The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary

"Weapons Checked? Armour Checked? Light Flares?" Flame Ripper asked Meomi the WereCat and Sebastia the Minotaur Butler on their equipment status in the Werejackal's home instance.

They were assigned by Jin and Gold to scout the Farming World and report the severity of the Demon Rats infestation or as the Werejackals dubbed them: 'Farm Rats'. If needed, they would assist the existing rebel forces and perform guerrilla missions with them.

But for now, their main objective was reconnaissance. Secrecy was of the utmost importance. Flame Ripper had been appointed as the leader for the team of three, and though he wasn't the most familiar with the Farm World, the goblin undoubtedly had the most experience as well as the most power amongst them all. As his first action, the assassin had asked the System to provide them with a few sets of cosmetic inscriptions to blend in.

It wouldn't be a problem for Meomi since she could switch to a human form but the horns on Sebastia and Flame Ripper being all goblinish red would immediately attract attention. (The half masks were an option, but as soon as they discovered even once, everyone would be on the lookout for masked individuals.)

However, Flame Ripper wasn't taking any chances for the group and asked that Meomi to put on a new face too. Oddly enough…she took an inscription that made her look like a bald guy and demanded the rest of the team to call her baldy for the duration of the mission. Both Flame Ripper and Sebastia were speechless and they did not know what the werecat was playing.

"Onee-sama! You forgot this!" Nyanmi shouted to Meomi as the team was finalising the checklist for the group. Meomi looked shocked and refused since what Nyanmi presented was her very own Sniper Whip, a personalised weapon given by Jin.

"No way, I cannot allow you to loan me your weapon. Master Jin created that for you to use. What are you going to do without it?" Meomi asked and Nyanmi shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"I can ask the System to make me a replacement one, right? The most I have to do is to spend some points. Even if it were unwilling, I would use my default sniper rifle or the whip Jin had previously equipped me with those upgrade battle cards. Don't you worry too much about me. You need it more than me in that god awful Farming World." Nyanmi retorted and pushed the Sniper Whip back at her.

Both werecats could have asked the System to create a new Sniper Whip for Meomi, but that would also mean that they would also need to recalibrate it for her own use. Moreover, they would need to spend system points for the recalibration, plus all the mods they had added into the existing Sniper Whip, such as a faster reloading magazine, longer barrel for range and more rapid transformation mechanism for the whip.

Buying a weapon from the System would always result in getting a basic one. In the first place, it would have been Jin's responsibility to equip his monsters, but he was consistently being swarmed with more work that he needed an alternate way of dealing this particular matter.

Thus, he had asked the System to make an exception and start awarding his monster's with System Points, which they could use to pay for any mods along with other personal calibrations. It was because Jin felt that his minions would know what they needed, and the monsters appreciated the extra freedom, being able to buy what they wanted.

It had proven to make them work harder and pose more of a challenge to the cultivators. However, Jin would still personally give the battle upgrade cards to them since they were considered as new equipment and battle skills.

Unfortunately, this process would have taken time and points, both of which they did not have much to spare at the moment. "Alright, in return, you take my right Gun Knuckle. That way, you can surprise the cultivators doing the Bank Heist Instance or the Random Arena Instance." Meomi insisted as she shoved her personal weapon to that little cat sister of hers. They were not blood related as Nyanmi had been loaned and later bought by the System, but it was the closest relative she had among these rowdy werejackals.

"Heh, I bet those cultivators will be confused once more about which werecat is which." Nyanmi giggled and hugged Meomi before Flame Ripper announced that they were departing. Gold had already assigned them a place to start their investigation, and that was the very same mountains where Jin had fought against Keyrin.

The System had informed them that it had noticed the presence of a single Farm Rat spying on Jin when he had disappeared. It wanted them to learn if that was a scouting Farm Rat or just a stray one.

The difference? A scouting Farm Rat meant that there could be an outpost of the Farm Rats in the vicinity of the mountains. Gold had determined that it was spacious enough for Jin and the others to set up a rebel base there since it was considerably secluded. "Oh, and while you are at it, try to confirm the location of the other three monsters that Jin has yet to fight for the upgrading of his Living Armour Suit. But that is wayyyyy secondary."

"If that's the case, I suggest you guys follow this route….here and here…" Grey had suggested in a meeting with Flame Ripper before their departure. Nevertheless, the goblin was not very satisfied with the route indicated by Grey even though it seemed like it was the shortest way through. Similarly, Meomi also stressed the change in terrain and landscape would be an arduous trek.

"Worst case scenario, you guys can teleport out, I guess?" Gold reminded them since Jin did mention to use the System's portal magic to the maximum. "Besides, the System has finally budged and allowed the teleportation of 'foreign objects' since we have prepared a secure area for them to be teleported into."

"Still, I feel it's for the best if we use the long way instead. In that case, we can resupply our food supplies and gather some information in the smaller villages before we reach our destinations. Portaling will create a disturbance in the atmosphere. The change in magic ley lines in the background can be picked up." Flame Ripper said. After he became the Avatar of Ifrit, he was able to sense these things whenever a portal appeared.

"I shouldn't have to worry about such a possibility that much. The Farming World does not have that many mages compared to what you World has. The search for talented individuals with magical powers had always been quite a tenuous search, even for us Scholars of the Compass. While it's not that rare for the inhabitants to have come in contact with a form of magic, being able to wield them as they please? That is another issue entirely. From what we had learned in the past, the Farm Rats have no such capability." Gold commented, but Flame Ripper shook his head.

"As you have said, that is the knowledge of the past. I do not dare to assume. Take me as a prime example. Would anyone have ever even considered that someone like me would manage to gain the approval of Ifrit? Nope, absolutely not. I was content with the knowledge that I would gain the chance to evolve into a Hobgoblin. But here I am, happy for fate to have had other plans for me." Flame Ripper said as he presented himself to make a point.

"So, we are not taking any chances until we learn the true capability of the Farm Rats. That also means unless it is an absolute emergency, we will try to avoid using portals." Flame Ripper iterated which his members readily agreed with him.

"I concur with that approach. If the Farm Rats can hide in a clear open day, we have to be better than them and not provide them with opportunities to predict where we are or what is happening." Sebastia, who had gone through various scouting missions for Moloch, remarked to the scouting team's debriefing.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Meomi was all serious, but she did not add anything else since the route that Flame Ripper was going for coincided with her personal objectives as well. Both Gold and Jin did not object to it as they trusted her not to take any rash actions when the time comes.

————

The System teleported them without a hitch, and they were at the very same place where there were still some faint tracks of the leftover burnt marks all over the plateau even though most of it were already covered by the daily snowing.

Incidentally, all of them were simultaneously searching where the sun was at the same time and with just a nod. Flame Ripper took out a piece of chalk from his storage ring and marked the side of a nearby stone to indicate that this was their starting point.

The entire party all had a basic storage ring courtesy of the System so that the monsters wouldn't be hindered by weight as they travelled. (They were the very same rings used by Sebastia and the other Minotaur Battle Maid scouts when they were searching for the broken core. The System had transferred the rights to Meomi and Flame Ripper.)

While they had all unanimously agreed on the direction to walk, Meomi stopped their tracks when they had barely begun. She placed her nose closer to the ground and subsequently crouching as if to have a better sniff.

"I smell them. It's not strong, but I smell them." Meomi, now disguised as a bald man, picked up the presence of a few Farm Rats. "Hmmm… They are leaving their tracks too obviously. Definitely, not seasoned scouts." Meomi said as she(he?!) pointed at the direction where it was coming from.

Sebastia, who disguised herself as a short haired athletic female adventurer, first cast a shadow hiding spell to reduce their presence upon hearing Meomi's findings. Flame Ripper currently appeared as a teenage boy allowed Meomi to take the lead since she discovered the source. Perhaps, Gold's prediction about the Farm Rats was correct, and he hoped that the magic portal had not caused too big of a disturbance that it had already alerted the rats.

Within a few minutes, Meomi discovered that it was not just a few rats but at least a battalion of them and they seemed to be training themselves here near the snowy mountains. "Odd…I remember Keyrin telling us that there should be no- Oh… Keyrin is not around anymore." Meomi slapped her bald head and made sure it was covered properly or else the reflection of her shiny new head would attract unwanted attention. However, her claws were instinctively at the ready until Sebastia told her to calm down.

"Don't be hasty. Remember we are here to scout. Any divergence from our mission objective, especially this early in the mission will make everything we wish to do futile." Sebastia reminded Meomi about the consequences of her actions, and she took heed reluctantly by withdrawing her claws.

"To be honest, this could be a great opportunity to see how the Farm Rats function since we have no idea what to expect from them." Flame Ripper suggested as he took out a binocular from the storage ring as well as a notebook and a pen.

"I see. Observing their actions and tactics, learning their chain of command, their routine as a rat. It's a good idea." Sebastia whispered as she too continued to observe the battalion.

"For me, I just want to kill their commander and key personnel if possible." Meomi should have thanked Nyanmi for not allowing her to refuse taking the Sniper Whip out for combat.

"I think I can do you one better since you want them dead so much. Why don't we ask the System to call out Keyrin to wipe them all out, once they are nearly done with this training exercise of theirs. That way, even if they end up learning that their camp has been wiped out, they will be looking for Keyrin instead of us." Flame Ripper offered as he watched over the rats. He was surprised at the performance of the Farm Rats. They were disciplined enough to train, had created tents and had also started building some barrows from the looks of it.

"Hmm, fine. I'd prefer being the one to do it, but as long as they are dead… Anyways, I shall be scouting the rats in my own way. Three is a crowd here and even if we have the height advantage now, who knows if they haven't deployed any veteran scouts in the vicinity. We don't want to end up as the mantis who was unaware of the oriole behind." Meomi said which Flame Ripper hesitantly agreed to her plans.

Separately, Sebastia readily sympathised with both of them. She knew that one was doing his job based on strict orders while the other was dying to get some form of revenge against the ones who apparently killed someone dear to her.

It was not an easy job for Flame Ripper, but he had to keep her in check. Too lenient and she might blow this particular mission right at the start. Too strict and it might turn into a case of insubordination. Since he wasn't Jin, he had no way to enforce any orders and it could eventually lead the entire team into trouble.

But for Meomi, this was more than an act of pure revenge. Ever since she had heard that Jin was going to assist the Werejackals against the Farm Rats, she had been training tirelessly all day and night and even to the point that she would volunteer to be selected for the Random Arena Instance.

Instead of a clone, she would personally join the Arena Instance, and because of that, the System rewarded her with additional points. She then used those points to increase her dexterity and spent the remaining ones to modify her Gun Knuckle further.

She even tried learning basic magic from Grey, but unfortunately, she lacked the talent. However, Grey admitted there was some sort of weird magic in her which he was unable to identify. The only thing he could do was help Meomi course that magical source into usable magic energy, thus allowing her to conjure sufficient magic energy to activate an inscription charm.

Upon learning the skill, Meomi proceeded in advancing her Gun Knuckles by adding inscriptions in it since there was no way to wear any decent fitting armour given the nature of her shapeshifting ability. Nonetheless, it did not mean she could not wear accessories filled with inscription charms, and she got a tail ring and a pair of earrings with the points she had accumulated.

Meomi repeatedly pushed her limits to the point where Nyanmi would exchange some of her own saved up System points for recovery potions or healing spells so that Meomi could save hers. If given a chance, the System would have evolved her long before the goblins did. (But because of the System's nature when it comes to rewards, it would withhold such evolution trigger card from Jin until he accomplished more tasks to spur him on.)

If all Meomi needed was just the trigger for the evolution, she figured that she should either train even harder to evolve naturally or get Jin's attention. But ultimately, it was Jin's decision when to evolve a monster if it required the trigger.

Otherwise, it all depended on the monster's own initiative to show to Jin that it was worthy of an evolution. Reason for that was Jin had discerned that an evolved monster required more resources from the System, which indirectly impacted Jin's money flow. It was not apparent until recently with the newly evolved goblins.

They needed more quality food to satisfy their hunger compared to when the monsters were first captured, and the System would only provide the least required amount of food necessary for survival. Any more would be on Jin's expense, which he could see a potential significant uptake if all of his monsters were to evolve.

That was also why she decided to volunteer herself for this scouting mission so that Jin would notice her. (The System did assist her by notifying her about this possible lead for the mission, which was the reason she had been hiding in Gold's office even before the conversation started.)

If there was someone who wished so badly to annihilate the entire race of the Farm Rats, it was none other than Meomi. She would not stop until she achieved her objective.

All rats must die.