Showing Off Reputation Three

Shortly after, Donald emerged from a room in a local inn and headed straight out of town. In a secluded spot, he summoned a warhorse, vaulted onto its back, and galloped toward the forest.

It had to be said that Aid, the so-called strongest hunter who seemed rather dim-witted, did have a few tricks up his sleeve; Donald had learned quite a bit about the interior of the Green Cloak Forest from him.

However, even the widely acknowledged strongest hunter of Red Maple Town had not ventured very deep into the forest, so he only knew the activity ranges of a few level four and five magical beasts. Beyond that, he was completely ignorant. Furthermore, his claimed feat of capturing a level five magical beast alive was somewhat exaggerated; had that Shadow Leopard not been pregnant and weakened from fighting other beasts for territory, it never would have been trapped by his snares and fallen into the hands of a human far inferior to itself in strength.

Yet, for Donald, this was enough. Knowing the activity ranges of several level four and five magical beasts would be a great help to his current hunting operation, allowing him to save most of the time he would have spent tracking them and achieve his goals as quickly as possible.

Riding his swift horse, Donald traversed most of the outer forest. Ignoring the wild animals and low-level magical beasts along the way, he arrived directly at the border between the outer and inner zones. Since level three magical beasts could appear here, Donald did not want to alert any creatures. He carefully dismounted, dismissed the warhorse, and retrieved the gear he had prepared from his spatial mark, dressing himself fully.

Between Gold Sols and his own life, the latter took precedence.

While Donald was deep in the forest fighting, hundreds of miles away in the castle of Giant Stone City, the eldest daughter of Viscount Macbeth was throwing another tantrum.

Ever since Miss Lina had returned from the capital, she had been sullen. Although the Macbeth family was considered one of the top noble houses in the Kingdom of Selt, local nobles—despite possessing more wealth and power than most capital nobles—could not compare to the extravagant, competitive lifestyles of the capital's social circles, especially in a remote area like North Shire.

Having visited the capital to see relatives, Miss Lina had been secretly labeled a "country bumpkin" by some noble ladies there, and she had been fuming ever since she returned. Although she knew those ladies from non-power-holding families were merely jealous that she had a father and family who controlled vast territories, she still couldn't help but feel deeply resentful.

At this moment, a quick-witted maid offered Miss Lina an idea: the Green Cloak Forest was rich in resources, and the Cloud-Rising Mountain deep within it was home to many rare magical beasts. If she could possess a shawl made of Silver Fox fur, it would surely outshine those capital noble ladies who considered themselves so high and mighty.

As a level five magical beast, the Silver Fox possessed low attack power but moved with the speed of the wind, making it impossible for even high-level warriors to get close. Thus, despite their beautiful, shimmering silver fur, the number of times Silver Foxes had been captured by humans in history was pitifully small.

The Viscount's daughter, in high spirits, rewarded the maid and summoned her father's steward, ordering him to spread the word about purchasing rare magical beast furs.

Adventurers in the taverns of every town near Giant Stone City received the news. Lina didn't expect to capture a beast as rare as the once-in-a-century Silver Fox; she would be satisfied if the adventurers who took the quest brought back furs from other vibrant magical beasts.

The bounty of over a hundred Gold Sols offered by the Viscount's estate was tempting, but if one were lucky enough to hunt a Silver Fox, it could easily be traded for a thousand Gold Sols at any merchant shop.

For the adventurers, this was a massive fortune they might never see in their entire lives!

Half a day later, just as groups of adventurers were swarming toward the Green Cloak Forest, Donald, dressed in light gear, emerged from the forest on his warhorse.

After half a day of intense fighting and armed with the information provided by the hunter Aid, Donald had harvested a batch of level three and four magical beast cores, plus three level five cores.

Aside from the encounter with the three level five magical beasts, which was quite perilous and required him to burn through a large number of low-level cores to grind them down, the other level three and four beasts posed no challenge to him with his army of summoned creatures.

After all, the attributes of his summoned creatures were based on the settings of a magical beast game, making them inherently stronger than typical wild beasts of the same level. Furthermore, they possessed various abilities granted by the Book of Truth based on game mechanics and the laws of this world. If he couldn't handle low-intelligence wild beasts with all that, it would be truly unreasonable!

As Donald emerged from the forest with all his loot stored in his spatial mark, intending to return and process it, he noticed that the forest outskirts, where one rarely encountered a soul, were now filled with groups of adventurers passing by.

Some adventurers tried to invite him to join their parties, but Donald refused them all. Joining these adventurers, who averaged only level two or three in strength, was far less efficient than leading his own summoning army to raid beast dens! Moreover, he had many secrets that were inconvenient to reveal, and teaming up with outsiders often led to disputes when dividing spoils.

However, he did manage to find out why these adventurers and local hunters had suddenly flocked to the forest: it was indeed the bounty issued by the Viscount's estate.

Donald had also hunted several beasts with beautiful fur, but he had no intention of going to the Viscount's castle to claim a reward. Firstly, while the relationship between his House Merlinar and Viscount Macbeth wasn't exactly blood-feud territory, there was enough old resentment to make reconciliation impossible.

Secondly, while the bounty offered by the Viscount's estate was not insignificant, if he took those beast carcasses to an auction house, the price of the furs alone would far exceed the bounty.

The adventurers valued the bounty not just for the gold, but for the chance to gain the recognition of the greatest lord in North Shire. For most commoner adventurers who wanted to elevate their status and live like the upper class, this was an opportunity far more important than the Gold Sols themselves!

The journey back was uneventful, and aside from encountering a few more groups of adventurers, Donald returned to his residence safely.

He found the entire courtyard piled high with building materials, leaving only a narrow gap barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The steward, Code, had not yet returned, and seeing this, Donald had to find another way.

Donald could not allow merchants to deliver these building materials directly to the manor. This was the only way to ensure his process of using the Book of Truth's manifestation ability remained hidden from outsiders.

This world contained true gods and a great number of powerful individuals; the existence of a high-level artifact would likely be too tempting even for those gods. Although the North was remote and lacked the dense concentration of temples found in the vast, wealthy central and southern regions of the continent, he couldn't guarantee that news wouldn't leak. Thus, Donald believed it was safer to be cautious! Otherwise, a high-level professional above level seven would be a crisis he could not withstand.

Therefore, he spent his energy reserves to upgrade his spatial mark, expanding its internal storage to ten cubic meters. He then moved a portion of the materials into the mark, clearing up much of the courtyard. This single expenditure consumed nearly a third of his remaining Elemental Crystal reserves.

Fortunately, this hunting trip had been very fruitful. Once he processed the cores and sold the beast carcasses, he would quickly recoup these costs and even make a small profit.

With this in mind, Donald prepared to make another trip to Giant Stone City, to the Gold Sol Auction House—a place with a rather tacky name. Aside from keeping the three most beautiful level five beast furs, he didn't want to wait for an auction for the rest of the carcasses and materials; he intended to sell them all directly to the auction house.

Given the strength of the Gold Sol Auction House, they should be capable of handling a shipment of this size.