Wood's Disappearance

George said, "We're short on manpower lately, so we can't send too many people to investigate this. Since you're from Enderland Town and were acquainted with Wood, we'll have you look into it. Ten soldiers will be assigned to assist you."

Duke nodded. He naturally had no objections. After learning what had happened, he wanted to hurry over and investigate as soon as possible.

He knew that the earlier he arrived, the greater Wood's chances of survival would be.

Wood had certainly been kind to him. From selecting and looking after him in the Militia to recommending him later on, Wood could be said to have been Duke's guide.

Before long, a company of soldiers arrived. They were all Count Hardy's personal guards. Their captain was a young man in his twenties named Zorn.

Though Zorn was young, he had been in the Militia for seven or eight years already. He was considered a veteran and had plenty of experience.

Since there were not many horses left at the manor, only Duke and Zorn could each ride one. The other soldiers had no choice but to travel on foot.

Duke donned Nightingale's leather armor, took his longsword and longbow, cracked his whip, and left the manor for Enderland Town.

In the days since Wood's disappearance, the people of Enderland Town had become increasingly uneasy.

The original Militia was at a loss as well. Hansen, one of its old members, temporarily took on the role of leader. He had once stood night watch with Duke.

Hansen arranged defensive measures according to the old methods and also sent people to search for Wood, but they found nothing.

The past few days had been fairly peaceful, with no magical beast attacks.

If they were only ordinary wild animals, these militiamen could still handle one or two.

Magical beasts, however, could only be dealt with by Knight Apprentices. Ordinary people found them difficult to handle.

Hansen had even mentally prepared himself to be eaten by a magical beast. If one truly came, he planned to use his life to hold back those damned brutes.

"I'm big enough. The meat may be a little tough, but after those brutes finish eating me, they should be full, right?" Hansen thought.

He stood at the entrance to the town, patrolling with an iron sword when he suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats.

Hansen looked into the distance and saw two people riding toward them, followed by a squad running along behind them.

He was already very familiar with the leather armor of Count Hardy's personal guards and recognized their identities at a glance.

Only, the young man riding at the front wore somewhat different leather armor, not the armor of a personal guard.

Hansen merely found the man somewhat familiar, but did not think much of it. Instead, he called the Militia over to receive them.

Duke slowed down as he approached the town. Once he reached the road before it, he swung down from his horse and led it forward on foot.

Looking at the familiar town before him, he was dazed for a brief moment.

"Brother Hansen, long time no see!" Duke greeted Hansen with a smile.

Hansen froze. Then he looked Duke over suspiciously, and only after a long while did he react. "Duke?"

"I haven't been gone that long, and you already don't recognize me?" Duke said with a smile.

"You've changed too much. Back when you were in the Militia, you weren't this tall, and you were dark and skinny..." Hansen said bluntly.

Duke smiled and scratched the back of his head. He truly had changed a great deal over the past few months, so it was no wonder Hansen had not recognized him at first.

When he had first transmigrated, this body had little besides a relatively large frame. There was barely any flesh on it, its skin was dark, and his whole demeanor had been listless.

Now Duke was tall and powerfully built. Well nourished and healthy-looking, he was completely different from before.

Moreover, he wore Nightingale's leather armor. At a glance, it was clearly high-end gear, not something an ordinary person could afford.

With another ten soldiers following behind Duke, no one could possibly connect the man before them with the farmer boy from a few months ago.

Back then, Duke had worn a crude short tunic with a scythe tucked at his waist. Hansen still remembered it clearly.

Duke did not waste any time. He quickly asked about Wood and learned more specific details.

Wood had chased the magical beast west into the mountains, and after entering them, he had vanished without a trace.

The Militia had also sent people to search, but they found nothing and did not dare venture too deeply into the forest.

The town's Militia was already short-handed. Several dozen people had to maintain order across such a large surrounding area, placing enormous pressure on them.

They had reported the matter to Maple Hill City to ask for aid, because their own abilities were insufficient to resolve the current crisis.

After Duke got the details straight, he immediately left Enderland Town with Zorn and the others behind him, heading west toward the mountain forest.

He remembered that forest as well. As a local, he knew that it was surrounded by mountains and had complex terrain.

It took Duke and the others just over an hour to reach the forest.

Once they arrived, they slowed down and carefully inspected the clues around them.

Duke dismounted as well, tied his horse nearby, had two men remain behind to guard it, and led the rest into the mountains.

After entering the mountains, he began examining the surroundings. He discovered that his Hunting proficiency was increasing, and before long, it leveled up.

[Hunting level increased]

[Hunting: LV2 (1/120)]

Duke discovered that after the Hunting skill leveled up, it had not granted him any attribute points.

He realized that his physical attributes had already reached a very high level. Ordinary skills could no longer easily improve his physical attributes. He could only wait and see whether maxing it out would grant Free Attribute Points.

Although his physical attributes had not improved, knowledge related to hunting flooded into his mind.

As Duke absorbed this experience of a hunter's craft, he grasped more techniques for tracking and following trails.

He found several drops of dried blood on a blade of grass. Beside the bloodstains was a barely noticeable footprint, only half of one.

From that partial footprint, Duke inferred the approximate height of the person who had left it, which matched Mr. Wood quite well.

Though he still could not be certain, there were no other clues at the moment. They could only continue following the direction of the footprint.

Duke's group pressed onward and soon entered a deeper part of the mountain forest.

He found new traces there: marks carved into a tree with a sword, still fresh.

Such marks were generally used to indicate direction and keep oneself from going in circles.

Before they knew it, dusk had fallen. Zorn asked, "Mr. Duke, the sun will set soon. Should we head back?"

Duke felt that he was close to finding Wood's whereabouts, so naturally he did not want to return. Otherwise, they would have to wait another night.

After thinking for a moment, he said in a deep voice, "You should go back first. I want to keep looking on my own."

There was certainly risk in continuing, but Duke did not dare gamble. If Wood died simply because they waited through the night, it would be too late for regret.

He would rather take the risk alone and continue forward to try his luck.