"I personally witnessed their ability sr. Ferris, so I can assure you they don't lose anything when compared to Hal of Brown Wind town, as for the carriage, that wasn't a personal preference but part of a business deal, I won't enter into further detail, but I was short in money to pay for what they were offering, so I added that".
As one would expect from a smart merchant, Gary made it so the thing regarding the carriage wouldn't be a source of dissension in the group, as for whether they have the qualifications to participate in this, he was more than sure of that.
The question now, is if that would be enough to convince those peak Lord ranks, or if things will go the way he really didn't want to, but were more probable to, in which he case he was praying from the bottom of his heart, that the other party restrained a bit.
Gary took a small tour through the town and gathered information, since he was going to bring two relatively unknown people with him, of course he wanted to know their characters.
So, he got a wind of the state in which Alan and others ended, in other words, he could tell these two people were merciless with anyone that had malicious intentions towards them.
Daimon really didn't care about what was happening right now, he walked past the group, he just wanted some fresh air, since being trapped in a small space with Sarah, ended up being more emotionally tiring than what he calculated.
But of course, for those heated up idiots like Ferris, being ignored by someone they consider "inferior" to them, is a top-class insult and a way to ask for a beating.
Which is why the peak Knight Lord got up his seat, very much to the amusement of the others and the defeat of Gary.
"Oi, you masked bastard, where the hell are you going, we are talking here!", he shouted as he moved his hand to unsheathe his sword.
"If you even touch the hilt of that sword, you are dead", Daimon's voice was calm, and lacked even murderous intent, but what he said did cause waves on the presents.
Naturally, under normal circumstances he wouldn't bother with idiots like Ferris, but for the bad luck of the Knight Lord, a fake notification which kind of pissed off Daimon appeared in front of him.
[A hero uses his charisma to change possible enemies into allies and friends, pardon those who disparage and look for troubles with you, and make it so they join your side using positive methods]
"Uwahh, what kid of delusional idiot wrote that", said the crazy girl as she saw the notification.
Ferris gritted his teeth, he was being ignored once again, still he actually doubted to grab his sword, the other party clearly knew how strong he is, and yet they threatened him in front of another six peak Lord ranks, which means they are confident in killing him, even with the others stepping in.
'No, he is just bluffing, if something really does happen to me, Dwell town won't leave him be, but even if something happens to them, what can that shithole of Brown Wind town do, no matter what they paid to Gary he as a merchant will chose the option that benefits him the most so…', having reached his conclusion, Ferris channeled his battle aura through his body making the veins on his arms and legs bulge.
Darkness, a cold and absolute sensation of void was the next and last thing Ferris felt, the reason being is that there was a black sword piercing his head from the back coming out from his forehead.
Of curse he died on the spot and by reflex the other six peak Lord ranks, who didn't manage to see how Daimon moved from where he was standing, to be behind Ferris, jumped backwards but as they were about to take out their weapons, a few words made them freeze on the spot.
"At this distance, all of you will be dead before even touching your weapons, you wanted to see how strong I am right, well there you go", said Daimon, as he used regular fire imbued in battle aura to burn Ferris's corpse, not without removing his ring from his finger, very much to the displease of the six other peak Lord ranks.
"So, you are a speed specialist, friend, with such an overwhelming ability did you have to kill Ferris, when an arm would have been enough of a warning?", said the heavy armored Tanner.
"Sorry I believe in not leaving problems alive if I can solve them on the spot, besides he thought about it, and probably concluded that I was bluffing, the moment he decided to grab his sword, he was ready to kill me and I don't have time to waste in childish things like that…", Daimon waited a second before he gazed at the other six peak Lord ranks, to then throw a black scroll in front of them.
"A strong magic beast appeared and killed that guy, it's what you'll all report, that is a special binding blood contract, sign it, that is if you don't wish to be added to the list of causalities caused by that unknown "beast", in exchange unless you do something to harm me, I won't go after you", he said.
Gary let out a sigh of relief, is the seven experts were to die, he will have a lot of explaining to do, but one casualty was expected, during the blood moon week, Tanner was the first one to move.
"You got me this time, that martial art you used was amazing, in short range combat, I doubt someone would be able to react on time", said the heavy armored guy as he let a drop of his blood fall on the contract, which was "blank".
'Of course, you couldn't react, there are no Half Emperors here, so besides arrays, you have never seen a living being using a spatial movement technique like Blink', thought Daimon.
Knights indeed had better senses than mages, and it's not like Ferris didn't have experience, but how could he possibly be on guard against something of which he has never even heard off.
Not like it would have made any difference, with the boosting effect of this place, as of current Daimon was an early-stage Lord rank, he didn't get the extra benefit of Will Manipulation unlike before, probably because it was day, but he was a Knight Lord right now.
And while he was far from the level he reached when using Core Synchrony, crushing Lord ranks was a piece of cake, in a rough calculation his battle prowess should be around the early stage of the Arch rank, and the same applied to the crazy girl.
Once the six signed the soul contract, Gary also did it, since his subordinates were tied to him, he signing was the same as them doing it too.
Daimon retrieved it and kept it in his inventory, along with the ring of that guy, he could tell those six didn't like that he robed Ferris even after killing him, which he found stupid.
If he was weaker than the other party, will his enemy show him mercy, of course not, he will be killed and all he has will be taken away.
The guards who were standing behind of Gary, finally relaxed, they suddenly saw Ferris dying so they gathered near the merchant to protect him.
Now that, that was settled, it was time to have breakfast, there was no blood left so magic beasts won't be attracted to this place, it was the last safe area before reaching Tiria.
"Ahem, how will the protecting be divided now?", asked Gary.
Daimon and Sarah had no obligation to protect him or his belongings, they were just travelling with him, but now that there were less peak Lord ranks, things will be a bit tight.
"They are strong, so they can move on their own, our deal was with sr. Gary, one carriage less is a fair trade since there is one less of us now", said one of the female mages, a slim girl with brown hair and freckles.
Gary was in a predicament, the carriage was his, and it was quite pricey, so he didn't want it to be unprotected, but he didn't have the leisure to care about others now.
"Let our carriage move at the east side of the caravan alone, you don't need to interfere with us, and I won't interfere with you, of course we'll keep using the carriage until reaching Tiria", said Daimon, putting an end to Gary's problem.
The woman with freckles turned her head away and didn't say anything, which made a cold glint flash through Sarah's eyes.
The coachman was a slave, so Gary just ordered him to keep driving Daimon's carriage, and that was it, while the guards enjoyed a meal and prepared to risk their lives in exchange for the big sum they were offered by Gary.
Daimon and Sarah returned to the carriage, the crazy girl had rations in her ring, but nothing exactly tasty, they were for survival, so Daimon shared some of the meals he had stored in his inventory, they were prepared by Elaine who was the one with the best cooking skills among the girls.
Normally no one would use precious space of a spatial treasure to store full course meals, but Daimon had the inventory, so he didn't have to worry about space but slots, and "food" was all stored in a single one, he just had to think in the one he wanted to take out.
"Oh, so that's how you conquered Jas, nice, you got me too~", said the crazy girl as she smelled the delicious food what Daimon brought out, making the latter consider if he should just eat and not share anything, but again any kind of "mistreat" from him, will just make the crazy girl happier.
"Just eat, I wanted to have food of which I don't have to worry wondering if it's poisoned or something", he said as he took a bite of the piece of meat which was on his plate, Daimon couldn't help but smile at Elaine's cooking.
Sarah was also surprised at how good the food was, which made her fall in contemplation, she has tried the food that Aisha and the Risha sisters prepared and this clearly was on another level, so…
"Besides Jas and me, how many more girls do you have?", she casually asked, almost making Daimon choke with his food.
"Jasmine is my friend as for you… well you are almost one too I guess, but I don't have a reason to lie, I have six people in my heart already", he said, making Sarah intensely stare at him with the word "explain" written all over her face.
"Does that include those three beast race girls?", she asked, referring to the Risha sisters, only to see Daimon shaking his head.
"No, but that doesn't mean I'm not conscious of how they feel, it's just that me and them haven't reached that point yet, for now they are my precious friends", he said.
Sarah's eyes glowed, she had already understood that the word "friend" held a huge weight for Daimon, when he said he really meant it, a friend for him is someone with whom he would risk his life no less and that's why he was so selective in that aspect.
"I see… who would have thought you'd be the skirt chaser type, that could be troublesome, however I just have to work with Jas so you can't even think on looking at other girls and everything will be fine~", she said, making Daimon sigh.
"Don't say that to her, I don't want her to feel like that because I saved her, otherwise I would be no better than that idiot, if she still feels like this after she has overcome that, then we'll talk", he said.
Sarah gazed at Daimon for a moment, before her face blushed and her eyes became dangerous as she thought.
'Ahh, if you say something like that, it will just make me want you more~', Daimon felt a somewhat unpleasing sensation coursing through his body, as he was intensely observed by the crazy girl.
"Control yourself, we are already advancing, if they are lucky at least two of them will die, let's see what does that merchant do when that happens", said Daimon.
Sarah giggled, it was hard to tell what was happening in her mind, but she ultimately nodded and kept happily eating her food, while she observed the outside through the double-sided windows of the carriage.
Naturally, Daimon didn't choice this side because of nothing, with Rita whose senses covered an insanely large distance, he already knew the distribution of magic beast in the area of three hundred kilometers.
So of course, he chose the path which didn't cross the territory of any peak Lord rank magic beast, while there were two of them waiting for the caravan, he could have said something but why would he.
If what he thought was right, then Gary will be fine anyway, so why wouldn't he take the chance to make him owe him, maybe for those guys peak Lord stage magic beasts were troublesome, but for them, they were only prey.
It's worth mentioning that the carriage in which Dilan and Beni were, was attached to Daimon's, since the caravan split into two.
The six peak Lord ranks divided in four taking the four sides of the caravan, while the two female mages were riding on top of the carriage, ready to support and launch long range spells, it was a simple but effective formation.
The one leading was none other than Tanner, who was carrying a shield, though they didn't have the capacity to map large areas with utmost precision like Rita, people here all had mana sense, it was weak or strong from person to person though.
And one of the two female mages, a short girl with glasses apparently had a decent mana sense, as she was the first one to notice the incoming enemies.
"Three sandworms coming from southeast and one desert lizard charging frontwards!", she shouted.
"Uli, Nolan and Jill, you three get rid of the sandworms, leave the lizard to me", said Tanner as he extended his hands preparing his tower shield.
"Yes!", the bald mage, as well as the knight who insulted Ferris earlier and the girl with freckles nodded in response and prepared for the fight.
Even if the enemies were middle stage Lord ranked beasts, magic beasts were usually stronger than humans of the same realm, without decent magic equipment, of course they weren't as smart, so it was tit for tat.
"Haaa!", Tanner roared and his brown earth battle aura covered his body and his shield as he rushed towards the lizard who didn't stop its charge and clashed against the shield.
The result was that the lizard was flown away, as a bloody mess while Tanner didn't move at all, before he returned to the caravan that never stopped moving.
The other three also got rid of their opponents quite easily, the brown-haired girl used a bow to shoot a wind arrow at the sandworm, avoiding any blood from even getting near to her as she hated it.
The bald mage Uli had fire affinity, so he roasted the sandworm even before it emerged, as for the knight Nolan, he used his spear and water battle aura to shot a stream of high-pressured water, destroying the sandworm.
"That was quite easy, with this payment I'll buy a nice reactive with some luck I'll be closer to advancing", said the girl with brown hair.
Back at Daimon's carriage, both he and Sarah raised their heads at the same time, then a whistling sound came from above and the short girl tried to shout but was one step too late.
The head of the girl with freckles disappeared from her body, her blood stained the carriage, the eyes of the short-glassed girl widened a bit.
"It's a peak Lord rank Rock Vulture, Tanner, get up here now!", she shouted as she laid down on the roof of the carriage and protected her back with a large shield with spikes.
"Damn it, it targeted Jill because she was the one with the longest effective range, be care full that thing has eaten enough people to gain some basic knowledge!", said Tanner as he jumped to the roof of Gary's carriage.
Daimon who was observing the whole thing was interested in what Tanner just said, in the information about threats it was mentioned that magic beasts were somewhat smart, but the extent of it wasn't mentioned, also the fact that it happened thanks to them eating humans wasn't mentioned either.
Maybe because it was a common knowledge kind of thing, for any native of Kerrol.
"That bird knows how to choose a priority target, but it's not out of cunningness, it's probably because he has been wounded by long range mages before, still for a Lord ranked magic beast to have take a "decision", it's amazing", mumbled Daimon.
This would explain why the magic beasts were crazy over eating humans, they instinctively wanted to become more intelligent.
And with that, Daimon had decided to capture a few decent magic beasts if there is a chance, he has some beast pouches, if these magic beasts could be rational to a certain extent, then they could be tamed without any special ability but just some training, even if their lineage was nothing special.
It's a field with a lot of potential, as neither the four galaxies or Neptune had the capacity to do that, at least "normal" people couldn't control magic beasts, only certain members of the royal and high ranked noble lineages could control one magic beast.
Daimon's Ruler of the Sea technically didn't have a limit, but currently he could at most control three aquatic magic beasts, the good thing is that the ability ignored levels, at least it worked on Blacktooth even when he became a half Stellar, and even now that it should be advancing to the Stellar realm, though Blacktooth willingly recognizing Daimon as his master might have something to do with it.
'Now, let's see what will you do, fake hero system and merchant', thought Daimon as he smirked.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶