the materials other than the magic stone as is. If you try, you should be able to determine the hardness of the outer shell to some extent. However, I think I’ll probably keep the magic stone for myself as a souvenir.”

“I see… that’s helpful. There’s no precedent for the material, so there’s no such thing as a fair price, but how about 30 platinum coins? Assuming it’s really hard to turn it into equipment because the material itself is so small, it’s going to be hard to get more than that.”

“This material is hard, but it’s small. If it’s platinum coins…”

“That’s 30 million beeke. And I’m thinking of 50 million beeks for the reward itself this time. This is such a huge piece of information. The reward from the guild headquarters is expected to be that much, so I plan to give it to Loki as is.”

O-oh~…

When I was told the amount in coins, I didn’t really understand it, but it was something like 80 million beeke in materials, excluding the information and the magic stone.

The reward was so crazy that I thought I could build a house with it, and even I, who had a poor sense of money, began to tremble.

If I sold this ‘magic gem,’ I could live in peace for the rest of my life…

I can’t help but stare at the magic gem, and Orlando-san makes a show of pursuing it.

“By the way, if you were to sell that magic gem… it would easily be worth several hundred White King Gold coins.”

What are White King Gold coins? I’ve never heard of them…

Are they one level above the platinum coins, which are worth 1 million beeke each? Or two ranks above? No, if they’re two levels up, that’s too much.

Hmm, if I weren’t so interested in coins, I wouldn’t understand it at all.

Well, it’s small, right? It’s not hard to carry around, so if I ever really need money, I can just sell it.

I’d like to use it myself if there’s a chance I can use it for something in the future.

The worst thing would be for it to get stolen or lost, but there’s no such thing as a safe deposit box in this world, so if I decide to keep it as a souvenir, I’ll have to protect it with all my might until I get a Spatial Magic skill.

“Well, I’ll keep the magic gem in case I become poor. The rest should be enough for a total of 80 million beeke. Please do that.”

“It doesn’t look like Loki will ever become poor, so I’ll just stop hoping. And as for the rank…”

“Hmm?”

“If you take the practical exam in Malta, I can approve you for rank B right away, you know?”

“Really? When you say practical exam, do you mean I’ll have to fight someone in a mock battle?”

“Yes. You’ll have to fight a B-rank hunter in Malta. It’s not just a matter of winning or losing, but a few guild members, including me, will judge whether or not you’re suitable based on the fight.”

“So if I want to become an A-rank hunter, I should go to a city where there are hunting grounds with A-rank hunters, right?”

“That’s right. There’s no one here who can fight you if it’s for A-rank. Well, I was an A-rank hunter before, but if I accept the challenge, there won’t be anyone to objectively judge it from the outside.”

“I see, I understand. Then please take the test.”

“Huh… If you chickened out here, I would have doubted the authenticity of the information again.”

Orlando-san, who was joking around, no longer had the same sharpness as before.

If the opponent was a hunter who was going head-to-head with some ants, that would be just what I wanted.

I wanted to try my hand against someone who was not a crazy goddess like Ril but someone who was a B-rank hunter, someone who probably had a strong position in the world.

It would certainly show me how strong I am now.

“I’m looking forward to it. When will we do it?”

“Ah, well… I’ll start by calling the ones I have in mind as soon as they arrive at the guild, so could you come by tomorrow morning? I’ll be able to give you the details then.”

“Understood. Then I’ll take tomorrow off. The ant materials are still at the dismantling site, so I’ll leave them to you. Also, please keep this matter secret from the people at the dismantling site.”

I held the magic gem in my hand.

I’ll show this to Ril tonight… Is it still around 10 in the morning?

From here, it’s time for my long-awaited status check and experiments!

With my feet light from the unexpected harvest, I walked back to the inn and looked around at the restaurants and specialty shops.

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