The Riverbank Hunt
Joseph immediately gathered the village residents.
“Search the riverbank area. Bring out anything usable as a weapon.”
The villagers looked at each other.
- He said he’d exterminate the mana beasts, so is he trying to make us the bait!
They had expressions like that.
But, as expected, no one objected.
'What if I don't?'
Of course, Joseph also wanted to resolve it with himself and the soldiers if possible.
He had no expectation at all from these people who hadn’t been properly trained.
But such a simple search couldn’t be done with just six people. People had to be sacrificed for results.
Joseph divided the group into three and instructed them to find traces of the mana beasts.
“The mana beasts have thick brown fur and emit a strong foul smell.”
More precisely, it smelled like a wet dog that hadn’t been washed after getting soaked in rain.
Since it was similar to wild dog mana beasts, their basic characteristics were similar to dogs.
“Move as slowly as possible and search for traces. Report anything immediately.”
The soldiers naturally formed a group with Joseph.
After positioning the guy they were using as bait a good distance ahead, they decided to follow behind.
He seemed to have relaxed, thinking the other villagers were also bait, but soon his face turned sour.
Thus, the village residents searched the riverbank as a group.
They scoured the reed fields and the entrance to the forest beyond.
“We found something!”
Soon, they found clumps of hair, scattered feces, and footprints.
And the traces continued into the mountain inside the river.
“Is there anyone familiar with the mountain path?”
Joseph asked the villagers, but no one answered.
The mountain was beyond the river.
Unless there was some special reason, no one would cross the river to climb the mountain.
At best, they might wander around the lower part of the mountain to gather insufficient firewood.
'I have to climb up to know, huh…….'
Joseph looked at the mountain and clicked his tongue.
Up until now, he hadn’t had good luck searching inside mountains.
He had only encountered dangerous creatures like black beasts and ogres.
But he couldn’t not go.
The situation was different from last time with the bandits on the hill.
Unlike the guys guarding the sparsely populated pass, if he didn’t solve the mana beast problem immediately, the villagers would obviously perish soon.
'I already received the reward.'
Joseph had already taken the Book of Wind.
It was a trust-based commission contract that was never common in this world.
Moreover, there were soldiers watching, so it couldn’t be easily ignored.
He could run away after taking just the grimoire, but he didn’t feel like it.
“Gather those who can climb the mountain.”
After instructing Refn, he checked his internal mana once.
Who knew what would happen when confronting mana beasts in the mountains.
With no means to recover mana now, he had to be even more cautious than before.
The soldiers took out shields from the carriage.
They were shields with the Valois count’s emblem drawn on them, hidden in the carriage like flags.
“W-we’ll bring something too!”
The villagers, seeing this, each brought things usable as shields from their homes.
There were old wooden shields, and some even brought pot lids.
One of them was given to the bait and placed at the front.
“If something comes out, swing the shield upward. If done well, it will just break the shield.”
It was advice from experience, but the bait’s expression wasn’t good.
Thus, the search party was formed.
Surrounded by soldiers around Joseph, with other villagers in front.
“It would be better not to place soldiers on the outer edge, wouldn’t it?”
Refn wanted to place soldiers on the outer edge of the group.
Because soldiers familiar with fighting would react faster on the outside.
But Joseph shook his head.
“They are guys who hide in the reeds and ambush people. They’ll target places with weak defense.”
Malicious mana beasts don’t come head-on.
They hide in the dark and target the easiest spot.
If he placed villagers around him, it would expose him to ambush.
“Indeed, that’s right.”
Upon Joseph’s words, Refn quickly agreed.
Since Joseph’s main firepower was the search party, protecting him was the top priority.
The group slowly climbed the mountain.
“Nothing is visible?”
The sun was high, and the trees weren’t particularly dense, so the surroundings were quite visible.
The only things visible were occasionally some quick birds passing by.
Others thought similarly, so there was little tension.
“Don’t be complacent. Be careful in places with lush grass or above your head. If ambushed, you’ll die in one blow.”
Joseph recalled when he was attacked by the black beast.
Of course, since it was a wild dog mana beast, it probably wouldn’t climb trees, but one could never know.
At those words, they finally started moving quietly.
“L-look, something is there.”
While climbing the mountain, the front bait pointed to a place.
It was the ground with rotten leaves falling.
“What’s there?”
When he got closer, he saw a small hole dug in the ground between the leaves.
It was covered with leaves to make it hard to notice from outside.
“A cave?”
The entrance of the cave was sized exactly for one person to crouch and enter.
“Just like an animal burrow?”
Someone said that, and the others nodded.
But Joseph wasn’t listening to their words at all.
He was just quietly staring at the entrance of the cave from behind.
'Something is there.'
He felt something flowing out from the entrance of the cave.
A mana residue or something else.
Suddenly, the broken pendant he had found in the northern mana beast cave flashed through his mind.
He couldn’t tell if it was the same residue he felt back then.
But it was definitely related to mana beasts.
“I have to go in and check.”
“Eh?”
Everyone’s expressions showed surprise at Joseph’s question.
But their serious expressions soon hardened.
It was starting to seem that this cave might be the mana beast’s cave they were looking for.
Eventually, they decided to send the bait.
They tied a string to the bait’s waist and gave him a torch and shield.
“If you see something, pull the string immediately.”
Pulling the string first from inside was the signal to come out, and pulling from outside was the signal to come out.
He nodded while looking like a dead man.
He might think, what kind of situation is this after trying to steal food.
While the bait was entering the cave, the remaining personnel searched the surroundings.
Then, additional traces were found near the cave entrance.
Rotten meat chunks, blood traces, and bones of mountain beasts.
“Didn’t you say the beast took a person?”
“Y-yes.”
At the village chief’s words, Joseph’s brows furrowed.
'No human bones.'
In the previous northern mana beast cave, there were plenty of human bones.
Things left after the beast ate and cleaned up the passersby.
But what was around here were only beast bones.
'Did it drag them inside the cave?'
Joseph instructed Refn to call the bait.
Refn pulled the string three times, like snapping it, now the signal to come out.
But waiting, no response came.
Instead, the string suddenly tightened.
At this, Joseph immediately ordered.
“Pull it with force!”
“H-heavy!”
The string was pulled taut, not seeming to loosen.
Instead, as people started being pulled, the soldiers also clung on.
Thinking it might break, but nothing happened.
Soon, the bait was dragged out dragging from the cave.
“U-uwah…….”
The bait was terrified, clutching the shield with both hands.
The torch was nowhere to be seen, as if thrown away.
“The shield is……!”
The eyes of those checking the bait widened.
Deep claw marks were gouged into the shield sent with him.
“It seems to be the mana beast’s cave.”
Unless it’s a bear or something, no one could crumple an iron-reinforced shield like this.
“Hey. Was there a mana beast inside?”
One soldier slapped the bait’s cheek, who was dazed and panting, and asked.
After hitting him about ten times, the guy flailed and quickly nodded.
“Y-yes! It was a guy with brown fur and dog-like appearance!”
He took a breath once, then slowly explained from when he entered.
“As I went in, the cave suddenly widened.”
“Widened? Is there a nest like an ant nest?”
“N-no. The passage itself was just high and wide. Like a mine cave.”
The bait seemed to have been about to return after confirming that, and immediately.
But suddenly, a mana beast jumped out and surprised him, making him drop the torch.
“There was water pooled on the floor, and because of that, the torch went out.”
He had no choice but to desperately push the shield.
Being pulled out from outside, he crouched desperately and pushed the shield, and when he returned to the narrow passage, the following mana beast disappeared.
'If I’m wrong about this, I’m dead……?'
No matter how much he thought, this mana beast hunt was impossible.
To hunt the mana beast, one had to explore an unknown dark cave, and fight mana beasts there that crumple shields.
With only six people!
It was crazy.
'Even if it’s Folmers, he probably wouldn’t say anything.'
Even if trading, he wouldn’t break the promise over this.
Joseph ordered to gather big rocks to block the entrance.
Fortunately, the entrance was small, so stacking stones would block it so he couldn’t come back out.
There might be another cave leading out, but he intended to block all visible ones.
After blocking all caves near the village first, it seemed he would have to think of other methods later.
At that time, Refn, who had been quietly watching from the side, opened his mouth.
“Master…… Could this place be a dungeon?”
“Dungeon?”
Joseph recalled the explanation Rekor had given about demonic energy.
Rekor had definitely said demonic energy flows from monsters’ bodies or dungeons.
Back then, the situation was urgent, so he didn’t ask and passed it.
“Do you know about dungeons?”
“Eh?”
Refn looked at the mage as if wondering why he was asking him that, but there was nothing he could do.
Joseph hadn’t learned about such things.
“They say there are mages who deliberately seek out dungeons. So you know, right…….”
At those words, Joseph’s expression became subtle.
What did that mean.
Mages who seek out dungeons.
Why seek places where mana beasts swarm.
'Is there something in the dungeon……?'
Curiosity bloomed in Joseph’s heart.
Mages are basically selfish creatures.
Above all, their own gain is the top priority.
Why would such guys seek out dungeons?
It looked like they were advertising something related to magic.
Upon hearing more from Refn, Zalier also seemed to try to find dungeons occasionally.
However, he didn’t go out to search directly because it was a territory at war.
'That greedy old man?'
Upon hearing that, his interest grew even more.
If a magic obsessed with his own safety was interested, there was definitely something there.