Chapter 33: The Armored Boar’s Drop Items

(TN: I don’t know if Maki is a man or a woman, so I used he in the translation but I’ll come back to correct If I’m wrong.)

Maki and the crew in the broadcasting van, who were filming Masaya’s battle with the Armored Boar, desperately tried to keep up as he disappeared among the onlookers, but they lost sight of him in the end.

“Who was that guy?” The cameraman muttered while Maki crossed his arms and tilted his head.

“It seemed like he was cooperating with the police; maybe he’s one of the Guild’s trump cards,”

When Masaya returned to the parking lot where Fuyuhiko’s car was parked, he received a call from Fuyuhiko.

“I’m back at the parking lot. You should come too.”

After a while, Fuyuhiko and Kurobe appeared. The latter wore a worried expression and asked, “Are you injured?”

“I’m fine,”

Fuyuhiko, seemingly excited, praised him loudly.

“That was amazing! Maybe I should give the Miyasaka-style another try.”

These were probably just empty words, as Fuyuhiko lacked determination.

Kurobe turned to Masaya and asked, “By the way, you picked up something at the spot where you defeated the Armored Boar, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yeah, some drop items appeared,” Masaya replied.

“What is that?”

Masaya showed the hide and fangs of the Boar to Kurobe and Fuyuhiko.

“Are these remnants of the monster?” Kurobe asked.

“Well, yeah,”

“As part of our research, would you be willing to give them to us?” Kurobe requested.

Masaya looked at Kurobe with brazen eyes.

“Of course, we’ll pay a fair price for them,” Kurobe added.

“Professor Kanbara would also want to examine them. So is it okay if I consult with him first?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Incidentally, it was discovered that the one who summoned the Fang Boar was actually that YouTuber named Inamoto. The police, while investigating the mixed-use building in front of the station, found several cameras set up by Inamoto himself.

It seemed that Inamoto summoned the Fang Boar himself and tried to gain popularity by uploading videos of him defeating it. However, his plan fell apart when the Fang Boar evolved.

The police and prosecution who apprehended Inamoto seemed to be perplexed about which laws to apply in his case.

◆◆◇◇◆◆◇◇◆◆

In the White House in Washington, D.C., President Riccarton was watching the monitor alongside Senior Advisor Brandon. The footage showed the Armored Boar wreaking havoc in Japan.

“Do we know what kind of True Name the first True Name user possesses?”

The President asked Senior Advisor Brandon.

“According to the analysts, he has ‘Strength’ and ‘Resilience’,”

“Hmm, quite ordinary,” the President remarked.

“However… it’s still unconfirmed, but it’s believed that he possesses a True Name to summon the Fang Boar,”

“Is that so? Well then, I want to see that monster. Negotiate with Japan for me,” the President instructed.

“Understood.”

On the monitor, Masaya and the Armored Boar had begun their battle. As the President shifted his gaze to the monitor, he asked,

“What is the True Name of this True Name user?”

“Even the analysts couldn’t determine it,” Brandon answered.

“Hmm. Proceed with the investigation,”

On the monitor, there was a scene of Masaya picking up the drop items.

“What are those?”

“They are items that have a low chance of dropping when defeating a monster,” Brandon explained.

“What’s the probability of them dropping?”

“It seems to be a one in one hundred chance,”

“Get us the drop items in Japan as well. We want to conduct research in our country,”

The President’s order was absolute. And just like that, the drop items obtained by Masaya would be divided into three parts and analyzed by Professor Kanbara, Japan, and the United States.

Fortunately for Masaya, with the participation of the United States in the negotiations, the price of the drop items skyrocketed. The price he had initially estimated to be in the range of millions suddenly jumped to a staggering 260 million yen, combining the contributions from Japan and the United States.

◆◆◇◇◆◆◇◇◆◆

Around the time when Masaya secured funds in the millions, in the other world, Dennis and Egmont were carefully devising strategies to counter the notorious Damian Bandits.

One of their key tactics involved intensifying the training regimen for their soldiers. Mornings were dedicated to battling Armored Lizards and Red-eyed Wolves within the labyrinth, while afternoons were dedicated to honing their archery skills.

Although all the soldiers could now use Lightning Strikes, their range was limited. Hence, they aimed to compensate for this by using bows.

In addition, they implemented another measure by deploying the experienced squires, Geleon and Isaac, on reconnaissance missions to gather crucial intelligence on the movements of the Damian Bandits.

Geleon was a veteran in his forties, while Isaac was a young man in his twenties. Geleon was cautious in everything he did, while Isaac was full of action. They made a great team together.

Their mission led them to Thokul Village in Mynmey territory, the last known target of the Damian Bandits. As they arrived, a potent mix of anger and disgust consumed them as they bore witness to the devastating aftermath.

It seemed that half of the villagers, regardless of gender or age, had been killed. The village center was set on fire, leaving only a gruesome, charred aftermath. Some villagers, overwhelmed by grief, had even resorted to suicide.

“This is beyond cruel.”

“Yeah, this isn’t something humans should do.”

Geleon and Isaac approached the soldiers dispatched from the town and inquired about the whereabouts of the Damian Bandits.

“After attacking this village, they disappeared without a trace.”

“They were supposed to enter the Barras Territory, but we haven’t received any information about a village being attacked in that region. We suspect they might be hiding somewhere in the mountains, biding their time.”

The two of them gathered as much information as possible before returning to the Beneshof Territory. Upon arriving at the lord’s mansion, they reported their findings to Dennis and Egmont.

“To think they would hide in the Barras Territory… We can’t thoroughly investigate that region,”

The Brabarras family, who ruled over the Barras Territory, held animosity towards the Beneshof Territory. During the time when the Orbeneshof family controlled the Beneshof Territory, the Barras Territory was under their influence, and the head of the Brabarras family was treated as a subordinate to the head of the Orbeneshof family.

As times changed and the Briones family came to rule the Beneshof Territory, the Brabarras family, who couldn’t forget the humiliation of being treated as subordinates, seemed to harbor a desire to either destroy or take control of the Beneshof Territory.

Dennis believed that at the core of their motivations lay fear of the Beneshof Territory. They feared that if the Beneshof Territory were to recover and prosper, the Barras Territory would once again be placed beneath them.

“Father, what do you suggest we do?”

Dennis asked Egmont in the mansion’s study.

“The Damian Bandits, after regaining their strength in the Barras Territory, will likely attack either the Barras or Beneshof Territory. We have no choice but to remain vigilant and prepared,” Egmont replied.

“When do you think they will make their next move?”

“They’ve been fighting relentlessly. Their bodies and minds must be worn out. They probably won’t make a move for at least ten days,”

Upon hearing Egmont’s response, Dennis pondered the situation.

“The problem is we don’t know how many days it has been since the Damian Bandits started taking their rest. We have no choice but to keep watch over the Yusla River,” Dennis concluded.

“Very well,”

Egmont instructed his soldiers to take turns keeping watch over the river.

Three days after giving those orders, squire Carlos and the soldiers noticed that some of the Barras ships were heading upstream at once. Carlos sent a messenger to report these developments to Egmont while he led the remaining troops in pursuit of the ships.

Upon receiving news from the messenger about suspicious ships heading upstream, Egmont ordered Dennis to verify the information.

Hence, Dennis joined forces with Carlos and observed the movements of the ships from the opposite bank.

“Sir Dennis, is it possible that the Barras Territory is aiding the Damian Bandits?”

“Highly likely. How foolish. They don’t realize the severity of the punishment they will face when the King finds out,” Dennis responded.

“They can’t stand the existence of the Beneshof Territory, which is closer to them, more than the fear they have for the distant King in the capital.”

Carlos’ words were likely true. However, this was nothing but a tremendous nuisance for the Beneshof Territory. Dennis started contemplating how to eradicate the Damian Bandits.

“Is there a place on this side where one can hide the ships?”

“There’s a sandbank downstream. They can hide their ships there,”

Dennis and the others anticipated with high probability that the bandits would land on the sandbank. However, the military strength of the Beneshof Territory was limited. It was necessary to keep half of their forces in the town of Beneshof as a contingency.

Half the forces meant they had a usable force of only seventeen soldiers, and through reconnaissance, they had determined that the Damian Bandits numbered around thirty.