"My lord, this is where we arrived last time, isn't it? Look at those toppled trees!"
After traveling through the dense forest for an entire day, Nalant and the others finally returned to a place that felt somewhat familiar.
It was precisely where they had truly encountered the giant bear before. Though the melting snow had drastically changed the landscape here, the trees that had been knocked over every which way by that savage charge still remained.
"Mm. Everyone, heighten your vigilance. Sherry, have Little Gray and the hawks keep a close watch on the surroundings!"
Nalant knew that just because they had not spotted the Blaze giant bear here did not mean it was gone.
A large creature with intelligence like that would generally have its own territory or hunting grounds.
And those grounds could be exceedingly vast, enough to sustain the enormous consumption demanded by its massive body.
That terrifying creature might very well be hunting somewhere nearby right now.
Nalant had no desire to run into that monster a second time.
"Yes, my lord!" From then on, Little Gray and the hawks began circling areas between ten and thirty li around the party.
Perhaps it was because Nalant had eaten the Fruit of Luck after returning last time, but they truly did not encounter the Blaze giant bear again along the way.
They did come across several other low- and mid-tier Magic Beasts, but none were particularly powerful. Most of them even became Nalant's prey.
Now, even a fourth-tier Magic Beast had no power to resist against Nalant's Fireball Spell and twenty Magic Beast wolves.
Nalant's party traveled onward for roughly another four days. During that time, they found no trace of human activity whatsoever, causing Nalant to wonder whether the forest they were in was some