On October 9, in the Great Forest west of Iowa, wave after wave of Hunter Cavalry returned to the courtyard of Xing 8 Castle. Most of their horses carried gray rats nearly two meters long behind their saddles. Some horses came back empty—not only without spoils, but without their riders.
Netherland Wilson stood at the castle gate, greeting each group of Hunter Cavalry. He asked every captain about their unit's casualties, their kills, where they had encountered the rat horde, and how strong the enemy was.
Ever since the Hunter Cavalry, led by the Magic Pattern Tiger, had arrived outside Dog Forest City on the morning of October 3, the Scorch Wolf Clan had abandoned all the mines around the city and even withdrawn its major tribes closer to it.
The vast Ratman tribes had taken over the Scorch Wolf Clan's former lands. Some had entered the mines and become miners in place of the local Human Race, while many more Rat Clan members spread east and west along the forest's edge, putting the entire forest under pressure.
Starting on October 4, the rat horde had sent out various groups to probe the forest. The rats dug out small animals from underground, stripped the leaves and berries from low shrubs, ate rotten fruit off the ground, and even climbed trees to prey on birds and insects.
The Ratmen's goal wasn't just Vianis's guerrilla force. Like the Ape Clan before them, they wanted to establish a permanent foothold in this abundant forest.
To protect the forest and the entire transportation route, the newly rotated Hunter Cavalry and Frost-Wolf Knights had worked together, fighting and hunting the rats that entered the forest without pause, from day through night.
For the first two days, the rats had used swarm tactics. Each horde consisted