Chapter 24 - Setting Up The Field

‘That’s one thing settled…’

Having left the Blackbird in a hurry, Leo let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t see Ria coming after him, he at least didn’t have to worry about them today.

‘It’s now up to him.’

Even if the Fanged Wolves were to figure out their location, Leo was at ease as Crane was more than enough to handle them. After all, while Crane wasn’t someone who liked to get involved, he also wasn’t the type to sit still if someone invaded his ‘territory’.

Furthermore, seeing how Crane liked his ‘siblings’, Crane was confident that the first part of his plan was a great success.

‘It’s time for my preparation now.’

Hastening his steps, Leo made his way back to the Orphanage in a hurry.

While the Fanged Wolves would only attack by nightfall as mentioned in the novel during the follow-up investigation, Leo had left especially early in order to set up his ‘field’ in preparation for their arrival.

The first thing he did after arriving was taking out his cart, before emptying it into a large box he had specially prepared for today.

Following that, Leo pulled his cart into his hidden training spot, filling it up with some of the materials that he had stashed there.

‘This is the last one.’

The same process was repeated a few times before Leo finally came back with the last batch. However, he was moving particularly slowly this time, as the items he was transporting this time were mostly stored in glass.

Even though Leo was extremely determined to finish this as early as possible, he didn’t dare to screw this up. After all, If the contents in the glass containers leaked out, then let alone his plan working, he might even help the Fanged Wolves finish their mission early…

‘Safe…’

After spilling a lot of sweat on the way and having a few close calls, Leo was finally able to rejoice that the first task of the second segment, ‘setting up the field’, was done.

‘It’s really hard to escape death.’

Unfortunately, Leo’s happiness didn’t last long as he knew that the following tasks would only get more dangerous. Even in the best-case situation, he would end up ‘gift wrapped’ for the Fanged Wolves as a ready-to-kill target suffering from paralysis.

Nonetheless, only by using such dangerous objects could he think of escaping inevitable death. Since he had the choice, Leo desired survival even if he were to die trying.

‘It’s too late to back off now, anyway.’

After transferring all the materials into the small shack, Leo steeled his resolve as he proceeded into the next task, pulling a roll of thin thread and a small hammer out of the box before slowly taking a few steps out of the shack.

Following that, he took out a small bundle of nails from his pocket, and moved a few more steps to the side, before nailing one of them to the ground.

Having successfully hammered the nail just enough so that it would be hidden by the long grass, Leo took a few more steps circularly before bending down to repeat the earlier nailing process.

“Not bad.”

Reaching the first nail he hammered down after walking in a full circle, Leo grabbed the roll of thread that he had laid down beside the nail, fastening its end to the nail and quickly moving towards the next nail.

After he fastened the thread to the second nail, Leo took out a small bell that had a thread attached to it and tied it to the thread that hung between the two nails.

‘Done…?’

Looking around to make sure he only left one opening so he could finish his preparation, Leo went back to the shack, holding a shovel as he went back out.

Directly getting to work, he pushed the shovel into the ground, spending the next half hour digging several pits of certain patterns and depth.

Gulp…gulp…

Putting down the shovel, Leo grabbed his wooden water bottle and emptied it into his mouth, wiping away the sweat that was dripping from his forehead.

After this brief pause, Leo resumed his preparation, collecting the dirt he dug in his cart before pulling it away and dumping it deep in the forest.

Leaving the cart there, he returned and went through the opening he left before closing it off with another thread and heading back into the shack.

“Here we… go!”

Grabbing the wooden box that was full of mechanical parts into the center of the ‘ruined’ ground, Leo started pulling out certain parts, installing the traps into their specific spots.

Due to the complicated process for setting up the traps, an hour went by before Leo was finally able to empty the box, carefully walking back into the shack so that he wouldn’t trigger anything that he had set up.

‘Next is…’

Shivering slightly, Leo went into the shack and brought out a batch of the glass vessels filled with ‘colorful’ liquid. He had already worn his pair of thick gloves before opening one of them and replacing the lid with a dropper-like head.

The light of the sun was already starting to fade by the time Leo managed to finish applying ‘color’ all over the traps. He let out a long sigh of relief, thanking God that no accident had taken place.

After memorizing the spots where the traps were laid once more, Leo went back into the shack, only to come out dragging a few large sacks. One of them had grass that he had freshly pulled out earlier while digging, the other sacks, however, were ones he had already prepared throughout the last week.

Trying to do it as accurately as possible, Leo distributed the grass over the traps in a careful manner, balancing it to be the right amount just to cover them up while not standing out.

“This should ha… do it.”

Looking at the calming green patch that was full of deadly traps, Leo had a big grin on his face. The sun was already setting, but he could be said to have finished in time.

Retreating into the shack again, Leo collapsed into one of his siblings’ beds. It was finally time to rest, but Leo’s head was still very active as he anticipated the arrival of his special guests, his smile twisting slightly...

“I will be waiting!”