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Chapter 64




Chapter 64. The Sky is Blue, No, Red
Sure enough, the Hameun Great Forest was insane.
Keeek…!
Bang!
Monsters were popping up everywhere. Their variety was so vast that it was impossible to count.
Among them, the most numerous were, as expected, goblins. But were these really goblins?
‘What kind of build…’
Goblins, by definition, are about 1.5 meters tall, with a frail, child-like physique.
Yet, they were packed with lean muscles.
Plop, Bang!
I used the Ruby to precisely burst the goblins' heads and looked down at the ones sprawled on the ground.
About two meters in size.
Larger than a well-built adult male.
And what about those muscles?
‘They must have eaten well.’
It reminded me of Hikster, the second son of the Dolanpe family, a renowned martial arts lineage.
“Ugh, um… Sir Mage, may I take a closer look?”
“Sure.”
I stared at the goblin for a moment before stepping aside.
Riley was carrying a bundle of luggage on his shoulder, but he approached without any sign of the weight, crouching down to examine the goblins closely.
Unlike his traitorous appearance, Riley was quite diligent once we entered the Hameun Great Forest.
Look at him now.
“Hmm, as expected. These seem to be the goblins that formed a village near the Second Base Camp. We call them Kenti goblins…”
“Kenti?”
“Yeah, you know. The fruit that often appears on the nobles' tables… the one that enhances concentration.”
Hearing this, a memory came to mind.
Before deciding to go to the academy in Blando.
The already abundant meals suddenly increased in quantity and quality.
The food I ate back then was probably…
‘Right, the rack of the one-horned mountain goat from the Rakkan Mountains and the Kenti fruit salad.’
I didn’t remember every meal, but these two ingredients were always on the table, so they stuck in my mind.
“But why Kenti goblins? They don’t seem like the type to eat grass.”
“Oh, there’s a natural habitat of Kenti trees near their village. They also eat Kenti fruits. Goblins are… omnivores, after all.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Sir, may I continue examining them?”
I nodded, and Riley once again closely inspected the Kenti goblins.
He mainly examined their fingernails and toenails, including the soles of their feet…
After a moment, Riley looked up.
“Hmm, as expected.”
“What, what is it?”
Riley didn’t respond, instead pushing through the bushes where the goblins had emerged and examining the ground closely.
After a while.
“We should modify our route. If my guess is correct, the ecosystem around the Second Base Camp has pushed out to the outskirts. In fact, there aren’t many monsters near the Second Base Camp that would make the Kenti goblins flee.”
While not particularly special as individuals, they hunt in groups, placing them at the top of the ecosystem.
However.
“Look at their fingernails… they’re covered in dirt and tree bark. Their soles are full of scars. No matter how you look at it, they’ve clearly fled from something.”
He explained his reasoning, but to be honest, I didn’t quite understand.
Still, I could grasp his conclusion.
“So, we should modify our route?”
“Hmm, yes. I think it’s best. Ah! Of course, I’m not underestimating you, Sir Mages. But it might be better to avoid unverified variables… Ha ha.”
Riley laughed awkwardly and rubbed his hands together.
Despite his large, intimidating build, he seemed quite at ease, suggesting he had done this many times before.
Anyway.
“Alright, then. Are you okay with it?”
“…Yes.”
Obern nodded when I agreed.
Even if it means taking a longer route, we should avoid unverified variables.
I also agreed with this.
Whatever monster lies ahead, I was confident I could handle it, but we weren’t just crossing the Hameun Great Forest for a day or two.
Most importantly.
‘There’s nothing more fatal than an unverified risk.’
It’s not the brave lion that kills the elephant, but the venomous snake with its hidden fangs.
Anyway, it had been two days since we arrived at the Hameun Great Forest.
Our schedule was generally like this.
We would destroy the monsters that appeared, and Riley would set the direction based on the destroyed monsters.
Riley’s pathfinding was quite precise.
Look at him now.
Sssss—
My senses were stretched to their limit.
The presence of countless life forms in the great forest was felt through my skin.
And at the end of that.
A particularly clear and distinct presence.
‘…Hmm.’
I gathered my senses after recognizing this.
Perhaps because of the dense presence in the space, a fatigue several times greater than usual suddenly washed over me.
‘Definitely…’
I watched Riley, who was walking ahead.
He was constantly rolling his eyes, examining the surroundings, and from that alone, one could guess why he was called a ‘thug’ during his black-and-white zone days.
However, despite his appearance.
‘He’s competent.’
In the Hameun Great Forest, where life forms are extremely dense.
While it’s possible to set a path by maximizing one’s senses, the mental fatigue would set in before the physical.
In that sense, Riley was an excellent pathfinder.
How long did we push through the underbrush?
A few orcs and goblins emerged from the underbrush.
And after catching a few nameless beast-type monsters.
“Hmm, we’re almost there.”
Riley, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped.
Pushing through the underbrush, we approached and were met with an open landscape.
Tall, lush trees.
Dense, nameless underbrush.
A vast wetland spread out in that space.
A murky, yet clear, pond-like area stretched out like a river.
Riley spoke.
“Once we cross this wetland, we’ll reach the First Base Camp.”
The First Base Camp was close.
* * *
After arriving at the wetland.
Riley declared a rest and immediately set up a spot.
However, only Obern and I were resting. Riley got up right after setting up his spot.
“Sir Mages, please rest. I’ll go check the surroundings before we cross the wetland. It’s usually a safe area, but just in case.”
I sat on a suitable tree stump and waved my hand without a word.
Riley bowed respectfully and left.
The sun was setting.
‘We should cross quickly.’
Night travel is burdensome.
According to Riley, the day and night in the Hameun Great Forest are different.
So, does it mean that a different ecosystem unfolds in the same space?
However, the one who was truly anxious wasn’t me.
“…”
Obern, with a stern expression, was staring at the ground.
He had a gentle appearance, but the light in his eyes was firm.
Yet, the calm surface was rippling with an indescribable unease. I looked at him for a moment before turning away.
‘He has every reason to be anxious.’
Our destination was the Fourth Base Camp.
The Hameun Great Forest near Greentown.
The deepest of the four base camps, and to reach the Fourth Base Camp, we had to pass through the First, Second, and Third Base Camps.
There was a way to bypass them, but as Riley said:
- A pathfinder can’t handle every situation. The ecosystem around the base camps is best known by the base camps themselves. Especially in such times, it’s essential to gather information.
This method, though a bit slower, is more reliable.
Anyway.
‘It’s already been two days…’
It took a day longer than the usual schedule.
The First Base Camp isn’t located deep in the forest, so it usually takes only a day or a day and a half.
‘We might not arrive today either.’
Looking at the open sky above the wetland.
The sun was setting, and if we were a bit late, we’d be stuck.
Sitting there, lost in thought, a voice broke my reverie.
“…Senior.”
“…?”
I looked at Obern in surprise.
It was the second day since entering the Hameun Great Forest.
During this time, Obern hadn’t initiated a conversation once.
However.
“The monster wave… it’s probably coming soon, right?”
“…?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
What sudden talk about a monster wave?
“The ecosystem around the Second Base Camp has pushed out to the outskirts. For now, the monsters are instinctively staying in the Hameun Great Forest, but if more time passes….”
“They’ll burst out, I guess.”
“How many will die?”
“Who knows.”
It wasn’t a topic that interested me much.
Greentown was already preparing for evacuation, and the vast Demur Plain stretched beyond the Hameun Great Forest.
No matter how many monsters burst out, would they really affect nearby territories or cities?
‘That’s uncertain.’
They might look numerous from up close, but they won’t march like an army.
They’ll likely hide in the mountains to survive.
However, Obern’s thoughts seemed different.
“Indeed… even if it means pushing ourselves, we should have found and eliminated the Destrue quickly.”
“…”
“I was shortsighted. The Destrue wasn’t the only problem….”
The boy clenched his teeth, seemingly frustrated.
I watched him silently and asked.
“Was that what you were worried about?”
“Huh?”
“Since entering the Hameun Great Forest, your expression has been dark. Was it because of that?”
“…Ah, yes. Though I’m embarrassed, I froze when I saw the orc rider. If I, who can use magic, froze, what about ordinary people? Thinking about that….”
He started pouring out his feelings without being asked.
“…Hmm, I see.”
I nodded after watching him for a moment.
I didn’t know what to say.
What could I say?
‘He’s too pure.’
Too pure, even.
It felt like our ways of thinking were completely different.
Like when I first met Henji. When I saw his masked face, I had a similar feeling.
In other words…
Opposites.
How could he be worried about something that might not even happen, and about a stranger, not his own master?
“Ugh.”
I felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns and subtly turned my gaze.
I was waiting for Riley to return, but Obern’s chatter didn’t stop there.
“It’s my fault. Because of my inadequacy, I held back my master.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“If I had trained a bit more, I could have found the Destrue’s ruins and eliminated it by now….”
“Yeah, I get it.”
The sky is blue.
No, it’s red.
The sun is setting, so it’s naturally red.
But the murky water of the wetland, despite reflecting the red sunset, didn’t turn red.
Faced with someone like Obern, the only thoughts I could have were these.
Despite the two days, he kept talking non-stop, which was truly unbearable.
Just as this painful time was passing.
Rustle.
The underbrush rustled.
“…”
The face that appeared beyond it was, as expected, the excellent slave… no, pathfinder Riley.
But why?
“…?”
Riley’s face was tense.
“So, you will definitely find the Destrue and…?”
Oberon, who had been talking non-stop, also sensed something strange and shut his mouth.
As silence fell between us.
Riley spoke.
“R, run… Run, Sir Mages. Right now, right now…!”
Even in his urgency, he didn’t raise his voice.
But his movements were swift, and he was so anxious that he practically dragged Obern and me along.
While muttering something.
“W, what is he doing here…? His territory is far… No, this has never happened before.”
Utterly incomprehensible.
I silently followed the pale-faced Riley. And at that moment.
Grrrrr—
From beyond the underbrush.
A massive roar echoed from the wetland.
The sound alone made the surrounding mountains and trees tremble, and I instinctively became alert.
I stopped in my tracks, pulled by Riley’s hand, and looked in the direction of the sound.
Perhaps he was flustered by my lack of movement.
Riley’s panicked voice reached me.
“I, it’s the master of the swamp. Hurry, we must run. We can survive as long as we don’t step in the water. We can survive. So, hurry…!”
“The master of the swamp?”
The second day in the Hameun Great Forest.
The master of the swamp.
The first danger I encountered in the great forest.
The first monster that had devoured countless adventurers and mercenaries over the years.