Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

Negris, who just criticized those Eerie Potions, soon felt as if he was being repeatedly slapped in the face.

“Used externally to petrify limbs, lessen sensitivity, and increase hardness. Isn’t this the XX Divine Oil?”

“It expands blood vessels and the side effect is to enlarge and thicken. Kvada, isn’t this medicine designed especially for men, rather than for heart disease?”

“And then there’s the Pregnancy Potion, I’m asking you if this medicine can be used by giant dragons!”

“Why are all the medicines you have in mind like this… like this…? Are these medicines, are they serious? Can they be made at all?”

Sava, seeming quite innocent and nodding like a pecking chicken, explained, “Many of these ideas are from my teacher. He always said that the easiest money in the world is from devout believers, beauty-loving women, and impulsive men. The money of believers belongs to the gods, and it’s hard to earn women’s money, so he told me to think about men’s, so I did…”

“You’re not wrong to say that, Lisa and the silver coins should agree with your teacher’s point of view. So, did you make money?” Negris asked.

Lisa shook her head. “These potions are just concepts. I have a general idea, but I can’t find any investors, so I couldn’t produce them.”

“Well, we will invest, just modify the Pregnancy Potion so that it can be used by giant dragons.”

Using the cover of night, they hurried to Roland City, 100 kilometers away. This city is the closest to the Black Mountain Kingdom and it houses the largest Mercenary Guild within a thousand-kilometer radius.

Ange took off his straw hat, put on his Soul Armor, and wrapped himself up tightly. He then put on his sham hammer wrapped in Holy cloth, and went into the Mercenary Guild’s hall.

Due to its large size, the guild hall here is far more grand than that in the Black Mountain Kingdom. Thick stone pillars support the ten-meter-high ceiling, which makes it look very spacious. Despite the constant stream of people, the hall was not at all noisy.

Why did Ange remove his hat and put on his Soul Armor? It’s because, in the Mercenary Guild, these outfits would be inconspicuous. Ange had a feeling similar to his first time walking into Witch City, being greeted by a variety of species and bizarre attires, all with different styles of decoration.

A beastman, with a nose piercing and body painted in various colors, passed by Ange while staring fiercely at him.

A dark-skinned elf, his body covered in exquisite tattoos almost revealing all he possibly could, walked past him not too far away. Suddenly, he turned to look at Ange, and then seemed confused and walked away.

Negris was surprised: “The environment is much more tolerable than it was thousands of years ago.”

If this were a thousand years ago, the beastmen and dark elves appearing on the territory of the Church of Light would certainly wear collars around their necks. These diverse creatures could only appear as slaves in the human world.

He had already noticed this situation in the Black Mountain Kingdom; Vania was unabashedly crowding into the crowd, and everyone took it for granted without any special reaction. He originally thought it was because of the Minotaur, as they are the species who get along best with humans.

But now that he sees the same thing happening with beastmen and dark elves, it’s clearly not an exception.

Ange also curiously looked around. The most prominent thing in the hall was the Magic Notice Board directly opposite the main entrance; on it, brief pieces of information were continually scrolling:

Super level task: Clear the insect plague in the Black Mountain Kingdom, Reward: A million Magic Crystals. Assigned: Five days ago.

Super level task: Retrieve the Earth Hammer, Reward: A million Magic Crystals. Assigned: Five days ago.

Ultra super-level task: Heal the World Tree’s withering disease, Reward: Ten million Magic Crystals, and gain the friendship of the elves. Assigned: Two years ago.

Ultra super-level task: Kill the Fallen Angel, Reward: Ten million Magic Crystals, and receive the blessing of the Church of Light. Assigned: Seven months ago.

Mega super-level+ task: Kill Steadfast Locke, Reward: One hundred million Magic Crystals, return his intact skeleton, and get an additional reward of three hundred million Magic Crystals. Assigned: One thousand three hundred sixty years ago.

The only information that was scrolling on it were super level tasks or above, and there were very few high-level tasks. Among the mega super-level tasks, Ange saw a familiar name.

“Locke.” Ange pointed at the notice board and said.

His intention was to let Negris, who was projecting the image on his body, take a look, but just as he finished speaking, a chortle came from behind him: “Heh, you’re definitely a rookie. Every newbie who enters the Mercenary Guild is always attracted by the mega super-level task that has been hanging for one thousand three hundred years. How about it? The total bounty is four hundred million, higher than the total production value of many major empires. Are you tempted?”

When Ange turned around, he saw a middle-aged mercenary with a smile on his face. Seeing Ange turning his head, he said, “I can tell you’re visiting the Mercenary Guild for the first time. Have you registered as a mercenary yet? Want to know where to take tasks? Want to know which tasks earn more money and save more time? Want to know how to quickly increase your mercenary level and get ripped off less?”

Ange shook his head honestly.

“That’s right, you shouldn’t know. They call me the King of Mercenaries, I guide rookies like you. Just for a small amount of three gold coins, you can learn all the above information and easily register as a mercenary. How about that, isn’t it a good deal?”

Ange shook his head and Negris finally realized: “So he’s an agent. Charging three gold coins just to show the way? Has he lost his mind?”

“No good deal? Or don’t need it? Let me remind you, I have internal connections, and it would be difficult for you to succeed in registration on your own. Three gold coins are not much, I still have to take care of relationships.” The middle-aged mercenary explained.

Ange shook his head, he did not come here to register as a mercenary, he came here to hand in a task, so he ignored the middle-aged King of Mercenaries and turned around to walk towards the notice board.

Perhaps due to the lack of new recruits, the middle-aged mercenary’s agent business hadn’t taken off, and seeing Ange turn around and leave, he quickly caught up:

“As a newbie, it’s easy to get exploited in a place like this. The lower the mercenary level, the more commission the guild takes. If I help you register, you can skip the internship phase and save quite a bit of money. If you can spend a bit more, I have mid-level mercenary qualifications for sale here.”

“He really is doing quite a range of business.” Negris laughed: “But I remember, the super level tasks do not require commission, or rather, the commission is given by the reward provider.”

Ange came to the counter below the notice board and said, “Handing in task.”

The young woman with fair skin sitting behind the counter was filing her nails with a stone stick. Upon hearing Ange, she responded without lifting her head, “Read the sign, read the sign. Submit high level and above tasks here, submit lower level tasks next door.”

“Handing in super-level task,” Ange said, his hand

released the Holy Hammer, then with a clatter, it crushed the counter and landed onto the floor.

The fair-skinned young woman behind the counter was stunned. The only movement was her toes, which almost got smashed by the hammer, retreating beneath the counter. The King of Mercenaries, behind them, was so scared that he fell flat on his butt.

The news that someone was handing in a super level task quickly spread throughout the entire hall.

PS: Second dose of vaccine on the 21st day, I felt a bit sleepy after the shot and took a nap, I’ll update the second chapter later.