“Let’s stick to the plan and go smoothly, damn it!”

Ravin patted Lin on the back as they left the guild house. 

The plan was simple. 

To frame Ravin, the mercenary guild and the commercial guild had hidden a demon beast in the city’s black market. 

They gave money to a poor beggar, transforming him into a black market merchant who dealt with Ravin. 

Then, they planned to expose that Ravin was trying to bring the demon beast to Waltercrua through a deal with the demons. This was their plan.

To counter this, Lucy and Lin secured the demon beast and the black market merchant. 

During the meeting, Ravin would first accuse them, saying, “You guys are colluding with the demons, aren’t you?!” 

Amidst the confusion, Adora, the informant, would sneak letters identical to the one Ravin received—inviting him to join the demon party—into the guild leaders’ pockets and pretend to discover them. 

Then, Lucy and Lin would appear again, showing the demon beast and delivering the final blow with the beggar’s testimony. 

It was simple and effective. 

If it worked.

“Don’t act friendly with Lin!” 

“And you, don’t mess things up with your reckless behavior!”

See? 

Lucy and Ravin were already bickering. 

Lucy was endlessly jealous, and Ravin’s friendliness towards Lin only fanned the flames of this vicious cycle. 

“Sigh…”

Leaving the two behind, Adora handed a map to Lin, who sighed.

“Here, this is the black market, and this marked spot is where the demon beast is kept.”

“What type of demon beast is it?”

“It’s a canine, resembling a mix of a wolf and a hyena.”

“A mutant?”

“Yes, but it’s not unique.”

Canine demon beasts were troublesome because, if they evolved beyond the mutant stage to unique status, they could immediately use a skill called ‘Pack Summon.’ 

A single howl could exponentially increase their numbers. 

If this skill was used within the city, it could cause massive casualties among innocent people. 

Fortunately, this one wasn’t unique.

“Damn it, I’m on lookout duty while the informant gets to be in the action.”

As Zeol grumbled, Ravin reassured him.

“We need you there. No one monitors the checkpoints as meticulously as you. Who knows when they might bring in external reinforcements?”

“I know, I get it.”

“If we pull this off, I’ll treat you to a feast.”

“You better! We’re talking about taking down Waltercrua!”

“Absolutely! We’ll have a banquet fit for kings!”

Surprisingly, they were in sync. 

Zeol’s role was crucial but dull—monitoring the checkpoints outside the city for any incoming reinforcements. 

He hated it, but Ravin had a reason for asking him. 

Just last night, Zeol had intercepted a raven flying into Waltercrua, carrying a letter instructing to find the hero’s weakness and kill them if the opportunity arose. 

Everyone read it—Ravin, Lin, and Lucy.

“Damn it, what do we do?”

Lin’s mind raced. 

Simultaneously, the dice of fate rolled.

“Ravin, who are the biggest imperial and Shield Knight spies in this city?”

The identities and numbers of spies were a matter of luck. 

Just like how Lucy’s rival demon soldiers were random.

“The biggest ones? Aside from me, it’s the other two leaders of the Triad.”

Damn it. 

The worst case had come true. 

Lin’s luck with gacha pulls was always bad. 

Lucy called to him softly, seeing his tightly shut eyes.

“Lin.”

“Yes, Lucy?”

“I… I want to kill them all, but if you say to spare them, I’ll follow your lead.”

After hesitating, Lucy added, “I’ll follow your words absolutely.”

“I’ll follow you too, damn it.”

Everyone waited for Lin’s decision, but Lin had no doubts.

“Capture them, extract information, and then kill them. If they act up, kill them immediately.”

It was standard to incite and prove their ties with the demons before killing them, but Lin decided it was better to be prepared for all scenarios. 

One of those scenarios was that the spies were actually making deals with the demons. 

If that happened, a demon soldier might appear during their fight with the spies.

“Alright, capture them, use them, and then cleanly execute them, right?”

With the conclusion and guidelines set, Ravin, cracking his neck, smiled confidently as he glanced back.

“Let’s go, everyone.”

And so, hundreds of guild members followed her.

“Yes, boss!”

Sadly, Lin’s precautionary measures were right.

“…Hey.”

“I know.”

Arsil and Tigria, who had received Reinhold’s reply through a magpie, prepared for a day and were about to move to Waltercrua. 

However, they couldn’t ignore the blatant stares.

“Come out while we’re being nice.”

Wearing dragon scale gloves, Arsil casually remarked, gripping and releasing his fists, white holy power crackling like lightning. 

Yet, silence was the only response.

After exchanging glances, the saint held up three fingers to the mage.

One.

The thumb folded.

Two.

The index finger folded.

After a deep breath, the middle finger folded.

Three.

“Capture…!”

Tigria barely uttered a single word. 

Originally intending to say “Capture,” activate his power, and set the range for his magic, a spear wielded by a blue-skinned demon, who emerged from the forest, reached Tigria in an instant.

“Damn it!”

Arsil kicked the spear away. 

It barely deflected, angling to strike Tigria’s abdomen.

“Not so fast!”

Clang!

Twisting his body, her punch struck the spear down. Finally, the spear withdrew to its owner’s shoulder.

“This is strange.”

The demon with blue skin and white hair tied in a side tail had a languid attitude. 

Despite her cute appearance, she was fairly tall, not as tall as Lucy, but with a well-endowed chest and firm hips.

“I thought I could kill you easily.”

“Is this an act of bravado before the saint?”

“Did I focus too much on speed? Hm~.”

Crack.

“Damn it…”

Ignoring Arsil’s gritted teeth, the demon showed no concern. 

Conversely, Tigria couldn’t move due to tension.

Despite her apparent defenselessness, she felt the demon’s full attention on her. 

Any wrong move, even a misstep in her stance, would bring another lightning-fast strike.

“Yawn~. Blocking my attack means you must be the hero’s party, right?”

“And you must be a demon.”

Arsil hadn’t heard of a demon who handled a spear so well. 

The emergence of a new formidable enemy. 

Drawing on his experience, Arsil kept engaging her in conversation.

Her instincts screamed: gather as much information as possible before defeating her.

“Yawning in front of the hero’s party mage and saint?”

“Yawn~. The mage isn’t moving at all. Should I take out the escort first?”

“Hey, damn it!”

Damn it, damn it. 

The illusionist said it. 

Those who only curse and use the same few curses repeatedly are the weakest.

“Nothing.”

“…What?”

“Yeah, the illusionist said you must be the weakest. I’ll finish you first and then deal with the mage.”

This was strange.

Warriors using melee weapons usually had a straightforward nature, making them easier to talk to. 

Despite her anger causing his cheeks to tremble, Arsil continued. 

She had never been looked down on this much, even in the slums.

“Ah! Right. The illusionist told me to check and act based on what you’ll do. Let’s see…”

Taking out a paper from her pocket, the demon nodded and read it.

“Introduce yourself… Including your name? Ugh, we don’t even introduce ourselves among us, but we have to reveal our names to the enemy?”

Despite her numerous flaws, neither Arsil nor Tigria could move. 

It was frustrating, but this spear-wielder was as strong as Lucy.

“Don’t kill them unless necessary… Don’t cripple them either… So many annoying things.”

Crumpling the paper and putting it back, the demon waved lazily.

“Hi~. I’m Salomei, the vanguard and spearman of the demon party.”

“The demon party?”

“Oh, you could call it the demon version of your hero party.”

“Demons don’t have heroes!”

“Wow, that’s just a name. You’re still a fool.”

“Damn it…!”

For the record, the illusionist’s paper suggested provoking them as much as possible. 

However, Salomei hadn’t intentionally provoked them once.

“Unfortunately, we’re not supposed to kill you. This time, we’re supposed to stall for time.”

“The demon soldier party’s vanguard Salomei! What’s your objective?”

“Objective? Oh~.”

For the first time, a smile blossomed amidst the languidness.

“Our goal is to follow the Demon Lord’s will, revive the Demon King, and destroy the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.”

“What?!”

“And my goal is…”

Let’s make it clear. 

This was an obvious provocation, unlike before.

“To bring Lin to my side and keep him close.”

“Lin? The porter? Why mention the porter?”

Ignoring Arsil again, Salomei raised a finger towards Tigria, reverting to her languid expression. 

Even from this, the keen mage understood. 

Lin’s presence in this world post-Demon King subjugation was more significant than expected. 

Moreover, Lin had a deep connection with Arsil from childhood. 

Though it was just intuition, Salomei acted as if it were a foregone conclusion.

“Was Lin… important?”

This conversation left both of them dumbfounded, yet Salomei thought she could gain nothing more from this. 

Demons, despite their low status, possessed intelligence and reasoning, akin to human bandits who raided villages.

With a whirl, she spun her spear and aimed it back at Arsil and Tigria.

“Even if you two defeat me, the others will handle it. Let’s just say you’re fortunate.”

And with that, she darted into the forest.

“…Hey.”

“…Yeah, I know.”

Despite wanting to chase her, the sense of impending danger halted their steps. 

Arsil let out a deep sigh, and Tigria could only nod in agreement.

“Ravin must have felt something odd too, right?”

“Yeah, but he still wanted us to go.”

That’s when Tigria’s magic activated, creating a barrier encompassing them both.

“I’ll say it again. If something happens to Lin, we’ll destroy everything.”

Arsil acknowledged Tigria’s grim determination.

***

So, let’s review the plan for Lin and Ravin’s team again. 

They aimed to turn the tables on the mercenary and commercial guilds by exposing their conspiracy. 

By securing the demon beast and black market merchant, they hoped to counter any accusations of collusion with demons. 

This complex operation involved strategically placing evidence and testimonies to shift suspicion onto their accusers.

Lucy’s jealousy towards Ravin’s friendliness with Lin created constant tension. 

Yet, they moved forward with their plan.

The team split up to cover their tasks: securing the demon beast, monitoring the city, and ensuring no external reinforcements intervened. 

Ravin and Lin led the charge with unwavering resolve.

However, the appearance of demon soldiers like Salomei complicated their mission. 

With each encounter, it became clear that Lin’s significance and the threat of the demon soldiers were greater than anticipated. 

Even as they pushed forward with their plan, they needed to remain vigilant against these formidable foes.

The stakes were high, and their success depended on precision and cooperation. 

As they advanced, every step was crucial in their effort to protect Lin and thwart the rising threats around them.