The other Adventurers naturally knew how to gauge a quest’s difficulty.

Those things flying all over the sky could be dealt with for a mere seventy-five Gold Coins? Are you kidding me?

"Then one hundred Gold Coins," the village chief cried. "Everything we own is in this village! Please, save us, sirs."

The Dwarf standing nearby also spoke up. "I’ll put up fifty Gold Coins too!"

Just then, another four-person team stepped forward. This squad seemed quite balanced compared to the last one; at the very least, you could tell there was a Mage among them.

But it was obvious that even with this team, they still didn’t have enough people.

Hearing the words "one hundred and fifty Gold Coins," Kase’s eyes instantly lit up. He immediately turned to stare at Colin.

Orelia unconsciously glanced at the pleading village chief, then looked over as well. The pleas of others were quite effective on the kind-hearted Tiefling.

Colin silently calculated in his head.

’With three teams, one hundred and fifty Gold Coins split evenly would be fifty Gold Coins each.’

’The key is, this is a quest to attack a monster’s nest.’

’Most flying monsters have a habit of collecting precious metals and Gemstones, and their nests are bound to have equipment left behind by victims. Just like when we cleared out that Goblin Nest, this trip is one hundred percent guaranteed to have some "extra loot."’

’By that calculation, everyone could make at least several dozen Gold Coins.’

’And most importantly, we might even find some Magic Items.’

’This price is definitely right.’

"Let’s do it!"

[Quest: Hunt the Scorpion-tailed Lion]

[Rating: Not Started]

[Reward: Uncalculated]

After saying this, Colin led the other two over to the village chief.

However, the Adventurers from the other two teams looked at them with a hint of... suspicion.

"Can you guys handle a single Scorpion-tailed Lion? Even just holding one back would be enough."

"I see your team only has three people... Buddy, are you sure you can do this? If one of you dies, your squad is pretty much done for."

The leaders of the two teams spoke one after the other.

They frowned, and it was obvious at a glance that they didn’t trust the strength of this strange little team.

"At least we have some experience fighting monsters," Colin said, while Kase grumbled unhappily behind him.

Arguing with them right now was clearly not a wise move.

Besides, he believed actions spoke louder than words. They would see his team’s performance when the time came.

While the few of them were talking, the village chief called out a few more times.

This time, no one else stepped forward. It was unclear if they felt they weren’t strong enough or if they thought the reward was too low. Even though the other two teams were still uneasy, they had no choice but to accept the seemingly evil team with the Half-Orc and the Half-Demon.

"Heroes, please follow me," the village chief said. "There’s a Hunter in our village who knows where the monsters’ nest is."

Seeing that the time was right, Colin spoke up with his thoughts. "Those monsters aren’t stupid. When we get close to their nest, they’ll definitely use their flight advantage to attack us proactively. Also, the monsters can use their tail stingers like a Crossbow. We must all have a Shield when we set out."

"How do you know that?" the Mage-attired Adventurer asked.

"You’d know if you went to Thousand Masts City and looked through the books in the Divine Hall of the Deity of Knowledge." After saying this, Colin continued with his suggestion. "It’s best we prepare Shields and bows in advance. At least then they won’t be able to attack us one-sidedly."

The Mage frowned and said, "Then if their ranged attacks are endless, wouldn’t we be as good as dead?"

"They can only use twenty-four tail stingers a day. After they’re used up, they grow back the next day," Colin replied.

The Adventurers from the other two teams exchanged glances with their comrades, seemingly hesitating over whether to trust this guy who was mixed up with a Half-Demon.

Their hesitation lasted only a few seconds.

On a quest where you were risking your life for money, any extra precaution was worth taking.

Besides, it wasn’t like they had anything to lose.

Using the excuse that "this is to ensure everyone’s safety," the group managed to get enough Shields from the other people in the caravan.

However, most Adventurer teams didn’t carry many Wooden Shields, so they only managed to get just enough for the people in their group.

The group then followed the village chief to a stone house at the very edge of the village.

The village chief knocked hard on the wooden door and called out a few times.

After a good while, a man finally came out from within.

The man wore a leather greatcoat. His weather-beaten face and sturdy build told you at a glance that he was definitely a tough guy. However, he had lost his right leg, which was replaced by a wooden prosthesis, and his expression seemed somewhat listless.

"What is it?" the man asked coldly.

"Listen, Glenn," the village chief said. "I brought these Adventurers. It’s time to deal with those damned beasts."

The man called Glenn glanced at the people following behind the chief.

"Just these few?" he sneered. "These guys look like a bunch of complete amateurs."

Being looked down upon again and again was starting to get on Kase’s nerves. "My tribe and I have hunted mammoths bigger than this shabby little hut of yours! You call that an amateur, shorty?"

"Scorpion-tailed Lions are a whole different concept from things that walk on the ground. They fly, and they can shoot their tail stingers like arrows from a bow," Glenn said with a laugh. "And you know nothing about that."

"So if you run into a beast in the wild you’ve never seen before, you just give up without a fight?" Kase retorted.

At this moment, the village chief stepped forward, trying to smooth things over.

"Glenn, this is the best chance we’ll get. Haven’t you always wanted to...?"

"And haven’t you always wanted to avoid pointless sacrifices? Besides, you’d save a lot of Gold Coins," Glenn shot back.

The village chief was at a loss for words.

Once he said that, everyone knew it was probably a lost cause with this guy.

Colin spoke up, "Aren’t there any other Hunters?"

But just then, Glenn spoke again. "I’ll take you there. But let me be clear, I’m not responsible for bringing you all back alive."

"Just hurry up. Why do I get the feeling you’re scared?" Kase complained.

After that, the Hunter went back into his hut to grab his Hunting Bow and Hunting Knife. Without a word, he started walking toward the distant hills.

The members of the various teams couldn’t be bothered to deal with the odd-tempered man. After entrusting their non-combat luggage to the village chief for safekeeping, they silently followed behind him. As long as the guy led the way, that was all that mattered.

And so, the party slowly made their way down the mountain path.

The weather was quite nice today. Although the sky overhead was mostly blue, there were a few drifting white clouds.

They walked all the way to the bottom of a valley, flanked on both sides by gentle upward slopes.

As they advanced, Kase asked, "So how are we gonna fight later, Colin?"

Seeing the Half-Orc ask a question, the other Adventurers also gathered closer.

"The Scorpion-tailed Lions’ advantages are their flight and their stingers. First, we exhaust their supply of stingers, then we engage them inside their nest. That will completely neutralize their advantages," Colin explained.

The Mage from before turned back and said, "But not all of us are skilled with a Shield."

"Speaking of which, do you have any Magic that can restrict flight? You’re a Mage, right?" Colin asked.

"I’m just a Mage Apprentice. You’d best not count on that. Tossing two Acidic Liquid Balls is about my limit," the Mage sighed. "If it weren’t for the school credits, I wouldn’t have come on this trip at all. What rotten luck."

"School credits?"

"Credits for the required course, ’Monster Lore.’ I failed the exam for that class, and for the makeup test, I need to get some valuable monster materials. But the north has been restless lately, so I thought I’d go south..."

"Stop chatting," Kase said, raising a hand. "Something’s coming!"