Anomaly

In the silent mountain forest, Arthur stood where he was, holding a green solid object in his right hand.

The green solid had been dug out of the Green-eyed Snake's body. It looked like a stone and was still stained with green snake blood, making it rather disgusting to look at.

Looking at the Green Snake Stone, Arthur thought for a moment, wiped the snake blood from it, and only pinched off a small piece to put into his mouth after confirming it was not poisonous.

"Ding! Effective substance detected. After consuming one hundred pieces, Constitution will increase by 0.1."

The message in his mind brought joy to Arthur's face.

"Are there many of these snakes nearby?" Arthur thought for a moment before asking the hunter following behind him.

The middle-aged hunter in a fur robe was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Arthur to ask that question. He quickly recovered and said, "There are quite a few Green-eyed Snakes around here. You see them often. But if you want to find more, you'll have to go deeper into the forest. That's where they live."

He glanced at the Snake Stone in Arthur's hand and asked cautiously, "Does milord want these Snake Stones? If you do, I can help you get some."

Arthur turned to look at him in surprise. "These Snake Stones are sold nearby? Didn't you say Green-eyed Snakes are highly venomous?"

"Although Green-eyed Snakes are venomous, their meat is delicious, and these Snake Stones are also valuable medicinal ingredients. That's why experienced old hunters often come here to catch them."

The middle-aged hunter explained to Arthur, "If milord is willing to pay a high price, many experienced hunters nearby will be happy to work for you. I'm sure we can catch some very soon."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Arthur did not hesitate for long. After considering it briefly, he agreed to the proposal.

A hundred snakes was no small number. If Arthur caught them alone, who knew how long it would take to gather them all? Having someone help purchase them was a good thing.

They discussed the matter for a while and quickly reached an agreement. Arthur offered the high price of one gold coin per snake and had the hunter purchase them for him.

Commoners had a hard life in these times. If used carefully, one gold coin could sustain a family's basic needs for a month. To those hunters, it was undoubtedly a high price.

As the heir to a Baron, Arthur received money from servants each month to support his daily life, but it was only around a hundred gold coins per month.

With the deal struck, the hunter at the side looked delighted, while the few attendants nearby showed faint expressions of envy.

It was easy to imagine that when this hunter dealt with others, he would definitely take a cut from that one gold coin.

But Arthur did not care about that. It was only human nature. All he wanted were the materials delivered into his hands; he had no interest in asking how those materials were obtained.

"Alright, we've finished checking this area. Let's go to the next place."

After carefully searching the area, Arthur looked around and spoke to the others behind him.

After searching for so long, they had found nothing unusual apart from traces of Mountain Violent Bear activity nearby.

According to Chip's analysis, those traces were mostly from one or two weeks ago. Given the Mountain Violent Bear's habit of wandering around, it might already have gone elsewhere.

Arthur led the others back to where they had tied their horses, preparing to check another location.

As his arm gently stroked the black horse, Arthur's gaze suddenly sharpened as Chip's mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

"Ding! Unknown scent particles detected. Analysis indicates three adult male humans."

"Someone was here just now!" Arthur's mind jolted. Following the direction indicated by Chip's analysis, he instinctively looked to the right.

To his right was a patch of grass, where low plants grew thickly and naturally, without the slightest sign of human disturbance.

But that was only a superficial disguise. Under Chip's analysis, faint trampling marks could be seen amid the vegetation, along with strong scent particles that stretched into the distance.

After noticing this, Arthur's expression did not change. His gaze quickly shifted to the horses, as though he had merely glanced around at random.

Yet his right hand quietly rested on the Cross Sword at his waist, hesitation stirring in his heart.

That hesitation did not last long. Soon, he made his decision, and the Cross Sword clenched in his right hand naturally fell back to his side.

He was not the original owner of this body, nor was he Count Polia's loyal retainer. He had no intention of dying for the other man.

Ordinary assignments were one thing, but a matter of fighting people to the death offered Arthur no benefit at all.

Arthur quietly stroked the black horse beneath him while secretly using Chip to examine its condition.

This was merely a precaution. Though he had no desire to fight the other side to the death, they might not share that restraint. They might have tampered with something while Arthur and the others were away.

"Ding! Horse's physical condition is good. No abnormal reactions."

Chip's prompt sounded in his mind, allowing Arthur to relax slightly.

"Let's go."

He mounted his horse and, as though he had noticed nothing, led the others onward toward the next location for inspection.

After some time had passed and they were certain Arthur had gone far away, three people emerged from the grass near the original location.

They wore tight emerald-green outfits and moved with swift agility. Concealed by the surrounding scenery, they would be difficult to spot in this area.

"Why didn't we make a move and kill them?" Watching the direction Arthur and the others had gone, a bearded man among the three asked the young man beside him in confusion.

The young man also wore a green fitted outfit, but he was far more handsome than the bearded man, and his expression remained calm.

"Those people came to investigate this area. If we attacked them, no matter what happened afterward, it would arouse their suspicions and might expose the preparations we've made over this period."

"Besides, even if we did attack, with just the three of us, it's hard to say who would kill whom."

After explaining, the young man looked in the direction Arthur and the others had gone, his expression grave.

"No way, right?" The bearded man looked unconvinced. "Just a few ordinary people and a noble brat still nursing in a woman's arms? I could take all of them by myself."

"That is no ordinary noble brat." At that moment, the third man spoke, his expression equally solemn. "That's Arthur Falkus, the famous knight prodigy from around here."

"He isn't a prodigy by reputation alone. He's the real kind who has been on the battlefield. They say he was already close to meeting the standard for becoming a knight half a year ago. He's probably not far from awakening a Life Seed now."

As he said this, a trace of wariness entered his voice. "With that kind of strength, unless an actual knight comes, there's no way to keep him there, let alone with just the three of us."

"Enough. Let's leave it at that for today. The most important task now is to set up the forward base properly so we can receive the people coming later."

While the three men appeared behind them, Arthur was leading his group back along the road they had come from.

As it was nearly noon, the sun in the sky was blazing.

After looking around, Arthur ordered the group to find an abandoned village and rest there for a while.

After entering, Arthur tied his horse beneath the shade of a tree before walking inside and surveying the scene.

It was called an abandoned village, but the buildings inside were actually still quite new. Dust had not accumulated heavily in many places, and signs of habitation were obvious. It seemed that people had lived here not long ago.

This was, in fact, one of the villages slaughtered by that Mountain Violent Bear some time ago.

Damaged and collapsed buildings lay everywhere, as if some enormous beast had crashed through them, leaving the place shattered and broken. In difficult-to-clean corners, there were still traces of dried blood that had not been fully removed, adding a subtle air of bloodshed to the entire scene.

Standing there, Arthur cautiously swept his gaze across the surroundings. His sharp eyesight and Chip's prompts allowed him to detect suspicious traces nearby with ease.

Only after confirming there was no hidden danger did they find a spot and prepare to rest for a while.

The hunter at the side skillfully found some usable cooking utensils, such as a large pot and several bowls. After a quick wash, they could be used on the spot.

The others stepped forward to help with practiced ease. Before long, inside a house that was still intact, a large pot was filled with rich soup. The scent of meat continuously wafted out, making the people nearby swallow involuntarily.

The soup contained prey Arthur and the others had caught earlier, including the Green-eyed Snake, which had also been skinned and added to the pot to stew with the other ingredients.

As was customary, an attendant handed the best piece of snake meat to Arthur, then silently sat where he was and looked at Arthur expectantly.

"Eat together." Arthur spoke casually as he watched the others looking at him.

Only then did the people around him relax. They hurriedly picked up their bowls and prepared to eat, though their movements remained quiet, afraid of disturbing Arthur.

After lunch, they rested briefly before preparing to leave for the next location to continue their inspection.

Before leaving, as though he had sensed something, Arthur suddenly frowned.

Chip's mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

"Ding! Known scent particles detected. Analysis indicates three adult males."

Chip's prompt caused Arthur to halt mid-step.