Chapter Thirty: Wilderness
Amber City, Guard Squad. A heavily armored Warrior hurried into the room and said to the two arguing inside, “It’s bad.”
“Sir Karas!”
“More than ten people went missing last night; it looks like it’s the work of those fallen ones!”
The argument in the room came to an abrupt halt.
Sir Karas, representing the noble forces, was a man in his forties with a thick beard who had participated in the Northern Wars. He raised his head, bloodshot eyes filled with anger, and shouted, “What?”
“More people have gone missing?”
“You useless bunch! Five days have passed, and you still haven’t found the rats’ nest!”
“What’s the Noble Council paying you for?”
Opposite him was a solemn-looking Knight who immediately stopped him and said in a deep voice, “This is not the time for that!”
“The Noble Council must delegate authority!”
“The seriousness of this situation has exceeded the secular realm; it must be handed over to the Church in the city for handling!”
“I will contact the Hand of Justice right away and have them send Paladins for a large-scale investigation.”
Are we really going to mobilize the Paladins? A trace of struggle and hesitation appeared on Sir Karas’s face. The Paladins are rigid ideologues who would trigger large-scale ‘detect evil’ events once dispatched. Very few nobles in Amber City are clean; many gray areas are controlled by nobles, and a large-scale deployment of Paladins would mean a massive cleansing of Amber City!
Not only would those evil fallen ones be rooted out.
The gray interests held by many of the great nobles within the city would also be purged by the Paladins.
At that time, the power of the nobles would drastically diminish, and the Church’s influence on the city would significantly increase. Nobles often do their best to suppress the Church’s influence unless absolutely necessary. General faith and zealotry are two extreme concepts; if those Paladins are let loose, the gray areas of Amber City would be swept clean, and he would offend many noble members.
Smuggling, **, slavery, black markets!
Which of those gangs that control these gray interests is not backed by a noble?
“No way!”
Sir Karas gritted his teeth and retorted, “The Ninth Legion has been withdrawn. We still have plenty of strength.”
“I will go find the lord right now and strive for the highest search authority; we must find those d*mn rats today!”
The highest search authority.
Means they can enter the noble residences for an investigation. After so long without a clue, he has begun to suspect that one of the nobles might have fallen into the Dark Realm.
“Fine.”
The solemn Knight nodded and said distinctly, “You go and apply now.”
“If we don’t get anything before dark…”
“I will unite with the Church in the city to deal with it myself. So many people have gone missing; I suspect they are preparing some kind of evil sacrificial ceremony!”
………………
Outside Amber City.
Three hours have passed since Soren left; the Merchant Caravan truly left without delay, not wasting a moment on the road.
He rode a travel horse behind the merchant caravan, with Vivian sitting in front of him. The little girl hardly weighed much, so the travel horse easily carried both of their weights. Initially, large tracts of farmland surrounded Amber City, with dozens of villages and towns. The supplies needed by the city were all transported from here. It was common to see donkey carts, ox carts, and wagons transporting goods on the road, where small farmers and merchants would bring in goods needed for tomorrow ahead of time.
However, as they moved further away from Amber City, the farmlands began to thin out, giving way to large patches of wild land and forests.
Occasionally, they would come across some sparsely populated small villages.
The further they were from the city, the more dangers lurked; these small villages relied on their own militias for protection, as the guards from Amber City rarely came to clear nearby monsters.
Unless they actively sought help or could persuade their lord!
The road just outside Amber City was over ten meters wide, but now it had narrowed to five or six meters.
The surface had become uneven due to recent rains, making the road very muddy, with heavy loads sometimes requiring people to get down to push through.
Merchant guards had started operating in full swing.
Some guards were riding horses and spreading out around, some began checking the road ahead, while others started to scout the surrounding environment.
Thirty kilometers outside Amber City, they had entered the territory of wild creatures!
Soren remained quiet throughout the journey.
Vivian was specially well-behaved today, making no noise and curiously using her big eyes to glance around. If she didn’t understand something, she would ask Soren.
The caravan paid little attention to this follower; the merchants were busy with their own affairs.
The mysterious caravan master did not show herself; the matters were handled by three of her stewards. This was a large-scale caravan.
There were more than thirty guards alone.
When counting the caravan’s accompanying workers, servants, and slaves, the total number reached over a hundred.
This was a relatively common formation in the Northern Region. Those ordinary merchants affiliated with the caravan master needed to organize their own carts, manpower, and goods and then seek the caravan master’s protection during the journey. After completing a trip, a third of all their profits would be given to the caravan master!
—A mysterious descendant of the Northern Witch!
A sound of hoofbeats arose.
The head of the guards rode over to Soren’s side; the visibility had worsened significantly, with dense wild grass and trees obstructing their sight, and there were hardly any signs of people around.
“Wanderer?”
The guard captain sized up Soren and said in a serious tone, “There’s something ahead.”
“You come with me to take a look.”
Vivian nervously stretched out her small hand to grab Soren’s sleeve at these words, but he soothingly patted the little girl’s shoulder and said, “I need to take care of my sister.”
“Look.”
“She’s still very young and cannot ride a horse by herself.”
Just as Soren finished speaking, a curtain was suddenly lifted on the large cart at the center of the caravan, and a veiled, enchanting woman poked her head out. She glanced at Vivian not far away, a smile forming on her lips, and said gently, “This little girl can come with me.”
“The inside of the cart is very comfortable and safe.”
Soren hesitated for a moment upon hearing this and then looked down at Vivian.
The little girl tilted her head in thought for a moment and nodded, saying, “Okay. I like that big sister.”
“She’s not a bad person.”
Vivian had a perception score of 18, indicating her instincts were quite good.
Soren thought for a moment and gently nodded, saying, “Alright.”
“You go sit inside the large cart for now; I’ll go check things out with them.”
Wanderer.
This is the official title for Thieves; they are the ‘golden fingers’ among the professionists, usually dabbling in almost every field.
In outdoor adventures, the scouting ability of Wanderers ranks just below Rangers’ ‘Wilderness Survival’ talent!
The two quickly galloped their horses toward the place where the situation occurred.
The speed of the caravan also slowed a bit; they would only speed up once the guards confirmed it was safe ahead.
“Boss!”
“You’ve finally come.”
Soren turned around a mountain path, and the woods ahead grew even denser. Not far away, three guards from the caravan were crouched down, all seasoned melee professionists.
One guard with obvious Northern People traits pointed at the footprints on the ground and said to them, “Look!”
“These are Goblin footprints.”
“Judging by their numbers, there are dozens; there might even be natural Sorcerers among them!”
“These pesky creatures can never be fully eradicated.”
“They can be dealt with this year.”
“And next year, they’ll breed another big nest!”
Goblins have a short growth cycle and strong survival instincts; they can survive by eating grass roots.
They are like weeds in the wild; as soon as one batch is cleaned up, another batch sprouts up immediately.
“Indeed, they’re Goblins.”
Soren looked at the footprints left near the road; some had already been washed away by rain, but the approximate quantity could still be estimated.
However.
These Goblins would not dare to target the merchant caravan.
According to Soren’s understanding of Goblins, these timid creatures require their numbers to exceed the enemy’s by five or ten times before they dare to attack.
Even a regular five-member adventuring team can handle them with ease.
As if sensing Soren’s confusion, another guard from the caravan brushed aside the nearby grass and said solemnly, “That’s not the key point.”
“Look here.”
It was an obviously different spot; the soil appeared very fresh, as if it had been overturned, covering an area of about five feet wide.
Within five meters of the area, there were bloodstains; even though they had been washed away slightly by rain, they were still discernible.
“Clearly, these Goblins encountered something.”
The head guard of the caravan grabbed a handful of dirt and sniffed it, speaking heavily, “This thing is not small and is very dangerous!”
“The Goblins could not possibly harm it!”
Soren’s expression also grew grave; he pushed past others and stepped forward, drawing his curved blade to stir in the soft soil, frowning, “Burrowing Worm?!”
“If it really is these things, it would be troublesome.”
“They are social creatures!”
………………
