Jerky Soup, Heading to the Troll Tribe's Territory

The moment he entered the village,

the first thing that met his eyes was a sense of desolation.

The entire village was not very large. He could see all the houses at a glance, and there were only around thirty of them in total.

A small part of the ground was covered with gravel and was relatively clean, but most of the area was overgrown with weeds.

Judging from the varying heights of the weeds in different areas, someone probably cleared them from time to time.

All the houses were low, single-story buildings. A few of the better ones were visibly built from stone bricks, but judging from their grayish-white walls, even those houses had stood for many years.

"Our village is rather small, but a few houses are vacant. If you don't mind, you can rest in the house ahead."

The village chief's thick gray-brown beard on both sides of his cheeks and beneath his chin trembled as he spoke.

"Thank you, Chief." Tang Zheng glanced at the house the chief had indicated before thanking him.

"Hehe, it's nothing. Our village hasn't had a visitor in a long time." The village chief let out a gentle chuckle.

As the two spoke,

many curious eyes and heads peered out from the doors and windows of the surrounding villagers' houses.

Carne Village was not large. Naturally, any disturbance would quickly become known.

Tang Zheng gave a brief word of thanks, then entered the vacant house under the watchful eyes of the villagers.

Carne Village was actually quite ordinary, with nothing worth Tang Zheng's attention.

If he had to name something,

it would be the girl named Enri.

She was the girl who had used the ordinary magic item, the Horn of the Goblin General, to blow a whole army into existence.

Tang Zheng strongly suspected that she possessed a Talent similar to having an extremely high affinity with Goblins.

For now, however, she was merely an ordinary girl.

Creak!

Pushing open the wooden door produced an old, creaking sound from its hinges.

Tang Zheng entered the vacant house. It was very empty, containing only a wooden bed, while a thin layer of dust covered the floor.

There were also some tattered spiderwebs on the beams overhead and in the four corners of the ceiling.

The wooden boards around the corners of the walls were slightly darker where they met the floor, likely because of moisture.

In a poor border village like this, Tang Zheng had never expected good accommodations. The reason he had come to Carne Village was that it was the village closest to the Great Forest of Tob.

Moreover, because it belonged to Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest, it was actually very safe.

The journey from E-Rantel to Carne Village took about a day. Going there and back would require at least two days.

Although Tang Zheng had already replenished his supplies, he still needed to guard against unexpected situations and retreat from the forest ahead of time.

There was also the possibility that his supplies would be depleted too quickly and prove insufficient.

In that case, he naturally needed a place specifically for rest and recovery.

Carne Village was perfect.

"I should have prepared a magic scroll of 'Cleanse.'" Tang Zheng looked at the dust in the room and the spiderwebs around the beams, then gently shook his head.

Sure enough.

Even after learning quite a bit about the preparations Adventurers made before heading out from the Rock party, there were still things he overlooked.

Tang Zheng could only clean the room himself, clearing out a clean area.

Only then did he take a basketball-sized ceramic jar from his toolbox and place it on the ground. He took out a piece of jerky, tore it into chunks of various sizes, put them inside, and then poured in water from his waterskin.

"Warming."

Tang Zheng extended one finger and touched it to the ceramic jar.

In less than half a minute, the clear water inside the ceramic jar began to boil. It gradually turned into a pot of meat soup, filling the air with its aroma.

"Putting everything else aside, this magic is at least quite convenient for heating food." Tang Zheng smelled the salty fragrance in the air, a faint smile appearing on his face.

A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and the simple meat soup was ready.

Tang Zheng took out a bowl and ladled himself a serving, then picked up some black bread and began to eat.

Even after being boiled, the jerky still had a strong salty taste. Paired with the dry, hard black bread, however, it was not bad.

Jerky was one of the foods Adventurers commonly carried in the wilderness. Because it was cured with so much salt, it was nearly impossible to eat directly.

It was often used to make meat soup or as a seasoning in place of salt. For Adventurers who relied on physical labor, this was an important way to replenish their salt.

The aroma of the faintly salty meat soup drifted out through the window.

It immediately caused a small commotion in Carne Village.

Carne Village's main sources of income were growing crops, primarily wheat, and gathering herbs along the edge of the forest.

Hunting beasts?

For villagers with an average level of only 1, that was an extremely dangerous undertaking.

Tang Zheng remembered that Carne Village should have a hunter with the Basic Class of Ranger, but that person was at most around level 2.

He glanced at his Attribute Panel.

Genius 1LV + Sword Saint 6LV = Overall Level 7LV

The experience remaining from killing those two Eight Fingers members, combined with the Goblins and small magical beasts he had slain along the way, had allowed Tang Zheng to level up once more.

His progress was not too slow.

Tang Zheng felt that it should take only a few days to raise the Intermediate Class Sword Saint to its maximum level. After that, he would mainly focus on raising Genius.

Shalltear and Zesshi Zetsumei's Priest Classes were both 10LV.

Tang Zheng did not know whether this was the Priest level requirement for the Valkyrie prerequisite, but raising it to the same level could not hurt.

The next day, June 2.

At dawn,

Tang Zheng finished packing and left Carne Village.

Before leaving, he deliberately visited the village chief and paid five copper coins for his lodging.

The people of Carne Village were quite simple and honest. The village chief had not intended to accept the money, but Tang Zheng had firmly pressed it into his hands.

He would very likely return to Carne Village later. Building up some goodwill in advance was one way of handling interpersonal relations.

He could still afford five copper coins.

The air was filled with the unique scent of the jungle, a mixture of branches and leaves, earth, and decay, flowing out from within the Great Forest of Tob.

Rustle—

Tang Zheng stepped on the thick layer of leaves and moss. Every step produced a soft "crunch" as the leaves collided and were crushed beneath his feet.

Various animal and bird calls occasionally came from the depths of the jungle.

Holding the Iron Sword in his hand, Tang Zheng proceeded along the outer region toward the eastern part of the Great Forest of Tob.

Of the three Forest Rulers, the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke, was the strongest and most difficult to deal with. With Tang Zheng's strength, if he encountered him, he would not even be able to escape.

One should not be fooled by how cute Hamsuke seemed in the anime. That was because the story was shown from Ainz Ooal Gown's perspective. In reality, the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke, was an extremely terrifying magical beast!

As for the other two Forest Rulers,

the Western Demon Snake, Naga, was highly intelligent and also a Magic Caster, making him just as dangerous.

The only remaining Troll Tribe member was likewise powerful, but had low intelligence and was the straightforward, single-minded type!

Most importantly, he had the Warrior Class. Aside from possessing powerful regenerative abilities and methods of Physical Attack, he had no other means of attack.

If he encountered one by accident, Tang Zheng's chances of escaping from the Troll Tribe member were clearly much higher than if he encountered the Western Demon Snake, Naga, or the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke.

Lush, towering trees covered the surroundings. Sunlight passed through layer after layer of obstruction and filtered through the dense canopy, casting dappled shadows across the ground.