玉蒲团之云雨山庄

*Clip! Clip!* *Clip! Clop!* *Clip! Clop!*

The sound of horses galloping sounded as the mercenaries advance deep into the forest.

(Lucky I got my own horse, even if he\'s a little bit off) (Lyan)

All of the mercenaries use a steed in the operation as a part of the plan. Unlike advancing by foot, advancing by horse will give much more noise in the forest, letting them achieve their goal of making the goblins wary of their march. Not to mention marching by horse made them advance faster as well.

Since the number of the mercenaries in the elite team is small, it makes them advancing with horses easier. Most of the mercenaries already have their own steed, while those who didn\'t have any steed got given a horse by the guild as part of the payment of the quest. That\'s the reason why Lyan is currently riding a horse that he just received from the guild.

(The Valkyries has only 3 members, The Crimson Talon has 16 members, the Golden Thrill has 19 members, while the Brave Rings has 15 members, and together with me, there are 10 cloaked people, it\'s all 63 people. Considering how I subjugated a goblin lair with only 6 people not long ago, this might be easy. I guess there won\'t be much for me to do today, huh...) (Lyan)

The direction they are heading is the north, it\'s the location of the nearest goblin lair spotted by the guild, and the most perfect place to eliminate the goblins and make them wary.

(But it\'s a rather bold plan. In usual tactics, you would like to catch the enemy off-guarded when you\'re attacking. But this time, we\'re trying to make them wary and let them have their guard up to the roof. The guildmaster\'s eyes don\'t seem to be showing that he\'s underestimating the goblins, so I guess he must be quite the kind-hearted man, huh...) (Lyan)

(The city wouldn\'t be able to protect all of the villages around it, and considering how merchants are the ones running the city, it\'s very possible that they would only want to protect the city and their firms inside it. So to prevent more damage to the surrounding villages, they decided to make the goblins gather in their main base instead. Not bad) (Lyan)

Suddenly, a horse get near to Lyan\'s position, and a voice entered his ears.

"You, are you the rookie the people are talking about?" A clear voice sounded. The sound somehow sound dignified, making Lyan wary.

"Considering that most of the mercenaries here have been registered to the guild for a long time, I guess I am the only rookie amongst the team," Lyan replied with a small shrug.

"Fufu! Well, you\'re not wrong. Looks like you really are as interesting as the guildmaster said, I\'m looking forward to your achievements," said the man as he distance his horse from Lyan\'s horse.

(What is that guy\'s deal...?) (Lyan)

*Clip! Clip!* *Clip! Clop!* *Clip! Clop!*

Lyan enjoy the sound of the horses galloping, before suddenly a loud voice appeared inside his mind.

(FUCK!! How the hell do I keep on landing at your fucking hotel!?!? Did you use some kind of magic, Hestia!?!?) (Griselda)

(Fufufu! All of you are weak at business, that\'s all. In business, you need strategy, charm, and luck! Cower down below my feet, you poor people! Hahahahaha!!) (Hestia)

(Bitch) (Eira)

(Huh? What did you just say, young girl?) (Hestia)

(Sorry. It\'s just a slip of tongue, old lady) (Eira)

(Looks like someone is salty because she\'s losing from me, huh~) (Hestia)

(Hey! Stop it, both of you! If you unleash your mana wildly here, you\'ll destroy everything!! We\'ve made a deal that the one who breaks any things inside the house will be judged by everyone, right!?) (Lilith)

(Ugh...) (Hestia & Eira)

Lyan heard the commotion inside the grimoire\'s space as he let out a sigh.

(What are you guys playing?) (Lyan)

(Monopoly! But Hestia has been dominating the game for several games now, so we\'re thinking of playing other games already) (Hestia)

(Monopoly, huh... That\'s not a factor of luck. If you predict the appropriate force when you roll the dice, you might have a bigger chance to get the number you wanted. In the first period of the game is the most important phase, you need to buy-) (Lyan)

(Okay stop! We\'re continuing!) (Hestia)

Hestia prevents Lyan from giving the tricks to the other spirits.

(Hey! Let him continue his words! Arturia! Say something!) (Griselda)

(Eh? I don\'t really mind either way, though) (Arturia)

(Ugh... Please, just shut up...) (Lyan)

Lyan desperately wants to cut the connection between his mind and the grimoire\'s space, but if he cut the connection or mutes their sound, the television inside the grimoire\'s space\'s house will get turned off as well, making the spirits couldn\'t see and hear whatever he\'s feeling. Since it will incur the wrath of the spirits if he does so, he didn\'t have any choice but to comply with their wishes and bear with their noise.

(If I have their favorability towards me decrease even more, I\'ll end up fighting them and get killed at the time they got released from the contract. I need to bear with it...) (Lyan)

Along the way, they encountered some goblin groups, some of them have more than 40 goblins inside their group. But they quickly got dealt with either by the front row\'s swords or by their steeds\' hooves.

"Stop!!" The one leading the group gives the sign to stop.

"From this point onward, we\'re going on foot. According to the guild\'s scouts, there might be traps prepared by the goblins, so it will dangerous for the horses if we continue advancing. Get down your horses and tie them up to the trees!"

The one leading the elite team is the leader of the Brave Rings Mythril-ranked mercenary party. Since he is considered as the longest veteran of the guild, he knew about the forest and possess the most experience among everyone present. Knowing so, no one objected about him being the leader of the team.

(By foot, huh...) (Lyan)

(Argh! I lost again!!) (Griselda)

(Oh, please shut up) (Lyan)

All of them get off their horses and tie them up to the trees. Just like the others, Lyan also took his horse\'s lead and was about to tie it to the tree. At the first look, his horse looks like a high-quality horse. Black body and black mane, muscular body, and vigorous eyes.

But there is a reason why the guild gave the horse to Lyan.

*Bite!*

The black horse attempted to bite his hand off right at the moment he was about to pull his lead, but Lyan swiftly draw back his hand.

"What are you being so hostile for me for, huh? I\'m just going to tie you up, not cutting your meat to eat you," (Lyan)

This time, Lyan skillfully took his lead and tie him up at a near tree. The horse neighs furiously for his defeat, and Lyan stared at him with a triumphant expression. The thought of threatening the damned horse with the sword he obtained from the guild crossed his mind before, but it turns out that there is no need to do so.

"Looks like the handsome horse finally got an owner, huh," A woman\'s voice sounded from Lyan\'s back.

Lyan turns around, and saw a woman with long greyish brown hair staring at him. Her eyes look sharp, and the small friendly smile on her face makes her look composed.

"Forced to get an owner, actually," Lyan retorted.

"Heh! You\'re right. It might not be the best place to introduce ourselves, but I\'m Surena Ekaitza, my mercenary name is Gale Saber, nice to meet you," she extended her hand, asking for a handshake.

(I see... She\'s one of the Valkyries...) (Lyan)

Lyan remembers about the Valkyries clearly because his girls in the House of Roses are big fans of them, especially Alina.

\'Not only they are beautiful, but they are also very strong that the other mercenaries men didn\'t dare to make any move on them, you know!? Not to mention that they are an elite mercenary party that consist of only three members! We register as mercenaries with them as our goal! We coincidentally have the same type of party, after all! A party of three girls!\'

Alina\'s cheerful face when she explained about the Valkyries flashed through Lyan\'s mind.

"Lyan, my merc name is Evocatore. My pleasure," Lyan accepted the handshake.

"Hm... Interesting," (Surena)

Surena seems to use the chance to size him up from a close distance, but Lyan does the same thing as well.

(She\'s an all-rounder, huh... A bow, A sword, and a halberd. Different from Belle and the others, she felt like a real mercenary...) (Lyan)

Her aura seems to be oozing a considerable amount of bloodlust, making Lyan sure that she had killed a considerable amount of men.

"Rena! What are you doing? They\'ll leave us behind you know?" Another member of the Valkyries called her from behind her.

"Looks like I\'ve been called. Let\'s talk again later, rookie," (Surena)

____________________________________________________________________________

<+1 One-handed Sword (From the Guild)>

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Gold-ranked Mercenary

Money: 49,722,600 Elnes

Weapon: None

Equipment: Black leather cloak, One-handed Sword

Grimoire\'s Companions: 8 High Spirits, Shadow Hobgoblin, Papilio Slime, Galewing Butterfly, Rock Golem