Volume 7, Chapter 46 – The Cerberuses’ First Battle

“Don’t worry. Even if I don’t do anything, Camilla and the others can handle it. Do you want to fight, Pepe?”

“It doesn’t look very challenging. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, yes. Then let’s let the Charleses handle it.”

Holding up a hand to Camilla’s group, who were preparing for battle, to signal that they didn’t need to fight, Yisi pinched her index finger and thumb together, put them to her lips, and blew hard.

A sharp whistle.

As if hearing a war horn, the nine Cerberuses, who had been as docile as sled dogs, tensed their bodies. All twenty-seven of their heads curled back their lips, revealing neat rows of sharp teeth, and a low, warning growl rumbled in their throats.

However, the Labyrinth Porcupines did not have the intelligence of a guardian. Even after being warned by the Cerberuses, they showed no intention of stopping their charge. Only the Forest Witches following behind them quickly turned and fled.

Then.

When the Labyrinth Porcupine horde was less than fifty meters from the group, the whistle became short and sharp.

The Cerberuses’ black eyes were dyed blood-red. They opened their mouths in unison, and a total of twenty-seven pillars of fire, almost merging into a single sheet, instantly engulfed the Labyrinth Porcupines.

The moment the flames touched the porcupines’ bodies, the monsters’ agonized screams rang out one after another. But the pain of being burned did not make them cower. On the contrary, they intensified their charge, ramming into the defensive line formed by the Cerberuses with a force full of rage.

However, they did not notice that although their consciousness drove them forward, their bodies could not obey their brains’ commands. The hellfire had already purified their bodies along with their consciousness.

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Tssss—

Like red-hot charcoal being plunged into water, a sizzling sound filled the air. In just a few seconds, the menacing horde of Labyrinth Porcupines was reduced to lifeless objects. Rolling white smoke billowed from their charred bodies, and the air was filled with the stench of beasts and the aroma of cooked meat.

That seems a little too strong.

Besides Yisi, even Laxy was too stunned by the scene to speak. Evelyn’s mouth hung open for a long time, unable to close. She had even forgotten to let go of the hands that were tightly gripping Yisi.

“Wh-what are these monsters? What was that just now? I’m not dreaming, am I? Even [Crimson Wings] couldn’t have cooked those monsters in such a short time. Aren’t they just cargo-pulling dogs?”

Remembering her first impression of the Charleses—thinking they were ugly because of their three heads and grimy grey appearance—Evelyn felt a shiver run down her spine and gripped Yisi’s arm even tighter.

“Ahaha… I didn’t expect them to be this strong either… Maybe it’s because they’ve eaten their fill?”

When I was training the Charleses to breathe fire this afternoon, they definitely didn’t spit out flames as thick as water buckets like this. Are they showing off their full power because they know we have guests?

Considering the intelligence of the Cerberuses, that might actually be the case.

But to dare to slack off during training… I’ll have to teach them a good lesson when we get back.

Besides Evelyn, the one with a complex expression was Laxy. This afternoon, while Yisi was training the Cerberuses, Laxy had been muttering for a long time about how Yisi was neglecting her proper duties.

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“My lord… are those monsters you are raising? My deepest apologies. I misunderstood you this afternoon. If these nine monsters can freely use the ability they just demonstrated, they will surely be of great benefit to you when you challenge the Demon Lords in the future. They are at least level 30, no, at least level 40 monsters. To have arbitrarily thought you were slacking off was my mistake. I can only atone for my sin with ten days of confinement.”

No, no, I really was just playing. The Charleses are quite intelligent; training them is a very interesting thing.

Yisi awkwardly touched her nose.

“You don’t have to worry about it, Laxy. Actually, one of the reasons I called Andrea and Evelyn here today was to ask them to look after the Charleses. These nine eat way too much. Only a queen and a pope can afford to keep them.”

“R-really? You’re giving them to me?”

“Of course it’s true. But only four of them, okay? The remaining five are for Andrea.”

“Hmph, you forget your sister as soon as you get a girlfriend. But I’m very satisfied with four.”

Evelyn’s gaze towards the Cerberuses had completely turned into the look of someone staring at a mountain of gold. If she wasn’t mistaken, Evelyn was probably already thinking about which ones to choose.

And due to Evelyn’s words, Andrea’s cheeks flushed red. She clasped her hands in front of her waist, her expression becoming much more bashful.

“Sister Evelyn, you’re too kind… E-even if you take five, it’s alright.”

“Really? I’ll really take five, you know?”

“Of course. Although I don’t know when you and Lady Yisi became so close, Sister Evelyn, since you are her sister, you are also my sister. I believe it is only right to give a gift to my older sister.”

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“Andrea, you’re such a sensible child. Then this older sister won’t be polite.”

Shouldn’t it be the older sister giving a gift to the younger one? Andrea, don’t be fooled by Evelyn’s sweet words!

However, it wasn’t just Andrea who reacted to Evelyn’s words. Edith and Camilla also frowned, but because Andrea had reached some kind of agreement with them that Yisi didn’t know about long ago, the two of them weren’t too displeased.

“I won’t lose. I will definitely win Onee-sama back.”

“You’re not going to have her all to yourself, you know?”

“Hmph, in the end, they’ll all fall into my hands.”

The three of them competed in voices too low for others to hear.

“Wh-what are those monsters? They took out the Labyrinth Porcupines in an instant.”

Some scavengers who hadn’t managed to escape with the other adventurers were discussing in a corner.

“I don’t know. No wonder that group of noble ladies dared to dress like that in the labyrinth. It turns out they have a beast tamer protecting them. Damn it, why can’t my dog be like that?”

“Give it a rest. Your dog only eats grass every day. Even a powerful monster would become ordinary like that.”

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“More importantly, what are we going to do with the Labyrinth Porcupines? There are so many of them; the noble ladies definitely can’t take them all…”

“Even if they can’t, they won’t give them to us. Other than Lord Dominic, nobles are so stingy they wouldn’t leave us a single coin—wait, they’re just leaving? They don’t even want the magic cores? Hey, Cort, don’t even think about taking it all for yourself!”

Although she wanted to try the meat of the Labyrinth Porcupines, the flames from the Cerberuses seemed to be the type that wouldn’t go out. While she was chatting with her companions, the porcupines had already been burned to charcoal. In addition, getting the magic cores would get her hands dirty, and extinguishing the flames would be a hassle, so Yisi simply abandoned the monster carcasses.

Looking wistfully at the Labyrinth Porcupines left behind, Mary said with regret.

“The scavengers took them…”

Scavengers, unlike adventurers, were a group of people who specialized in following behind adventurers and picking up the monster materials they didn’t need. Because they didn’t participate in combat, they were looked down upon by most adventurers and their treatment was very poor.

Somehow feeling that Mary was thinking about the porcupine meat just like she was, Yisi stroked her long, chestnut hair.

“The place for dinner is just a little further ahead. Just wait a bit longer.”

The shadow of the Divine Religion appeared on the [Omniscient Map] again, but they were on the ninth floor, far from the eleventh. There was no need to worry about them for now.

With a vibrant smile, Mary replied to Yisi.

“Okay, Master!”