I opened an adventurer's guild in another world.

"Hey, An, getting ready to head out so early this morning?"

"An, you really can't stay idle. You just got back yesterday, and today you're out hunting monsters again!"

"An, how about joining my mercenary group? With your skills, I can make you the vice-captain!"

As Anno rode Sasser out of the city gate, some passing professionals greeted him.

Anno responded to each of their requests and rejected a level 21 mercenary's invitation to join the group for the third time.

This is the eleventh day since Anno arrived in Warrengle, a fortress city on the northern border.

Warrengol is built against a mountain, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The surrounding terrain consists mostly of cliffs, steep slopes, and dense forests, making large-scale military marches impossible.

It was extremely difficult for the main force of the Demon King's army to bypass Volenger and enter the Kingdom of Nigal from the surrounding area.

Therefore, once the war begins, the Demon King's army will definitely attack Worengel.

However, Warrengel was not the only city on the front lines resisting the Demon King's army.

There is a fortified city in each of the east and west directions, about 100 kilometers apart.

All of them were built in key positions to guard against the Demon King's army.

All three fortified cities are equipped with large teleportation arrays.

If one of the cities is in battle and in dire need of help, the armies of the other two cities can provide timely support.

As the largest fortified city, Volengol has an army of 50,000 men!

Based on the standard of 5,000 men in a legion of the Kingdom of Nigar, there are ten legions stationed here.

In addition, because they are located on the border, they are frequently harassed by the Demon King's army.

Nearly a third of Warrengol's 100,000 residents are professionals.

However, most of them are first-tier professionals.

According to information Anno gathered during this period, there are more than five high-level professionals stationed in Worengel year-round.

In case of an emergency, high-level professionals in the capital city can provide timely support via ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays.

After subduing Sasser and leaving Hel City.

Anno reached Warrenger, hundreds of kilometers away, in just two days.

Then began his life of hunting monsters outside the city, preparing to break through to the fourth tier.

General Alek, the city lord of this place, strongly encourages the professionals and mercenaries in the city to go out and hunt demons.

Anyone who hunts a monster can exchange their reward money at the military's exchange office by presenting the receipt.

Anno has left the city twice in the past ten days.

In total, they hunted down more than sixty third-tier demons.

Nowadays, he is quite well-known among low-level professionals.

That's why so many professionals greeted Anno on their way out of the city.

A group of professionals watched Anno and Liz ride away on their giant wolves, remarking, "That guy is really reckless. Most people are considered to leave the city once a month, and each time they leave, they might never come back. He's already left the city three times in less than half a month."

"They're really skilled; haven't you seen how they always come back with a ton of loot? You might not even kill as many monsters in a year as they do in just a few days!"

"An is probably preparing to break through to the fourth tier."

"Everyone has guessed it, but we must not rush things now. Once we leave the city, we'll be in the demons' territory, and we could encounter them at any moment."

If I were to encounter a mid-level monster, my life would be in danger.

In my opinion, the final hurdle is better overcome through seclusion and enlightenment.

The people around him all turned to look at the speaker and teased, "Is this why you've been stuck at level 20 for two years?"

"I'm so angry..."

......

After leaving the city gate, Liz, who was sitting behind Anno and tightly hugging his waist, pressed her face against him and asked boredly, "Master, which way do we go this time?"

"Yes, the first time I went to the west, and the second time I went to the north!"

Anno replied, "We killed quite a few monsters the last two times, and even wiped out several weaker tribes. Although some professionals go out of the city to hunt demons every day, what we're doing might not be noticed. But just to be on the safe side, let's go east this time!"

"Hey, how many more times do we need to leave town?"

Sassi, who was carrying the two of them at breakneck speed, suddenly asked, "Didn't we already find out that the Demon King's army was preparing to attack the Kingdom of Nigar?"

Warrengor has already begun preparing for war. Isn't it too dangerous for us to continue hunting demons in demon territory?

Let me tell you first, I don't want to die!

Hearing Sassi's complaints, Liz scoffed, "You brainless, cowardly idiot wolf, war isn't something you can just start on a whim."

Even if the Demon King's army were to attack the Kingdom of Nigal, it would take at least several months of preparation time.

Didn't you notice that the demons we encountered before were all low-level?

Only when mid-level monsters start appearing frequently in the area around Worengel will it mean that the main force of the Demon King's army has arrived.

That's when war will truly be upon us!

"Tch~, you idiotic succubus, believe me or not, I'll throw you off!"

Sassi, who was being scorned by Liz, suddenly increased her speed and swayed from side to side.

Anno and Liz, who were riding on it, instantly lost their balance.

"Sasser, that's enough!"

With a 'well' mark appearing on her forehead, Anno grabbed Sassi's hair with one hand to steady herself, and tapped her head with the other.

The latter, feeling the pain, immediately stopped its fidgeting.

"Master~, look at her~!" Liz seized the opportunity to press herself against Anno's back, saying in a teasy tone, "This stupid wolf doesn't respect you at all. She should have listened to me in the first place!"

"You idiot succubus, say that again and see what happens!"

When Sassi heard that Liz was trying to persuade Anno to kill her again, she immediately flew into a rage.

Although an equal contract was signed, Anno was bound by the contract and could not lay a hand on Sassi.

But that doesn’t mean Anno can’t kill Sassi.

The simplest solution is to have other professionals do it.

"You two, can't you just shut up for a second!"

Anno rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit of a headache.

Ever since Sarsil signed the equal pact with him, she and Liz have been arguing every day.

The two seemed to be natural enemies, able to argue about anything.

If it weren't for Anno's intervention, Sassi would never have allowed Liz to ride on her.

"After the previous two battles, I'm only a hair's breadth away from breaking through to the fourth tier. This time, I just need to hunt down three or five more level 20 monsters to level up."

The operation was roughly the same as before: first, search the area within 20 kilometers of Warrengel to see if there were any monster strongholds or lairs.

If not, explore outwards little by little.

"Don't run more than fifty kilometers, to avoid encountering mid-level demons!"

"knew!"

Sassi was punished for being naughty, and she became much more obedient afterward.

Speechless all the way.

......

The first day's search didn't yield any Tier 3 monsters; Anno easily dealt with the few small fry he encountered.

The next day, they encountered a monster squad led by a Tier 3 monster, but the highest level was only 17.

Anno is still just short of reaching level 21.

By noon on the third day, Anno had run to a place 25 kilometers away from Warrengel.

While Anor was eating dry rations, Sassi returned from a forest and told Anor about a pool in the forest where a group of orcs of the evil faction lived.

Anno immediately went into the forest to check the situation.

"There's actually a lizardman tribe here. Judging from the fact that they're still building wooden houses, they must have just migrated here recently. The quality is quite good; there are at least twenty Tier 3 houses."

After activating [Natural Camouflage] and observing the lizardmen's camp for a while, Anno discovered that there were no fourth-tier lizardmen, so he decided to make his move at night!

As night fell, apart from a few lizardmen on duty dozing by the fire, the higher-ranking lizardmen crawled into the already built wooden huts to sleep, while the lower-ranking ones simply lay down by the pool, covered with straw and snoring.

Unnoticed by the lizardmen, forty ghosts were silently approaching the camp.