Chapter LXXX - War Council (part 2)

"If either team found the dungeon boss room first, that team will call the other teams to go to their place. We will conquer the boss together, no taking head starts, no competition going on inside the dungeon. 

That's… pretty much it. How does that sound?"

Everyone else was still silent from listening to Hod's plans. Everyone was thinking, trying to think of something that can add to his plan.

After a while, nobody was able to point out something amiss.

Fran clapped at Hod's plan, and she looked rather proud. Everyone else also clapped, which gets Hod very confused.

"That was… incredibly fast and accurate planning."

Fran said to Hod, and everyone else seemed to have agreed. Except for Marksus, of course. At least that guy is still silent and isn't saying a thing.

"Alright. We will go with that plan, Hod. Well thought out."

The master turned to Klane, who seemed to have written the plan on paper. 

Was she writing the whole time?

"While taking down the dungeon is a must, the villager's safety is number one. While it is true that there will be knights taking care of the villagers, they might be a little bit late. 

A group will be focusing on taking down the scouts, while another will be focusing on evacuating the villagers."

Hod continued to his plan, but the master lifted his hand.

"Ah, don't worry about that. The knight who came with mister Armir already has the scroll of request from me. We will be focusing solely on the dungeon, and leave the villager's evacuation will be left to the knights."

"Oh… then that's neat."

The master turned to Armir, who seemed to be listening very well.

"Hear that, Armir?"

"… Yes."

His expression looked very glad. I guess to him, who was living in hell for an entire week fighting those monsters, having people devising such plans to help him feels very comforting.

The group continued to devise the other plans, like setting up the base and what kind of traps and weapons they will need to bring. 

Since the information on the dungeon is quite limited, they had no idea what to prepare. But, having known the Misoh from the monsters book that I have read, they always move in packs and are known to always own weapons. Some of them even wear armor and even rarer can use magic.

Speaking of Misoh, Klane explained about them more detaily. 

A normal Misoh is considered a Blue ranked, but when they have weapons, they are considered warrior Misoh. Normally, they are spotted as dungeon bosses on a much lower ranked dungeon.

The scout Misoh that the villagers were fighting are also counted as warrior Misoh, except that their types were more to a scout. Warrior Misoh are considered lower Yellow ranked, and they are more regularly found than the normal unarmed Misoh.

And then there's the magician Misoh. Like humans, Misoh can forge weapons and use magic. Though their magic capabilities are somewhere around the beginner tier, they have quite the magic energy so a beginner tier to them is like an intermediate tier to us. 

A single magician Misoh is counted as higher Yellow ranked, one of the highest rated monsters to ever exist in the book of monsters.

And, since Misoh moves in packs, they have ones they would call the pack leader. A pack leader is much stronger than a normal Misoh, and they are at least a lower White ranked. There is only one pack leader on each pack, and after killing the pack leader, the pack will generally become disorganized and weakened.

But still… a lower White rank is the same as a regular dragon. It will not be easy to kill the pack leader.

The pack leader will always be protected by their pack and strike when the chance comes. The pack leader can use both magic and weapons, and they are always armored to the teeth. They can also use magic weapon enchanting, becoming some sort of a magic swordsman or magic archer, but for monsters.

That is why the pack leader is much more dangerous. But by killing them, slaying the rest of the pack is much easier.

"Also note that since this dungeon has been open for a week, it could be possible that there are plenty of scouts or even strays in the area. It's a miracle how the village was able to stand after a week."

Hod said while gazing at Armir, who seemed to be staring down.

"Well, we tried our best to drive them away… Since we couldn't really damage them at all."

A single Misoh is very powerful. A single punch, and they can cut down an entire tree. Not to mention their intelligence, they have a brain of an ape and with the knowledge that can even create their own weapons. 

It's weird how the Misoh aren't counted as a race of their own, but instead as monsters. Unlike goblins or orcs, they are a much higher existence.

"We have no other information than the Misoh at this point, so let's at least work with that."

Hod said as he continued to plan. 

To kill a single warrior Misoh, a group of Blue ranked adventurers or a single Yellow ranked adventurer is required. But, since we have only two yellow ranked adventurers (Fran and Marksus), a Blue ranked adventurer who had the same strength as a Yellow (Hod), the light slayer (Cane), and the hidden White ranked adventurer (me), this raid might just work.

No, since I am here, it should work. It should definitely work. If not, I'll make it happen.

"If you all think that this raid is impossible, it isn't. A monster is... a monster in the end. Their intelligence can only go so much, but they can't be compared to us."

Hod said as a leader's encouragement. Everyone listened well to his words after they were done forming the plans.

A curl formed on Hod's mouth, and I can tell he is about to say something controversial.

"Besides, we also have a secret firepower of our own."

"Huh? Who?"

Everyone else asked, but a handful of them knows. Even the master is nodding, and so is Klane.

Hod meant me.

I turned a sharp glare at Hod, and he chuckled when he noticed.

Well, it's not like there's nothing to gain from this…

Wait…

I lifted my right hand, and my gaze landed on the master.

"What… do we gain from... this?"

I might be hated by others for asking this, but I just needed to ask. After all, we are risking our lives to fight such a dangerous dungeon, and for what? What is the profit from this mission? 

Adventurers don't just endanger their lives to fight monsters. No, we fight for fat stacks of money.

On his seat, Valon placed his hand on his chin while pondering over a few things before finally answering.

"Everyone participating will be promoted by one rank."

"What!?"

Everyone looked at each other in shock. Ranking up is like the hardest thing an adventurer can do. Not for me though.

Next to him, Marksus was very surprised.

"Wait, does that mean…"

"Yes. You and Fran will be a White ranked adventurer once this mission is over."

Everyone else was quite happy for them. Actually no, only for Fran. Becoming a White ranked adventurer is the biggest honor an adventurer can have. 

Again, not for me though.

"This mission already looked impossible at the beginning, since we have no White ranked adventurers present. Which means it's only natural to give the Yellow ranks a promotion."

The master said his reasons, but suddenly Hod spoke out.

"I agree! This mission is insanely hard, since we will be dealing with a Yellow ranked dungeon with plenty of Yellow and White ranked monsters crawling in them. But, that is exactly why this mission is worth it."

The others are glad they had chosen Hod as the leader. Seeing the great benefit they can reap from this, everyone was glad. 

The rest of the night was filled with more planning regarding the details. We continued to detailly cover the plans without missing a single thing. After four hours of planning, we all finally closed the meeting and went home.

Once we are outside, I approached Hod. Everyone else is already going on their own ways, whereas me and Hod moved aside from everyone else.

"Why is our team going with Marksus?"

Hod turned his gaze at me and chuckled.

"Well, having you in our team is like a great help. You kicked his ass once, so if he dares to do anything stupid, you will be there to kick again."

"… So, you already expected that he will do something stupid?"

"No. I guarantee that he will do something stupid."

"Hahah, I see. I'll just kick his ass again, much harder this time."

We both split up and headed to our homes. Today, we just finished a mission, and we just came back before sundown. To suddenly get called into a four hours meeting is… tiresome.

I went straight to bed once I arrived. I realized I probably should have prepared first before sleeping… 

Because I overslept.