The Garbage Collector Who Stumbled Upon Mythical Weapons! - Chapter 40
The Kingdom of Britend, Azecarlo in the Northern Mountains.
In a mountain where no humans dared to go, shadows were moving in secret.
“…You’ve gathered.”
A man stood there, clad in ominous armor black with silver patterns—something no ordinary person would wear. His long silver hair swayed in the wind.
Boaele, an officer of the Demon Lord’s army, gazed down at the army of over ten thousand gathered below him.
It was a force composed entirely of demons. All of them had silver hair and wore black garments, each carrying a sword at their side.
Boaele drew his sword and raised it high.
“The time has come! By the Demon Lord’s will, we shall wipe out the humans of Britend!!”
“Uoooooooohhhhhh!!”
A roar like an earthquake shook the land, making the trees tremble and sending birds perching on the branches into a frantic flight.
With a grin, Boaele spread his jet-black wings and soared into the sky.
Seeing that, the ten-thousand-strong army followed suit, taking flight one after another. This monstrous army, exuding dark magic, set its course for Rayford.
◇◇◇
Garm and his companions were having a meal at a restaurant attached to the guild.
It had been a week since they returned from Port Grand. There had been no word from Jacob, and they had nothing in particular to do.
“I’d really like to get back to work. Can’t we just take on another job besides the guild master’s direct request?”
As Garm spoke with his mouth full of a mountain of meat, Van put down his cup and wiped his mouth.
“It’s not forbidden, but… we don’t know when Jacob will call us. Taking on another job would be risky.”
“Exactly! You could end up failing both jobs!”
Sophia pouted and objected. Well, she had a point. Garm thought to himself as he stabbed a chunk of meat with his fork and was about to take a bite—
“Hey, you guys!”
A rough voice rang out. When Garm turned around, he saw the B-rank party “Albatross.”
“Oh, you got discharged! You look good, Macaus!”
Garm knew that Macaus and his team had been taken to a hospital in town after their rescue.
Since he had heard they were seriously injured, he was surprised to see them recover so quickly.
“‘Good for you’ my ass!! You left us behind in the cave!”
“We had no choice. You guys were too heavy.”
Macaus was furious but soon started scratching his head.
“Well… Whatever. I heard from the ‘Minazuki’ guys that we owe you one. So, I guess I’ll thank you for that.”
“Oh, so you came here just to say thanks? You could be a little more straightforward about it.”
“Sh-Shut up! Just because you guys got lucky and took down that spider, don’t get cocky! Next time, we won’t fall behind!”
Face red with embarrassment, Macaus stormed out of the restaurant. Garm sighed and then shoveled the remaining meat on his plate into his mouth.
◇◇◇
“Hm? What’s going on?”
When Garm and his team stepped outside, the guild was in an uproar. Wondering what was happening, he asked a nearby adventurer.
“I don’t know, man. I just heard the guild master has something to say.”
“The guild master!?”
Garm shouted in surprise and turned to Van, who also looked puzzled and shook his head.
The members of ‘Great Eagle’ had met Guild Master Jacob a few times, but normally, regular adventurers never got to see him.
In fact, they had never heard of anyone meeting the guild master before.
So for Jacob to appear in front of a large crowd like this, of course, it was causing a commotion.
“Hey!”
A voice called out, and the guild fell silent. A small old man was climbing onto a platform in front of the guild’s bulletin board.
“Heave-ho.”
Standing behind the old man was a woman in a dignified uniform.
“Alright, adventurers. Most of you are seeing me for the first time. I am Jacob, the head of this guild.”
Adventurers gathered around the bulletin board, creating a small crowd.
Because Jacob was so short, voices from the back complained, “I can’t see!”
“I’m here today to deliver a request from the kingdom.”
“A request from the kingdom?”
Van’s expression darkened. The kingdom had made requests to the guild before—it wasn’t unusual.
But given the timing, he was certain it had to do with the Demon Lord’s army.
The other adventurers seemed to have the same thought, and murmurs spread through the crowd.
“Right now, an army from the Demon Lord is approaching Rayford.”
“The Demon Lord’s army!?”
“You’ve got to be kidding!!”
Panic spread among the adventurers. While everyone knew the kingdom was fighting the Demon Lord’s army, they had never thought it would involve them directly.
But for the members of ‘Great Eagle,’ who had previously worked with the allied forces, this was not something they could ignore.
“The royal army is trying to stop them, but the first line of defense has been breached, and now they’re approaching Rayford. The enemy numbers over ten thousand demons.”
A heavy silence fell over the guild.
“Ten thousand…? Are you serious!?”
“The Kingdom’s army is gathering its forces to fight back, but the enemy is simply too numerous. That’s why they want to enlist the help of adventurers.”
The murmurs grew louder.
Demons were known to be stronger and more cunning than monsters. Fighting an army of ten thousand of them was unthinkable.
As hesitation spread among the adventurers, Jacob grinned.
“Of course, there will be proper compensation. The kingdom is offering one million Lira per demon defeated.”
“One million Lira!?”
“Are you serious!? That’s an insane amount of money!!”
Gasps of shock filled the room.
A reward of one million Lira per demon was on par with A-rank monster bounties. The adventurers could hardly believe it.