Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 156

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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It’s a café run by the heir to the Dark Guild.
156
“This mission is to eliminate every last Demonic Beast in the village. Since you’re facing something entirely new, everyone needs to stay sharp. Anyone lacking confidence?”
No one answered Andrew. Then Obelia spoke.
“If things get dangerous, run without hesitation and find your allies. Life comes first. Don’t you dare die.”
“After the mission is complete, we regroup in front of the fountain in Town Center.”
“Yes, sir!”
I quickly added something to the eager guild members.
“When you kill a Demonic Beast, a core is left behind. Don’t forget to collect them. We’ll need to count the total later.”
Their eyes showed doubt about how I knew that, but
“Scatter!”
At Obelia’s urging, they departed quickly.
I was about to leave too when Obelia called out while tying her hair back.
“Want to make a wager?”
“A wager on what?”
“Who takes down more.”
I gave her a pitying look, but Obelia’s eyes were gleaming with unprecedented intensity.
“…Do what you want.”
At that, she clenched her fist and set off ahead of me, eager as a new recruit. More determined than one, even.
“Still think you’re my competition?”
I shook my head and followed the Demonic Energy I could sense nearby, slipping into an alley.
The first Demonic Beast I found was creating small flames and hurling them at buildings.
“What is that?”
I was shocked — it was using Magic, and targeting structures instead of people.
As I approached, it threw a flame toward me. I could have dodged easily, but I kept running straight through.
A shrill screech.
The Demonic Beast had expected me to be hit, letting out a grotesque laugh, but when the flame scattered before me, it was taken aback.
Another confused shriek.
“Sorry. That won’t work on me.”
I closed the distance in one breath and struck the beast. Its small frame made it easy to handle.
After probing various spots, I found the neck was its weak point and attacked there — it collapsed without resistance.
“Strong with Magic, weak at close range.”
As I moved forward, dispatching Demonic Beasts, I spotted one attacking a person.
The man was nearly done for, so I ran hard and struck the beast from behind.
A pained cry.
As the wounded Demonic Beast fell, I saw the face of the man who’d nearly died. Tears and snot covered his face.
“Behind… behind you!”
There was another one.
I’d already sensed its presence, so I lowered my body and spun to strike without hesitation.
It was identical to the one I’d just dealt with, so I didn’t need to swing multiple times.
The moment I finished it, the man’s eyes went wide and he threw himself flat on the ground.
“Th-th-thank you so much!”
I nodded and continued searching for Demonic Beasts when I heard a child’s scream.
“This way?”
I ran toward the sound and found a warehouse with its door torn off. Inside, a woman was trembling protectively around a child while a beast-like Demonic Beast dripped saliva before her.
The moment the beast lunged at the woman, I rushed in and severed its legs.
A warped shriek.
“Cover the child’s eyes!”
With its legs useless, the confused beast offered no resistance as I slashed its body in several places.
It was a brutal sight, but the corpse vanished quickly, leaving only a core behind.
The woman lowered her shaking hands from the child’s face, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her hands still trembled.
“Wahhh… so scary… Where’s the monster?”
“It’s gone. This person saved us.”
“Really? The monster’s really gone? We’re not going to die?”
The child’s eyes were filled with fear as she looked at me, but I couldn’t give her the answer she needed. I wouldn’t be here to protect them forever.
“…Stay inside. This should be the safest place.”
I pulled my reluctant feet away and rushed back out.
The streets were scattered with corpses and body parts of the dead.
Rage surged, but I forced it down and methodically eliminated every Demonic Beast in sight.
There were no strong ones to make the fight difficult, but their sheer numbers left me exhausted from collecting cores.
“Still more of them.”
Just as I began to wonder how many had invaded the village, the Demonic Beasts suddenly bolted in unison.
“They’re running away?”
They all fled in the same direction. I started chasing, but as I ran, I felt bewildered.
The other guild members were also pursuing the beasts. I stopped and watched their movements.
Then I dug through my pocket and found the Rope bound with Binding Magic. It was a gift from Ben long ago.
“Lucky I kept it.”
Looking around, I found a Demonic Beast roughly my height.
While it was fleeing, I caught up and struck hard. I knocked it unconscious rather than killing it, then bound it with the rope.
In the meantime, all the Demonic Beasts had fled the village, and in an instant, the entire settlement fell silent.
The guild members gathered at the village entrance, watching the beasts disappear with deflated expressions.
“Andrew, should we pursue them?”
“No. They’ve left the village. That’s enough.”
Since the objective was eliminating Demonic Beasts from the village, we abandoned pursuit.
We didn’t know what awaited them, and chasing with our current numbers would be reckless anyway.
Agreeing with Andrew’s judgment, I dragged the bound Demonic Beast back with me.
The guild members standing nearby jumped back at the sight of the creature I’d brought.
“You… you captured it…….”
Their faces showed they had questions, but they deferred to Andrew and Obelia’s expressions.
Andrew, representing them, blinked and asked.
“You captured a Demonic Beast alive? Why?”
“I want to find out why they were so eager to go in that direction.”
During the time I’d carried it back from its brief unconsciousness, the beast had regained awareness and now gazed blankly in the direction its kind had vanished.
“I’m really curious what’s out there.”
I handed the rope to Andrew and stared in the direction the beast was watching.
Sweat traced down my cheek. As I wiped it away, Obelia came beside me and opened her palm.
“I got this many.”
It looked like just over ten, so I tossed her the cloth pouch where I’d been collecting cores.
After checking inside, Obelia took a sharp breath and glared at me.
“…You’re not even winded.”
“I told you I’d be fine.”
Obelia snorted and threw me a Water Bottle, then went to look after the other members.
I caught the bottle out of the air, let out a soft laugh, lowered my Mask, and drank.
At that moment, the Village Elder who’d been hiding emerged and offered his thanks.
“Thank you for saving us. How fortunate that people of such skill were here… May I ask your names?”
“I’m afraid I cannot disclose them. I would prefer this incident not spread as rumor.”
“Don’t worry. You saved our village. I will keep your secret absolutely.”
The Elder kept bowing his head repeatedly until he finally spotted the bound Demonic Beast and fell backward in shock.
“Why is that creature…”
“I’m sending it to the Imperial Palace. They need to see it to believe what happened.”
I stepped forward and explained quickly, at which the Elder immediately understood and got to his feet.
“Ah, of course. We wouldn’t have believed it ourselves if we hadn’t seen it. Such creatures exist… I’m over fifty years old and I’ve never heard of anything like this. Please, do tell the Imperial Palace.”
After mention of the Palace, the Elder’s eyes toward us filled with trust.
He seemed to have mistaken us for some kind of secret organization. Andrew looked uncomfortable, but I gestured for him to let it go.
“But what if the creatures appear again?”
“Don’t worry. We’re planning to stay in this village for a while.”
“We couldn’t ask for anything more reassuring. Anything the village can provide, just say the word. Ah, we’ll handle all food and equipment repairs!”
After helping the Elder, I left some guild members to assist with the village’s recovery and returned to Guild Headquarters with Andrew.
“I’ll report this to the Master. Keep that one secure.”
I left the Demonic Beast in its containment and headed straight for Raiely’s Office.
The moment I opened the door, Raiely rushed up urgently.
“You’re not hurt?”
“Step back.”
I pushed away Raiely, who was circling me like an overprotective father, and sat on the sofa.
Then I handed over the cloth pouch containing cores equal to the number of Demonic Beasts we’d eliminated.
“That’s the total for all the beasts we took down today.”
Raiely’s brow furrowed as she opened the pouch and poured its contents onto the table.
“There were that many?”
“Yeah. And they used Magic, moved intelligently too. Whether they meant to destroy the village or demolish buildings — at the end, they all fled in unison.”
“Were they receiving orders?”
“Seems like it. There’s definitely a force behind this.”
As I looked at the small, jewel-like cores scattered across the table, Raiely brought over a basket that had been sitting on her desk.
“What is this?”
Inside were stacks of papers.
I picked one up to check its contents. It was a Mission Request that had come through Raven.
“These came through our branch offices. Nobles are flooding us with protection requests.”
Some of the family names were notable enough that even I recognized them.
“Word’s already spreading, apparently.”
“Or they’ve experienced it firsthand.”
Looking at the Demonic Beasts that had attacked the village today, it wouldn’t be surprising if more appeared anywhere at any time.
“The rewards listed here are substantial. What will you do?”
For the Guild, such requests meant easy money — just divide up the trained members and send them out.
Raiely paused mid-thought and walked to the window.
Her profile as she gazed out the hazy glass seemed troubled.
“That village today. What would have happened if we hadn’t been there?”
“…They’d all have been killed.”
Even if there were young travelers or adventurers in the village, they’d be no match for such a horde of Demonic Beasts.
“There are likely other villages under attack. Some may already be completely wiped out.”
Raiely returned to the sofa and looked at me with hardened eyes.
“Raven will not accept any requests until this matter is resolved. We’re temporarily closed.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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