We sailed back to the city without issues. Just in case, while sailing, I sent Bula to recon the area. Maybe we missed some. A couple or three wouldn't cause problems anymore, but I like doing my job well. Luckily, Bula found none, so we aced the order.
Meeting the mayor, we handed over several ripped Alluring Sirens' claws as proof, and trusting our agency's rep, he logged it done and transferred payment immediately. Sometimes it's good to be from a reputable agency, not some faceless Hunters' League member.
The quest took all day, and none of us felt like traveling in the evening. So we booked two rooms at the local inn: one for Ling Ling, one for me and the girls. Our youngest companion gave us odd looks but said nothing. Mages have their quirks.
We left Xiamen at dawn, flying out on magic wings, then switching to White Eagles in a bigger city. Notably, we'd get to Bird City the same way. Sigh, China lacks the forces to garrison every small city.
Why build small cities at all? They're often destroyed. Monsters don't need them, but that doesn't rule out one landing on a migration path. Weak cities don't need much—even Bo City and Jinlin fell to one Commander and his tribe. For places like Xiamen or Bird City, a few strong Chieftains suffice. Human life is so fragile sometimes.
Such towns are often founded by branch family members of some clan to rise up, and the main family even supplies resources—it expands human territory and resource gathering for raising strong mages. But life is cruel; these cities rarely last long or prosper.
Arriving in Bird City, we went straight to the mayor but had to wait since we had no appointment. Luckily, our Hunter badges kept us from being kicked out. Few normals want to anger strong mages.
Half an hour later, when we were finally seen, Ling Ling handled the talks. Playing her young looks against her pro credentials threw the guy off balance. I'd already briefed her on the monsters' numbers and location, so convincing the local mayor was easy.
Her story painted us as brave, kind Hunters who'd spotted a growing monster pop led by a Commander right by the city and come to warn him out of duty to protect the weak.
But times are tough—even a young girl like her had to become a dangerous Hunter. We wouldn't work for free, but if he issued a worthy-paying order, we'd jump on it.
We didn't really need money, but no thanks for charity work. And while we're not hurting financially, quest points for this scale bring rank-ups, unlocking higher quests. Plus, bankrupting a rich city's mayor is just fun.
The mayor was skeptical at first, but Ling Ling's verified creds, promise of proof, and payment only on completion broke him. No small-town mayor wants a Commander and pack next door, so he offered generous pay.
Bird City was far richer than Xiamen, with international ships trading to Japan. Still, he grudgingly promised 30 million yuan. Generous, but fair rates.
We had to kill a Commander and most of his tribe, not sewer One-Eyed Rats. Those wreck cities too, so pay's spot-on. Divided among a normal Hunter team, it's not much.
"So, you're sure you can handle the Commander? I believe in you and all, but you're still Intermediate level," Ling Ling asked once we were away from city hall. Pro—didn't air grievances in front of the client.
"Don't worry about it. I've fought similar brutes several times, and this Commander is one of the weakest. It won't be any trouble for me to wrap him up. You should think about how to kill the rest. After all, I'm only taking on the Boss, and you have to handle the minions yourselves," I reminded the girls, who had grown serious. Not every day do they get told to cut down a Commander's pack, even without him at the head.
"I've already come up with some tactics for them. As long as they stick to it, everything will be fine. It would be great, of course, if you could freeze the space between the islets so they couldn't escape. But since you're not going to help, we'll have to use other methods and stretch out the extermination over several days," Lin Lin said calmly.
"Well, I'll leave Bul to finish off anyone who tries to run, but you still have to kill the main mass," I made some concessions. Training is training, but we can't let monsters go free at the expense of ordinary people.
It was no trouble to get close to the islets we needed; they were not far from the shore. About ten minutes by boat. We managed to rent the boat from a local fisherman, by the way. Those guys never let you down if you need transport in port cities.
"So, what are we doing, captain?" TuTu clarified with Lin Lin. After all, she still hadn't explained her plan.
"I looked up info on the Red Sea Demons. They love basking in the sun, and that's the perfect moment to catch them off guard. You just have to wait until a critical mass of monsters gathers on one of the islets, then attack. Your Silvergrass is efficient enough to cover the entire islet and its shore. After that, the monsters won't be able to escape, and you'll just have to cut them down. When your magic energy starts running low, just use the artifact wings and return to us. These monsters are ordinary amphibians and can't fly. The main thing is don't get hit by the jets of boiling water they shoot," Lin Lin outlined the situation to the girls and showed some visual materials on her laptop.
"The main thing is they have no mental attacks, and they can't hide underwater. Those are the biggest obstacles to our victory over them," Jiao Jiao grimaced. They really didn't like the previous battle with sea monsters.
"Remember, you won't be able to exterminate them all at once. These monsters occupy three islets, and I plan to get rid of one per day. According to my calculations, the Commander should only show up after the second one's exterminated, which gives us plenty of time. If I still misread this species' habits, which is unlikely but possible, Mu Bai will back us up," Lin Lin reminded the girls.
"Let's get started already. I can't wait to smash a few monster skulls with my own hands," TuTu grinned predatorily.
And who does she get her bloodthirstiness from? Apparently, I shouldn't have told her how I fought similar monsters. I just fed her battle maniac nature.