Chapter 298
Three days had passed since our separation from Adlus and the others . We had walked all morning and now that it was approaching midday, the forest came into view . A sea of trees that spread out at the base of the Alexia mountain range . The tall pine trees before us were all covered in a thick layer of snow . It reminded me of the boreal forests in the north, but the Alexia mountain lay on the other side . And Lambrusen was even farther on . To see a really impressive boreal forest, you would have to go north of Lambrusen, to Erediares . I wondered what Lambrusen was like now, as we entered the icesnow phase .
As this forest was so big, it would take a while for use to reach the mountains . If you walked in a straight line, it might take you two weeks to walk to it from the Imperial Capital .
It was two days from the Imperial Capital to Namila Village . And then two days from the village to the forest entrance . That really showed you how big the forest was .
And somewhere within this forest, the Queen Goblin and her thrall were hiding .
“So, this is where things become serious… Asagi . How are you feeling?”
“The effect of the potions have really kicked in . There’s no pain in my shoulder or legs anymore . ”
The parts that had been wounded were exposed from beneath my damaged clothes, but they were completely closed now, and there was no pain .
“You seem to be doing well . …And while I did tell you to seal it, do you think you might be able to use Eyes of the God Wolf now?”
“Hmm . Wait a second… Uhh… I better brace myself…”
The pain was nearly unbearable, but it was necessary to check . I took in a few deep breaths and prepared . Then I activated Eyes of the God Wolf and tried to see towards the back of the forest .
“…”
“How is it?”
“Uh…gg…ah…oh . It doesn’t hurt…?”
“Why are you asking me?”
Right . But it really didn’t . That piercing pain was gone!
“It doesn’t hurt! Ahh, what a relief… I was afraid that I’d never be able to use it again…”
“It is probably best that you avoid overuse or looking too far away . ”
“Yeah . I have to be careful . ”
I had no choice during the fight . The future would have been much darker than it was even now . The result was that while I suffered some side-effects, no one had died .
We left the campsite immediately . There wasn’t anything to do in terms of cleaning up . All our belonging went into the bag or bracelet . And I was feeling better now, so I wanted to go after Adlus .
“I’m going to use the eyes a little . ”
“Very well . But stop as soon as it gets uncomfortable . ”
“I know . ”
I didn’t like the pain, but it didn’t change the fact that it was really useful . And it was good that I could get an idea of what my limits were .
“Alright…”
I switched my eyes like switching my attention . My eyesight blurred for a moment, and then I had a bird’s eye view of us standing there . Yes, there was no pain . I kept the height as I moved towards the forest . At the same time, I had Presence Detection activated so I could move towards any signals .
“Hmm…”
“What?”
“Goblins . ”
I found a group of ordinary goblins huddled together . Perhaps they had just escaped from something . Many were injured . Blue blood dripped as they screeched and shouted . Well, this wasn’t ‘Ears of the God Wolf,’ so I couldn’t actually hear them . It was like watching a silent film . Only with better picture quality .
“They’re injured…they look like slash wounds . ”
“From swords?”
“Probably . I don’t how you could get cut like that while just wandering in the forest . ”
I doubted you would bleed like that if you were cut by a tree branch . Though, if you did manage it, it would be very embarrassing…
I pushed it out of my mind and switched my vision as well . I continued farther in that direction and saw that the snow had been disturbed . There were visible footprints .
Whatever it was, it shouldn’t be too far . Maybe around two kilometers…
“Up ahead…uh!”
As I tried to keep going, my vision was suddenly covered by noise . At the same time, I felt the kind of pain you might expect if a needle stabbed you in the eyes . My body tensed and I frantically deactivated Eyes of the God Wolf .
“Are you alright?!”
The strength left my body and I fell to my knees . As I closed my eyes tightly and pressed my palms against my face, Daniela worriedly lay a hand on my shoulder . I smiled back weakly and told her I was fine . But she clearly didn’t believe me .
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“I was wrong to ask you . It should remain sealed . ”
“No, I was so sure I could do it…”
I thought that I could keep going . My vision had suddenly turned into a sandstorm . It was quite a shock . I wouldn’t be able to use anything like ‘God Wolf Sword Reach . ’ I wouldn’t last anywhere close to five minutes if I tried . It wasn’t something I wanted to put to the test…
“Thanks, Daniela . Hah… Well, let’s keep moving . ”
“So you know where it is?”
“I know the direction . We just need to go straight here and we should find the footprints . ”
The boots that had trudged through the snow . Considering that it had snowed, they must be rather recent . We might be able to make it in time if we hurried . Ah, I wished I could use Legs of the God Wolf…
“You must not use it . You will be completely hopeless if you lose the use of your feet next . ”
“…Right . ”
It was the moment that I realized I’d be just your average Adventurer with only Jack of all Trades, Master of None .
The snow crunched under our feet as we continued to walk through the forest . The tree branches swayed as the wind blew the powdery snow into the air . There was something mystical about the sight of the flakes of snow catching the sunlight .
While it might have been very pretty, this was also the final resting ground for a lot of goblins . The blue stains on the silvery snow were proof of that . I didn’t like to think I had a hand in defiling this place .
“Phew…just a little further . ”
“Aye . I can sense them with Presence Detection now . ”
When we had made it to the one-kilometer point, Daniela detected the presence of humans up ahead . As she was keeping the detection range quite small, she was able to tell that they were humans . Still, that didn’t mean they were Adventurers . But it was hard to believe that they could be anything else .
As we discussed this, we finally reached the spot that I had seen with Eyes of the God Wolf . The trampled snow . I went down to my knees and inspected them closely . Yes, they were made with boots . And they covered a pretty wide area . We hadn’t seen any other footprints until we reached here . And on further inspection, I saw that they were coming from the right .
“Hmm… We came straight here from Adlus’s camp, but it seems to me that they headed east first . ”
“What reason could they have had?”
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“Maybe there were goblins?”
“But would he really have taken all the Jades for such a detour?”
Besides, these were just goblins . They weren’t very strong monsters . I don’t see why he would need to have everyone go around . Well, unless it was a particularly large group of goblins .
“Perhaps . Or maybe they found traces of something else that made them move…”
“…Where are the people, according to Presence Detection?”
“Northeast . They are in a tight group . But they are still quite far away . ”
Hmm . So maybe they had only come here to kill the goblins .
Likely, they had sensed the goblins with Presence Detection, and so Adlus had sent some Jades here to kill them . However, the snow slowed them down, and quite a few escaped . The Jades had no choice but to turn around and go back . And so we ended up killing the escaped goblins instead .
That was the likely scenario . Daniela agreed, and so we changed direction and headed northeast instead of north .
On our way northeast, we discovered a hardened path through the snow . A lot of it was covered by snow that had likely fallen from the trees . In any case, we had finally found their tracks .
Now we had a clear path that we only had to follow .
And so we were able to reach Adlus’s camp before the sun hid its face completely in the west .
“Phew… We made it, somehow . ”
A Jade who was on watching duties detected us with Presence Detection and started waving . I waved back with a sigh of relief .
“We would have had to sleep outside tonight if we did not catch up with them . ”
“What a horrifying thought… Well, it was quite possible…”
They must have had people who could use ice magic, because a great wall had been constructed between the trees, barring monsters from entering . It was pretty well thought out… It would have been exhausting, but now they had a nice fortress . It was strong, hardened ice, and as it had been made from snow, the magic depletion wouldn’t have been too bad . That also meant the area inside was cleared of snow .
A pretty ideal campsite, given the circumstances .
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“It’s great to see you . I’m happy that you are well . ”
“Thank you . Is anyone hurt?”
“No, we are all safe . Mister Adlus is waiting for you . ”
The Jade on top of the wall of ice explained the situation to us . Good . Nothing like the Queen’s Knight Goblin had shown up .
We entered through the gap in the wall . There were a number of igloos and bonfires . The rising smoke suggested they were cooking . But they stretched in thin streams through the tree branches, and I doubted they could be seen from far away .
I waved randomly at the Jades who greeted us and then made my way to the center of the camp, where Adlus was sitting on a tree stump with a map in his hands . Manager was also there .
“You’re late . ”
“Do you want me to stand in the hallway?”
I joked as Adlus glared at me .
“Hmph . This is no school for children . ”
“Hehe . Of course . ”
Then we chuckled . I had doubts at one point, but in the end, we had been able to reunite like this safely .
“Rindo . Has anything happened?”
“No . Things have been peaceful for the most part . And you, Daniela?”
“Protecting Asagi is quite exhausting work . ”
“Hey . ”
Daniela must have been very relieved, as she rarely made jokes like that . …It was a joke, right?
“I’m glad that you made it here safely . Also, you’re timing is actually perfect . ”
“It is?”
I looked at Adlus in puzzlement . His answer was most surprising . I learned that our timing was miraculous in a way .
“The location of the Queen’s Goblin…the goblin nest . We have found it . The entrance is a giant tree up ahead . It leads underground . ”
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