Chapter 14

The skills of the porters, who also doubled as dismantlers, were outstanding. Although the kobolds were quite small, it took some time to fully take apart the monsters to separate the materials and the mana stones.

However, the group’s dismantlers managed to finish their work on the monster’s corpses in less than ten minutes.

In the meantime, the mercenaries took turns eating and resting in groups.

“One with a sprained ankle and one with a broken arm. Fortunately, it was his left arm, so he shouldn’t have any issue fighting.”

“One was bit by a kobold, but we treated him right away, so he will be fine.”

“The one who was hit on the head died a while ago.”

A total of 26 mercenaries were divided into four teams. Three of the leaders, aside from Partec, gave their reports one after another.

“Tsk! Gather the dead man’s equipment and bury him somewhere along the way.”

Galfredik spoke with a frown. A man had already fallen, although it had only been less than two hours since they entered the dungeon.

“What about your group?”

“No issues.”

“Heh! So there was a reason why Sir Eugene picked you guys out, huh?”

Galfredik responded with a grin. Perhaps they had avoided any injuries because they numbered so few, but he felt rather favorable towards the group. Since Galfredik took a liking to Eugene, his fondness extended to those that Eugene brought.

“Anyway, all of you, if you get distracted during the battle one more time and break formation, I will personally break your heads. And the team in the lead will follow and assist Sir Eugene regardless of the circumstances if he charges forward. Got it?”

“Yes, sir!”

The mercenary leaders answered with one voice. Their gazes naturally shifted to a certain figure afterward. As they observed Eugene, who was silently mulling over something, respect and awe appeared in their eyes. In particular, Breen, the former member of the Black Sheep Mercenaries, licked his lips nervously.

‘I can’t believe I tried to do anything against a knight like that. A knight like him is rare even in Carl Baggins. I almost ran myself into a lion’s den.’

Breen felt rather relieved and fearful as he gazed at Eugene. The evaluation of Eugene skyrocketed in the minds of the other mercenary leaders as well.

“Ah~ Do you feel the hot gazes of those mercenary brats? They’ve already fallen too deep for you, Sir Eugene~ What cute little things. Hohohoho!”

Eugene looked down at the thick leather pouch while listening to Mirian’s arrogant laugh.

Apparently, the mana stones always stayed with the knights while the porters carried the other materials and by-products. To be more specific, the mana stones were always carried by the leader of the expedition or by the strongest warrior.

In other words, Galfredik was supposed to have kept the mana stones, but he had handed over half to Eugene to safeguard.

His action was a sort of declaration towards the mercenaries. It was his official stance that Eugene’s position in the expedition was equivalent to his own.

‘It appears that the mana stone I consumed before was truly a huge one.’

The mana stones gathered from the kobolds were the size of peas. The mana stones of the intermediate-rank monsters would be bigger, but they would still be quite small compared to the red mana stone that Eugene consumed.

‘I have to kill a high-rank monster.’

He did not care much for low-rank or intermediate-rank monsters. Eugene’s most important purpose in entering the dungeon was to kill a high-rank monster in possession of a red mana stone.

“A high-rank monster...”

Mirian buzzed over and sat down on Eugene’s shoulder. Perhaps she had overheard Eugene’s muttering. She started to speak.

“Ah, there’s bound to be one. It’s probably going to be stronger than that crocodile bastard, but I think you should be strong enough. You drank the kobolds’ blood earlier too.”