The Northern Forest
The next day.
After finishing breakfast, the private soldiers found Joseph lined up.
“Well, what are you thinking?”
“We want to go north.”
The eyes of the three soldiers were more serious than ever.
They must have been talking about something before sleeping last night and made up their minds.
“Why did you decide that?”
Joseph asked reluctantly.
Then Auk answered.
“First of all... as Rento said yesterday, it's obvious that it helps with training.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
“Yes. But with the remaining supplies, it seems we won't be able to stay long in the northern forest for exploration.”
Joseph showed a puzzled expression at that.
“Hm? So you mean we can't enter?”
“That's why we want to just circle the outskirts of the northern forest.”
“Just the outskirts of the forest?”
Auk stopped there and looked at Derek.
Derek started explaining the specific plan to Joseph as if waiting.
Joseph let out a chuckle as if it were a group project presentation.
“Given that the remaining supplies aren't very abundant right now, exploring the forest won't be easy.”
“That’s right.”
“So, after checking the outskirts of the northern forest where the abandoned campsites are, as Rento said yesterday, it might be good to return directly to Caladon.”
It meant departing north today, passing through the campsites, and then circling largely counterclockwise back to Caladon.
“Avoiding contact with demonic beasts as much as possible, but obtaining the necessary information and supplies and leaving.”
“...Alright.”
Joseph nodded his head while keeping his expression as expressionless as possible after hearing the soldiers' stories.
It would have been close to showing a startled face to them.
Wow, look at these guys?
Actually, Joseph had thought about this to some extent.
It was a plan to maximize gains in the current situation.
However, what surprised him now was the judgment of these guys who had grown rapidly in just over ten days from the mansion to here, like crazy.
...They have really good heads, don't they?
Of course, they had watched Joseph follow them and observed from the side, and since they had trained, they had some expectations.
But even considering that, their judgment was quite good.
Fortunately...
Suddenly, Joseph thought about how it would have been if he had had a teacher like that guiding him at the beginning.
He had grown up by banging his head on the ground, so to speak.
He felt a bit complicated emotions and nodded his head.
“Have you heard about the demonic beasts coming out from the north?”
“Yes. Most are flying insect demonic beasts, and since they don't come out well in bright places, we probably won't encounter them unless we're unlucky.”
“What about the Cry Peeper?”
“He comes out guided by the scent of blood... but it should be fine for now.”
During the five days of training, there was no one who got seriously injured.
If it were just mercenaries, there might have been injured people, but since Joseph was with the group basically.
The corpses of hunted demonic beasts were immediately drained of blood and smoked as per Joseph's instructions, so it didn't seem likely that they would be attracted by the scent of blood.
“Then, are we departing right away?”
“Yes, since we don't know exactly how far the northern forest extends, it would be better to check before it gets dark and then retreat.”
“Alright, then do that.”
After Joseph confirmed, the soldiers immediately gave instructions to the mercenaries.
The mercenaries, perhaps guessing what decisions the soldiers would make, had already half-packed their luggage before giving the instructions.
Unlike when departing from the city, the carriage was filled with the wriggling bodies of demonic beasts.
Joseph saw this and slightly twisted his expression.
They had peeled the skin and smoked them, but the demonic beast corpses piled up like meat in a butcher shop wasn't a pretty sight.
Moreover, since Joseph didn't eat the demonic beast meat, even more so.
The carriage moved slowly.
The speed was about half of when they came from Caladon to here.
Since we have to be cautious, it's unavoidable.
Unlike the beginning, now they were going north along the right side, skirting the Harbert Forest.
Although demonic beasts don't come out well from the forest, it couldn't be helped.
After moving north for nearly half a day, something appeared far away.
“It's a campsite!”
The mercenary walking at the front shouted.
“Are there people?”
“No! It looks like an abandoned campsite!”
When he peeked out from the carriage, tents were visible on one side of the road.
However, it seemed abandoned for a long time, with holes here and there and half-collapsed.
Rolling pots were seen scattered on the floor here and there.
As per Rento's words, it seemed that some unsuspecting people had set up camp and met with misfortune.
“Move slowly!”
Derek, who was moving next to the carriage, shouted.
Then the carriage's speed slowed even more.
The group stopped the carriage near the abandoned campsite and slowly entered.
“What's there?”
“...There are abandoned supplies.”
The mercenary who was rummaging through the campsite pointed at something in response to Joseph's question.
Several old wooden boxes were placed next to the tents, and inside them were old clothes.
“Nothing special, I guess.”
“Yes. It seems they just left these and ran away.”
Since there were no corpses or bones visible around, the merchant who was here probably threw away heavy things and fled.
“What should we do?”
One of the mercenaries asked cautiously to the soldiers.
Then Derek subtly looked back at Joseph.
What Joseph promised was nothing but byproduct of demonic beasts, not spoils of the campsite.
Otherwise, due to Rento's mistake, they couldn't just pick up and take without hesitation.
“First, load only those that seem to have some value onto the carriage.”
Joseph replied that they would think about the spoils when they return to the city.
If there might be something useful among the spoils.
“Understood!”
The mercenaries, how they understood Joseph's intention, suddenly became brisk and moved.
After packing the luggage appropriately, the carriage moved again.
After that, several abandoned campsites were found, all leaving only similar items.
“These seem like someone already looted them first, right?”
One of the mercenaries walking along the carriage said that.
Joseph agreed with that.
Actually, when he first heard about the abandoned campsites, he had been curious.
Of course, traveling merchants don't carry particularly good items.
Still, maybe not.
The first magic book he received from the Bari Village chief was said to have been obtained from a traveling merchant.
There was a vague hope that something might be obtained if lucky.
But looking at the appearance of the campsites, it seemed that someone had already been there.
“Another one is visible!”
Then the front mercenary shouted again.
His voice was a bit drawn out, as if repeating the same thing many times.
“Eh...?”
“Wait, a moment!”
Then suddenly, he stopped.
Clank!
And because of that, the carriage also stopped urgently.
As the inside rattled, Joseph poked his head out.
“What is it?”
“Ma, Master!”
Then one mercenary pointed forward.
When he turned his gaze, something was moving in the campsite.
“...It doesn't look like people.”
It seemed to have more legs than a person.
It had wings too.
“Demonic beast.”
“Yeah. Those are the bug-like demonic beasts I mentioned.”
In the campsite, large moths and flies-like things were flapping their wings once.
“Shit...”
Joseph frowned without realizing and got out of the carriage.
When he got down, the soldiers also started gathering the mercenaries with a glance.
And soon, they formed a training formation.
“What are we going to do?”
Derek answered Joseph's question.
“Those look like giant moths and leech flies. If it's just those, it seems we can handle them somehow...”
Derek pointed at the carriage with supplies.
There were a few throwing spears used by the mercenaries inside, so they could ambush with skilled ones.
But the problem wasn't that.
“The presence of leech flies is a bit worrying.”
Leech flies were literally flies that sucked blood.
However, because their size was only pumpkin-sized, they didn't target living animals easily.
Several of those were wandering around the campsite without flying.
“There are corpses, then.”
It was probably not long since they died.
“Yes, and since there are those...”
There is blood that the leech flies can suck.
That means they are scattering the scent of blood around.
Cry Peeper.
Joseph reflexively looked up.
Rento called it a crow, but thinking about its characteristics, it was closer to a vulture no matter how you thought.
He had heard about crows rummaging through trash cans, but he hadn't heard of them seeking out corpses.
If it's a vulture-like creature...
It was likely already watching the situation from a high place after smelling the scent.
And soon, from that high place.
A small dot entered Joseph's field of vision.
There were several of them.
Joseph quietly pointed to the sky.
Other people's gazes followed his fingers to the sky.
“Hah!”
“Quiet. Calm down. They don't seem to be thinking of landing yet.”
They didn't seem to be thinking of landing.
But it was certain that they had come here guided by the scent of blood in the front.
“Does the Cry Peeper attack living people?”
“...I don't know.”
It was natural.
If you face such a group of demonic beasts head-on, you would die unless you're lucky.
Since there were no survivors, there was no one who knew.
“Turn the carriage's direction. We're returning.”
On Joseph's instruction, the soldiers and mercenaries quickly turned the direction.
“The fact that there are corpses over there is a bit worrying, but there's no need to fight with such guys just to check that.”
“Yes, that's right.”
When Joseph said that, everyone nodded quickly.
Whether training or curiosity, it didn't add up to confronting such guys head-on.
It was better to quietly avoid them before they noticed.
“Waaaaah!”
But at that moment.
The mercenary who was chasing behind the carriage suddenly rolled on the ground.
“Ah!”
He threw the weapon he was holding and grabbed his ankle.
Through the gap in the hand grabbing his ankle, red liquid began to flow out.
“Hic! Ugh!”
He tried to scream again but bit his teeth desperately.
But, no matter how quietly he did now, the sound wouldn't disappear.
Boooooo!!
Soon, a bad sound began to echo from the direction of the campsite.
The sound of hundreds of thin, smooth wings flapping.
“What! What's going on!”
The people who were ahead quickly turned around.
Joseph immediately poked his head out of the carriage.
“Th, that!”
One mercenary pointed to the ground.
The front's gaze turned there.
A bit behind the fallen mercenary.
A sharp thing like a mantis's front leg sprouted from the ground.
Flame Bite!