Strange

Chapter 9 Strange

In the silent forest, Adir stood still, holding a green solid in his right hand.

The green solid was dug out of the green-eyed snake's body; it looked like a stone and was stained with green snake blood, making it look rather disgusting.

Looking at the green snake stone, Adir stood there for a moment, wiped the snake blood off it, and after confirming that it was non-toxic, he pinched off a little and put it in his mouth.

"Ding! Effective substance detected. After consuming one hundred pills, your physique will increase by 0.1."

The message in his mind brought a smile to Adir's face.

"How many of these snakes are there around here?" Adir thought for a moment and asked the hunter who had followed behind him.

The middle-aged hunter, dressed in an animal skin robe, paused for a moment, seemingly surprised that Adir would ask such a question. He then quickly replied, "There are quite a few of these green-eyed snakes around here; they are frequently seen. However, if you want to find more, you'll have to venture deeper into the forest, as that's where they live."

He glanced at the serpent stone in Adir's hand and asked tentatively, "Does Your Excellency want this kind of serpent stone? If so, I can get you some."

Adir turned to look at him with some surprise: "Are there snake stones for sale around here? Aren't green-eyed snakes supposed to be highly venomous?"

"Although this green-eyed snake is venomous, its meat is very delicious, and its veins are also a very valuable medicinal material, so experienced hunters often come to catch it."

The middle-aged hunter explained to Adir, "If you are willing to pay a high price, there are many experienced hunters around here who can serve you. I believe you will be able to catch some soon."

"Then I'll trouble you." Adir didn't hesitate much before agreeing to the proposal.

One hundred snakes is no small number. If Adir were to catch them all by himself, it would take who knows when he would be able to gather them all. It would be a good thing if someone could help him buy them.

They talked for a while and quickly reached an agreement. Adir offered a high price of one gold coin per snake, asking the hunter to help buy them.

In this world, life is not easy for ordinary people. If they live frugally, one gold coin can sustain a family's basic survival for a month. For those hunters, it is definitely a high price.

As the heir to a baronship, Adir receives money from his servants every month to support himself, but it's only about a hundred gold coins a month.

The deal was struck, and the hunter beside him beamed with joy, while the faces of his followers around him subtly betrayed their envy.

It is foreseeable that when this hunter trades with others, he will definitely take a cut from that gold coin.

However, Adir didn't care about these things; it was only human nature. All he wanted were the materials he could get his hands on, and he didn't care how those materials were obtained.

"Alright, this area has been inspected. Let's move on to the next place."

After carefully searching the area, Adir looked around and spoke to the others behind him.

After searching for so long, we found nothing special except for some traces of mountain bear activity in the surrounding area.

According to the analysis of the chip in the brain, these traces are basically from one or two weeks ago. Given the roaming nature of mountain bears, they may have already moved on to other places by now.

Adir led his men back to where they had tied up their horses, preparing to explore other areas.

As Adir gently stroked the black horse, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and the voice of the chip-based machine began to echo in his mind.

"Ding! Unknown aura molecules detected, analyzed to be from an adult human male, number three."

"Someone was here just now!" Adir's mind jolted, and following the direction of the chip's analysis, he subconsciously looked in a direction to his right.

On the right, there is a patch of grass, where low-lying vegetation grows luxuriantly, looking very natural, without any trace of human intervention.

However, this was just a superficial disguise. Under the analysis of the chip, there were very shallow trampling marks in the grass and trees, as well as strong aura molecules that spread far into the distance.

Upon discovering this, Adir's expression remained unchanged, and his gaze quickly shifted to the horses, as if he had only glanced at them casually.

However, his right hand quietly rested on the cross-shaped sword at his waist, and he was somewhat hesitant.

This hesitation didn't last long. Soon, he made a decision and naturally lowered the cross-shaped sword he was gripping in his right hand.

He was not the original owner of this body, nor was he a loyal follower of Count Poria, and had no intention of dying for him.

Ordinary missions are fine, but things that involve fighting to the death are of no benefit to Adir.

Adir gently stroked the black horse beneath him, while secretly using a chip to monitor the horse's condition.

This is just in case. Although they don't really want to fight to the death with the other party, the other party may not be so prepared and might take advantage of their absence to do something sabotage.

"Ding! The horse is in good health and shows no abnormal reactions."

The notification sound from the chip in his mind reassured Adir slightly.

"Let's go."

He mounted his horse, seemingly oblivious to what he had discovered, and led the men behind him forward, preparing to patrol and scout the next location.

After some time, confirming that Adir had gone far away, three people emerged from the nearby bushes where they had been standing.

They were dressed in bright green bodysuits and moved with agility and speed, making them difficult to spot in this area thanks to the surrounding scenery.

"Why didn't you just kill them?" Looking in the distance where Adir and the others were, one of the three men, a bearded man, asked a young man beside him, puzzled.

The young man was also wearing a green bodysuit, but he was much more handsome than the bearded giant, and his expression was very calm.

"These people are here to investigate the situation in this area. If we take action, it will inevitably arouse their suspicion no matter what, and it may expose our preparations over this period of time."

"And even if we do make a move, with just the three of us, it's not certain who will end up killing whom."

After explaining, the young man looked in the direction where Adir and the others had gone and said with a solemn expression.

"No way?" The bearded man looked incredulous. "Just a few ordinary people and a noble child still nursing in a woman's arms? I could take them all down by myself."

"That's no ordinary noble child." At this moment, another person spoke up, his face equally solemn: "That's Adir Fakus, a famous knightly genius in this area."

"This isn't some hyped-up genius; he's a genuine battlefield veteran. I heard he was almost at the level to become a knight six months ago, and I reckon he's not far from activating his life seed now."

At this point, a hint of apprehension appeared in the man's tone: "With this kind of strength, unless a real knight comes, it would be impossible to stop them, let alone the three of us."

"Alright, let's leave it at that for today. The most important task now is to set up the forward base to receive the rest of the troops."

···········

As the three people behind him appeared, Adir was leading his men back the way they had come.

Because it was almost noon, the sun was very bright.

After observing the situation, Adir ordered his men to find an abandoned village and rest there for a while.

After going inside, Adir tied his horse up under the shade of a tree before going in and looking around at the scene.

Although it's described as an abandoned village, the buildings are actually quite new, and some areas aren't heavily dusty. The signs of habitation are obvious, suggesting that someone lived here not long ago.

This is actually one of the villages that was recently slaughtered by that mountain bear.

The surrounding area was filled with damaged and collapsed buildings, as if struck by some giant beast, appearing utterly devastated. In some hard-to-clean corners, there were still traces of dried blood, adding a subtle sense of gore to the entire scene.

Standing here, Adir scanned his surroundings warily. His excellent vision and the prompts from the chip in his mind allowed him to easily spot any unusual signs around him.

After confirming that there were no hidden dangers, they found a place to rest for a while.

The hunters nearby skillfully found some usable cooking utensils, such as large pots and some tableware, which could be used on the spot after a little washing.

Others also went up to help skillfully, and soon, in a still intact house, a large pot was filled with thick soup, and a little meaty aroma kept wafting out, making the people around swallow their saliva.

These soups contained prey that Adir and his companions had caught before, including the green-eyed snake, which had also been skinned and put in, simmering with other ingredients.

As was customary, a follower handed Adir the best snake meat, then sat silently, watching Adir expectantly.

"Let's use them together." Adir said casually, noticing the stares of the people around him.

The others breathed a sigh of relief and quickly grabbed their utensils to prepare for their meal. However, they moved very gently, afraid of disturbing Adir.

After finishing their lunch, they rested for a while before preparing to leave and patrol the next location.

Before leaving, Adir suddenly frowned, as if he had sensed something.

The voice of the chip machinery echoed in my mind.

"Ding! Known aura molecules detected, analyzed to be from an adult male, number three."

The chip's notification sound temporarily halted Adir's forward movement.

(End of this chapter)