Episode 668

Lee Han cursed inwardly, but from his friends’ perspective there was no helping it.

When the hunters asked, “Can you do that?” it was hard to just lie and say “Yes!”

After landing, the hunters tied up the poachers and took their equipment.

“Keep walking east. If you look back, we’ll shoot.”

“P-please, at least give us our armor back…”

“No.”

Lee Han approved of the nameless hunters’ decisiveness.

It might seem excessive to take everything, but imperial poachers were as persistent and devious as their prey.

No doubt they had other weapons hidden nearby and would be back at it if you didn’t strip them.

You had to destroy all their gear if you wanted them to really leave the mountains.

“Poachers’ equipment brings bad luck—you have to throw it far away.”

“……”

The reason being a weird superstition, Lee Han was at a loss, but figured, ‘Well, the result’s the same.’

He decided to stop watching the hunters and focus on setting up camp.

Whenever the hunters saw Lee Han looking their way, they ducked behind their cloaks.

He didn’t know what tradition that was, but it didn’t feel very friendly.

“Maybe they think you’re going to use petrify curse on them?”

Fongrif nodded in agreement.

The basilisk tapped his wrist reassuringly with its tail, as if to say, “Ignore them.”

‘Aren’t you two the reason?’

Lee Han gave the two a suspicious look but didn’t say it aloud.

They were both a bit petty; if he mentioned it, they might sulk.

“Let’s just set up camp.”

At Lee Han’s words, Yoner quickly tied her hair back and called for everyone.

It was time to split up the work.

“I’ll do the walls.”

“I’ll dig the pit.”

“I’ll handle the water.”

Yoner stared at Lee Han. He sheepishly asked,

“Is that too much?”

“It’s not ‘a bit’ if you handle all three. Just keep quiet. I’ll make the lights…”

“Oh! I should handle that—”

Yoner gestured to Siana and Deorgyu, who dragged Lee Han away.

“He just used a ton of magic. Let’s handle the rest.”

“Probably for the best.”

Gainando nervously asked,

“But what if the camp we make isn’t as good as Lee Han’s?”

“Then you can sleep outside.”

“…You know, it doesn’t have to be perfect! Just decent is fine!”

Two hours later.

Having finished the camp (with a little help from Lee Han, who snuck back in), the students checked their surroundings.

“Understand? Even with a good camp, the mountains are always dangerous. Any monster could show up.”

Nillia, true to her hunter background, gave strict pointers.

Still, the others didn’t look too worried.

Their camp’s defenses were pretty solid.

Trenches to block beasts; repellent herbs; an alarm spell on the main gate; windbreaking magic on the walls…

Sensing their complacency, Nillia snapped.

“The mountains are more dangerous than Einrogard!”

“Gasp!”

Only then did her friends nervously check around the camp.

Professor Lightningstep and the hunters had gone to scout the area. Explorer Frostwalker was checking the rear waterfall but would be back soon; in the meantime, they had to stay vigilant.

Lee Han rode Fongrif in lazy laps around the camp. Nillia curiously asked,

“What are you doing?”

“Getting griffon scent on everything in case monsters show up. For weak monsters, that’s enough deterrent.”

“……”

Nillia looked at her palm.

She’d spent all this time chopping brush and branches to block the path for snake monsters, but…

Now she realized, there might have been a better way.

“Could I borrow the basilisk?”

The baby basilisk squirmed desperately, absolutely refusing.

• * *

“Is that wyvern smell?”

At Lightningstep’s question, one of the nameless hunters brought his hand to his lips—a signal to be quiet.

“Are there many monsters?”

Professor Lightningstep dropped his voice accordingly.

Imperial mountains were dangerous, each in their own way; you had to be careful.

In Bitong Mountains, once you got past the foothills, you had to watch noise especially.

Many monsters reacted to sound, so they had to be careful.

It was only the entrance, but if the hunters were signaling silence already, that meant a lot of deeper monsters had moved closer to the edge.

“No, professor. This friend has a tradition of silent hiking on even-numbered days.”

“……”

Lightningstep looked annoyed.

The nameless hunters were undeniably skilled, but their dozens of superstitions could be bothersome.

“Smells like wyvern. Monsters are staying away.”

“Took off the scent as best we could, but it lingered. We’ll just have to wait it out.”

Wyvern scent would keep most monsters away—including unicorns.

That’s why the wyverns were tied down below, and the professor and hunters were using alchemist-deodorizer—but even so, the smell lingered.

Wyverns were serious beasts.

“Let’s keep moving till the mountain’s natural smell returns.”

“Will the students be alright?” asked patrolman Mrangsae.

Lightningstep answered like there was nothing to worry about.

“They’re fine, don’t worry about them.”

“True, Frostwalker’s there…”

“Ah, right. Him too.”

“……”

Mrangsae was baffled that Lightningstep had only just remembered his own cousin.

What had he been relying on then?

“Einrogard students must really be trustworthy. I have a friend, Guesse, who said Einrogard students are incredible. First-years stacking enchantments to shatter boulders…”

“I think they were trolling you. First-years aren’t that strong.”

“Are you sure? Guesse isn’t like that…”

“In any case, they’ll be fine. Hard to find a more reliable lot.”

The nameless hunters started whispering.

Even without hearing, Lightningstep knew who they meant and grumbled.

“Taming a griffon and basilisk was just a fluke! Don’t spook yourselves with silly superstitions.”

“Basilisk?”

‘Oops.’

Lightningstep realized the hunters only knew about the griffon.

Now the hunters were whispering like mad. Mrangsae wondered if perhaps this Wardanaz boy ought to be banned from several of the Empire’s mountain ranges.

“There are more poachers than I thought, Professor.”

A returning nameless hunter reported gravely.

“That many?”

“Yes. The unicorn rumor must have spread wide. I spotted three bands just skulking nearby.”

Mrangsae looked worried.

Finding the unicorn was already hard enough—now this time would be wasted on poachers.

But there was nothing for it.

There was an old Wasteland Star-Catcher saying:

Sometimes the long way around is fastest.

“Let’s go back to camp. We need to get rid of the poachers…”

“Hm? No, let’s finish checking this zone first. Remember—the wyvern scent isn’t gone yet…”

“Professor! I know you want to find the unicorn, but there are three bands of poachers!”

Mrangsae was flustered.

Poachers weren’t just simple bandits.

If they fought Einrogard students head-on, they’d just be wiped out, but if they found the camp, they’d use cunning tricks.

And after all this time, word had surely spread among the poachers about new arrivals in the mountain. That only made it more dangerous for the students.

No one is as dangerous as a hunter who truly knows their prey.

“I heard you. It’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

“Wha—but…!”

“It’ll be fine. Move! If the poachers waste our time, we just need to move faster!”

• * *

Julban the poacher was a grizzled veteran, well-known in the Bitong and other mountain ranges.

Any truly great poacher was, by necessity, a skilled hunter.

If you could sneak past Imperial patrols, catch illegal monsters, and smuggle them out—it came with the territory.

But Julban had a talent others lacked: sociability.

Most hunters only sold rare beasts to valley towns or cities—that was the extent of their networking.

Not Julban.

Julban would seek out merchants desiring banned monsters, curry favor with nobles desperate for them, and gather mercenaries or adventurers to work under him.

His sort of poacher was basically a bandit captain.

“Adventurers arrived with hunters and mages?”

“They’ve already set up camp!”

“I’m not giving up the unicorn…”

Julban scoffed.

He had multiple clients eager for the unicorn; to land it would be a gold mine, enough to retire on.

‘But I’d rather not tangle with mages…’

“No worry, Julban! We’ve seen their camp: they’re all kids.”

“Really?!”

“They don’t even have any hunters at camp right now.”

“!”

It seemed too good to be true, and for a moment Julban suspected a trick.

But—it made no sense anyway. Who would booby-trap a camp on a unicorn hunt?

“I’ll check myself.”

Julban climbed to a high boulder and looked down at the camp.

The camp was obviously built by mages, but just as his man said, there were gaps.

Mages could be prodigies from a young age, but compared to a seasoned hunter, they looked like prey.

“Alright! Let’s go snatch them. They’re mages—the ransom’ll fetch a good price!”

• * *

“Just deal with it.”

Lee Han tried to calm Fongrif, now stashed in the makeshift camp stable.

He’d smeared griffon scent everywhere, then unceremoniously stashed Fongrif in the stable.

Even if unicorns didn’t mind griffons, you never knew how they might react upon seeing one.

Fongrif angrily complained, “You’re treating me like a common wyvern, just because unicorns avoid those inferior creatures!”

But Lee Han paid him no mind.

He was already annoyed by someone staring at him from a distance…!

“Someone keeps watching? Probably poachers. Don’t worry, nobody in their right mind would get close.”

-Ahem, are you mages?

“!”

Startled by the voice outside, Lee Han climbed to the watchtower.

And began casting spells without hesitation.

CRACKLE!