Chapter 375

In the City of Corst
After my mock battle, Baron Corst also had a match against the Kiblinki Saltas.

The result? The spiders completely overwhelmed him, coating him in webs for an easy victory.
Even Baron Corst seemed shocked by the outcome.
Right after that, negotiations began.

He wanted more of the Kiblinki Saltas for city security.

"Marquis Vardmoi. I declined in my letter, but would you reconsider providing a few more of these spiders?"

"Hmm. Why the change of heart?"

"After fighting them, I understand now. These spiders are not like wild, violent monsters. They are highly intelligent and deliberately avoided injuring me. I believe we can work well together."

"I see. Lily, is it possible?"

"What do you think? Kiblinki Saltas?"

(We will send a messenger to Vardmoi. Without the marquis or our Contractor present, our kin will not move based on mere human messengers.)

"Alright. That works."

And just like that, the additional deployment was settled.
A promising start.
That night, we stayed at Baron Corst’s mansion.

The next day, before our departure, we watched as Baron Corst introduced the Kiblinki Saltas to the townspeople.

The pioneers and scouting teams would remain in Corst for a little longer.
It seemed they wanted the spiders to blend in a bit before setting out, to avoid being mistaken for regular monsters.
That made sense.
They were rather large creatures, after all. People might feel uneasy at first.

As expected, there was some hesitation during the introduction.
It seemed difficult for them to trust tamed monsters when their tamer wasn’t nearby.
Vardmoi had probably gotten too accustomed to living with spider monsters.

"Baron Corst, are you really entrusting the city’s security to those monsters?"

"Yes. Of course, human soldiers will patrol alongside them. The spiders are merely assisting."

"But… there’s no tamer here, is there? Even if they’re tamed monsters, are they truly safe?"

"Marquis Vardmoi has vouched for them. In fact, they’re already guarding Vardmoi’s city as we speak."

At that, murmurs spread through the crowd.
A city coexisting with monsters—it was a shocking idea for them.
Since Corst was relatively close to Vardmoi, maybe that made it even more surprising.

"Baron Corst, are these monsters truly strong?"

The one asking was a woman in her early twenties.
She wasn’t just any townsperson—she was an adventurer, likely a tamer.
A wolf, taller than she was, sat beside her.

"They’re stronger than me, at least. Do you want to test them?"

"Yes. I won’t accept weaklings guarding my city."

"Understood. Kiblinki Saltas, is that alright?"

(I have no objections… but your monster seems unwilling.)

"What!?"

The woman reacted sharply to the Kiblinki Saltas’s words.

Yeah, I had noticed too—her tamed monster clearly didn’t want to fight.
It wasn’t just disinterest; it genuinely seemed to prefer avoiding unnecessary combat.

(Your companion does not want you to fight. Hunting is one thing, but engaging in unnecessary danger is not desirable.)

"Ugh…"

(You understand, don’t you? If you truly care for your partner, you should act with more restraint.)

"… Fine. I’ll back down for my partner’s sake. But I have to say, you’re pretty sharp."

(I shall take that as a compliment. It is simply our nature as a species.)

It seemed she had given up on challenging them.

And from the way the townspeople reacted to the conversation, it looked like they were starting to accept that these spiders weren’t violent creatures.

The Kiblinki Saltas were good at reading social cues, so they likely understood how to handle situations like this better than I did.

I just hoped they’d settle into the city soon.

What do you think about this chapter?