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- Later that Day, 7 PM, The Hunters' Guild (Huizhou) -

After the announcer man concluded his speech, Feng Mian, Qing Yue, Yu An Yan, Yu An Xue, Xiang Peng, Mei Gui, and I had left to explore the city a bit more until 7 PM struck. The rest of the people in the excursion probably went to train and stuff, but since this was our first - and very possibly last - time in Huizhou, I figured the girls would probably want to check out the city before we left.

So, we ended up going shopping for a bit first, then watching a movie all together, and finally, eating dinner at the same ramen store. Of course, I suggested going there because I could eat free, but the downside was how awkward it was saying hi to the waitresses and owner again. It's like 'hi! I'm back...yep, again, on the same day...'

But that aside, the food was delicious, as expected. We all tried out different dishes, just to experience as many different tastes as possible while we're still here in this city. Soon enough, it was 7 PM, and we headed for the Hunters' Guild.

Inside, most of the people that were here earlier this afternoon were already present. I also saw the announcer man, who would apparently be leading this operation. Once everyone was here, the announcer man spoke.

"Good evening, everyone," he said through his megaphone. "Everyone seems to be here now, so we will be setting off shortly. My name is Bing Yuan, and I will be the one leading this operation. I won't waste any time talking about rules and such, since I already went over everything this afternoon."

"For now, I will take attendance," the man continued. "Sorry, this is protocol. When I call your name, just reply with 'here'."

The attendance continued for a while, since there were thirty people in total. As an aside, I registered with my real name, since they requested to see my Mage ID, so I couldn't exactly lie even if I wanted to. The girls did the same.

The party of thirty set out soon after. We headed straight for the Infinite Forest, using the same path the girls and I had used to get to the urban parts of the city in the first place.

This smells fishy though...I know the Infinite Forest is a pretty big place, but when we passed through it, none of us noticed a Hydra. Maybe us humans wouldn't be able to detect them, but Mei Gui had been using some sort of radar spell to help us avoid any people, if I recall correctly. Besides, Dragons and Phoenixes are both Mythical Magic Beasts with extremely keen senses. They should be able to detect a being of their own level nearby - for example, a Hydra. And yet...they didn't?

What that meant was that either the Hydra suddenly moved into the forest during the short time we were in the city, or...someone purposely placed it here. Both possibilities were pretty unlikely, but it was definitely one of the two. And personally, I was leaning towards the second option. But...I can't imagine anyone able to capture a Hydra.

Flaria mentioned she had a Hydra friend in the Summoning Dimension, but forming a contract with them was just about as hard as doing so with a Dragon. In other words, pretty much impossible. So then...how did someone manage to lead this Hydra into this forest? A bait, perhaps? If that's the case...then why would they bother doing this?  What is their motive?

With these questions left unanswered in my head, our party had already arrived at the forest. Bing Yuan, the leader, headed inside first, and the rest of us trailed behind him.

"Stay close, everyone," he ordered.

Suddenly, I heard a voice coming from behind me.

"Heheheh...look who it is," he said. The tone was haughty and condescending, clearly not one of good will.

I spun around, and the girls with me did the same.

"...Dong Zhu," I muttered. Unfortunately, I didn't have my mask on, since I was using my real identity anyway, so I didn't see a point in putting on my mask. But I just never expected to run into this guy here...

"Hmph, you think boss's name is something you can just call so casually?!" the lackey with the rabbit teeth yelled.

"Silence!" Bing Yuan suddenly interrupted, and glared at us. "What do you think you're doing? What will you do if they Hydra hears your senseless bickering and we lose the element of surprise?!"

"S-Sorry..." the lackey murmured, immediately turning frail.

I didn't respond, but instead kept an eye on Dong Zhu, who had a crooked grin on his face. Bing Yuan turned back around and continued treading forward carefully, keeping a keen eye on his surroundings. After a while, he finally spoke.

"Alright...according to the information we have, the Hydra is just up ahead. And indeed...this Motion-Tracking Sensor is detecting a very large lifeform up ahead. Far too big to be any other creature in this forest...except a Hydra."

All of us crouched down, and waited.

I suddenly felt a pat on my back. I immediately turned around. "What do you want?"

Dong Zhu, who had been the person to do this, of course, replied quietly. "Heh...what are you here for?"

I snorted. "I could ask you the same question."

"Well, I'm obviously here to get a Hydra Fang," he whispered back sinisterly.

"...Why do you need one? You're already the mayor's son."

"Why not? It would make for a nice addition to my collection of treasures," he responded with a laugh. "But...I'm willing to make a deal with you."

I frowned. "What?"

"Heh. If you hand over the girls, I'll not only let you get out of this city scot-free, but I'll also give you a Hydra Fang. No 'merchant' would let a treasure such as this slip by, no?"

Ah. I forgot the excuse I gave him was that I was a travelling merchant. And now he's using it against me, even though he clearly doesn't believe it, huh?

"I think I've already said this before, but I don't have control over them. What they want to do is their own choice, I can't force them to do anything," I replied stoically.

"...Hmph. So that's your answer then. Fine, then don't blame me for what happens to you."

Leaving that threat, Dong Zhu ended the conversation. I figured he might try something during our fight against the Hydra. After all, even if he is caught, the most that will happen to him is a mere disqualification from this mission. Had it been anyone else, they would be charged and possibly even arrested, but he was the mayor's son. And, well...I'm not stupid enough to believe this mayor is so upright that he would even sacrifice his own son's freedom. After all, if he was, Dong Zhu wouldn't be the way he is today.

"Alright, here's the plan," Bing Yuan turned around to face us and said. "Currently, we are 300 meters away from the Hydra. It appears to be resting at the moment. I want to finish this as quickly and efficiently as possible, so let's try to take it down in one go. In order to avoid any possibility of error, we have to strike all nine of its heads at the exact same time. If we can do this, one of the nine heads must be the central one. Before we go in, I will assign eight people to target the heads with me."

Many of the people immediately raised their hands, myself included. The girls did as well. If we went for the heads, we would have the best chance at getting our hands on a Hydra Fang, after all.

In the end, Bing Yuan chose me, Dong Zhu, and six other people. Counting himself, that made nine of us in total. I narrowed my eyes as I saw Dong Zhu whisper something into one of his lackeys' ears, as they sent me a sinister smirk.

Yeah...they're definitely planning something. Gotta be ready.

We all nodded, confirming we understood the instructions. Bing Yuan nodded back, before slowly turning around and walking forward. Once we were only around 100 meters away from the Hydra, he stopped, and raised his hand. Using hand gestures, he counted.

Three...Two..One!

We leapt into battle. The people chosen to take out the heads jumped out first, all at the same time, while the rest came out of the bushes shortly after. The Hydra roared in surprise as it was suddenly bombarded with spells from all directions, and I summoned my twin Chaos katanas, preparing to cleave the head I was assigned to straight off.

However, suddenly, I was hit on the side of my body by something. At first, I thought it was one of the Hydra's heads. But then, I realized all of the heads were being kept busy by their respective slayers, and the one I was assigned to was staring straight at me. It was only then that I realized I wasn't hit by the Hydra. I was hit by one of my own teammates - a human.