Chapter 655 War Merits Harvest and the Border Patroller

As a key fortress on the northeastern border of the Servia Kingdom, Bloodcast Keep held a position of considerable importance, having served as the starting and ending point for multiple epic campaigns in the kingdom's history.

Even though relations with neighboring countries had recently eased, it still bore the responsibilities of a strategic border stronghold and maintained a substantial garrison year-round.

Now, faced with an increasing number of monsters in the surrounding area and heavy casualties among the soldiers and officers originally stationed there, the kingdom remained unwilling to provide reinforcements. The officials at Bloodcast Keep were forced to abandon tradition, issuing conscription orders to the adventurers of Calm Peaks Province and any commoners willing to enlist.

Well-connected and capable professional adventurers, such as the ranger Tal and the Sulfur Dragon Breath party, had caught wind of the situation much earlier through their respective channels and rushed to the kingdom's border from all directions.

Now, adventurers with slower information sources and average skills, alongside ordinary commoners from the surrounding regions, were finally arriving at Bloodcast Keep with the various conscription squads.

This was exactly why Xia Nan had seen so many newcomers on his way here.

"Of course, it's not just because of that."

At this point, the young officer before him suddenly lowered his voice. He glanced around furtively, and seeing that no one was paying attention to him, leaned in, covered his mouth, and whispered, "I don't know if you've noticed, but the frequency of monsters appearing near Bloodcast Keep these past few days has been much higher than before."

"A few days ago, I heard some officers in the Inner Keep chatting. They mentioned plans to gather personnel and take action. Over the last couple of days, even the number of missions posted here at the Military Merit Office has noticeably decreased. I'm guessing the Inner Keep wants to save them up for a few days and launch a major operation."

Realizing he was rambling and might have spoken out of turn, the young officer quickly backtracked before Xia Nan could respond. "Of course, this is all just my guess. It might not be accurate. After all, there's no way I could know the real situation. Just listen to it for fun; don't take it too seriously."

"Uh—if possible, it'd be best not to mention this to anyone else. And even if you do, please don't mention my name."

Naturally understanding what the man meant, Xia Nan gave a slight nod and asked, "Those measures you mentioned the Inner Keep planning to take—do you have any intel on them?"

"Haha, you think too highly of me," the young officer said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I just sit in the logistics warehouse all day. How could I ever get my hands on something like that?"

Besides, given the young officer's guess regarding Xia Nan's background, if Xia Nan really wanted to find something out, he could just go straight to the Inner Keep and ask the higher-ups of Bloodcast Keep himself.

The only reason he was revealing this was to curry favor and do Xia Nan a solid while he had just returned and was still unclear about the situation in the fortress.

Hearing this, Xia Nan didn't press the matter further, simply committing the exchange to memory.

He then changed the subject.

"I understand that the frequency of beast-type monsters near Bloodcast Keep has gone up, but—" Xia Nan's expression remained unchanged, his tone casual, as if just making conversation. "I heard from other adventurers that the number of goblins has also noticeably increased compared to before."

"Is that actually the case?"

"Goblins?" The young officer was momentarily taken aback. Then, searching his memory, he said with some uncertainty, "Hmm—I think so. I haven't really been paying much attention to that."

"But those green-skinned rats can never be fully wiped out. You reap a batch today, and tomorrow they sprout up from the forest again. They're like cockroaches, everywhere."

"A few more, a few less—nobody really cares."

Compared to the ordinary commoners in the villages who lived in constant fear of monster attacks, terrified of being dragged into the woods and eaten on any given day, a logistics officer living year-round in the safety of Bloodcast Keep naturally wouldn't pay much attention to weak, green-skinned goblins. His sensitivity to how often they appeared was bound to be lower.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to pry any more useful information out of the man, Xia Nan shifted the topic to genuine small talk.

After they waited outside the crowd for about half an hour, the bard Uriah, who had been waiting in line, finally reached the counter at the Military Merit Office.

Hearing his call, the rest of the party gathered around.

The clerk they had lined up for looked young, likely a soldier temporarily drafted from one of the barracks.

But after so many days on the job, his movements while processing the paperwork were incredibly skilled. It was obvious that the sheer volume of work had trained him well.

"Mission number?" the clerk asked concisely, without looking up.

"B135," Uriah answered immediately, pulling a fragment of the banshee's skirt from his backpack and handing it over as proof.

The military naturally couldn't compare to the strict supervision mechanisms of the Adventurers' Association. Bloodcast Keep had neither the capability nor the manpower to verify whether adventurers undertaking missions had truly completed their commissions.

Thus, turning in a mission looked a bit sloppy.

But precisely because of this, any adventurer caught pretending to have completed a mission without actually meeting the required standards would face the harshest punishments from Bloodcast Keep.

Not only would they be barred from ever stepping foot on the kingdom's northeastern border again, but the adventurer would also have to pay a double penalty for the War Merits they had illicitly obtained.

Right now, there were quite a few adventurers locked up in the fortress dungeon for that very reason, "enjoying" their time behind bars.

"B135—" the clerk repeated. He flipped through a thick mission logbook on the counter with practiced ease, finding the corresponding entry in seconds.

"Acceptors: Xia Nan, Tal, and Sulfur Dragon Breath. Correct?"

Uriah nodded.

"The total mission reward is 45 War Merits. How do you plan to split it?"

Since they had only formed a temporary party due to headcount restrictions, the War Merits gained from the mission couldn't simply be lumped under the party's name. They had to be distributed individually.

The group had already discussed this a few days ago, before they even left Ice Tree Village.

They followed the unspoken rules of the adventuring industry: splitting the rewards based on their respective contributions during the mission.

Although the banshee had ultimately died by suicide, Xia Nan had undoubtedly contributed the most in the two battles leading up to it. Whether during the encounter inside the goblin lair or the subsequent chase through the forest, he had played a crucial role.

Factoring in the contributions of the Winter Wolf Fanny by his side, he rightfully deserved the largest share.

After a relatively comprehensive discussion among the group, this figure was settled at 40%, which translated to 18 War Merits.

As for Sulfur Dragon Breath, although they had indeed lost a member, the death of the half-orc Gank was primarily due to his own carelessness. He had even voluntarily discarded his weapon to wrestle the Bugbear, leaving him to clumsily and primitively fight with his fists when the banshee later ambushed them.

Combined with Uriah's choice of when to cast Silence, these multiple factors had culminated in the half-orc's death.

If discussed openly, one could certainly say he had sacrificed himself in the battle against the banshee. But as for making a significant contribution—he hadn't actually done much.

By comparison, the bard Uriah's [Dawn Flute Melody] and [Silence] were noticeably more impactful. The former granted everyone in the party except Xia Nan the ability to deal actual damage to the banshee, while the latter served as a secondary safeguard against the banshee's [Withering Wail].

The half-elf Treebrook had also dealt a certain amount of damage to the banshee during the battle and played a minor stalling role before the final chase through the forest began.

Taking all this into account, the total share for all three members of the Sulfur Dragon Breath party was also set at 40%, amounting to 18 War Merits.

As for how the remaining two living members distributed it among themselves, that was their own business.

The final 9 contribution points went to the bald ranger, Tal.

Additionally, the group of four hadn't forgotten the two monsters they had slain on their way back, converting the salvaged materials into War Merits.

Following the same contribution-based split, Xia Nan received another 12 points.

It actually seemed like very little; even converted into gold coins, it wouldn't amount to much.

On one hand, this was because Bloodcast Keep was inherently much stingier with War Merits awarded for random monster encounters than for formal mission targets.

On the other hand—and this was the primary reason—acting as a team might be safer and more secure, but it also meant that all the spoils from a mission had to be divided among the party members.

If Xia Nan had acted as a lone wolf this time, just like before, he undoubtedly would have made a killing.

But after splitting the loot with the other members of the party, his personal gains were significantly reduced.

The fact that he was still able to walk away with 12 War Merits after the split was partly because he had genuinely pulled his weight in the fight against the monsters. The bigger reason, however, was that the loot from the "Displacer Beast" was of a relatively expensive variety, much like the "Petrification Lizard". Otherwise, the War Merits likely wouldn't have even reached double digits.

However, Xia Nan didn't harbor any negative feelings about this.

His goal was clear: raise his War Merit rank to "Fortress Guard", then redeem the [Endtime Reverse Scale], an accessory for the [Proof of Diligence].

Its price was only 15 War Merits, a cost he had already met. No matter how many more points he accumulated, without suitable equipment to exchange them for, he'd probably just convert them all into gold coins when he left.

As for his crucial War Merit rank, having completed this B-rank mission, he had automatically been promoted from the lowest rank, "Recruit", to the second tier, "Border Patroller".

He was only one rank away from the "Fortress Guard" rank required to redeem the [Endtime Reverse Scale].

With a total of 30 War Merits added to his account, Xia Nan's total merit count had broken past the 50-point milestone.

Even after deducting the 15 points needed to redeem the [Endtime Reverse Scale] in the future, he still had 35 points left over.

However, Xia Nan had no plans to spend all these War Merits just yet.

He planned to wait until his War Merit rank reached "Fortress Guard" and then make a massive one-time exchange.

Pushing their way out of the crowd, the time came for the temporary four-man mission party to say their goodbyes.

The atmosphere between Treebrook and Uriah remained stiff, but when facing Xia Nan, they both appeared surprisingly friendly and warm.

Clearly, this black-haired adventurer—whose strength far exceeded his age—had earned the high regard of his two temporary teammates through his performance in battle.

After exchanging a few pleasantries like, "Let's work together again if we get the chance," the two members of the Sulfur Dragon Breath party took their leave.

Watching their retreating backs, the ranger Tal reached up to rub his bald head. He turned to Xia Nan beside him and asked tentatively, "Mr. Xia Nan, do you want to—go grab a drink?"

Following this mission, Xia Nan's impression of Tal had improved even further.

He felt the man knew his limits, handled matters properly, and possessed the experience of a veteran adventurer, yet rarely displayed the bad habits typical of those who had wallowed in the industry for years.

Even if their relationship was nowhere near the level of the druid and tabaxi from the Blade of Vengeance party, they could still be considered acquaintances.

He wasn't in a hurry, and having just finished a mission, it was the perfect time to relax.

Since the man had invited him, Xia Nan naturally saw no reason to refuse.

A short while later, the two men and one wolf arrived at a tavern in the Outer Camp area of Bloodcast Keep. Its layout wasn't anything special, but the overall environment was reasonably clean.

In his past life, from what Xia Nan understood, many restaurants did not allow animals inside.

Although he had now transmigrated to the Aifala Continent, he still wasn't particularly familiar with some of its rules and regulations. Always one to follow the rules, Xia Nan even sought out a passing waiter to ask about it before entering.

Initially, the waiter hesitated, his attitude quite ambiguous, likely hoping to squeeze a bribe out of him.

But the moment he caught sight of the Winter Wolf Fanny behind Xia Nan—a beast with a Challenge Rating of Lv3, theoretically capable of slaughtering every single patron in the tavern by herself—he instantly slapped on the brightest smile imaginable, ushering the two men and the wolf inside with near-sycophantic enthusiasm.

They found a table near the corner as requested. After taking their orders, before Xia Nan could even speak, the waiter took the initiative to ask if they needed an extra portion of food prepared for Fanny.

When Xia Nan nodded, he even considerately confirmed how well-done Fanny's meat should be cooked.

Xia Nan was quite satisfied with the attentive service, making a mental note to leave a generous tip later.

Waiting until the waiter walked away, he picked up the tankard on the table and took a casual sip.

Xia Nan looked over at the bald ranger Tal, who was sitting beside him looking anxious, and asked calmly, "Go ahead. What's on your mind?"