Chapter 26. Mountain Range

The dense, broadleaf forest at the foot of the mountain range.

“Let’s get going.”

“Yes, sir.”

I ascended the mountain, leading Jebeon and his mercenaries.

Maybe because it’s the foothills? There were a few people on the mountain, but even though it’s a mountain range, the lower slopes didn’t seem too dangerous.

“By the way, what was your mercenary group’s name again?”

Since it would take time to reach the mid-region of the mountain anyway, I asked Jebeon, figuring we might as well chat.

Come to think of it, I’ve only been calling him Jebeon; I didn’t know his mercenary group’s name.

“Us, sir? It’s… the Black Wolf Mercenary Group.”

“Ah, you guys are Black Wolf?”

“...It’s just a name we came up with when we were young and foolish.”

“And such fools are going to capture a Werewolf.”

I heard that for normal-sized monsters like Werewolves, they capture them by pulling out all their teeth and claws, tying them up tightly, and stuffing them into sacks.

Humans are the cruelest, after all.

“Huh.”

Well, the weather’s nice, at least.

It’s perfectly cool, good for hiking.

Well….

*Clank clank.*

It might be a bit much to come fully armed though.

Me, I’m only wearing the buff coat I received as a gift, a knife, and the water bottle I got earlier.

But the mercenaries behind me are fully armed, even carrying backpacks filled with various supplies, so they look pretty weighed down.

“Aren’t you carrying anything?”

Meanwhile, Jebeon seemed as light as I was.

This is… yeah, it’s good to be the brains.

“Even though they look like that, they’re all Silver-Rank Adventurers. That much is nothing to them.”

“Ah, is that so?”

A Silver Rank can handle an Intermediate-level Monster alone, after all.

It’s more accurate to think of each of them as an Orc rather than a human.

Anyway, so.

We continued walking through the foot of the mountain, and eventually reached an area where the broadleaf trees gradually decreased and small conifers and rocks became more frequent.

The slope was steeper and a bit damp, so it seemed like we had reached the mid-region.

“This is the mid-region, right?”

“Yes, we set up here and search.”

Seriously, how long will it take to search this entire mountain range?

Moreover, compared to the foothills and lower slopes, which had well-maintained paths, there were hardly any paths here.

It seemed like a dangerous place, so ordinary people probably don’t come here; it looks like mostly mercenaries come here.

“How do you search?”

“Usually, for beast-type Monsters, we search for footprints or droppings.”

“Oh… you guys can do that?”

“I learned from a hunter I knew.”

They’re searching pretty professionally.

That’s probably the best way to do it in this era.

“Search around the rocks!”

The mercenaries, having taken their positions, started searching the rocky hills around them first.

I heard that these kinds of places are where wolf-type Monsters often live.

While Jebeon's subordinates searched for traces…

“Jebeon, come here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s do some training while they’re searching.”

Since I had no intention of searching, I decided to teach Jebeon some Fleet in advance.

“A-Are you really going to teach me?”

Jebeon still seemed to not believe I was going to teach him Fleet.

I can see how distant a Knight is to a mercenary.

After all, there’s no reason for a proud Knight to go around teaching mercenaries techniques.

I’m not a Knight, so I don’t have those hang-ups.

“First, let me show you what Fleet is.”

Saying that, I used Fleet to move behind Jebeon.

“Yes… Huh?”

Jebeon, noticing my disappearance mid-sentence, looked around in slight confusion.

And just as he was about to look behind him…

*Whack!*

I smacked him on the back of the head.

“Wh-When…?”

“This is Fleet. Usually, it's too fast for the eye to follow.”

Like that…

I started teaching Fleet, a bit violently, just like Lowell had taught me.

***

“Huff… huff…”

Late afternoon, as the sun began to set.

"Let’s stop here."

"Understood...."

*Thud.*

Jebeon, who had been constantly beaten by me throughout the training, collapsed on the ground with difficulty.

“Getting the hang of it?”

“Yes… I think I understand the principle.”

Jebeon was a pretty good student.

He didn’t awaken his Aura on his own for nothing; he absorbed everything I taught him like a sponge.

Plus, he already had a habit of manipulating his Aura as quickly as possible, which he called Fleet, so he’ll probably learn it quickly.

“By the way, how’s the search going?”

“Haa… huff… I heard earlier they found traces of it passing through.”

“So we can start searching tomorrow?”

“Yes, we’ll camp here tonight and search tomorrow.”

Jebeon became even more respectful after I started teaching him Fleet.

Judging by his attitude, he's treating me like some kind of benefactor.

Seems he was really yearning for Fleet.

“Don’t forget what I taught you, and keep practicing.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll check the results of your practice on our next mission.”

“The next mission…?”

“There are more things I need to find.”

The ingredients for making a sword aren’t just Troll molars.

Rather, Troll molars are just the first ingredient, and there are many others.

Although, they’re ingredients that make you wonder… do they really use this to make weapons?

I don’t think Gareth, who lent me the sword, is playing some kind of trick.

Even if there are some useless ingredients mixed in, it’s probably some kind of aptitude test.

Aren't craftsmen usually eccentric?

Anyway.

“You brought all the camping gear, right?”

“Yes, we’ll set up the tents, so please relax.”

“That sounds good.”

Afterwards, the returning mercenaries set up the tents and boiled a soup with the dried meat they brought.

“How does it taste?”

“Not bad.”

It’s not comparable to what I ate at the mansion, but…

Compared to when I was at the Colosseum, this is pretty damn good.

So, we camped that night.

And the next day, the real footprint tracking began.

“This area seems to be its territory.”

Watching the mercenaries search…

First, they find the territory by tracking footprints, then they search around it.

This method could provoke the Monster, but they seem pretty confident in their skills.

Well, since I'm here, it'll be safe.

I can handle a Mid-Region Monster like a Werewolf, even if a whole carriage full shows up.

And so…

Fifteen grown men rummaged through the mountain all day.

And soon…

Grrrr….

“There it is.”

Finally, we encountered a Werewolf.

“One chased out of its territory?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Looking closely, it even had a scar near its eye. Seemed like it had lost a fight within the pack.

“Let’s finish this quickly and move on.”

Well, since it wasn’t what we were looking for, I drew my sword from my hip and approached.

“You’re taking care of it yourself?”

“I have something to test.”

How long has it been since I’ve fought a Monster? I almost welcomed the sight of the Werewolf growling at me.

Grrrr….

Though, it looked like it was scared shitless looking at me.

Whether it was because of my Aura User presence, or if it instinctively knew I was someone who had killed a lot of its kind.

It couldn’t even approach me, only making threatening noises.

Well, if it won’t come to me, I’ll go to it.

I raised my drawn sword, pointing it at the Werewolf.

Then I closed my eyes for a moment, focusing on my Aura.

*Swish-*

When I opened my eyes again, the forest scenery was closer.

And….

*Thud.*

The Werewolf, its head now detached, collapsed to the ground.

A perfectly clean Fleet. My accuracy is pretty damn high even without using Track anymore.

“Amazing….”

“It’s nothing.”

Still, a Werewolf is pretty tough, and I cut clean through it. This really is a good sword.

Solid and heavy, so it packs a punch, but that doesn't mean it isn't sharp.

In fact, it’s the sharpest sword I’ve ever used.

Anyway, after taking care of the Werewolf.

“That one came from over there, let’s backtrack.”

“Alright.”

We continued searching the mountain, retracing our steps in the direction the Werewolf seemed to have come from.

We searched the mountain for a while, following the Traces…

“There are a lot of fresh footprints here.”

Finally, we found what appeared to be the tracks of a Wolf pack.

“There’s a lot of scat around too. They must’ve stayed here for a while before moving on.”

“Yes, we should just follow the Tracks… but there are other footprints too.”

Looking closer, there were larger footprints mixed in with the Werewolf tracks.

“This is….”

“Looks like Giant Wolf footprints.”

According to the Mercenaries, they were Giant Wolf tracks.

Huh, are Wolf Monsters getting all buddy-buddy with each other?

Usually, even Werewolves of the same Species don't hang out together, so this was definitely unusual.

“Anyway, it's good that they're nearby. Let’s try to provoke them.”

“Are you sure? This seems like a strange situation.”

“It's just an Upper Species or two. It'll be fine.”

Not wanting to be intimidated, we started tearing through the forest and rocky hills, intentionally making a racket to attract their attention. After a while...

“Everyone, halt.”

At Jebeon-i’s signal, we stopped. I could see the bushes rustling ahead.

“Finally.”

“They must have been annoyed. They held out for a while.”

As he spoke, the Mercenaries each drew their Weapons.

And then.

*Rustle* *Rustle*, *Rustle*.

The bushes rustled all around us, a strong animal scent filling the air.

*Groar!!*

A pack of Giant Wolves, closer in size to tigers than wolves, emerged from the bushes, revealing their massive bodies.

“Hyaah!”

First, the huge Mercenary who had initially challenged me swung his giant hammer at a Giant Wolf.

*Boom!!*

The Giant Wolf dodged the attack with a beast’s characteristic reflexes, turned its head, and opened its jaws wide at the big guy.

However.

“Hah!”

*Thud!*

As if waiting for the moment, a Mercenary from behind thrust his Long Spear straight through the open maw. Those two must be a team.

And elsewhere...

A Mercenary fought a Giant Wolf with a long Sword, another had already nocked an arrow, taking aim, and Jebeon, their leader, was at the forefront, swinging his Sword.

Despite being ambushed in the middle of the forest, we clearly had the upper hand.

They’re a famous Mercenary Group for a reason.

Well, I can leave these guys to it.

I looked ahead at the bushes that were still rustling.

There…

A pack of Werewolves, who had sent the Giant Wolves as their vanguard, were clustered together, watching us.

You sons of bitches, who do you think you're sizing up?

I immediately drew my sword and charged towards them.

Trees and bushes whizzed past me.

In no time, I was right in front of the pack, who flinched in surprise at seeing me.

And so.

Just as I was focusing my Aura, preparing to take out the innermost one with a Fleet from the start.

“Hm?”

I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck and an intense sense of danger.

Immediately.

*Whoosh!*

I Fleeting back.

*Crash!*

A Wolf landed at incredible speed where I had just been standing.

The wolf, about 1.5 times larger than the Giant Wolves we had seen earlier…

*Growl-*

Stood on two legs and glared at me.

“Found you.”

It seemed…

This one was the leader of these bastards.