The displeasure that threatened to appear on Gustav’s face disappeared in an instant.

The merchant continued to smile in an amicable manner. “And might I ask what these conditions might be?”

Hector grinned. “I want fifty Spirit Stones.”

Gustav slammed his fist on the table. “Go to hell, you greedy bastard! If I had fifty Spirit Stones, do you think I would be in here asking for your help?!”

The elder laughed. “I’m sure that your guild has that much.”

“Forget it, old man! They are never going to give me that much money, and even if they did, your help is not worth it!” Gustav looked at the Baron. “I would rather just abandon the town already if this is how things are going to be!”

The Baron frowned. “Please Hector, you have to be reasonable. If you wish for Spirit Stones as compensation, it can be provided, but even if I sold my entire castle, I would still be hard pressed to provide you with fifty Spirit Stones.”

Hector grunted. “Fine. It would be remiss of me to be so greedy in a time of need for our town, but I still have other conditions that mostly concern our merchant friend here and my sect.”

Gustav snorted. “The number of Spirit Stones I can provide you is limited right now!”

“I said nothing about Spirit Stones.” Hector shook his head, looking over at the Baron. “You know my main concern at any point is always the future of my sect and its safety. By going to face such a powerful monster by myself, not only am I putting my own life at risk, but also the safety of my sect and its members, since I won’t be there to protect them. I need guarantees they will be looked after during this time and if something happens to me.”

“You need not even ask that, my friend.” the Baron shook his head. “You act in service of the town, and I would not suffer anything happening to your people if you were to be wounded during that time.”

“I trust you, Baron.” Hector nodded. “However, this is something that I need to hear from another person too before I have peace of mind.”

Gustav frowned. “Do I look that unreasonable to you? I would not stoop so low as to take advantage of this situation.”

Hector snorted. “So you say, yet be that as it may, what about after the horde is dealt with? Will you still keep your promise?”

The merchant didn’t respond, putting on an ugly expression.

“As I said, I know you too well, you fat bastard,” the elder said. “If you want my help, I want you to make an official contract for me. It’s the only way I know someone like you will keep your word.”

Gustav squinted his eyes in suspicion. “What terms are you suggesting?”

Hector smiled. “It’s simple. On top of not acting against any of my sect members, you are to provide all of them with the necessary resources for training for the next five years.”

The merchant hesitated. “… I will not just agree to an arbitrary value.”

“We can settle on something after doing calculations for each individual in our sect.” Hector said. “Trust me, though, that I expect you to be willing to part with more than just the bare minimum.”

Gustav didn’t immediately respond, scratching his chin in contemplation.

Ten seconds later, he nodded. “As long as the value is not detrimental to my business, I can provide it. It’s only reasonable that I’d be willing to fork out that much if you were to be wounded.”

Hector laughed. “Who said anything about being wounded? Those are my terms if everything goes well and I am able to return unscathed.”

“What?!” the merchant’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want me to just sponsor the growth of your sect while you’re still around?!”

“I’m still not finished with my terms.” the elder cut him off. “If something does happen to me that prevents me from protecting my sect, I want those terms extended to ten years instead of just five.”

“Ten years?! I am not even sure if I will still be in this town in five years, much less ten!”

Red was surprised when he heard that. Ten years happened to be the elder’s higher estimate on how long it would take Allen to open his Spiritual Sea.

“That’s why I expect you to sign this contract in the name of your guild. That way, anyone that comes to replace you will still be obligated to fulfill it.” Hector said. “I know you have the authority to do that much at least.”

The boy was expecting the merchant to protest against these terms, but to his surprise, the man fell silent with an ugly expression. There was an inner struggle clearly evident in his face.

Almost half a minute later, though, Gustav sighed in resignation. “Let me see your numbers.”

Red felt the fluctuation of the merchant’s two bodyguards tremble in surprise, although no reaction could be seen in their masked expressions.

Hector smiled, looking over at Eiwin. The younger woman nodded before pulling a handful of documents from her pouch. The elder grabbed it, before waving his hand and sending the papers magically flying to settle right in front of Gustav.

The merchant grabbed the papers and began reading it with some hesitation. His eyebrows twitched a handful of times, and he was done reading it in a few minutes.

Gustav sighed and looked at the smaller bodyguard on his right before handing her the documents. “Go back to our headquarters and tell them to draft the contract according to his terms.”

Red could sense the hesitation in the bodyguard even without his crimson sense.

“Just do as I say, will you?!” the merchant gritted his teeth.

The bodyguard nodded and got up, walking towards the door. The guards standing by the door opened it up, allowing her to exit before closing it shut again.

“It might take my men about an hour to write the contract up.” Gustav said. “I want them to be thorough when it comes to these matters.”

“That’s fine.” Hector nodded with a smile. “We can wait.”

The Baron, who had been observing the interaction in silence, spoke up. “Then I assume this means you agree to our plan, Hector?”

The elder nodded. “Yes, I will deal with the big wolf for you.”

“What about the rest of your sect members? They would be of utmost assistance out there against the horde too.”

Hector grunted. “Hmm, I’ll send a group too. However, I expect our friend here to remember that the terms of our contract should extend even outside of town.”

Gustav’s eyes twitched from the side.

“I’m sure it will be no problem.” the Baron nodded. “Such being the case, we should discuss the distribution of our forces.”

The next hour was spent discussing the strategy they would use against the horde. As it so happened, a mob of angry monster displaced from their homes wasn’t so easily held back, and even if they planned to hold them at the river, there was no guarantee that they would be successful, so they needed to be prepared to retreat too.

This was not to mention the other effects of such a horde, either. It would have a great impact on the local fauna, which was still in the process of recovering after the trial, and some of these monsters might even join the horde's forces, bolstering their numbers. Others would probably be outright killed by the rampaging beasts.

They estimated the forest wouldn’t recover from the impacts of this stampede for many years to come. Yet, in the grand scheme of the cultivation world, this wasn’t all that uncommon of an occurrence.

Monsters too increased in strength, and the birth of a particularly powerful beast in nature could and most likely would cause enormous disruptions in the biome. A territorial monster, for instance, could force the entire local fauna to migrate to some other place.

Displaced and deprived of their previous homes, these beasts would be driven into a rage in search of somewhere new to settle. Sometimes they were led by other powerful beasts that lost in a territorial dispute. This was the origin of hordes, monster driven into a rage and desperation in search of a new home, and it was not an uncommon event in the world.

Nothing short of killing these beasts would stop them. Although a lot of cultivators lamented the fact, this was still something they needed to do, or else this effect could spread and threaten the human population.

Red also thought it was a shame they needed to massacre these monsters. He didn’t hold a grudge against these beasts like a lot of cultivators, and he rather admired them for their special abilities that allowed them to thrive in nature. Yet sparing and relocating these monsters wasn’t an option either.

“My two bodyguards will be at the front line.” Gustav said. “They will help kill any Lesser Ring Realm beasts that appear.”

Hector snorted. “You would be willing to give up on your protection for the sake of the town?”

The merchant glared at the elder. “Yes, and unlike you, I won’t be asking for compensation!”

Hector ignored him. “What about you, Feron? Will you be joining the front line?”

The Baron nodded. “It would be negligent of me not to. We will need every Lesser Ring cultivator in the front lines if we hope to hold back these monsters.”

The elder frowned. “Even a Lesser Ring realm cultivator won’t be necessarily safe out there.”

“Your worry for me is misplaced, Hector,” the man shook his head. “I have seen my fair share of battles in the past, even if it doesn’t look like it from my position. It’s you that I am worried about. Even against a mindless monster, the difference in realms is something any cultivator would be hard pressed to contend against.”

“I can’t claim to be able to kill it, but I have some tricks up my sleeve. If I only need to distract it, then it shouldn’t be a problem.” Hector said. “However, if we do plan to kill it, we will need to be willing to spend no small amount of resources.”

“There’s no need to worry.” the Baron said. “Once the other threats are dealt with, I have my own plans on how to deal with the alpha.”

Although the man said as much, he refused to elaborate, leaving the rest of them confused. Still, neither Hector nor Gustav decided to press him about it, showing their trust in the Baron.

Right around this time, the bodyguard Gustav sent out returned to the meeting hall. She was carrying a stack of papers, one she handed to the merchant and the other she gave to Hector.

The merchant didn’t even bother reading his copy of the contract before signing it. Hector, however, was reading every line of the document with the utmost caution. A few minutes later, he even handed the document over to Eiwin for the woman to check.

Gustav frowned. “We don’t have all day, you know?!”

Hector didn’t respond to him. Finally, Eiwin handed the contract back to Hector and nodded.

“It is all in order.” she said.

The elder smiled and likewise signed his own copy. He then exchanged copies with Gustav before putting down their own signatures again. In this manner, both of them had their own copy of the contract with both of their signatures on them. Neither the merchant nor Hector would be able to walk back on it now.

The elder smiled widely once the deal was done. “It is always a pleasure doing business with you, Gustav.”