Chapter 119

I had anticipated it to a degree, but searching for the surface party from the air turned out to be bone-crushingly difficult. The trees would block everything, making it hard to find them. On top of that, from the surface, I was in plain sight. I knew that the orcs would see me in no time, and so I decided to go back down and search for them with Presence Detection.

“Hmm…someone is close by. Five of them. Definitely the surface party.”

I detected a tight group that was moving towards the southeast, just like Ness had said, and so I headed in that direction. No ordinary Adventurer could outrun Legs of the Forest Wolf. The strong winds wrecked the trees that I passed, but I didn’t think it was a big issue. I would keep a short distance away, so I could confirm it was actually them before showing myself.

I pushed some branches out of the way and look.

Our eyes met immediately. Ahh, they knew exactly where I was. I should have expected no less from a group of scouts. I chuckle awkwardly and walked up to them with some relief.

“That was some speed you had there. But we noticed it immediately.”

“I should have known. So, did you find any traces here?”

“Aye, a little. We’ve been waiting here to make a report of it.”

Ness pointed a thumb to show me. There was a single tree. Parts of its coarse roots were exposed, and it was overall very thick around the trunk. And on that trunk, were scratch marks.

“Look down here as well.”

“Hm? …Are these footprints?”

The dirt had been disturbed. It did kind of look like footprints.

“Someone tripped over something, and their weapon hit the tree…something of that sort.”

I listened to Ness’ interpretation and looked at it again. It was certainly possible. The roots would easily trip someone here.

“In other words, some of them are traversing the surface.”

“Exactly.”

Ness nodded. Could that suggest that their settlement was up here then? Of course, it was much too early to come to any conclusion. According to Ness, they had not found any other traces. And so I decided that I would leave for now and take this information back to Virgil.

Back at the base, the Adventurers stayed wary of their surroundings as they sharpened and maintained their weapons and equipment. I entered the central tent. Virgil was talking to several others but stood up when he saw me enter.

“Did something happen?”

“Ness discovered some traces.”

I told him about the discovery. Virgil folded his arms, as was his habit, and seemed to be lost in thought.

“Considering these traces, it would be natural to think that the settlement is on the surface. And yet they were in the valley…”

“Perhaps they had a tunnel created? I had thought that the settlement was in the valley, so I hadn’t considered the possibility until now.”

“Do you mean they have a settlement that connects the surface and the valley floor?”

A long tunnel dug up by the hole moles. If they could travel through it, there was no reason to leave the surface and live in the valley. There was no food. The animal carcasses that had been stored in the boxes were from the surface. There were no animals on the valley floor.

“So then it must be on the surface. They have tunnels that let them move underground and also appear in the valley.”

“If that’s true, we’ll need a surface party and valley party when we attack them.”

“We’ll deal with that. For now, I want you to relay what we just talked about to both parties.”

“Understood.”

Things moved along smoothly when your leader could think quickly. To be honest, I was not cut out for this sort of work. I had to constantly change the way I thought. If only I was a little sharper, like Daniela or Virgil…

After wishing for the impossible, I left the tent and immediately saw Daniela, who was talking with her team of magicians. It was during times such as these, that the communicatively impaired Daniela could hide that side of herself and become a fine leader. I could see the looks of respect in their gazes as they listened to her. That was one group that would be fine. I had my own job to do. And so I headed for the valley floor.

I was now at the valley. Well, the closest part of it to the camp. Which was a two-minute walk. I look over the edge, but the mist was thick today. I already knew this, due to seeing it while I descended, but it was completely white when viewed from above. However, the people down there were professional scouts, and it was unlikely that any mist goblins would be able to ambush them. If anything, I was the one in danger.

“I better be careful…”

I prepare myself and spread out the range of Presence Detection. I was still not very good at detecting things above me. And so it was nearly impossible for me to extend it below as well.

Hmm, there was one thing that I hadn’t tried yet. I start to imagine what I wanted to do with Jack of all Trades, Master of None. Hmm…I think it’s doable. After several simulations, I was sure that it would be an effective method, and so I jumped over the edge and into the valley. Then I activated Legs of the Forest Wolf. Silver and green wind enveloped my legs as I plunge into the mist. Here, I loosen all control I have of Legs of the Forest Wolf. The wind begins to blow wildly, turning into a furious storm. The wind starts to affect the surrounding mist, pushing it away. I myself am affected by the strong winds, but I somehow manage to prevent myself from being blown away. Still, it’s so strong that I have to cover my face with my arms. My eyes were getting dry.

After a few seconds, I lowered my arms. The silver and green winds had died down. And the scene that spread out before me was the same as it had been in my head. The mist had been blown away. It wasn’t all of the mist that was in my view, but I had succeeded in getting rid of a large portion of it.

“Doesn’t quite match Daniela, but not too shabby either. Now…”

The monsters that had been in the mist were shocked by the sudden change. Of course, they were mist goblins. There were…eight of them in all. It seemed that their Presence Block skill was more effective inside of the mist, and I had not been able to detect them. But that was hardly a problem once they were exposed like this. I would usually have fought very carefully, but I was in a hurry, so I used Legs of the Forest Wolf and the AGI bonus from my ice dragon and wind dragon equipment to the fullest in order to take off their heads at a breakneck speed.

“Now, Angelica and the others…over there.”

I run after the four figures that Presence Detection snagged. I had used a little too much magic just now, and so I drained one of the potions on my belt. There were now five left.

On the way, I was surrounded by mist once again, but I just used Legs of the Forest Wolf to blow it away as well. This time, I was only clearing the area ahead of me, so the magic depletion was not as bad. Specifically, I only needed enough wind to wrap around one leg. After repeating this process about three times, I saw Angelica and the others come out from behind the shadow of a boulder.

“Hah… So this is the power of Silvergreen… I am quite surprised.”

“That was amazing!”

“Ahaha. Thanks. I have a report to make. We believe it’s highly likely that the orc settlement is on the surface. If that’s the case, then there must be a tunnel that allows them to come down here from their settlement. Have you found anything that might be it?”

I reported what Virgil had realized as one of them looked at me with shock and the other praised me with abandon. The other scouts also listened carefully but also stayed attentive to our surroundings.

“No, we have not found anything like that at all. Not even a trace. Perhaps it is further on that we will find this cave. Perhaps they have no business southeast of here.”

“I see… So, if we’re going to find something, it will be in the northwest direction.”

If that were the case, there would be a very long tunnel connecting to this possible settlement on the surface to down here…? Or maybe it wasn’t near the end of the valley but between the center and the bridge?

We had only ever walked on the Replant side of the valley. We hadn’t walked on the side with the rocks. But what if the settlement was on that side…?

What if the orcs had been watching us all along…?

“…Angelica. I’ll join your party from here. Once we find the cave, we’ll all have to return to the camp.”

“It seems like you realized something. Would you mind telling us what it is?”

I nodded and told her about what I had realized. They seemed to have realized how serious it was, and their expressions grew stern. Angelica stared at the ground for a while and thought. Then she muttered.

“…They are going to ambush our base. That is your worst fear?”

“Yes, it’s very possible. And tonight would be the time to do it.”

“Indeed, it would not be much of a problem if they were just ordinary orcs. But if there are intelligent monsters orchestrating this, things might not go so well…”

Lauria clenched both hands into fists and yelled.

“Then we must hurry and find it! Why are we standing here!?”

The two others also looked frantic as they nodded in agreement.

“Lauria. A scout should not raise their voice in such a way. A scout must always maintain a calm and silent disposition.”

“That may be, but…!”

“It exactly because of such times as these, that we must remain calm. Else we are bound to stumble.”

There wasn’t much force in Angelica’s voice, and yet there was something chilling in the way that she admonished Lauria. I shivered. These nobles were not to be played with…

“Now, we will ask Asagi to clear the mist for us. These mist goblins are so terribly annoying. Might we rely on your help?”

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

“Lauria, Olive, Oregano. Keep watch of your surroundings. Do not miss any corners that might be covered in shadows.”

“Understood.”

“I won’t let you down.”

“I will do my best.”

They were apparently called Olive and Oregano. Alright, now that I knew all of their names, it was time to do a thorough sweep of the place. I pushed aside my desire to return to the camp immediately and looked on ahead. It was an emergency, but I wasn’t here alone. I could probably do a general search alone, but the scouts would find things that I would likely miss. If I did, I would have to wander around here that much longer. This is what they mean by ‘more haste, less speed.’ Besides, this was a good chance to learn a thing or two from them.

I used Legs of the Forest Wolf to envelope my right leg and unleashed it into the mist. The explosive silver and green wind blasted the mist, exposing the mist goblins who were just about to fall on us. And just like I had before, I beheaded every one of them. Without the mist, they were just ordinary goblins.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Ahh, the world is a large place…”

“Mist goblins are actually famous in the empire for all the trouble they cause for Adventurers.”

“People often die on their first time seeing one.”

“This is bad.”

Olive and Oregano did not seem to approve of me very much… The four of them sighed as they walked passed me. I followed them. We needed to find this cave as soon as possible and return to the base. I bet Ness and the others were exploring the wrong direction. I was starting to believe that the traces they had found were a trap, and that made me even more frantic.

Ness. Please be safe…