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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Furthermore, we had knowledge to distinguish edible things, so there was no worry of starving.
‘In the last round, I had even experienced life at the bottom.’
I knew more information necessary for survival than I had thought.
“It’s thrilling to go out after a long time.”
Thea seemed quite nervous.
“It’s okay. Our teacher will be with us the whole time.”
Athena reassured Thea.
The plan was to create a base camp close to the center for scouting and expand the search range from there.
‘Since we have a lot of luggage, we can’t carry it all around.’
Thea and Kayla were mainly going to guard that base camp, and since most of the luggage would be left at the base camp, it was only natural to have someone guarding it.
In terms of efficiency, it was more suitable for Athena and me to do the scouting rather than Kayla with her injured leg, so it was inevitable for the two of them to stay behind.
‘Still, Athena and Kayla will occasionally switch for rest.’
I had no intention of resting at all.
I planned to finish the scouting mission as quickly as possible and head to that cave.
I checked the map I had received from the lord and set the direction.
‘For today, we should go to the Evergreen Forest Village and rest for a day.’
It couldn’t be helped. The destination was far, and from that village onward, it was the land of monsters, so there weren’t even proper roads.
The Owalan territory was expanding diagonally, centered around the first village, the castle.
Unlike the northeastern side, which had expanded relatively quickly, the southwestern side had completely stopped pioneering after establishing only one village, and the area I had to scout this time was this southwestern direction.
The reason for the halt in pioneering was simple. The territory’s resources were insufficient to expand simultaneously in both directions.
The baron thought that the northeastern side would be slightly easier to develop than the southwestern side, so he concentrated his capabilities in that direction.
As a result, it was a good choice. In fact, they had succeeded in constructing three villages, including the one that had been successfully pioneered this time, in the northeastern direction.
On the contrary, the neglected southwestern side had only one village.
By the way, southeast of the castle was the territory of the Siglen Count’s family, and the northwest was all monster territory. In fact, it could be considered that they were gradually eating away at the monster territory and expanding human territory.
‘Some distance to the southwest, there was a new pioneering territory, if I recall.’
That place also collapses along with the monster wave.
If the pioneering had progressed smoothly, the Owalan Barony and that place might have become neighboring territories.
‘They all perish.’
I left the house and headed towards the Evergreen Forest Village, following the path.
It was called a path, but it was just a trace of people having passed through.
Therefore, we couldn’t move quickly, and since the distance was quite far, we had to move diligently.
Nevertheless, as a result of steady movement, we were able to reach the Evergreen Forest Village before the day ended.
At first, the villagers were wary of us, but as soon as they saw the badge engraved with the lord’s seal, their attitude changed.
It was something I had received upon becoming an honorary soldier, and it could be considered a higher-level identification badge than the one I had been using.
Upon receiving the news of our visit, the village chief immediately rushed over to greet us personally and treated us with utmost hospitality, even offering his own house as our accommodation.
After finishing the meal, I separately called out the village chief.
“Did you call for me, Sir Knight?”
Even though I told him I was only treated as a squire, not a knight, the village chief never changed the way he addressed me.
Anyway, since it was just a village we were passing through, I didn’t bother arguing and let it slide.
“I need to scout the area by order of the lord, so could you tell me about the recent situation around here?”
“Recent situation, you say…”
It would be best to know about the territories of the surrounding monsters, but I didn’t think he would know that much.
“Anything is fine, such as monsters appearing nearby, newly emerged magical beasts, suspicious sightings, whatever you have.”
At my words, the village chief thought for a moment and then began to provide information one by one.
“The monsters appearing recently are not much different from before. However, their numbers have increased, and the frequency of their appearances has also risen. Magical beasts are occasionally seen as well, but they don’t attack the village.”
He said that the monsters don’t attack the village in tribal units.
There were cases where herbalists or hunters were occasionally attacked, but that had happened in the past as well, so it wasn’t anything unusual.
‘It’s a familiar occurrence in frontier regions.’
In that sense, the location of Nenson’s house was subtle. Despite being quite far from the castle, it had never been attacked by monsters or magical beasts.
“As for sightings…”
The village chief hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“Well, they say they have seen orcs.”
“Orcs? Aren’t orcs commonly seen from time to time?”
“Yes. Since the pioneering stage, orcs have been frequently spotted. However, their village is far away from our village, so there was no reason for us to clash. But I heard a strange story from an herbalist before.”
“A strange story?”
“That… they saw orcs conversing like humans…”
“Don’t tell me, that orc, did it have horns?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right. They definitely mentioned something like that…”
“That herbalist, can you call them now?”
“I’m sorry. They recently passed away in an accident…”
It seemed they had died.
It’s not an uncommon occurrence.
This village was built facing the land of monsters. Danger was always nearby.
‘Even if it’s not here, it’s not a strange world to die at any time.’
Since there was no more useful information after the orc information, I sent the village chief back.
‘Horned orcs have already appeared.’
Horned orcs.
They are a race that joins the alliance of different races in the future and are generally an upgraded version of orcs.
‘I heard they used to live in the Great Forest.’
Well, this Monster Forest is also a part of the Great Forest, to be honest.
Although its level is incomparably lower compared to the Great Forest.
Unlike orcs, they can properly communicate and even use high-level magic depending on the individual.
There are even those who use aura.
It’s not that there aren’t exceptionally intelligent individuals among orcs, and there are definitely some who use primitive sorcery or mana, but their numbers are extremely low compared to horned orcs.
Orcs also converse among themselves. However, horned orcs are fundamentally different.
‘They have a clear language that can be learned. Moreover, their average intelligence is high enough to learn the languages of other races.’
In the future, horned orcs are treated as a superior species to orcs because they can communicate with humans and other races.
It’s not for nothing that they end up joining the alliance of different races.
‘If their territory is nearby, it’s better to give up on expansion.’
Unlike orcs, they are beings who can communicate and think. However, they are not orcs for nothing. Once they get angry, there’s no stopping them, and once they enter combat, they become very cruel.
‘Could it be related to the monster wave?’
In the end, it wasn’t fully revealed as the pioneering territories were completely abandoned, but the possibility of horned orcs leading the monster wave was low.
‘At this point… they should be in the midst of a war.’
I don’t know the exact story either. However, based on the rumors I heard, that was the case.
But if there are witnesses to this extent, it means they are in this vicinity…
‘There’s no need to… purposely seek them out.’
For now, I’ll leave them alone. There’s no reason for me to make contact with horned orcs right now, so I had no choice but to wait and see for the time being.
I just planned to finish the given request properly, visit the cave to conquer it, take the artifact, and return.
Nearly half a year had passed since I had regressed, so the monster wave wasn’t far off.
‘Even excluding horned orcs, it’s true that the number of individual monsters has increased.’
In other words, we had to be a bit more careful in scouting.
As planned, we rested for a full day and left the Evergreen Forest Village.
From here, there was virtually no development at all, so there were no roads, and it was an environment where battles with monsters could occur at any time.
Simply put, from here on, it was the territory of monsters.
“Thea, get on the wagon, Athena, be on the lookout on the left and right, and Kayla, watch the rear.”
“Got it.”
I checked the map and led the party.
‘We don’t need to worry about the goblins’ territory… Hmm, it’s larger than what was marked. Indeed, the overall forces have grown. This area is the habitat of giant white-striped spiders, so let’s avoid it…’
Still, since it was a place that had been scouted at least once before, it wasn’t difficult to find a safe path.
We moved while checking what we could along the way, so we inevitably had to camp out.
“When are we going to make the base camp?”
“We need to go for two more days. We have to move as carefully as possible, so it can’t be helped.”
As we scouted and moved, seeking only the safest places, our speed was slow.
“It’s kind of creepy with monsters all around. If we get surrounded, it’s over, isn’t it?”
“Even if it’s someone’s territory, they don’t keep constant surveillance, and most of them rest in ambiguous places, so that won’t happen.”
Moreover, the territories weren’t clearly defined from where to where, so it was fine.
If we were to settle down permanently, it would be a different story, but the possibility of being surrounded just by camping out for a day was low.
“Besides, we’re using boundary stones, so we can quickly detect if monsters or magical beasts approach.”
“Indeed, artifacts are convenient. It would be really nice to have one of these.”
“Don’t covet it. It’s expensive.”
When I roughly explained the price, Athena’s face turned gloomy.
We had earned a considerable amount of money, but Athena knew that most of it had been used.
She had been told that their equipment wasn’t ordinary.
“With that money… I’d rather just light a fire with my own hands and take night watch shifts…”
Perhaps because she knew the value of money, she immediately shed her attachment to the artifact.
‘Even if you want to buy it, it’s hard to purchase anyway.’
Artifacts can’t be bought by just anyone.
Even if I asked Kuman, I would probably have to wait for a long time to be able to buy one.
‘Even if Kuman has established a formal trade relationship with the Magic Tower, the quantity sold is determined according to grade.’
Establishing a formal trade relationship with the Magic Tower is not an easy task, and I heard that raising the grade is incomparably more difficult.
As expected, after two more nights of camping, we were able to reach our destination and also determine a place to use as a base camp after checking the surroundings.
“Hmm… There are quite a few of them…”
It was good that we found a perfect spot for a base camp, but it already had an owner.
“They’re goblins, but there are a lot of them. Why don’t we just find another place?”
“I expected a good location to have an owner. We’ll just sweep them away and take over there.”
“We have to sweep them away with four, no, three people, but there are over 100 of them. It won’t be easy, right?”
Even though they’re goblins, when there are that many, it’s a different story. Moreover, goblins also carry poison, so no matter how much they’re treated as the lowest-level monsters, we absolutely can’t let our guard down.
‘There’s even a saying that goblins are the monsters that kill the most low-level mercenaries.’
Goblins are weak monsters, but once their numbers start to exceed ten, the numbers themselves become a weapon.
On top of that, they’re also clever, so it’s not surprising that low-level mercenaries are often defeated by goblins.
Even a party could be wiped out if they encounter a large number of goblins.
Of course, at our level, just because there are a little over a hundred of them doesn’t mean we can’t handle them.
With just Kayla and me, we could sweep them all away. It would take time, though.
However, what Athena was worried about was that there was no way to deal with them quietly.
It would inevitably become noisy around us, and since there were monsters scattered all around, it was certainly burdensome to cause a commotion.
“Even if there are no other monsters besides goblins nearby, it’s still burdensome.”
“But there’s no place as good as here. We also need to start as soon as possible due to the request period.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll finish it as quickly as possible, and I plan to secure an escape route just in case.”
Moreover, I planned to make sure there would be no troublesome survivors left behind.
“…Okay. I guess it can’t be helped.”
Considering the request period, we certainly didn’t have time to spare, so Athena had no choice but to nod her head.
I understood the reason for her concern. Since her powerless younger sister was included in the party, she would want to avoid danger as much as possible.
However, this was work, and consideration also had its limits.
The skeleton’s debut was approaching before our eyes.
In case of any situation, we evacuated the luggage and Thea to a safe place.
We also installed boundary stones and made arrangements so that Athena could rush over immediately if something happened, so there was no problem with safety.
‘That’s also the escape route.’
Since it was the escape route I had in mind, it was easy to get out as well.
“As I said, we’ll finish it as quickly as possible.”
Since it was a battle against over 100 goblins, we couldn’t prevent the commotion, so I planned to at least shorten the time.
I immediately activated the engraving and summoned the skeleton.
“Ah, you’re finally using that. But it seems a bit different from when I first saw it.”
“I upgraded it.”
When I first summoned it, the white bones had turned slightly black, and besides the engraving on the skull, various patterns were engraved like tattoos, so it certainly looked very different from when I first summoned it.
“…It makes me realize once again that the master is a Warlock.”
“I made and used zombies last time, you know.”
“That’s… true, but…”
I had also used curse magic, but it seemed she didn’t feel much difference from regular magic.
I handed the skeleton a wooden shield and a spare sword, then spoke.
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