After leaving E-Rantel at dawn, Tang Zheng followed the intelligence he had gathered from the Adventurer's Guild
and a crude map toward the northwestern borderlands of the Re-Estize Kingdom near the Great Forest of Tob.
There was a place there called Carne Village.
This village.
It was a border settlement with nearly a century of history. Yet no matter how long its history was, it could not change the village's poverty.
It was utterly inconspicuous within the Kingdom, even overlooked by most people. Yet in the anime, it ran through a whole series of plotlines!
Of course.
In reality, this village had nothing to do with any of those plotlines. It was more like a plot transfer station.
"Waaah!"
From the grass on a desolate roadside hill, a Goblin that had been lying in ambush suddenly rushed out.
Tang Zheng flicked his gaze toward it, drew the iron sword at his waist at once, and easily sidestepped the ambushing Goblin before swinging his arm down.
Pfft!
The blade flashed!
The Goblin let out a scream as its body was cut in half on the spot.
Gained 30 experience
Tang Zheng expressionlessly shook the green blood from his iron sword and looked around. Four more Goblins emerged from the grass.
"What troublesome creatures." Tang Zheng's thoughts shifted as he spoke.
"Magic Arrow!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
After consuming 5 mana points, Tang Zheng spent another mana point and created four Magic Arrows at once, firing them at the four Goblins that had appeared.
Four blossoms of green blood burst forth!
As the sounds of bodies hitting the ground rang out, messages appeared on his status panel.
Gained 27 experience
Gained 25 experience
Gained 30 experience
"About the same experience as beasts. Reaching Carne Village should let me gain a level. Levels really do rise quickly in the early stages."
Tang Zheng stepped forward and cut off all the dead Goblins' ears. After all, Goblin ears could be exchanged for money at the Adventurer's Guild.
That was no small income.
Over the rest of the journey.
Tang Zheng encountered several more groups. This time, however, there were not only Goblins, but also attacks from some small magical beasts.
Under such circumstances, Tang Zheng finally reached a small village at dusk, surrounded by wooden fences and dotted with wisps of cooking smoke.
At a glance.
Such defensive wooden fences would be practically useless against attacks from monsters in the forest!
Yet Carne Village, so close to the Great Forest of Tob, had continued to exist without being destroyed by monsters. That alone was rather interesting.
Tang Zheng had personally felt it most clearly after being attacked by monsters from time to time along the way.
After leaving E-Rantel, the number of monsters and Goblins had gradually increased. Yet the closer he got to Carne Village, the fewer monsters there were.
That was because the Great Forest of Tob was home to three great monsters known as the Forest Lords!
The Forest Lord in the south was the great magical beast—the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke.
The Forest Lord in the east was the Eastern Giant—the Ogre, Gu!
The Forest Lord in the west was the Western Magic Serpent—the Naga, Rularus!
These three beings could be said to jointly rule the entire Great Forest of Tob, while Carne Village was the territory of Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest.
That was why no monsters attacked Carne Village.
All three Forest Lords were around level 30. Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest, was somewhat stronger. By human standards, they had all entered the Hero Realm.
But even humans in the Hero Realm would almost certainly be no match for the three Forest Lords in a one-on-one fight!
That was the advantage of Demi-Human Species and Heteromorphic Species.
Tang Zheng moved his gaze away from Carne Village's gate and looked toward the vast primeval forest in the distance, its end already beyond the reach of the naked eye.
His vision was blocked by towering, dense branches and leaves, leaving him unable to see anything. Yet Tang Zheng's eyes revealed solemnity and wariness.
The truly terrifying thing within the Great Forest of Tob was not the three Forest Lords!
It was a being deep within the forest!
Two hundred years ago, during the era of the Thirteen Heroes, one of the monsters that had descended upon this world was the Evil Tree. It was level 85, and even back then, it had not been completely destroyed. It had merely been sealed in the deepest part of the Great Forest of Tob.
When the anime's story began.
The reason Shalltear had suddenly encountered the Slane Theocracy's strongest Scripture, the Black Scripture, which was carrying the World Item [Downfall of Castle and Country],
was entirely because Shalltear had been unlucky!
The Black Scripture's true purpose in deploying with the World Item was that the seal on the Evil Tree had begun to weaken.
They intended to undo the Evil Tree's seal, then use the World Item [Downfall of Castle and Country] to control it. Instead, they ran into Shalltear.
This caused the two sides to fight for no apparent reason!
It was only briefly mentioned in the anime, though the light novel version described it somewhat.
The Black Scripture suffered heavy losses. The human using the World Item was even killed by Shalltear's desperate counterattack just before she was controlled.
That was why Shalltear, despite being controlled, had turned into a "wild monster." The person using [Downfall of Castle and Country] had already died.
"Who are you?!"
Suddenly, two middle-aged villagers holding steel pitchforks appeared at Carne Village's entrance. They stared cautiously and warily at Tang Zheng, who had appeared outside their village.
"Sorry to disturb you. I'm a traveler passing through the village, and I'd like to stay here for the night." Tang Zheng looked at the two men and spoke softly in a gentle tone.
Upon hearing that.
The two pitchfork-wielding villagers exchanged glances. The wariness and vigilance in their eyes did not lessen at all. Instead, they first looked in the direction behind Tang Zheng.
When they saw that Tang Zheng was alone, their expressions eased slightly.
"Wait here."
The two villagers clearly could not make the decision themselves. One of them spoke to Tang Zheng, then turned and quickly ran into the village.
They did not have to wait long.
The villager who had left returned with a man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties, with dark, rough skin and grayish-brown hair.
Judging by his appearance, he was likely Carne Village's village chief.
After arriving, the village chief carefully examined Tang Zheng, his gaze lingering especially on Tang Zheng's Black hair.
"You're here to stay the night?" the village chief asked in a somewhat rough voice.
"That's right."
Tang Zheng nodded.
"Then come in." The village chief did not ask any further questions and agreed readily.
That surprised Tang Zheng somewhat.
Carne Village rarely received outsiders. Only in late autumn did tax collectors and merchants purchasing herbs come by.
"Village Chief?"
The two villagers spoke in surprise. Clearly, they had not expected the village chief to agree so readily.
It was already evening. Someone arriving at their village at this hour obviously made the two villagers uneasy.
"These next month or two are when the magical beasts and wild animals in the forest are at their most restless." The village chief sighed softly and opened the fence gate.
Upon hearing that.
The two villagers finally understood. Their village might be peaceful, but the road leading here was anything but.
For the other party to reach this place alone, he had to be quite strong. The village's wooden fence could not stop him at all.
And since he had not done anything like that, it meant the Black-haired youth bore no ill will.
Having figured that out.
The two villagers no longer displayed their initial wariness.
Led by the village chief, Tang Zheng entered Carne Village with him.
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