The Hidden Catastrophe

"A few days ago, Arthur and I discussed going to the temple to see you, but Lady Nannick refused..."

Sala led the way, heading towards a thatched hut at the far end of the village that was slightly larger than the surrounding houses.

It must be the courtyard of the Moin Village, Ailin guessed.

In the village, which was neither too big nor too small, soldiers of the Monster Hunter Army, having finished their breakfast, would emerge in twos and threes from each thatched hut.

There were many familiar faces, and also many new ones.

These familiar faces also recognized him.

However, because Sala was in front, they did not approach her. They simply stopped chatting, paused, nodded to her, and paid her respects.

The newcomers whispered amongst themselves, and after getting answers from the veterans, many of the greenhorns excitedly tried to approach, only to be gently stopped by their seniors. They could only watch helplessly as their seniors stopped and paid their respects.

Having never encountered such a situation before, Ailin nodded back somewhat flusteredly.

"It feels pretty good," he thought.

Respect from soldiers is true honor, especially when those soldiers are equally worthy of respect.

The Monster Hunter Army risked their lives to eliminate monsters for the Arlanders clearly deserve the title of "respectable".

"A large number of new recruits have joined the Monster Hunter Army, all drawn by your reputation."

Sala noticed the growing noise and energy around her, turned around and saw Ailin looking somewhat flustered, and smiled:

"The Monster Hunter Army itself originated from Duke Mason's guards. It was only established five years ago, after the last rebel group in the Falga's Rebellion was eliminated and Arland suffered heavy casualties due to war and plague, leading to the rampant spread of demons."

"In the past, our soldiers all came from the Imperial Guard, not because we were picky and only wanted experienced soldiers, but because we had no choice but to do so."

"Even though Lord Mason raised the bounty and compensation, there weren't many able-bodied men willing to join the Monster Hunter Army. They could only recruit from the Royal Guard, from veterans who had trusted the Old Duke for a long time and had experienced many battles."

Sala sighed, as if reminiscing about the past.

"No one wants to face monsters with gaping maws and a foul stench every day, not knowing when they'll be reduced to dust... Sorry, I didn't mean to offend a demon hunter..."

"It's nothing." Ailin waved his hand and asked curiously, "Then how did you join the Monster Hunter Army?"

Sala's breastplate had a family crest, and it wasn't a new knight like Ailin, who only had a plain wolf head.

Sala's coat of arms is a blue shield embroidered with white irises, a blood-dripping blade, and a lion, with a skirt-like pattern around the shield.

Generally, when a child inherits their father's crest, a "curtain" is added, so Sala was not the first knight.

Judging from the white irises, Sala may even have royal blood from the Temeria royal family.

Of course, she was from many generations of collateral branches, but this also shows that Sala's bloodline is noble.

Being the commander of the Monster Hunter Army is no easy job, as he himself said, "Nobody wants to do it."

Sala paused for a few seconds, then took a deep breath:

"There was no particular reason. When I was fulfilling my family's duty and accompanying the Old Duke to the war in Falga, my father, mother, and two younger sisters all died, killed by the monster's sharp teeth and claws."

"I'm sorry," Ailin said.

"It's nothing," Sala shook her head. "They were just a bunch of ordinary Ghoul wandering around. I've already taken my revenge."

"Moreover, in Temeria at that time, many people had lost their brothers and sisters to monsters."

"Most people in the Monster Hunter Army have had similar experiences."

"Of course, that was before."

Sala changed the subject and laughed heartily again:

"After the Monster Hunter Army was established, such tragic incidents became much less frequent, which made it increasingly difficult for us to recruit people."

"Who would have thought that the Monster Hunter Army would one day have to raise its recruitment requirements repeatedly within a month because of the overwhelming number of applicants?"

"In addition..."

He paused, then looked at Ailin:

"Because of your Necrophage Oil, the Monster Hunter Army hasn't had a single death for over a month."

The two chatted and laughed for a while, and the awkwardness of not seeing each other for a long time gradually disappeared.

Soon, Ailin followed Sala to the largest courtyard in Moin Village.

Then Sala suddenly stopped outside the hastily arranged fence.

His expression was somewhat hesitant, as if he wanted to say something.

"What's wrong?" Ailin asked.

"There's something I've wanted to say for a long time." He took a deep breath, turned around and looked solemnly at Ailin. "Thank you, Ailin. Not just me, but I'm saying this on behalf of the entire Monster Hunter Army."

"You're welcome," Ailin smiled. "My Necrophage Oil is profitable too, and your Monster Hunter Army is my biggest customer."

Sala paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Then let's make a killing!"

"Lord Mason may not have many other things, but he certainly has a lot of money!"

"Those kings of the entire Northern Continent who are richer Lord Mason are just a handful of kings... Hmm... even Demavend II of Ard might not be as wealthy as Lord Mason..."

"No!" A loud shout from inside the hut interrupted the two men's conversation.

Ailin recognized the voice as Vesemir's.

Vesemir was arguing with someone, so agitated that he didn't even hear them approaching... He looked at Sala in confusion.

"Let's go inside first," Sala sighed and walked into the courtyard.

Inside the hut was a long table, and nine people were sitting at it.

Eight Witchers from the School of the Wolf, and one human knight.

The human knight and the Witcher Master were glaring angrily at each other, the brown ceramic cups of wine in their hands seemingly cracked from their grip.

Ernie and the other seven witchers, holding steaming bowls of meat soup, watched in trepidation as Vesemir and Arthur confronted each other.

This is the scene that greeted Ailin when he pushed open the door.

The atmosphere inside the hut was extremely tense; none of the nine people noticed Sala and Ailin entering.

"What happened? Did you encounter a troublesome large monster?" Ailin spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

"Sir Ailin!"

"Ailin!"

"Commander!"

A gasp of surprise rang out from inside the thatched hut.

Ailin noticed that the seven witchers seemed to have found a savior and breathed a sigh of relief.

What's going on that's so serious?

"What, could it be that a giant dragon is hiding in the Mahakam Mountains east of Moin Village?" Ailin joked. "You're arguing over the dragon's property?"

"Don't joke around, Sir Ailin." Arthur gave a wry smile, stood up and greeted him. "I'm glad you've recovered. A few days ago, Sala and I were discussing going to the temple to see you, but Lady Nannick refused."

"Thank you," Ailin said, finding an empty seat. "I heard from Sir Sala that it's just a minor injury; there's no need to make such a fuss."

With Ailin's arrival, the atmosphere inside the hut improved somewhat.

Then he turned to look at Vesemir: "What happened during the days I missed? Could there really be a dragon in the mountains?"

"Worse than a dragon hiding in the mountains..." Vesemir rolled his eyes and sighed.

"What do you mean?" Ailin looked at him blankly.

"It's Monster's Nest," Arthur answered for Vesemir.

"But it shouldn't have escalated to this point," Ailin said, puzzled. "I could hear you arguing from the village entrance."

Arthur sighed, "Not one Monster's Nest, but three, at least three ghoul Monster's Nest, hidden deep in the mountains east of Moin Village."

"What!"

Ailin was startled and jumped to his feet, staring wide-eyed at Vesemir.

Vesemir nodded solemnly.

Monster's Nest is not necessarily the lair of just any Monster's Nest.

Griffins have griffin nests, ogres have ogre camps, and dragons are generally referred to as dragon nests or dragon lairs...

But Monster's Nest are different.

This is a proper noun, which can be traced back to the Elder Speech of the elves, and originally meant "a lair that creates monsters".

Yes.

The Monster's Nest is itself a monster, similar to the Zerg mother hive in the fictional works of my previous life, except that it produces mostly ghouls, such as Ghoul, Giant Ghoul, and Rotfiend.

This setting also existed in the game in the previous life, and it seemed that there were Monster's Nest of cannibalistic ghouls, but Ailin did not mention it when he listened to Vesemir's lecture.

The origin of the Monster's Nest is unknown; it always seems to appear abruptly without warning.

They are only discovered when nearby villages are attacked and witchers are tracking them. And often, the places where they are discovered are not only desolate and uninhabited deep mountains and wilderness, but also abandoned fields that were once cultivated by humans.

Some clergy say that the Monster's Nest is a divine abomination born from the divinity of two worlds when the Conjunction of the Spheres.

The sorcerers did not believe that the Monster's Nest was related to the Conjunction of the Spheres, nor did they believe that any gods or divinity were involved. They believed that it was the world, like life, undergoing a magical cycle, eliminating harmful impurities.

Ian Siddi thought the warlock was right.

The cyclical nature of magic in the world is precisely the elves' philosophy; in other words, the sorcerers' research into Monster's Nest actually originated from the elves.

certainly.

Whether they are clergy, warlocks, or elves, they would all agree on one thing— Monster's Nest are dangerous.

Reality isn't a game. A Monster's Nest is just a spawn point for monsters, and there are only a few or a dozen monsters each time, and they are always the same combination and pairing.

As long as there is flesh and bones, Monster's Nest in reality can continuously generate armies of monsters.

Moreover, as time goes on, initially it may only produce hordes of Ghoul and Rotfiend, but once it produces cunning Giant Ghoul, the Monster's Nest will not only automatically combine different unit types, but may even create special monsters that fit the environment.

For a long time after humanity's first "The First Landing" on the Northern Continent, the tidal waves of Monster's Nest generated by monster lairs were a nightmare for every human settlement.

However, Vesemir once mentioned that the topic of the Monster's Nest has not appeared on the School of the Wolf's year-end dinner table for many years.

This means that the School of the Wolf of Witchers haven't encountered Monster's Nest for several years.

Now there are three monster lairs all at once...

Ailin gasped, then cautiously probed Vesemir, "If I remember correctly, don't multiple monster lairs usually kill each other and use each other as nourishment?"

"That's right," Vesemir nodded slightly, "That's generally how it is..."

"Generally speaking? The current situation is unusual?"

"It's more than just extraordinary..." Vesemir took a sip of the wine in his ceramic cup, "The monster lairs in the Mahakam Mountains even protect, guard against, and support each other, it's almost like..."

"Under the command of an Earl facing an external enemy, there are several barons who are closely related through marriage," Sala beside her gave an analogy.

Ailin frowned.

"Your soup." A middle-aged woman came in from the inner room, bringing a bowl of hot soup with perilla leaves and meatballs, as well as a basket of bread slices.

"Thank you," Ailin said softly.

The woman simply smiled kindly and went back into the inner room.

Her natural demeanor made Ailin take another look at the woman; she wasn't afraid of the witcher or the two noblemen who were like soldiers.

"She's the mother of a captain in the Monster Hunter Army," Sala explained, then, as if remembering something, lowered her voice and added, "A captain who died on May Festival ..."

Upon hearing this, Ailin paused in his action of picking up the bread. After two seconds, he silently took two bites of the soft bread and nodded.

"I have a question," Ailin said, swallowing a piece of bread with his hot soup, "Even setting aside the production of cannibalistic creatures, the daily consumption of so many Monster's Nest must be quite a lot... um... flesh and blood..."

"Where did all this flesh and blood come from?"

Sala and Arthur exchanged glances, then Sala sighed and said, "It's a cemetery, with both old and new graves..."

"The new cemetery is the village cemetery of several nearby villages. The graves of the recently deceased have been dug up by Ghoul. We followed Master Vesemir to track down the traces of these dug graves."

"The old tomb is near Moin Village. Many of the bodies of those who died in the Falga's Rebellion and the Black Death were buried here."

"The Falga's Rebellion and the Black Death?" Ailin put down his soup bowl. "Wasn't that four or five years ago? Buried underground for so long, the bodies should have turned to skeletal remains long ago."

"And if I remember correctly, aren't the graveyards of the Falga's Rebellion and the Black Death not far from the city gates of Arland?"

"That's where the dead of Arland are buried." Arthur's face was not good. "Those buried nearby are from the Vizima, and most of them are commoners without status and merchants who come and go."

"As for why the bodies didn't turn into skeletons, I don't know either. Maybe there were too many bodies piled up together?"

"No cremation?"

"They were cremated, but there were too many bodies, and the Black Death was still raging at the time, so no one dared to cremate them one by one according to the rules, so..." Arthur shook his head.

How many corpses were there in total?

"The Vizima, plus the surrounding cities and villages, has at least five or six thousand people."

Ailin remained silent.

If five or six thousand people are transformed into cannibalistic creatures, how many can be transformed out?

Before he arrived, he hadn't expected to hear such mixed news.

Good news! There's plenty of cannibal creatures to go, so there's plenty of room to earn Experience Orbs.

Bad news: there are just too many ghouls, produced by three Monster's Nest working together.

Thinking of this, even the delicious broth in my mouth seemed to lose some of its flavor.

If this is not handled properly, it could be an even greater disaster than the May Festival's demonic tide!