Three Forest Rulers Arrive at Carne Village

Tang Zheng left E-Rantel early in the morning, following the information he had gathered from the Adventurer's Guild and a crude map.

He headed northwest, toward the Kingdom's farthest borderland near the Great Forest of Tob.

There was a place called Carne Village.

This village.

Although it was a border settlement, it had a history of nearly a hundred years. However, no matter how long its history was, that still could not change the village's poverty.

It was an utterly inconspicuous presence in the Kingdom, so much so that people practically ignored it. Yet in the anime, it ran through an entire series of events!

Of course.

In reality, this village had nothing to do with the various events at all. It was more like a transit point between storylines.

"Waah!"

A Goblin lying in the grass suddenly charged out from a patch of weeds on a desolate hill beside the road.

Tang Zheng glanced over. He immediately drew the Iron Sword at his waist, easily dodging the ambushing Goblin with a sidestep while swinging his arm down.

Puff!

The blade flashed!

The Goblin let out a scream as its body was cleaved in two on the spot.

"Obtained 30 experience."

Tang Zheng expressionlessly shook the green blood from his Iron Sword and looked around. Four more Goblins emerged from the grass.

What a troublesome creature. Tang Zheng's thoughts shifted, and he spoke:

"Magic Arrow!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

After using 5 points of mana, Tang Zheng spent another point of mana and created four Magic Arrows in one breath, firing them at the four Goblins that had appeared.

Four green blossoms of blood burst open!

As the sounds of bodies hitting the ground rang out, information appeared on the Attribute Panel.

"Obtained 27 experience."

"Obtained 25 experience."

"Obtained 30 experience."

"The experience is about the same as that from beasts. I should be able to gain one level by the time I reach Carne Village. Leveling is indeed quite fast in the early stages."

Tang Zheng walked over and cut off all the dead Goblins' ears. After all, Goblin ears could be exchanged for money at the Adventurer's Guild.

It was no small income.

During the rest of the journey.

Tang Zheng encountered several more groups, but they were no longer composed solely of Goblins. He was also attacked by some small Monsters.

Under such circumstances, Tang Zheng finally reached a small village at dusk. It was surrounded by wooden barricades, with wisps of cooking smoke rising above it.

He swept his eyes over the place.

These defensive wooden barricades basically could not offer much resistance against attacks from Monsters in the forest!

Yet Carne Village, which was so close to the Great Forest of Tob, had continued to exist without being destroyed by Monsters. That itself was quite interesting.

Having encountered attacks from Monsters along the way, Tang Zheng's impression was naturally the clearest.

After leaving E-Rantel, the number of Monsters and Goblins had gradually increased. However, the closer he got to Carne Village, the fewer Monsters there were.

That was because the Great Forest of Tob contained three great Monsters known as the Forest Rulers!

In the south was the Forest Ruler, the great magical beast—the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke.

In the east was the Forest Ruler, the Eastern Giant—the Troll Tribe's Gu!

In the west was the Forest Ruler, the Western Demon Snake—Naga Lularus!

These three beings could be said to jointly rule the entire Great Forest of Tob, and Carne Village was precisely the territory of the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke.

That was why no Monsters attacked Carne Village.

All three Forest Rulers were around level 30. The Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke, was somewhat higher-level. In human terms, they had all entered the Heroic Realm.

Yet even humans in the Heroic Realm would almost certainly be unable to defeat the three Forest Rulers one-on-one!

That was the advantage of Demi-humans and the Heteromorphic Race.

Tang Zheng shifted his gaze away from Carne Village's gate and looked into the distance, where an endless stretch of primeval forest was already visible to the naked eye.

His view was blocked by towering, dense branches and leaves, leaving him unable to see anything. Nevertheless, a grave, wary look appeared in Tang Zheng's eyes.

The truly terrifying thing in the Great Forest of Tob was not the three Forest Rulers!

It was a certain existence in the deepest part of the forest!

One of the Monsters that had descended into this world during the era of the Thirteen Heroes 200 years ago, the Magic Tree, was as high as level 85. 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 suddenly encountered the Black Scripture, the strongest unit of the Slane Theocracy, which was carrying the World Item [Downfall of Country and All People], was entirely because Shalltear had bad luck!

The true purpose of the Black Scripture's deployment with the World Item was to deal with the seal imprisoning the Magic Tree, which had begun to weaken.

They wanted to dispel the Magic Tree's seal and use the World Item [Downfall of Country and All People] to control it, but they encountered Shalltear instead.

As a result, the two sides inexplicably fought!

The anime merely glossed over it, but the light novel version provided somewhat more description.

The Black Scripture suffered heavy losses. The human who had used the World Item was even slain by Shalltear in a dying counterattack before he could control her.

That was why Shalltear had become a "wild monster" despite being controlled. It was entirely because the person who had used [Downfall of Country and All People] had already died.

"Who are you!"

Suddenly, two middle-aged villagers holding pitchforks appeared at the entrance to Carne Village. They warily eyed Tang Zheng, who had appeared before their village.

"Sorry to trouble you. I'm a traveler passing through, and I'd like to stay here for one night." Tang Zheng looked at the two men and spoke softly in a gentle tone.

Upon hearing this.

The two villagers holding pitchforks exchanged a glance. The wariness in their eyes did not diminish at all. Instead, they first looked in the direction behind Tang Zheng.

Only after discovering that Tang Zheng was alone did the two villagers' expressions relax slightly.

"Wait here."

These two villagers clearly could not make the decision. One of them spoke to Tang Zheng, then turned and quickly ran into the village.

It did not take long.

The villager who had left returned with a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties. His skin was somewhat dark and rough, and he had grayish-brown hair.

Judging by his appearance, he should be the village chief of Carne Village.

After arriving, the chief carefully sized up Tang Zheng, his gaze lingering especially on Tang Zheng's black hair.

"You're here to stay the night?" the chief asked in a somewhat rough voice.

"That's right."

Tang Zheng nodded.

"Then come in." The chief did not ask any further questions. Instead, he readily agreed.

This surprised Tang Zheng somewhat.

Carne Village basically had no outsiders visiting year-round. Only in late autumn did tax collectors and merchants who purchased medicinal herbs come by.

"Chief?"

The two villagers spoke in surprise. Clearly, they had not expected the chief to agree so readily.

It was already evening, and the fact that someone had arrived at their village at this hour obviously made the two villagers uneasy.

"For the next month or two, the Monsters and beasts in the forest are at their most restless." The chief let out a faint sigh and opened the barricade.

Upon hearing this.

Only then did the two villagers react. Although their village was peaceful, the road leading there was far from safe.

The fact that this person had arrived alone showed that his strength was extraordinary. The village's wooden barricades could not stop him at all.

Since he had not done so, it meant that the black-haired youth had no ill intentions.

Once they understood this.

The two villagers no longer had the wariness they had shown at first.

Led by the chief, Tang Zheng followed him into Carne Village.