Episode 28
The toll for the Cloud Bridge was determined by the weight of the load, and the revenue was quite substantial. Above all, the Cloud Bridge was considered safe, so merchants praised it.
You can now go to the most prosperous county in the area, Jayson’s Estate, without having to hire a separate escort.
“There’s that blood thing I told you about before.”
“Has Sir Ambrose decided to board the Blood Wolf?”
Serpens couldn’t help but be surprised.
For a noble knight to ascend the Bloodlines meant he was prepared to be treated like a lowly orc.
“No, that’s not it. If Ambrod comes under my command, he will have to ride the Blood Wolf even if he doesn’t like it. It’s my lord’s orders.”
“ah……!”
Serpens nodded.
The nod seemed to be a moment of silence for Ambrod.
“Did you find out where the blood wolf is?”
“I have looked into it, but the Blood Wolves are very mobile, so their habitat is not exactly known. However, there are rumors that they have been sighted in the hunting grounds of Viscount Zailson’s domain.”
“I guess I’ll have to start by looking around nearby.”
Serpens looked like he was about to say something but was holding back.
‘You’re probably trying to give me advice about the Blood Wolf and the Orc.’
Blood Wolves and Orcs were in a symbiotic relationship. It was no coincidence that the orcs that had been branded appeared in the Jayleson Viscounty. Orcs would be scattered throughout Jayleson Viscounty, and the Blood Wolves would live mixed with the orcs.
The territory of Hebron beyond the bridge of clouds was not more than 100 square meters. Opposite it was the forest owned by Zielson, which was estimated to be 1,000 hectares.
In terms of area, it was about 10 kilometers long and wide, but in reality it was a crescent shape that stretched from the south to the southeast of the Zyleson estate.
It wouldn’t be strange if there were one or two orcs living in this vast land. No, it would be normal if there were a whole group. Although Viscount Jailson periodically dispatched troops, there would be some that escaped their search somewhere.
* * *
We entered the forest. The people of Zailson’s domain called this forest ‘The Forest of Change’.
‘So this is why it was a forest of change.’
The terrain was all over the place.
There were repeated uphill and downhill sections, and the temperature fluctuated as the zelkova trees growing here and there gave off heat. As I walked, I felt like I was going back and forth between hot and cold water.
Along the road from Hebron to the city center of Zayleson, guard posts were placed at regular intervals, and each guard post had two soldiers. All the zelkova trees growing in the area were cut down, and the road was rebuilt. Thanks to this, merchants could travel between Hebron and Zayleson without much worry.
But as soon as we left the path and entered the forest, a difficult path opened up. A wilderness untouched by human hands unfolded before us.
‘Should I have brought at least one hunter?’
He was also theoretically quite good at hunting. Archery, swordsmanship, and tracking were the basics, and he also knew how to make and throw traps, set traps, and spread smoke.
I’ve never actually used it though.
‘The book clearly says that there is a difference between the footprints of a normal wolf and a large wolf.’
Even though I had a good eye for detail, it was difficult to tell the difference from just the footprints and claw marks around here.
“The little wolf can’t even survive, right? Has the Forest of Change become such a great land?”
If my analysis was not wrong, this area was much more dangerous than I had expected. You had to be at least a Blood Wolf to survive. This fact seemed to not be known to the outside world yet.
“There must be a commander. What kind of a guy is he? The ruler of the forest who succeeded the branded orc.”
At first I found a few footprints, then a noisy mix of footprints. It was clear that something had collided in this area.
The traces were similar to the blood wolves I was looking for. It seemed like two large wolves were fighting something. The identity of that something was soon revealed.
“The orc got hit. Nice job.”
The orc was dead, face down on the ground. It was similar in build to the one we had fought before, but this one had no mark on its forehead.
“Is the cause of death a sword wound on the abdomen? No, it seems to be the poison from the sword.”
Occasionally there were monsters that carried deadly poison.
However, it was rare for an intelligent being to use poison on a sword. Orcs did not use poison because of their warrior pride. Orc shamans used poison, but with this level of swordsmanship, they would have chosen the honorable warrior profession instead of a shaman.
“I stabbed him from below. That was the work of a short guy. He’s very fast, strong, and smart. Could he be a mutant?”
He was also called the Earth Spirit. He was a gentle monster that did not attack humans unless they were provoked first.
It is said that it blooms from flowers, but only four people in human history have ever seen its birth.
There was no way the land where monsters lived could be safe. They would fight each other and fight each other. It was an inevitable choice if they wanted to survive. The problem was when they killed their opponents but did not eat them.
Following the blood wolf’s trail, another corpse was discovered. This time, it was an orc. However, this time, the orc was cut down from the shoulder to the lower abdomen by three sharp objects instead of a sword.
“I tore it apart with a single slash of my claws. Has there ever been a monster around here with this much strength?”
I had a list of monsters living around Hebron and Zailson in my head. Any monster with this level of strength would have to be an ogre or a troll, but they hadn’t been seen in the area for over a century.
Because of the zelkova trees, the forest ecosystem was quite clear. Only in areas without zelkova trees did life exist. This was because the zelkova trees absorbed moisture and released heat. On the other hand, the zelkova mushrooms, which had adapted to the heat of the zelkova trees, grew luxuriantly.
‘According to ancient medicine, taking oyster mushrooms can cure cold constitutions. Later, I will dig up oyster mushrooms and boil them to feed to people with cold hands and feet. If it is proven to be effective, I will feed it to Mrs. Brown and give some to Elle.’
Rustle. Rustle.
Careless things have come near.
I stepped behind a tree and watched the approaching men.
The ones that emerged from the bushes were lower-level monsters, Ratrolls.
‘A rat with excellent resilience. It’s not very strong, but it’s a bothersome monster when more than 20 of them swarm around.’
The hunter’s point of view was that it was annoying. For a spirit master, twenty rattrolls were laughable.
“Inferno.”
The fire spirit burrowed into the forest, burning the head of the rattroll that had just emerged, and sending flames to the ones behind it one after another.
Their heads were burning like candles, and it looked like a wildfire was spreading.
“There are so many people here.”
The heads of what must have been at least 50 Ratrolls were set ablaze. They thrashed in agony, but there was nothing in the vicinity that could put out the spirit fire.
The best thing to do was to rub my head on the dirt.
I ran towards Ratroll.
If the fire were to spread, it would be an unmanageable situation. A huge price could have been paid to the Jailson family.
“That’s enough, Inferno.”
The spirit fire did not burn the forest.
It was thanks to the control of my power that those who were not suffocated by the spirit’s displeasure had their throats cut off by my sword.
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Holy crap!
The rattol, slightly larger than a raccoon, had a long and thin neck, making it easy to cut.
Its resilience is comparable to that of a troll, so if you fail to cut off its neck in one go, it quickly recovers and charges.
Holy crap!
‘One, two, three, four, … … fifty, fifty-one.’
A total of 51 ratrol necks were collected and placed in one place.
If you collect these and sell them, you can make money.
‘I need to sell Ratroll’s ears to the mercenary guild in Zailson.’
In large cities like Zyleson, monster hunting was done by requesting mercenary guilds. Since the cost of maintaining a regular army was not small, they entrusted the mercenaries with extremely dangerous tasks.
They cut off Ratroll’s ears and gathered them, and burned the rest.
As the foul smell spread in all directions, I felt eyes on the forest, perhaps provoking some of the guys.
‘Is it because the forest is so big? There are a lot of wild animals.’
It may seem like the hunting grounds of noble families would be overflowing with wild beasts and animals, but in reality, this was not the case. Even skilled hunters had to track their prey in order to hunt them.
Still, there were more days of failed hunting than days of successful hunting.
Encountering monsters with every step you take is something that is only possible in the legendary magical realm.
“But why did it end up like this? Is it because of the trickster?”
Rustle.
One of them jumped out, shaking the bushes.
I stopped walking as I was about to cut off the bastard’s head in one go.
“Blood wolf?”
My tracking skills were accurate.
It wasn’t my thing yet, but I thought I would get used to it as I wandered through the forest.
I did find the blood wolf, but it was very small.
It was about the size of a mutt that roamed the Hebron estate, and it seemed like it would take more than two years to be able to be ridden.
“Where are your parents?”
There was no way the blood wolf could understand what I was saying.
The guy was wary of me.
Then, when I reached out my hand, he backed away and barked.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
The blood wolf cub trembled. But it didn’t run far. It kept looking back, as if it was being chased by something.
“If I don’t have a Blood Wolf, I’ll have to take you in and raise you. It’s unlikely that Ambrod will be able to mount a Blood Wolf and be active right away anyway. If I train a Blood Wolf, I can use it as a guard dog.”
170 years ago, a man named Svilo succeeded in taming a blood wolf. Although Svilo was bitten to death by a blood wolf in his later years, it is said that they lived together peacefully for about 10 years.
“Don’t be afraid. I have no intention of killing you.”
I lowered my posture to match the eye level of the Blood Wolf cub. I read in the book that conversations with Blood Wolf begin by slowly closing and opening your eyes.
Squeak.
The blood wolf took a step back. The red fur on its body trembled.
It wasn’t because I was afraid. An image formed in the blood wolf’s eyes. Something huge filled the guy’s eyes.
I leaned my upper body forward and reached out to the blood wolf. The moment the creature’s fur caught my hand, I kicked the ground and unleashed my magic.
Sardia’s maneuver technique.
Kwaaang!
There was a heavy sound where I was standing.
The aftershock of the impact chased me, shaking my clothes. It sent a hot heat through my hair. I held out my sword and prepared to counterattack. But the opponent did not attack me. Instead, he just looked at me once and disappeared.
‘assassin?’
The guy I saw at first glance was something beyond my expectations.
He wasn’t a mutant.
‘A goblin?’
I caught a glimpse of something like a stain on his forehead. I’m not sure, but it looked like a brand.
The goblin assassin didn’t run away. I could feel his sticky gaze. The blood wolf in my hand also dangled and turned its head around.
“Can you feel where he is?”
Hyulrang shook his head frantically.
I put the blood-lion puppy down on the floor. The little guy shook his head with his tongue out, and at one point he barked like a dog.
Kaaaaang!
The goblin assassin was after me.
Thanks to Hyulrang’s advance warning, I was able to strike back at his dagger.
“I won’t miss it this time.”
The goblin tried to disappear again, but I didn’t give him a chance to catch his breath.
Kaang!
The assassin blocked my sword. His eyes widened.
It was because I was pushed out of power.
