Chapter 31 Heading Deeper

Once Minori entered the village,what greeted him was a quiet, almost desolate sight.

The village was small—all the houses could be seen at a glance, no more than thirty in total.

A few paths were cleared with rough gravel, but the majority of the ground was overtaken by wild, uneven weeds.Judging from the varying heights of the overgrowth, someone must have made occasional efforts to clean it.

The houses themselves were modest, low structures.Some of the sturdier ones were made from gray-white stone bricks, but even those looked ancient, worn by countless seasons.

"Our village is small, but there are a few vacant houses.If you don't mind, you may rest in the one ahead."

The village chief, his thick gray-brown beard trembling as he spoke, offered with a warm smile.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Village Chief,"Minori replied politely, his gaze briefly sweeping over the house indicated.

"Haha, it's no trouble at all. We haven't had any visitors in a long time,"the old man chuckled.

As they spoke—

From the surrounding houses, curious villagers peered from behind doorways and windows.

Kahn Village was so small that any unusual movement quickly became public knowledge.

Without lingering, Minori nodded in thanks and made his way toward the vacant house.

Kahn Village itself was extremely ordinary.

There was little of value for him here.

If anything, only a single person drew a modicum of interest—the girl named Enri.

A simple village girl who, according to his information, possessed the Goblin General's Horn,an item capable of summoning a small goblin army.

Minori speculated whether she possessed some rare affinity with goblinoids,but for now, she was simply an ordinary girl with an extraordinary relic.

Creak.

The wooden door gave a worn, groaning sound as Minori pushed it open.

Inside—

The room was barren:A single wooden bed, a thin layer of dust across the floor, and broken spider webs dangling from the ceiling beams and corners.

Moisture had darkened parts where the walls met the floorboards.

Minori was unsurprised.He hadn't expected anything luxurious from a poor border village.

The reason he had chosen Kahn Village was its proximity to Tob Forest—and its relative safety, being within the territory of the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke.

Having a nearby fallback point was critical.If he needed to retreat from the forest quickly—due to injury, exhaustion, or depleted supplies—this place would serve well.

"It would have been convenient to prepare a 'Cleaning' scroll beforehand,"Minori muttered, shaking his head at the dust and cobwebs.

Despite carefully studying adventurer habits from various mercenary teams,there were still minor oversights.

He set to work manually clearing a space.

Once done, Minori retrieved a basketball-sized ceramic pot from his magic item box.

He placed it carefully on the ground, added bacon shreds he had broken by hand, then poured fresh water from his waterskin into it.

Pointing a finger—

"Heat."

In under half a minute, the water began to boil,and soon a simple broth began to release a hearty, salty aroma.

"At least this magic has practical use for food preparation,"Minori murmured, a rare faint smile crossing his lips.

He scooped a bowl of the broth, pairing it with a piece of stale black bread.

The bacon remained heavily salted,but combined with the hard bread, it was passable.

Broth and salt were vital for adventurers.

Salted bacon, though difficult to eat directly,served as an emergency source of calories and salt for sustained physical exertion.

The aroma of cooking meat inevitably wafted out through the broken window—

causing a small stir in Kahn Village.

Most villagers here survived by growing wheat and gathering basic herbs.

Hunting wild beasts was rare:the average villager was only Level 1, hardly suited for the dangerous beasts even on the outskirts of Tob Forest.

At most, there was one hunter in Kahn Village, a Level 2 guerrilla soldier at best.

After eating, Minori sat cross-legged and opened his status sheet.

Genius 1LV + Sword Master 6LV → Overall Level 7.

The experience gained from dispatching two members of Eight Fingers,combined with the minor monsters killed along the way,had allowed him to level up steadily.

It wouldn't be long before his intermediate class, Sword Master, reached its maximum level.

Then, his focus would shift to leveling up Genius, his main class.

He remembered:the Valkyrie-class characters like Shalltear Bloodfallen and Clementine had priest-type jobs capped at Level 10.Although he couldn't confirm if "Priest" levels were mandatory for certain classes,striving for consistency would do no harm.

June 2nd.

At first light, Minori packed his gear.

Before leaving, he visited the village chief and quietly handed over five copper coins as payment for lodging.

The old man protested, but Minori insisted,understanding the importance of fostering goodwill with the locals.

He would likely have cause to return here again.

Such small investments often yielded large returns.

With that, Minori set off toward the Tob Forest.

The air soon grew thick with the scent of damp soil, rotting vegetation, and the musky perfume of wild growth.

Rustle—

Each of Minori's steps crushed branches and moss underfoot,the sounds loud in the otherwise eerie silence.

Animal cries and distant bird calls echoed from deep within the dense trees.

Minori gripped the iron sword at his side more tightly,moving cautiously along the outer edge of the forest, gradually heading east.

The Tob Forest was ruled by three powerful beings.

Among them—

The most dangerous was the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke.Despite Hamsuke's later reputation as Nazarick's "pet,"Minori understood the truth:

In reality, Hamsuke was a monstrous threat.Encountering him now would be tantamount to suicide.

The other rulers:

Naga, the Demonic Serpent of the West, an intelligent magic user, equally lethal.

An ogre, brutal but dim-witted; a pure warrior-type creature.

If Minori had the misfortune of encountering any of them,facing the ogre would be the least fatal.

At least against a physical opponent, he had a chance to flee.

The ancient trees towered around him, blotting out much of the sky.

Sunlight filtered through gaps in the canopy, creating shifting, broken patches of light across the forest floor.

Minori pressed on silently, every sense sharpened.