Chapter 277
Chapter: 277
Julius and the knight commander also managed to eliminate a few monsters.
A pack of ferocious wolf monsters. A huge, hefty bear monster. Even a swarm of mosquito monsters eager to suck blood.
Strangely enough, while they usually encountered two monsters at a time, today, more kept showing up before them.
As if someone was herding the monsters right toward the two.
Dealing with the monsters that appeared, they beheaded the ferocious ones and lightly threatened the less aggressive ones to chase them away.
Even though they picked and chose their targets, they still had to behead several of them.
By the time they filled a small leather pouch with mana stones extracted from the monsters, they had to regretfully discard the leather and meat.
“We should head back now.”
“Hmm…”
“There’s something off. It’s unheard of for this many monsters to appear.”
“Looks like it…”
The emperor took a deep breath. At first, he thought the adventurers were just going through hardships while hunting, but it seemed strange to him that it was this difficult.
If being an adventurer was this hard, there would be hardly any survivors left.
“Let’s make our way back.”
“Yes. It’s a pity about the other monsters, but they’re not worth risking our lives over.”
While they collected all the mana stones, there was simply too much meat and leather for just the two of them to carry.
Just about enough from one deer monster.
“I would have liked to see other adventurers hunting monsters… but it can’t be helped. Let’s head back.”
“Of course. I’ll guide you.”
The knight commander still had plenty of energy left, but it was best to eliminate all elements of risk right now. They lacked sufficient armor or equipment, and they needed to protect someone much more important than themselves… safety was paramount.
And so, the knight commander and Julius began to navigate through the forest path toward the capital, Sirius.
Boom!
A tremendous noise shook the ground, causing them to halt.
“What is this…?”
“Sounds like footsteps. Seems there’s a huge monster ahead. I’ll alter our route slightly so we don’t draw its attention, Yul.”
“Alright. Got it.”
As they continued toward Sirius, they slightly veered off course.
Boom!
“We’re getting closer. Not good…”
“Since it’s come to this, how about we take it down?”
“We could handle most monsters, but large ones often have tough shells or hides, making it hard to inflict fatal injuries with a sword. If we had an axe or a heavier weapon, it’d be a different story…”
“So you’re saying it’s difficult with the current sword. Understood. Let’s avoid it.”
“Yeah.”
The two were moving in the direction away from the sound of footsteps when—
Thud!!
“Whoa, do large monsters actually chase people?”
“That shouldn’t be happening… but I can’t shake this weird feeling. I don’t know what kind of monster it is, but it could be quite cunning. Your Majesty, if it shows up, head straight toward Sirius. I’ll buy you some time.”
“No… Cough. Understood. If it does come, please don’t get killed.”
The knight commander smirked at Julius’s words.
“Even if I don’t have something like an axe, I’m not weak enough to fall to just any monster. I’ll just buy time and escape, so don’t worry.”
Julius nodded at the knight commander’s words. Compared to his former emperor, who was a shining beacon, the knight commander was still incredibly strong, far beyond ordinary humans.
It wouldn’t be difficult to keep his own life safe.
And then—
Boom!!
“Graaargh!!!”
A massive monster appeared before the two men.
A towering body like an ancient tree.
Skin dry and tough like an aged log.
Feet solidly gripping the ground like the root of a tree.
And countless branches sprawling out everywhere.
Just as described, a gigantic treant revealed itself.
“Tch. A treant…!”
“Is that the treant I’ve only heard of? It moves quite well for something that big.”
“It’s a monster after all. The moment it changes, it becomes impossible to judge with normal thoughts. So Yul, run toward Sirius. Thankfully, that thing has slow legs, so it shouldn’t be able to chase you.”
As he spoke, the knight commander dropped the pile of deer hide and meat he was carrying and drew his sword.
“If it has slow legs, can’t you just run away?”
“That might be so, but something feels off with all these monsters around, as if a strange unease is lurking. That treant came directly aiming for us, so if we defeat it, we might figure something out.”
“But you don’t even have an axe!”
“If I keep slicing it with my sword as if it were an axe, it should eventually go down!!! So go! Keep your guard up just in case someone targets you!”
With that resolute shout, the knight commander charged at the treant, and Julius turned his body toward Sirius.
“Graaaargh!!!”
With the rough shout of a man.
Crash!!!
The sound of something heavy crashing into solid ground echoed.
“You annoying piece of trash! Stop running away already!!!”
“Graaargh!”
“Shut up! Just become firewood!!!”
A burly man busted out from the bushes, relentlessly striking the treant’s heel with his axe.
The unexpected appearance of the adventurer caused both the knight commander, who was ready to charge, and Julius, who was about to flee, to freeze momentarily.
“Graaargh!”
“Perfect! Right foot cut!! Ah, pardon me. This one started running away unexpectedly.”
“Oh, no worries. Do you need help?”
“No, it’s fine. I can handle a treant without a problem.”
With a calm demeanor, the axe-wielding adventurer skillfully evaded the treant’s attacks and quickly severed its remaining left foot, causing the two-footed treant to eventually collapse to the ground.
“Geez… to handle something that massive with such skill.”
“That wood-chopping skill is incredible. Seems he’s a lumberjack.”
Julius stopped running and watched as the axe-wielding adventurer took down the treant with ease.
An impressive skill, as if he were born to carve a treant.
Before long, the treant transformed into a well-cut log and a pile of firewood.
“Oh, I’m sorry. My prey ran this way and caused trouble for you two.”
“No, not at all. We actually got a great show out of it, so we’re rather satisfied.”
It was no ordinary feat to carve wood, and yet the man before them smoothly did so with just a massive axe.
That alone was enough of a spectacle.
“That’s a relief. Well then, I’ll be on my way…”
“Oh, are you heading back to Sirius?”
“Yeah. Now that I’ve got this hefty catch. Oh, if you two are also heading back to Sirius… would you like to join me?”
At the axe-wielder’s proposal, Julius and the knight commander exchanged glances and nodded.
Considering the situation of the monsters still pouring out, having one more ally would be beneficial.
“Sure, let’s head back together. You go fetch the leather and meat I dropped earlier.”
“Will do.”
With that, the three adventurers began their trek toward Sirius.
On their way back, several monsters kept appearing, and more adventurers joined them in pursuit of those monsters, until finally, the number of adventurers returning to Sirius exceeded fourteen.
“I’ve never seen so many adventurers gathered together outside of a tavern.”
“Yeah. Usually, people hunt alone.”
An adventurer wielding a bow said in a quiet voice.
“Today seems like a strange day. Maybe the gods are playing tricks on us.”
“Whoa now, if a priest from the church hears that, there’ll be hell to pay! Watch your words!”
“Ahem. Can’t go against the church’s whims. They’re the only ones who can heal us if we get injured.”
After that, Julius returned with the knight commander and started chatting quietly with the other adventurers.
“Looking at them, they don’t seem like such bad folks after all.”
“Well, it’s a situation where everyone must band together.”
“Hm… if we can create a situation where adventurers can collaborate, maybe we can rein in their rowdiness.”
“Definitely. It looks like their rowdiness is a result of heightened nerves from hunting alone… if they have companions to watch their backs, they might become more docile.”
“Hmm. Sounds good. For now, let’s head to the tavern that serves as their base.”
So, Julius and the knight commander set off with the adventurers toward the tavern, the base for all adventurers.
