Road Encounter 1

The carriage convoy quickly detoured around that battlefield and continued onward for four days.

The surrounding woods gradually became shorter and sparser, no longer as lush and dense as before.

At dusk.

Anglie sat beside the driver's seat of the carriage while the Baron held the reins in one hand and a leather map in the other, comparing it against their route.

The red evening sun slowly sank behind the treetops to the west. The woods lining both sides of the road gradually grew deep and shadowy.

Anglie tipped back his head and looked at the sky.

Layer upon layer of white clouds formed stair-step terraces, backed by a blue sky tinged with red.

Gusts of breeze rushed head-on against the carriage, carrying faint scents of fresh grass and flowers. Blowing over his body, they brought a warm, comforting feeling. Bugs that only emerged at night had begun chirping noisily as well, their calls much like the crickets and such on Earth in his previous life.

Anglie leaned his head against the carriage behind him. He felt so comfortable that his eyes narrowed, and he was too lazy to move at all.

"Father, according to the map, are we about to leave the forest?" he asked softly.

The Baron gestured over the map, confirming their position. Hearing Anglie's question, he nodded. "Soon. At our speed, we should reach the Anse Grasslands by noon tomorrow. We should be near the Folasso Woodland now."

"The Folasso Woodland?" Anglie grew slightly curious. "What kind of place is that?"

The Baron smiled. "Take the fork on the left side of this road and walk about five kilometers, and you'll find a red pine forest. Inside are the ruins of an abandoned manor. It used to be the residence of a Folasso noble. But it was later burned into ruins during the war. They say it's a very eerie place now. I once passed by and took a distant look." A trace of apprehension appeared on the Baron's face. "There was something very wrong with that place. It gave people an extremely dangerous feeling. I hesitated for a long time back then, but ultimately didn't go in to explore."

Anglie immediately recalled some similar accounts from that biography he had read earlier. He fell into thoughtful silence. "By the way, how did Saladin's forces get there so quickly? They suddenly charged ahead of us?" he asked instead.

"They should be invading across the entire front, primarily to seize territory. But some impatient commanders pushed too deeply ahead with isolated forces and were surrounded by our Rudin legions," the Baron analyzed, carefully putting the map back into his waist pouch.

In this era, a detailed map was a treasure worth a thousand gold pieces.

"The once peerless and glorious Folasso Empire has now become nothing but ruins. One truly wonders what could withstand the scouring of time..." the Baron sighed.

Anglie also sank into contemplation for a moment. The two sat side by side on the driver's seat, with only the hoofbeats of the advancing horses sounding loud and clear.

The sky grew increasingly dim, and the temperature began to turn cool.

As the carriage convoy continued forward, specks of light like fireflies began appearing around them.

Countless pale-blue motes slowly drifted around the carriages. Each was the size of a fingernail. A hazy blue Halo nearly filled the entire stretch of road.

Anglie widened his eyes at the exquisite, dreamlike sight around him.

"What are these?" Unable to resist, he gently stretched out his hand and caught a blue mote.

The fingernail-sized blue mote slowly settled into his palm. Beneath its light was a plant resembling a dandelion Seed. The delicate blue fluorescence came from several fine filaments, while beneath them hung an inconspicuous black round Seed, no larger than a sesame seed, much like the Seed of a dandelion.

The mote lay quietly in his palm. It had no warmth, only the faintest touch, as though it were a little tuft of cotton. The pale-blue Halo reflected onto his face, tinting his features slightly blue as well.

"This is Emerald-Ear Masha. In Vlaso, it means Umbrella of the Sea. The Folasso people believed themselves to be children of the sea and regarded this plant as a symbol of Mother Sea protecting them on land." The Baron looked at the blue motes filling the sky. "It has been a long time since I last saw rain like this..." The sight seemed to stir memories from his past.

"It's getting too dark to see the road. Find somewhere to stop and make camp." The Baron shook his head, as though trying to cast away his earlier thoughts.

"All right."

The three carriages slowly came to a stop beside the woods by the roadside.

Everyone found an open patch of ground. Some guards spread out to keep watch, while several others were sent to gather dry branches and leaves to start a fire. The three carriage compartments were dragged around the clearing to form a crude, small defensive formation.

In less than ten minutes, a pale-yellow bonfire was burning between the carriages. Three more bonfires were lit outside shortly afterward. The women and servants were placed in the middle, while soldiers guarded the perimeter in shifts. The women began taking food, water, and cooking utensils from the carriages to prepare a meal. For a time, the temporary camp became quite lively.

The Baron sat in one carriage while a healer who had accompanied them changed the medicine on his right eye. Anglie simply pulled over a piece of cloth, laid it on a rock outside the camp, and plopped down. His bow and quiver were on his back, a silver cross sword hung at his waist, silver throwing knives were tucked against his chest, and a Chain Claw was tied at the small of his back. He still wore brown Horned Ox hide armor on his upper body. In the woods, leather armor was generally best: light and capable of providing some protection. Wearing heavy metal armor would only make one a lumbering live target.

Sitting on the rock, Anglie quietly watched the blue motes filling the sky. He felt more dazed than ever before. "It's magically beautiful..." he murmured.

Through the gaps between the carriages, he could see Maggie, Cilier, and the others following behind the women in the middle, helping them handle things. Mark, the captain of the guards, was asking his men about the surrounding area. Several guards were tending the bonfires and lighting the torches they had just bound together, preparing to circle the surrounding area and expand their watch perimeter.

Anglie sat quietly to one side, and no one came over to question or disturb him. These days, every night, he would sit alone like this to rest and ask not to be disturbed. After seeing it often enough, everyone had gotten used to it.

After sitting quietly for a while, Anglie pulled a chain from his chest. He had threaded the emerald ring onto a thin cord and worn it around his neck as a necklace.

Toying with the emerald ring, Anglie began circling the camp. His gaze drifted among the surrounding shrubs and grass.

After walking some distance, he suddenly crouched before a clump of grass. It was an ordinary tuft of green grass, mixed with several pale-red round berries and long serrated leaves. A few unknown little bugs clung sparsely to the leaves. Several pale-blue Masha Seeds had also fallen upon the grass, giving off a faint blue glow. Anglie reached out, plucked a red berry, and lightly tossed it into his mouth. A sour, astringent flavor immediately spread through his mouth.

"Angela Redfruit. Wild fruit containing a small amount of toxic substances. Information sourced from wild plant records. No enhancement components detected." The Chip's detection prompt immediately sounded.

A trace of disappointment flashed across Anglie's face. He spat out the pulp. Was there really nothing left that could enhance me? Rising to his feet, he felt somewhat dejected.

He circled the area several more times and inspected seven or eight spots, but found nothing unexpected. The Chip's scans detected nothing that could help him.

Though his body was limited by genetic boundaries, reaching its limit earlier and gaining greater strength was the only way Anglie could currently think of to become stronger. Over the past few days, he had searched the woods every day, testing plants; he had even tried eating some bugs. Fortunately, as long as something was bitten open in his mouth, he could obtain an analysis without swallowing it. Otherwise, Anglie did not know how many times he would have been poisoned.

Everything in this world was fresh and novel to him. Whenever Anglie saw anything, it gave him a sense of seeing and hearing something entirely new. Rather than growing weary of these constant tests and explorations, he found them endlessly engaging.

Nothing happened that night, and the convoy continued onward early the next morning.

The woods around them grew ever sparser.

The Baron sat inside the first carriage and leaned his head out to look ahead. "We're about to leave the forest. The Anse Grasslands are not far ahead."

Anglie sat in the carriage, wiping his longsword with an oil-soaked strip of cloth. "So the exit ahead is where the forest roads converge. Bandits and the like might very well be lurking there?"

The Baron nodded. "We must raise our guard."

Anglie nodded as well and gently slid the longsword back into its sheath.

After being strengthened by that mysterious radiation energy over these past days, his agility had reached the limit of his body. It could no longer be enhanced any further.

Display my current physical condition.

Anglie Leo: Strength: 2.1–2.6. Agility: 4.1. Constitution: 2.2.

A hint of helplessness appeared on Anglie's face. Fortunately, his agility had been enhanced to an extremely high level. He should now be far stronger than he had been more than ten days ago, likely only slightly weaker than the Baron had originally been. After all, his swordsmanship was far superior to the Baron's and was enough to make up for much of the gap in physical ability.

Yet even at this level, there was no great guarantee of safety in this war-torn world. That Grand Knight from before had been more than twice as strong as he was now, yet he had still been easily surrounded and killed without even the strength to resist.

He thought again of the mysterious power inside that emerald ring. It was very likely the power wielded by Wizards. It closely resembled the power called magic that he had heard of on Earth in his previous life. He guessed that ring was most likely an enchanted ring.

Just as he was considering his guess, faint sounds of weapons clashing suddenly came from ahead of the carriage.

"Something's happening!" The Baron's expression turned stern, and he immediately ordered the driver to slow down.

The three carriages quickly reduced their speed, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Anglie took the initiative and jumped down from the carriage. "Father, I'll go take a look."

The Baron nodded. He knew that Anglie was no weaker than himself now, so he was not overly worried.

Anglie accelerated forward, quickly running out of the forest and reaching a stretch of grassland. He did not step fully out, keeping himself hidden in the trees' shadows as he looked into the distance.

A convoy of five carriages was surrounded by a large group of bandits wearing gray headscarves. The convoy's guards were locked in mutual slaughter with the bandits.

Within the circular formation formed by the convoy, three mounted knights faced off grimly against five men who looked like bandit leaders.

Anglie keenly sensed that the two groups locked in confrontation were far stronger than the people around them.

Scan target data.

With a hiss, his eyes were immediately suffused with blue. His entire field of vision turned into a pale-blue grid.

Lines of tiny data rapidly appeared beside the two opposing groups.

Anglie casually looked toward one of the knights within the convoy.

Unknown target: Strength greater than 4, Agility greater than 2, Constitution greater than 3.

He was immediately shocked. "Even such powerful people have been surrounded and driven into a corner... Are these bandits really this formidable?" He had heard the Baron mention the general strength of bandits before. Knight Level experts simply could not appear among them. Any Knight Level fighter could go to any territory and receive a lord's recruitment, living well on fine food and drink. No one would be willing to become a bandit or thief. And on the road from Leo Territory to Maruya Port, so-called bandits were merely small groups of a dozen or so people. The strongest among them were only around Apprentice Knight level, just somewhat stronger than ordinary soldiers, and only by a limited margin. But these bandits now...

Anglie's gaze fell on one bandit leader standing at the very front. Lines of pale-blue data automatically appeared.

Unknown target: Strength greater than 4, Agility greater than 4, Constitution greater than 3. Body type analysis: Possesses extremely strong explosive potential. Similarity to Kyle Leo's explosive method: 72 percent.