Chapter 44: Chapter 42- Conflict (7)

The other hunters relaxed as they witnessed their teammates’ recovery. Their complexion improved and although they remained wary of me, they accepted the treatment. Eric stood by my side during the whole process to reassure the hunters and at the same time, to extract some information from me.

In the end, Sonya transferred 48 points to me.

“Thank you. I suggest that you all return to the village and purchase some antidotes. Alternatively, it is not a bad idea to forget about the tombs for now. Since the canyon is mostly empty, you can cover a much larger area than before and quickly earn points.”

“This does not sound like a bad idea but I think we will still compete for the treasures.” Eric replied.

“Do as you wish.”

Eric looked at me with not hiding his worries. “Judging by your personality, I am guessing that you are going to ask for a hefty sum out of the hunters for treatment, right?”

“Possibly.”

“You should avoid doing that. Keep in mind that there is still a whole section to explore and you will spend at least a few more days at the village. Turning all the hunters into your enemies is not a good idea.”

“I have not decided yet. What I do depends on the situation in the tombs.” I replied calmly. “However, considering that there is a chance that I may leave this floor very soon, do you have a piece of paper or something to write on you?”

“What do you need this for?” Eric asked while taking out the paper he used to map the tombs.

I grabbed the paper and hastily wrote a few lines before carefully folding it and handing it back to Eric. “As I already said, I am not planning on fighting the monsters and leading humanity but you seem to have potential. I observed you for a bit and you seem alright. While I may not appear on the battlefields, maybe, you can take my place. It will be my way of contributing…”

“What is this?” Eric hesitantly accepted the folded piece of paper.

“Don’t read it now. Do it when you return to the village and are surrounded by people you trust. If I am still here, you can come and ask me for clarification.”

After a brief moment of silence, we parted ways. I entered the tombs for most likely the last time. Levi appeared by my side. “There is another group of hunters resting in the first chamber and I found one of the corpses of the giant rats your friend described.”

“Oh? So he was not lying. How do these giant rats look?” I asked with interest.

“Just an enlarged version of the giant rats you faced. I believe that these giant rats are close to reaching the first circle. My bet is that they must have bathed in the mud baths after we left which can help them advance. Because we absorbed the majority of the nutrients, their advancement failed but they still got an increase in strength and size.”

“I see. If they are close to reaching the first circle, they may be a bit dangerous for someone without any offensive spells like me.”

I stepped into the first chamber and instantly attracted the attention of the hunters. It was Rudolf’s team. I saw Mustafa, the team leader sitting down with a pale face. This was the smallest group exploring the tombs; with one member already dead and three disabled members resting at their house.

Mustafa sneered as soon as he noticed my entrance. “Hmmp! A murderer like you should be ashamed of showing your face here.” He was cold and aggressive. It was understandable since I dealt a huge blow to his team.

Still, I was delighted to have found my first victim. “You should be happy to see me. Are you not feeling weak and nauseous already? You have been infected by the giant rats’ virus. You will soon feel too weak to move and will collapse in exhaustion. Luckily, I am here and I can save you.”

“What do you mean? Stay away from us murderer! Killing one of us was not enough and now you want to scam us?” Mustafa shouted

“Fine by me. I will come back later when you feel like talking. The virus should have started acting considering how pale you look. I hope you’ll be more willing to listen then.” I left hurriedly, ignoring the curses of the hunters.

I chose to explore the Nobles and Royals’ section again. Although I was curious about the advanced giant rats, I was not eager to face these stronger monsters. I came across several hunters along the way who kept their distance from me. I casually explained the situation and continued to move ahead. Sooner or later, when they would start feeling weak and in pain, they would believe me.

The only group who agreed to let me heal them was the one I officially belonged to. Jacob and Elisa were the first to be treated and once they visibly got better, the rest of the group followed after.

Jacob and Elisa have been rather friendly and supportive since we became teammates. I knew that they contributed to the de-escalation of last night’s event. I charged my team fifty Nazlock Coins per person which earned me eight hundred coins. I was not greedy and let them to keep the majority of their loot.

I learned from them that the Nobles’ section has been completely cleared. In less than a day, such a massive section has been cleaned out when a hundred people worked together. Several groups were now attempting to break into the Royals’ section. However, the entry mechanism was different; there were no puzzles to solve. Instead, there was one giant stone golem that needed to be defeated. The stone golem was holding a giant key that was used to open the next door.

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The stone golem was much stronger than the golems roaming through the canyon. According to Jacob, a hunter instantly died after being punched by the golem despite using the [Harden] spell. The death of a hunter caused everyone to panic and retreat unconditionally. Since then, a few more careful attempts have been made but they were all unsuccessful.

“Very interesting… A golem that can kill a person in one hit. It seems that looting the Royals’ section is not going to be easy.” I said thoughtfully.

“Do you want to join us? Now that we all already know this hunting area, we can work together and maybe break into the last section.” Elisa suggested.

“You still want to work with me? Do you think it is a good idea?” I answered as I glanced at the other hunters. They were not as tense as the others in my presence but were still on their guards.

“I thought that maybe you had a way to defeat the golem. Since you explored the tombs for so long, I expect you to have a few tricks up your sleeves.” Elisa looked at me with expectant eyes.

“Sadly, you overestimated me. We may be able to defeat the first golem but there will be many more afterward and the other groups will also compete for the treasures inside. I’ll pass but I can give you some advices. Return to the village and spend the Nazlock Coins you have. Show them to the clerk of the merchant tower and you will be led upstairs to a different shop. There, you can purchase explosive potions and other consumables with them which may be useful against the stone golem.”

“Using items to defeat the stone golem? It may work but we’ll open the way for everyone while being the only one paying the price.” Jacob said weakly.

“Correct. Exploring the tombs have been very fruitful when I explored them alone but now that the other hunters will regularly come here, it will just turn into a regular hunting ground… Still… Your words helped me make up my mind.”

“You mean?”

“I was pondering about how much to charge the other hunters for my spells. In their current state, very few can run back to the village in a monster-filled canyon. I was thinking about mending our relationship by charging them an adequate price but since the whole tombs have been explored except for the Royals’ section that I don’t think I will be able to explore alone, there is no need for me to do so.”

Jacob clicked his tongue uncomfortably. “I don’t think it is a good idea for you to abuse your current position. You may be the only one who can save them but you have already antagonised them. If you completely burn the bridges, then they may all turn against you. They simply avoided you since you seemed to be minding your own business but if you do exploit them, they won’t silently take it anymore.”

I chuckled in response. “It won’t matter. I already have a First Floor Ticket and I can leave at any time. They may hold a grudge against me but the tower is so vast that we probably won’t even meet afterward. Even if I do come in contact with some of the hunters, chances are they will have more pressing issues. While I am here, I may as well milk out the situation as much as possible. I’ll squeeze out all the treasures they collected from the Nobles’ section from these groups.”

“You already have a First Floor Ticket?” The couple’s faces flashed with surprise. They seemed to have completely missed the second part of my answer.

I considered my options. Now that all the hunters knew of the existence of the tombs, most of the treasures would fall in the hands of others. The best way to profit of the situation was to simply extort the treasures out of the hunters who were in dire need of healing. It was indeed a scummy move but it would maximise my gains and I would be able to leave almost two weeks earlier than the deadline I set for myself. I would not be able to earn as many points as I would have liked to but it was a compromise that would allow me to collect as many Nazlock Coins as possible.

I left my group and wandered around for a bit, staying at a reasonable distance form the dangerous zones and the other groups of hunters. I made sure to advertise my services but received no immediate responses from the hunters. Xia Shiyu’s group was openly hostile and drew their weapons as soon as I approached them. Yadav’s group was milder but maintained a reasonable distance and remained on their guards. Roberto’s group did not express their disagreement but it was clear that they were unwilling to interact with me.

I let it simmer for a while until the hunters were forced to realise that their current state was not improving. The virus was slowly acting, weakening the hunters who believed they just needed to rest for a few minutes to recover. I casually made my way to the entrance of the tombs where I would meet the most hunters, looking unconcerned by the appearance of the hunters.

Even though they did not want to admit it, it was apparent that they needed my help. Only the hunters belonging to Eric’s and Jacob’s teams looked healthy; the only two teams I helped. I sat down and waited. The hunters would not die immediately but would soon be too weak to take any actions. The virus had a relatively long dormant phase where the hunters could continue to fight as normal but once it woke up, it would very quickly ravage its host.

Soon, the moment I have long been waiting for has arrived.

“Alex. We heard from a few hunters that you can cure us from the virus of the giant rats?”

The two indiviuals who approached me wre Yadav and Anjali. We were not exactly on friendly terms but we did not oppose each other either. “Yes. Like I already told you about. The potions won’t help you. And the healers do not have the necessary spells yet. I can help you and since you are the first of the four teams to ask me, I’ll treat you for a hundred Nazlock Coins per person.”

“One hundred? Isn’t this too much? There are eighteen of us. You are asking for almost two rooms’ worth of coins.” Yadav said unhappily.

“I know but bear in mind that your life is at stake. I also had to pay a price to learn the Cure spell. What is a hundred Nazlock Coins when compared with a person’s life? Besides, the rooms of the Nobles’ section also contained a lot of miscellaneous items. If you sell them at the merchant tower, it should not be hard for your whole team to get out of debt. Your choice.”

Yadav grumbled internally. “Is there no way around this?”

“I think that it is a fair price. The rest of the teams who remain undecided will have to pay double or maybe even more than that.”

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