Chapter 31 : Chapter 31
Chapter 31: Entering the Forest and Lying in Wait
The next day, dawn had only just broken.
Sunlight streamed through the window into the room.
“Mm...”
Ryan woke under the morning light.
Then he felt that his hand seemed to be holding something soft, and he instinctively gave it a squeeze.
“Mmm... Master...”
Nika felt Ryan’s movement and woke up as well.
“Good morning, Nika.”
Ryan reluctantly let go of the soft warmth in his hand and greeted her.
“Good morning, Master.”
“It’s about time. We should get up and get ready. We’re going to the Monster Forest to practice marksmanship.”
“Yes, Master.”
The moment Nika heard Ryan’s plan for the day, her eyes immediately turned sharp.
After getting dressed, the two of them ate breakfast on the first floor of the inn and headed straight for the Monster Forest.
As they walked, Nika kept glancing back from time to time.
“Nika, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, Master. I just feel as though someone is watching us from behind.”
“Behind us?”
Ryan’s expression turned grave as he asked the question.
“Nika, can you be sure?”
“I’m very sorry, Master. I can’t be certain either. I can only feel it from time to time.”
“Mm...”
Ryan fell silent for a moment, then said, “Since you feel that way, we’ll treat it as real.”
He carefully thought back on whether he had made any enemies since arriving in Valencia.
A moment later, he came to a conclusion: he had not made enemies with anyone.
More accurately, he had hardly interacted with anyone at all.
The only thing that could barely be called a conflict was the middle-aged man he had refused in front of the Slave Merchant Guild that day.
But that hardly counted as making an enemy, did it?
Was refusing to buy someone’s slave enough to turn them into an enemy?
If all of those possibilities were ruled out, then the people tailing them were most likely after Nika.
Had they taken a liking to Nika’s beauty?
To be fair, after washing up and dressing properly, Nika truly was very beautiful.
The Fox Tribe was somewhat similar to the Elf Race.
Whether male or female, their features were all exceptionally attractive.
It was just that their race did not possess the same powerful strength as the Elf Race.
Ryan told Nika his guess.
To his surprise, Nika also believed his guess was correct.
“Nika, aside from that noble, do you have any other enemies?”
“Master, no, I don’t. My younger sister, my father, and I have struggled to survive all these years. We’ve never made enemies with anyone else.”
“Then it looks like this is that noble’s doing.”
“Master, if you end up in danger because of me, then when the time comes, please leave me behind and escape on your own.”
Nika looked at Ryan and spoke with complete seriousness.
She was a very kind girl.
If Ryan, such a good master, ended up in danger because of her, she would absolutely feel terrible about it.
Moreover, as a slave, covering her master’s escape when he was in danger was entirely normal.
Ryan stopped walking and looked at Nika solemnly. “Nika, remember this. You are not allowed to say something like that again. You are very important to me. I will not leave you behind and run away alone.”
Putting Ryan’s strength aside for the moment—
Last night, Nika had already truly become Ryan’s woman.
Though she was a slave in name, Ryan had never treated Nika as one.
Whether it was buying equipment for her or letting her use firearms, Ryan had always treated her as a normal adventuring companion.
Because of his own circumstances, Ryan could not adventure in a party with other adventurers.
In the way Ryan had thought in his previous life, as a man, it was fine for him to be flirtatious, and there was nothing wrong with having many women.
But as long as a woman belonged to him, then he had to protect her.
That was a responsibility a man ought to bear.
At present, he did not know who the people following them were, or how many there were.
But at this very moment, he had already sentenced them to death.
Of all people they could have provoked, they had chosen to provoke him.
He did not like causing trouble, but he did not fear it either.
If they wanted to set their sights on his woman, then he would kill every last one of them.
“Master...”
After hearing Ryan’s words, Nika was so moved that she could hardly put it into words.
Ryan found her expression a little amusing, then reached out and pinched her cheek.
“And besides, Nika, do you have some misunderstanding about my strength?”
“Huh?”
“Even though the Adventurers’ Guild judged me to be a D-rank Adventurer, I never said my actual strength was only that of a D-rank Adventurer.”
Ryan had long since told Nika about his adventurer identity and his adventurer rank.
That was also the reason Nika was worried about his safety.
In her mind, a D-rank Adventurer was not especially strong.
In a situation like this, running away was the best choice.
“Nika, don’t worry. No matter how many people come, I’ll kill them. From here on, stay by my side. Don’t watch the road. Focus all your attention behind us and feel for those watching eyes. See whether you can find the people following us. I’ll lead the way.”
“Yes, Master.”
Encouraged by Ryan, Nika answered loudly.
After that, Nika moved closer to Ryan, reached out, and wrapped herself around his arm as she followed him forward.
All of her attention was focused behind them.
The walk that had taken half an hour yesterday ended up taking nearly a full hour today.
Part of that was because Ryan had deliberately taken detours.
He wanted to give Nika enough time to make sure.
They arrived at the outer edge of the Monster Forest.
Ryan asked softly, “Nika, how is it? Are you sure now?”
“Master, I’m sure now. Someone is definitely following us. No matter which road we take, those eyes stay on us the whole time. I can still feel them even now.”
“Can you tell how many there are?”
“I’m sorry, Master. I can’t tell how many there are, but I can vaguely sense two separate gazes.”
“At least two targets, then?”
Ryan muttered under his breath.
“Very good. We’re going into the forest. From this moment on, who is the hunter and who is the prey is still unclear.”
“Yes, Master.”
Nika followed closely behind Ryan as they walked into the forest.
...
Not long after the two of them entered the forest, two figures appeared at the edge of the Monster Forest.
If Ryan were still here, he would definitely recognize one of the men.
One of them was none other than Gram, the man who had stopped him in front of the Slave Merchant Guild, while the other was his companion, Rod.
The two of them had been following Ryan and Nika ever since they left in the morning.
“Damn it, what rotten luck. Those two really can walk.”
Gram cursed under his breath.
“All right, stop complaining.”
Rod chimed in, “Now that they’ve left the city and entered the Monster Forest, an accidental death won’t be anything strange.”
“Let’s hurry. Once we complete the noble’s request, the two of us can have some fun with that beauty. She’s from the Fox Tribe. I’ve heard every woman of the Fox Tribe makes an incomparable bed partner.”
“Heh heh heh, then what are we waiting for? Let’s get in there. We already looked into that adventurer. He’s only a D-rank Adventurer. With the two of us at C-rank, killing him will be easy.”
“Let’s go!”
Gram spoke, and the two of them entered the Monster Forest one after the other, following Ryan’s trail.
...
Meanwhile, after Ryan and Nika entered the Monster Forest, they did not go straight to the place where they had practiced marksmanship yesterday.
After all, Ryan already knew that someone was following them.
So he was preparing to kill those pursuers inside the Monster Forest.
Because he did not know exactly how many enemies there were, he could only make as many preparations as possible.
There was a famous saying on Blue Star in his previous life: strategically despise the enemy, but tactically take the enemy seriously.
Although Ryan had confidence in his own combat strength, magic existed in this world.
If he did not want things to go disastrously wrong, then he had to prepare thoroughly.
Ryan had even already decided that if he could not beat them, then he would run immediately.
He was not stupid. Charging forward when he knew the enemy was too strong was not bravery.
It was foolishness.
As long as he stayed alive, he could always take revenge later.
Very soon, Ryan found the habitat of the Venomspike Lizard.
The environment here was terrible, and the air was thick with a dense green mist.
Anyone with eyes could tell at a glance that the place was filled with potent poison.
And yet Ryan was not afraid in the slightest.
He took out two bottles of A-rank Antidote from his spatial backpack.
He drank one himself, then had Nika drink the other.
Nika did not know that what Ryan had given her was an A-rank Antidote.
She only trusted that Ryan would never harm her, so she drank it without the slightest hesitation.
With that, the poison in this place could no longer harm either of them.
For anyone else, however, the poison here would be nothing less than a disaster.
If they had brought antidote with them, then they could still neutralize it.
But if they had not brought any antidote, then things definitely would not end well for them.
Of course, under normal circumstances, the Adventurer’s Handbook clearly stated that this place was poisonous, so adventurers ordinarily would not come here.
Ryan was merely treating this place as a graveyard for his enemies.
After that, Ryan and Nika walked into the dense mist.
Once inside, Ryan found a lush tree and pulled Nika behind its branches to hide.
Then he took out a large number of Glock 17 magazines from his spatial backpack for Nika.
He also prepared many magazines for the P90 submachine gun.
No matter how many enemies came, even if there were dozens of them, Ryan was confident he could leave them all here.
Everything was ready now.
All that remained was the final step.
What Ryan and Nika needed to do now was wait quietly.
Wait for the prey to enter the trap.
...
Following the traces left behind by Ryan and Nika, Gram and Rod tracked them to the front of the dense mist and stopped.
“Rod, are you sure their tracks lead in there?”
Gram frowned as he asked.
“That’s right, Gram. You know my tracking ability. I’m certain their tracks entered this mist.”
Rod answered firmly.
But his expression was not looking good either.
Anyone with eyes could see that there was something wrong with this dense mist.
Now there were only two choices before them: either enter the mist and kill that adventurer, or leave and wait for another opportunity.
A pained look flashed through Gram’s eyes, then he took out two bottles of C-rank Antidote from his bag.
C-rank Antidote was also very expensive. These two bottles were treasures he had kept hidden away for emergencies.
But now, in order to complete the noble’s request as quickly as possible, he could only force himself to take them out.
“Damn, Gram, you had C-rank Antidote?”
“Hmph. These are treasures I’ve been saving for a long time. I never thought I’d have to use them today. Rod, let’s make this clear. I’m putting in more effort to capture that woman of the Fox Tribe, so she belongs to me. At most, I’ll let you have a turn with her once in a while.”
Since Gram had paid such a heavy price, he naturally wanted a greater reward.
“All right. No problem. I agree.”
Rod agreed without hesitation, then took the C-rank Antidote and drank it.
After that, the two of them advanced into the dense mist.
But Rod, who was walking behind Gram, had a vicious glint flash through his eyes as he looked at him.
The noble’s connections and the woman of the Fox Tribe—
Only a child would choose between them.
He wanted both.