Chapter 295: 295, let’s start with a greeting
After leaving Ye·Lantier, the first thing that could be seen was a vast forest in the distance.
It was a dense, primordial forest in dark green.
In the forest, robust and towering trees stood firmly, their lush branches and leaves growing exceptionally wide, which even prevented sunlight from penetrating, giving the impression that visibility inside was absolutely poor. This created an eerie feeling that the gaps between the massive trees resembled the open jaws of a giant beast, waiting for prey to willingly fall into its net, evoking a moderate sense of terror.
According to the monster distribution map provided by the guild, not only was the forest extremely vast, but it also housed many monsters that were difficult for ordinary adventurers to handle.
There were leeches that could jump between trees and suddenly drop onto a person, sucking a large amount of blood in an instant.
There were insects as large as fierce beasts.
There were Hanging Spiders that could spit spider silk and directly drag a person up to the trees.
There were also Forest Worms that could open their mouths on the ground, attacking along the underbrush and decayed trees.
These monsters might not be strong, but they were too troublesome and daunting.
At least, Reiger did not want to be walking along only to have a leech suddenly fall from the sky, stick to his neck, or be bitten by a Forest Worm while passing through the underbrush.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle them, but they were disgusting.
The monster distribution map provided by the guild considerately pointed out that even some female adventurers of high rank would not choose to hunt monsters in the forest, the reason being that some of the monsters here were too disgusting.
Moreover, the map also highlighted in red that the forest was the territory of a powerful creature known as the "Forest Sage King", a monster that not only used magic, possessed remarkable strength, and had lived for hundreds of years. Even the highest-ranked stainless steel adventurers could not subdue it in the forest, hence it was not recommended for adventurers, especially deep inside the forest, which was the lair of the Forest Sage King.
"Forest Sage King, huh..."
Upon reading this reminder, Reiger’s expression became somewhat subtle.
If it were another monster, seeing the guild mention it so cautiously might have sparked his interest, perhaps even to meet it.
But this one...
"Better not."
Reiger felt that he wasn’t heartless enough to raise his hand against a pet... it was a pet, right? Um... and kill it.
Moreover, with the presence of leaping leeches and Forest Worms, Reiger subconsciously avoided the option of entering the forest.
If not entering the forest, there were roughly two routes from Ye·Lantier to Kain Village to the northeast.
One was to head north first and, upon reaching the edge of the forest, then proceed east along the perimeter of the forest.
The other was to move east first and then head north all the way to Kain Village.
Generally, unless for some other purpose, those wanting to go to Kain Village would choose the latter route.
The former route required traveling around the forest, which greatly increased the chances of encountering monsters emerging from the forest.
Though, not entering the forest, but merely moving along the forest boundary, should prevent encounters with too strong monsters, yet if one wished to avoid monsters altogether, naturally, the latter route conformed more to the safety considerations of most people.
Reiger, however, was indifferent and even wanted to test the strength of the monsters in this world, as long as they weren’t those disgusting creatures like the jumping leeches and Forest Worms.
Thus, Reiger chose the first route and purposely headed north towards the forest, then proceeded eastward along it.
Given this route, it would normally be impossible to reach Kain Village by horse carriage within a day.
But at Reiger’s own pace, running at full speed, his speed naturally far surpassed that of a horse carriage.
He also had the highest-level "Healing Power" ability, allowing him to feel virtually no fatigue and have an endless supply of physical energy, so without much hesitation, Reiger chose to run at full speed to Kain Village.
Thanks to this, if someone were around in the nearby area, they would see a sandstorm, like a rolling smoke dragon, soaring with an astonishing speed from the fortress city towards the forest.
Such a spectacle could hardly be caused by a galloping horse carriage on the plains, could it?
Reiger had intended to continue rushing directly to Kain Village this way.
However, when Reiger passed by a village, he stopped in his tracks.
...
"..."
Standing in a square with a relatively open view, Reiger looked around and fell into silence.
At that moment, he had entered the village along the way and arrived at the central square of the village.
But what entered Reiger’s eyes was not the scene of the villagers laboring hard, but a hellish scene that was unbearable to witness.
The buildings were being ignited by great fires, burning slowly while emitting billowing black smoke.
The ground was covered with bloodstains, which were obviously fresh and had not yet turned black, the bright red hue looking so glaring.
The smell of burning mingled with the blood, spreading through the air, continuously stimulating Reiger’s nose.
Within this village’s ruins gradually turning into scorched earth, more than a hundred villagers, dressed in rough clothes, had all turned into corpses, lying in pools of blood, having lost their lives.
Among those corpses, there were not only strong men but also women, children, and even... babies.
It was undeniable that a massacre had taken place here.
A cold-blooded, unilateral massacre.
"So it has already started, hasn’t it?"
Remembering the early plot from the original story, Reiger finally realized what time period he had arrived in.
"No, it’s not certain yet, maybe the monsters nearby invaded this village and carried out a massacre here."
This wasn’t a rare occurrence.
Due to its proximity to the forest, it was natural for monsters to appear in this area from time to time.
For instance, goblins and ogres, two humanoid types of monsters, would occasionally emerge from the forest to attack travelers passing by its edge.
If it were those monsters, once they spotted a human village on the plains, it would be quite normal for them to break in and massacre the villagers.
Especially the goblins, cultures from my previous life constantly warned that these abhorred creatures not only attacked humans but also abducted human females to breed their offspring.
Thinking this, Reiger found a nearby corpse, squatting down to examine it more closely.
"...These wounds, they don’t look like they were caused by a monster’s claws or fangs, the cut is too clean, clearly caused by a sharp weapon penetrating the flesh."
There was only one wound, indicating a fatal strike.
If a sharp weapon had penetrated the body with a single strike, then the likelihood that the perpetrator was human was as high as ninety percent.
"It looks like I can’t afford to dawdle here any longer."
Reiger stood up.
He was informed by the situation that, before long, Kain Village, his destination, might face a massacre similar to this one.
At that time, in that ordinary little village, not only would a tragedy occur, but three factions would clash there, sparking a fierce battle.
Among them, there were important scenes involving the original protagonist.
Reiger wanted to meet this protagonist before that happened.
Otherwise, once the other party got the firsthand information from this world, the difficulty for him to secretly learn the high-ranking magic, which held great status and influence in this world, would increase manifold.
Only by taking advantage of the time before the other party began interacting with the native people of this world and gained a full understanding of it, could Reiger achieve the most significant gains.
"There’s no other way."
Reiger suppressed the urge in his heart to bury these unfortunate villagers, giving them a gentle bow instead.
"Someone else will come here later; they will give you a proper funeral."
With these words, Reiger turned and left.
"Boom!"
The moment he stepped out of the village, Reiger’s body suddenly compressed, and he erupted in violent lightning.
The next moment, a bolt of lightning, like a thunderbolt splitting the sky, shot up, flying over the forest and bypassing Kain Village, towards the great plains at the northwestern end of the continent, where the borders of three countries met.
...
Night fell soon after.
The moon had risen, and the stars appeared one by one in the night sky, illuminating the entire nightscape.
The blue-white moonlight and starlight chased away the darkness on the ground, bathing the wind-swept plains in radiance, swaying the countless wild grasses and creating a soothing rustling sound.
The sky was filled with countless stars and a bright moon.
The ground was covered with an endless prairie, brushed by the breeze.
At that moment, heaven and earth seemed to connect, enhancing the beauty of the scene.
It was quite a picturesque scene.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning, followed by the sound of thunder, streaked across the prairie, and with a loud noise, struck the ground.
The ground immediately shattered; it was as if it had been struck by lightning, leaving not only a scorched ring but also flying rocks and dust.
"Pili—"
Reiger appeared among them, his body crackling with electricity, like the descent of the Thunder God.
"Whew..."
He took a deep breath, exhaling heavily, turning a great deal of oxygen into carbon dioxide, and slightly increasing the temperature of the nearby area as he exhaled into the air.
"It should be here, right?"
Reiger surveyed his surroundings and saw the endless prairie that seemed boundless.
There were no hills on the prairie, no buildings, only an endless stretch of wild grass and trees, visible under the moonlight and starlight.
A clear sheen flickered in Reiger’s eyes as he began to scan the surroundings.
Until a moment later, Reiger suddenly felt something and cast his gaze upwards.
"Is it there?"
Finally, the corners of Reiger’s mouth slowly curved upwards.
Then, it was time for a greeting.
"[Release of the Light Arrow, Bow of the Holy Wood, I am the Name of the Bow]."
"[Block it, Fairy Archer]."
"[Pierce, Guaranteed Hit Arrow]."
"[Arc-shaped Beam]."
A beam-like streak of light suddenly surged into the sky, shooting towards the night sky.
In front of it, two figures appeared in the clouds, shadowy and indistinct.