Chapter 325 Return To Stahurt City (Part 2)
The preparation that Hazor had to do to break dozens of Cursed Items curses would take at least three full days. So too, he asked Meredith to help him with this, because it was necessary to harvest many different herbs in the region and Meredith mentioned during the trip that she had an in-depth knowledge of herbs.
Of course, the half-fox was hesitant to accept at first because it was such a huge responsibility, but when Luke told her that he trusted her, she readily accepted.
Since the half-wolf would have to wait three days for the ritual, he didn't want to sit around, so he thought about heading into town to sell some valuables he'd looted from the church vault. At that moment, Hazor called him and warned him about the possibility of a demon in the city, but this warning about the possibility became practically a decree for Luke.
"So there's a demon here in Stahurt? Shit… I knew there was something weird about this place." Walley said and kicked a small one that was in his way. "And what is this talk about bringing the war here? What do you have in mind this time?"
"It's simple, months ago I promised the Emperor of Broteforge that I would tear apart the Melki Empire from within and during the trip I decided that I would start here. Stahurt is perfect, there must be people outraged by the presence of the many monsters that lurk in the city just as there are adventurers interested in the rewards of these monsters."
Walley was a little in shock. The half-wolf often talked to Walley about the war that was afflicting the Skoll continent, but Luke never revealed his true intentions, although Walley did investigate the Yukiat region well with the half-wolf and Meredith.
"I'm in. What do you have in mind for sure?" asked the white-haired man, stopping in the middle of the street.
The half-wolf smiled upon seeing the determination in Walley's eyes and replied, "I want to identify who are the people satisfied with the current situation of the Melki Empire and who are not. This will be the second step of my plan: to create a revolutionary army."
Open-mouthed, Walley stood at the sound of words he'd never even imagined hearing, and then suddenly came to his senses. "Wait a second, did you say 'second step'? And what about the first?"
"I already did it. I killed the leader of the Sakan Religion in the region. It wasn't quite a step I had in mind previously, but I couldn't refuse to do it when I found out that Sakan himself was a superior demon."
"Superior demon? What the hell are you talking about, Luke? Wasn't Sakan a God or an entity or something?"
This statement from Walley made Luke laugh briefly. "Higher Demons are stronger than Lesser Demons, this is the only difference between them. However, their strength is not in physical strength itself, they are good at mind games, they use shells to hide and get stronger, they are practically immortal and can put you in a dimension where they control everything."
"How do you manage to defeat these things then? I can't imagine how to get my nation out of the war of these… these disgusting things, these sentient monsters."
Luke snorted. "I confess, it wasn't easy at first, but I had the right help from a very close friend, who protected me while I wasn't strong enough. Today, I have my ways of knowing the names of demons, of predicting their attacks, and of getting rid of the Domains they create. The First Servant must fear my current self with all his might, but I do not fear him."
Hearing the half-wolf's words, any doubts Walley might have had about Luke's intentions were decimated. To the corrupted, it was clearer than ever that Luke really wanted to rid the Melki Empire of the demons' clutches and end the current war.
Also, from the sincerity expressed in the words Luke used, Walley felt he could die for Luke if it would help him stop the war.
"Okay, if you want to earn the trust of adventurers, you must first become one and create a revolt among them, highlighting well who are those who like to kill monsters that invade other people's properties and who don't." Walley explained.
, "I know, and I don't intend to do this in secret. If the First Servant himself comes in person, I'll be glad to face him outside his lair, so we can spare no effort. What is the hardest contract available?" asked Luke and stopped walking.
At that moment, Walley noticed that they stopped right in front of the Adventurer's Guild.
It was obvious Luke's confidence was sky-high, but that was also good, it would encourage people to follow him, and if he was going to start a revolutionary army, this was exactly what he needed. Walley smiled, took a crumpled paper out of his pocket, and handed it to Luke.
"Even though you are so determined, you must think rationally… About the rumor from earlier, there is a mysterious monster in northern Stahurt. Many of the groups that took this contract to hunt this monster did not come back alive, and those that did claim with certainty that the monster is not the raging deer as the contract says." said Walley, at the same time Luke opened the contract paper.
"Okay, it says here that the property the monster is on is a vineyard. What is it? The word is strange to me." The half-wolf almost didn't know how to pronounce it correctly.
"I'm not the best person to explain this to you, but a vineyard is where you grow grapes and make wine, probably, I think." Walley spoke and took the paper from the half-wolf's hands to read it better, for some reason. "Yeah, it must be just that."
"Wines? In Broteforge it is a requirement at parties of the nobility and important commemorative parties of the middle class. However, I haven't seen wine for sale anywhere since I arrived in the Melki Empire." Luke pointed.
"If we haven't seen it, it's because there aren't any. Melkian Wines were quite famous in the old days, but nowadays, it is something that only belongs to noble daggers as well. Thousands of grape crops have died from the Corruption, and the Emperor customarily donates land in Stahurt to the owners of these destroyed vineyards. The Vineyard mentioned in the quest is new, but has not produced anything, so the reward is high, and many adventurers take the risk."
In fact, the 30 Melkian gold reward described in the contract was an exorbitant amount for any type of adventurer, and the monster named in the contract was just an ordinary mid-level monster, a raging deer.
The contract was obviously a trap, but if Luke managed to kill the mysterious monster, he would not only gain the people's trust by slaying the monster that all adventurers in Stahurt feared, but he would go on to get into the likes of the city's nobles by giving them back the vineyard.