Chapter 160: Slumbering Forest
Later in the day, they finally reached the closest shore to the Slumbering Forest.
Unlike the previous time, there's no territory nearby where they can replenish their supply.
It wasn't that there was no one courageous enough to establish a territory close to the Slumbering Forest. Instead, they purposely choose to duck as far away as possible from any territory. In that way, they won't risk getting discovered and they can also move inside the Slumbering Forest in secret. This was another extra precautionary move aside from the disguise.
However, this would also mean that they will have a limited supply and their only way of getting more is through gathering them inside the Slumbering Forest themselves. Luckily though, Gnarlak and his men could somewhat minimize the negative effect brought by that problem.
"This place is indeed a good location to establish our village," Gnarlak informs Kayn.
This was also the other reason why they had to be far from any territory. Gnarlak is planning to finally establish a Village to be the home for his men.
"Are you sure? I think it's a lot better if you establish it inside the Slumbering Forest," Kayn suggested.
Even though the Slumbering Forest is covered with the mist of the Drowsy Mushrooms every time, it is actually possible to create a safe zone by simply creating a method to push away the mist. Like for example, creating a functioning wooden manual fan or something similar to that. Also, the mist could be used as protection to ward off any Humans and possibly monsters from getting close to their Village.
"Most Humans would think of getting inside the Slumbering Forest rather than exploring the outskirts," Gnarlak explained. "And besides, we will create our Village underground as we are more used to living in the darkness and it will also be a lot safer for us that way,"
"I see," Kayn finally understood. "Anyways, we will be leaving tomorrow, so in the meantime make sure to prepare some of your men to come with us so that they can start gathering supplies,"
"Understood," Gnarlak nodded in affirmation.
With that, Kayn left to look for Friedrich and a few others who went scouting around the Slumbering Forest.
He doesn't need to stay in the camp because Chastine and the second squad of the Green Horn Knight with the assistance of Jude and Charles are present to manage the tasks that need to be accomplished.
Instead, he wants to explore the Slumbering Forest and see for himself the secrets it's hiding.
Before getting inside the Slumbering Forest though, he made sure to equip his disguise, which is a simple straw hat paired with a slightly tattered cowl and his Molten Ice Sword. Overall, he now seems to be a wandering swordsman.
Just a few steps inside the Slumbering Forest and Kayn immediately saw the infamous Drowsy Mushroom just swaying with the wind on the side of a tall tree.
Drowsy Mushrooms grow in groups, so the patch he sees has six pieces of sprouting mushrooms.
Since Kayn didn't post any dangers to the Drowsy Mushroom yet, it didn't release its dangerous mist to protect itself.
As curious as he was, Kayn doesn't want to personally experience how the Drowsy Mushroom releases its defense mechanism as that might bring unnecessary dangers to him.
Turning around, he continued running to look for Friedrich and the others.
The trees around the Slumbering Forest were humongous and tall, evidently because this forest hasn't experienced any deforestation over the past years. That's because Drowsy Mushrooms sprout on the side of trees, and if they want to increase their production of it, they'll rather plant more trees instead of cutting them down.
"Where could they possibly be,"
It hasn't been long since Friedrich and the others departed from camp, so he felt slightly strange that he still didn't find a single clue about their whereabouts.
"The forest is also eerily quiet,"
It feels like something is wrong.
"Am I lost?" Kayn can't help suspecting.
"Luckily for you, I came along," Natas muttered behind.
"That's the exact reason why I was never feeling worried," Kayn smiled, slightly relieved that Natas is accompanying him along.
"You can rest assured, you're not lost. The forest has always been like this, ever so silent and tranquil," Natas comforted. The mist around the Slumbering Forest wasn't the only reason for its name, the peacefulness inside the forest is another reason.
"I noticed some tracks above the trees just now. I believe that was Gilbert's,"
As an assassin and an experienced scout, Gilbert would scout the areas from trees and move from one tree to another.
"Where is it heading?"
"Just straight ahead. The tracks were deep, so I think they are chasing after something,"
A shallow track means that he was just casually moving around, but a deep track means a lot of things, one being that he is in a rush.
"It can also be that they are being chased,"
"Not likely, since I don't see any tracks of someone chasing after them. It's most likely them chasing after something, possibly a monster,"
"What kind of monster would be so strong that it requires the entire first squad of the Green Horn Knights to chase after it?" Kayn can't help becoming curious.
Without wasting any more time, he quickly followed the direction where the tracks were pointing.
After a few distances, he finally started finding more and more tracks. It wasn't only Gilbert's track, but also Friedrich, Roshan, Cedric, and Kimberly's as well.
Going a few more distances, he finally notices the tracks of the monster that they were chasing… or more specifically a group of monsters.
Down below the trees, countless deep tracks that seem to be hooves of huge monsters could be seen going in the direction ahead of him.
"So it was more than one monster," Kayn finally understood why the entire first squad of Green Horn Knights has to chase after them.
A group of monsters would definitely provide a huge addition to their supply.
Food…
Materials…
And other more uses…
"This is definitely going to be fun," Kayn started feeling excited about the thought of hunting a group of monsters.
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