Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

“Tch, never mind that, what are we going to do now? This big guy is an A-rank monster, right? Are we going to report to the guild that we killed it now?”

It was the leader of the Four-headed Dragon who said grumpily. While he sounded annoyed, he did not seem to be in any grief for the slaughter of two of his party members. That was to be expected, since party members were akin to weapons for him, they could be replaced if they died. In truth, only the leader’s head was irreplaceable for the Four-headed Dragon. Of course, he would have to look for easier but less rewarding adventures in the future. It has happened a few times so it no longer bothered him.

The leader of Ars Longa objected.

“No, no, no! The quest was to find out the identity of the menace in the Trees of Darkness and we are not done with that yet. After all, you see. cyclops are not very intelligent, are they? No matter how powerful they are, they're not fit to be the boss of a dungeon. This is the reason why there are so many different kinds of monsters in the Trees of Darkness. Until we find out what the true boss is, this quest would not have an end.”

“In the first place, the request wasn’t to subjugate monsters. It’s to conduct an investigation. That’s why you guys will be forever meatheads.”

The leader of the Apostles of the Dawn added. This man was very condescending to any profession other than mage. He was probably from a noble family. It's not uncommon for nobles to become adventurers after failing to inherit the family headship. If they have magical talents and have been educated, they could rise to a good position as an adventurer. The ones with real potential, could end up as a court mage or a teacher at the Gallerien Academy. For those with the ability but failed to become as such, it was either a political issue or a personality problem.

“What the hell? Do you want to be killed, you dumb looking spellcaster?”

“Hehe...How about yourself, Mr Four-headed Dragon turned into a Two-headed Dragon.”

Was this interaction between them the result of feeling inferior?

However, the alliance was in no position to sit and watch these childish disputes continue unfolding.

“……Enough!”

Gerald put some murderous intent in his voice, scaring the both of them.

“We are going to enter deeper into the Trees of Darkness. We may come face to face with powerful monsters again. Do you want to die a foolish death because of a broken group?”

“Ggh……!”

“That's all I'm saying. If you can't even understand that, you don't need to wait for the monsters. I'll kill them myself. If you want to go on from here, don’t forget that.”

Closing with rough speech, Gerald wordlessly advanced. As usual, he and his companions followed at his back, but Ninon let out a soft sigh.

(I thought we had a chance, but I…… guess not.)

The alliance was beyond repair.

The adventurers' guild in charge of forming the alliance must have had confidence in their choice. A party made up of vanguards combined with mages would clear the way for the researchers to investigate. It was a well-balanced group of B-rank parties. And finally, it would be the reassuring A-rank party to take the leadership...

It would have appeared to be the perfect line-up.

But the reality ended up like this.

The Four-headed Dragon was the vanguard but was constantly looking to take credit. The Apostles of the Dawn were mages who used magic to gain a sense of superiority. Ars Longa were narrow-minded explorers preoccupied with research. And then there was the Scarlet Shield, a party that was completely self-sufficient and could not bring harmony to the alliance.”

It might seem like Gerald had quelled the quarrel between the Four-headed Dragon and Apostle of the Dawn, but the truth was that he had not. He threatened them with his might and silenced them temporarily. There were still the embers of hatred between the two parties and now, there was also a sense of loathe towards Gerald.

The Alliance was far from being united. It had only temporarily contained the divisions, but at the cost of creating more fissures.

In the first place, Gerald Layson was no talent for leading a large group. He was a young man who grew up in the countryside of the western frontier. He was often misunderstood because of his fine bearing and calm demeanour. He took up the sword to protect his homeland from monsters, and as he continued to fight against powerful enemies, he came to be known as an A-ranked adventurer. He was a swordsman and a fighter, not a leader who could unite people of differing beliefs.

For the other members of the Scarlet Shield, they had come from the same area, ate the same food, and faced the same enemies. From their experience, he was a leader they could count on. But to the rest of the party, he was a stranger.

If we were on the western frontier, it would be a different story. Other members there knew they could rely on Gerald and them and took directions from him in battle. Hence, there would be no problems for him to take the lead. In fact, when monsters launched a large scale attack, the alliance with Scarlet Shield as the core gained many victories.

The track record had misled the guild. They thought the Scarlet Shield could handle an unfamiliar place and unfamiliar parties without problems. The guild made a big mistake associating their exploits in the West to their leadership capabilities.

“Damn...”

“Hmp...”

This was the end result. The B-ranked parties have been disobedient and constantly trying to steal a march on each other ever since they entered the forest. They had just saved their allies’ lives, but were now staring daggers at each other again.

These idiots who didn’t understand the fights they had in the West. They scornfully thought. Even the timid Ninon felt this way. As for Cedric who was leading the way, who knew how deep his frown was.

In the West, the fight against monsters was desperate. Every fight was on the edge and without the combined efforts of parties, they would not live to see another day. A little eastward, and adventurers were of this quality. In most parts of the Kingdom of Arquell, the monsters were not too strong. Many adventurers who did their quests progressively would eventually reach the C rank. Hence, many of the weaker ones, who would have been eliminated in their own hometown or in St. Gallen, end up surviving. And with some luck, some of these people would rise to B. The members of Scarlet Shield couldn't help but feel contemptuous.

(Maybe we shouldn't have taken this job…….)

But there's no way they could quit now. The only thing they could do was to try to keep the alliance from falling apart and finish the quest without any problems.

The trail inside led to deeper darkness. Every step they took was on sinking rotten leaves. It seemed to hint at their future.