Chapter 232: Hunter Surveillance (1/2)
Although it didn't seem like Loriel and Tarka could get along. Tyler still needed them to work together so he had Gerl mediate their affair on his behalf.
He would have Z take Loriel to the Darkin mountain range in the future so she could also transport the materials from the mine there before he would be able to establish a teleportation Gate on all the key locations in the continent.
He had also thought of constructing roads and maybe creating a sort of transport train but the latter was a stupid idea. Flying was a lot faster even though it was a little more dangerous. However, there were ways to avoid those powerful flying creatures.
'Hmm, I should probably handle those creatures before sending the Azure Dragonflies to the Darkin Mountain Range. Besides, taming more flying creatures would also increase his transport efficiency.'
After what felt like hours of sorting out certain details with Gerl, Tarka, and Loriel. He had Zelda mark Loriel's soul so he could keep track of her in case of emergencies. With the soul's marker, he could teleport himself and anyone directly to her side.
This was something he had thought of when he had wanted to send Kali to Jarret's side.
With that done, Tyler finally concluded his task here and teleported himself and Erin to the Farbelt pass to retrieve Mike.
Although he had been to the Farbelt pass a couple of times now. Tyler couldn't clearly picture the cave he had left Mike and the magic carriage in so he had teleported to the hill next to the Grade 3 Gold Mine.
He remembered there might still be Hunters there so he had teleported a little further away. He probably would've been able to get Uriel to teleport him directly to his desired cave but he had failed to consider that possibility at the time.
In an instant, two figures appeared atop the snowy hill above the underground labyrinth that doubles as a gold mine. Tyler and Erin had both sensed several presences in the mine below them and had immediately hidden their presence.
Using Erin's divination, they were able to view the situation in the cave below them and Tyler comprehended the situation immediately. From what he could see, the ones in the cave were not Hunters but some of them looked similar to the Knight guards he had spotted in winged city.
The only differences were their far better equipment and stronger auras. These knights were surely a notch above the ones in the city, and he could tell that they were all at the Tier 3 standards or above.
'Hmm... are they royal knights?'
{Confirmed, these are essentially royal knights directly under the lord of Winged city.}
”I see...”
”Is something wrong lord Ty?”
Having audibly let out his response to Uriel unconsciously, Erin had assumed he was talking to her which had almost thrown him off but he quickly recovered and composed himself.
”These Knights seems to be stronger than the ones I encountered in the city. This means they are royal Knight directly under the city lord. Judging by the outfit and equipment of the others in the cave. I'll reckon they are all professional miners.”
”So that's it. These must be the ones sent by the city to mine the Underground Mine you had gotten the Runite from.”
”Indeed they are. From the looks of it, they have been camping in the cave for a few days now. This means they had also hired Hunters who are currently clearing out the monster nest in the mines.”
”It is just as you predicted Lord Ty. But...”
”What's wrong?”
”With the average strength of these knights, I don't think the Hunters will be able to handle the creature you left behind.”
”Oh.” Tyler chuckled as he heard that which made Erin flustered and she retreated behind him. ”I'm sorry I didn't mean to laugh. Are you worried about the Hunters' lives?”
”Uh? N-no that's not it. I-I just mean, if they all died, won't the Knights go in after them and meet the same fate. If that happens, your plans would be hampered as I don't think the miners can survive a day on their own.”
”Oh, so you were just worried about my plans huh? How nice of you.”
Erin's face was flushed at this point and she seems to shrink back into herself.
”—Well, you don't have to worry about my plans. I indeed ordered that summon to kill everyone that steps into that cavern. However, Hunters aren't as fragile as you may think. If I remember correctly you were part of the Hunting team in your time in the Red Ogre settlement right?”
”Y-yes.”
”And what do your team usually do when you encounter a monster you can't handle?”
”We usually retreat. If we can't afford a complete retreat we lead the monster into a trap.”
”Indeed... Still. There is a fundamental difference between these Hunters and your hunting party.”
”What's that?”
”While your party's main aim was to track monsters for food. A Hunter's entire purpose is the extermination of monsters. This means they would venture into very dangerous regions to eliminate a single monster. This allows them to be fully prepared for anything, including coming face to face with a monster that completely outclasses them.”
”Oh, I see... due to the information about the Green-eyed devil the city received, they will, in turn, send their most capable Hunters. Hunters of that level would be able to instantly recognize the danger and initiate an immediate retreat. They should also be able to afford various escape tools that should allow their survival.”