Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 169: The wave of monsters is coming!

*Omniscient POV*

"We had originally planned for the sun to appear during our fight, so the teriar's biggest advantage would be nullified, but it all happened too fast..." Zia shook her head.

"I was the dumb one. My mind went blank as I watched it approach me. For a moment, I remembered a..." She was interrupted.

"Irina, it is fine. I wasn't even able to react properly at that moment." Miria hugged her from behind.

Positioning her head on Irina's shoulder, Miria spoke.

"In short, Alessia... you can keep both loots. That's our biggest token of appreciation."

"No need." Alessia shook her hands and said, "We got them all together. It belongs to all of us."

Hearing this, Miria wrinkled her nose adorably and spoke again. "Keep them! We don't even want to see them!"

Alessia: "..."

'- So rather than give them to me… Do you want to get rid of them?'

Zia and Irina smiled at Miria's adorable act but also didn't deny her words, implying that there was some truth in what she said.

'- Haa, if there's no other way, I'll have to accept them.'

Unknowingly, Alessia is catching on to Emir's vocabulary.

Everyone continued with the preparations by creating trenches, traps, and detours in the terrain in such a way as to direct the monsters at their convenience. If the plans go well, all the teams will fight with numbers equal to their strength, with Alessia's group bearing the brunt of the burden.

It's because of the latter that they haven't even dared to bother them when they heard they defeated a level 11 Mini Boss. Their lustful looks disappeared like smoke in the air. Bothering them is equivalent to courting death!

Besides, they will be an important part of the plan. They deserve their rest.

As for who is to blame for all this... the culprit is the knight Hernan. Or at least so it was in everyone's mind.

First, he sent women on steroids and superpowered up to fight a kitten (Mini boss). Second, he took away all their rewards by handing them over to those thuggish women. Hernan practically bullied them in broad daylight, and they couldn't even defend themselves.

'- Um, why did I get a chill?' Hernán thought.

Unaware of the atmosphere around them, Alessia's group continued chatting.

"By the way, I've been very curious for quite some time now, but by any chance... Is Emir rich?" Miria asked, looking at Alessia's sword.

It is common knowledge that a rune has quite a high price and that the fusion in a sword also varies in price, depending on the free space. Even if Emir bought the sword with the skills included, he should have sold his liver at the very least to be able to buy it!

Either that or he is rich.

Of course, the possibility that he is a nobleman also exists, but it is unlikely. No nobleman in his right mind would go to the labyrinth without a bodyguard, even if his skills are outstanding, quantity trumps quality. If many criminals unite to abduct him, it will do him little or no good to be strong.

As for being the bastard son of a noble, the possibility is even less. For it would be the noble house itself that would put a price on his head. After all, competition for inheritance is always settled under rivers of blood.

"E-..."

After saying the first letter, Alessia couldn't speak any further.

Alessia: "!!!!"

'- I-I can't speak!'

Her heart began to beat very fast from worry, but she quickly got the answer and calmed down.

'- It must be because of the fundamental commands.'

The orders that masters give their slaves are called Commands. If the master is not careful, a command can snatch the souls of his slaves, turning them into puppets that will not breathe unless commanded.

From this stems the greatest inefficiency of the slave system. It is extremely difficult to give a command that won't be misunderstood.

Researchers at the time arduously thought about the answer to this, until someone came up with the solution. Create preset commands from the beginning of the contract without the master doing anything.

The fundamental commands are generalized commands. Such as 'Do not betray your master', 'Look after the welfare of your master', etc... Each of these commands has at least one sheet full of instructions, so that none of them are misinterpreted and do not play against the master.

'- If I can't talk, it means that master doesn't want anyone to know that he has money. If I think about it a bit, I think I understand why he does it... He doesn't want to stand out; he doesn't want to draw attention to himself.'

Even though he always shows his cool side to Alessia and Delia, to third parties Emir is pretty common, and he doesn't possess anything special besides being handsome.

Ah, but Emir has not yet discovered that he is handsome.

At the beginning of his adventure, he was neither ugly nor cute, but he has risen so much in level that his body has improved accordingly. He's just so used to seeing himself in the mirror that he didn't notice the changes.

Alessia shook her head and said, "We don't have the money you are thinking. We simply adventure with others and get some weapons from deceased adventurers."

"I see... I wish we were lucky enough to find a remnant filled with magic items around him. I would personally deliver the remnant to his family as a thank you!"

Zia immediately denied Miria's words.

"If you do it personally, then they will ask you for the magic items."

"Ah… I didn't think of that."

"Hehehehe"

After all, even with the 'whoever picks it up is the owner' adventurers' rule, nothing will assure them that the information won't get out, making people go after their heads later on.

They went on talking for a long time... Until a shout brought them back to reality.

"The wave of monsters is coming! The estimated number is… 100 of them!"

"One hundred!"

The information brought a chill to everyone present.

"Everyone, stay calm! We have the team that defeated the leader of the pack without any injuries! With them by our side, we won't lose!!!" shouted the knight Hernan.

"OOOOOHHH!"

"We won't lose!"

Everyone shouted different kinds of phrases. No matter the content. They just wanted to release the excitement in them for fighting together with team 12.

Alessia: "..."

Three Annoying Beauties: "..."

'- God... One second everyone is against us, and the next they are using us as emotional support. How convenient, isn't it?' They all thought something similar.

But they don't have the time to say shenanigans, so they let it go, hoping it won't happen again.

"Team 12, this will be your position." Very politely, Hernan guided them to the location and said, "We modified the terrain so that only six can enter at the same time. I have evaluated your strength, and I estimate that this number is very suitable... for you."

He said his last words, looking at Alessia's sword.

"Understood," Alessia replied in a monotone manner.

Since she didn't say anything about it, the three annoying beauties didn't either. After all, this is not the time to cause more trouble than they already have.

"Destroy the magic item if any trouble occurs. I wish you luck."

As soon as the knight Hernan walked away to support the weaker teams, they discussed among themselves what formation to use, and then looked to the front.

The monsters will arrive in...

"5 minutes! We only have 5 minutes to prepare!"

Such time is more than enough, as everyone has already made their respective preparations and is ready for battle. They could only wait patiently for the monster's arrival.

Hundreds of panther-like monsters ran across the prairie, destroying everything in their path. As they approached the camp, many of them fell into deep holes. Their bodies were stabbed by stakes or corroded weapons, but most of them managed to overcome the myriad of traps and run along the only 12 paths in good condition.

Of course, those 12 paths lead directly to the 12 teams.

"Attack!!!" Irina shouted.

With bloodshot eyes, six Teriar monsters appeared in front of Alessia's group. In the distance, it can be seen how more monsters are trying to enter. But the terrain is very unstable. One wrong move will make them fall into the traps.

"Ggggrrr"

"GGGRGRRR!"

One monster ran at high speed to get close to them, while another directly expanded its front paw to attack Alessia' group with it; its expanded size and thickness are practically identical to the pack leader's paw in its normal state.

*Ting*

Zia deflected the attack millimetrically, to which Irina ran after her, taking the monster by surprise and attacking it with her spear.

On the other hand, Miria nimbly avoided the claws and fangs of the teriar that entered, trying to go unnoticed. Whenever the opportunity arose, she made accurate attacks, cutting chunks of the monster's flesh and slowly damaging it.

"GRRRAA!" the monster roared in pain.

When the third and fourth teriar tried to attack Alessia, she nimbly dodged their attacks. And not only that, but she got close to them. This made it impossible for them to use their foreleg expansions, as they would be affected in the process.

*Slash*

It is at this moment that Alessia performs a slash into the air, at which point one of the teriar just lifted its paw, trying to defend itself, and as a result...

The sword slashed its foreleg in the air, and from it came the earlier roar.

Teriar: "!!!!"

Sensing the danger in the sword, the second monster expanded its paws in the direction of the ground, causing its body to take a great leap away.

*Smile*

With a beautiful smile on her face, Alessia ran after it.

'- They can only expand their paws every so often. So, now that teriar is vulnerable!'

At the same instant, the monster touched the ground.

*Swish*

A sword slashed its neck.

Without waiting for the golden particles to surround it, Alessia turns around and approaches the disabled teriar. With another swing of her sword, she gives it the final blow.

For a moment, Irina, Miria, and Zia held their breath.

'- She killed two of those monsters in such a short period!'