Chapter 115: 115 Magical Beasts Invading Forest Town (Requesting First Subscription)

Chapter 115: The Beast That Invaded the Forest Town (Please Support with a First Subscription!)

After Ronin left, Wilson took charge of the town’s administration, Chahar managed castle affairs, David was entrusted with training the new guards, and Elron was given oversight of all the supernatural individuals.

Thus, Elron had been terribly busy lately.

On one hand, dozens of spell scrolls awaited his crafting—delivery was due by December for the trip to Pasture City.

On the other, he had to give early magic lessons to Eileen, so the girl could become familiar with the principles and requirements of scroll-making.

Occasionally, he also had to inspect the work ethic of the newly surrendered individuals who had joined the town, preparing for their upcoming evaluations.

But lately, something even more infuriating had arisen—a beast had appeared near the pastures to the northwest of town.

“You’re certain another sheep is missing?”

At dusk, Elron stood outside the sheep pen behind the castle, staring at three trembling shepherds before him.

They had all been recruited by Ronin when he first arrived in the forest town, and had served the castle faithfully for so long—they were trustworthy, and it made no sense for them to steal their own sheep and then report it.

“Didn’t I tell you to move your grazing grounds? How did you lose another one?”

Elron rubbed his temples hard. For three days straight, nearly one or two sheep vanished each day.

He had sent David and his men to scour the nearby hills. All they’d found was a suspicious pool of blood—no other clues.

Did this beast eat the sheep and leave not even a bone?

“Most honorable Magician, we’ve followed your orders and moved to a smaller hilltop for grazing. We’ve doubled our patrols these past two days—but we still don’t know why the sheep keep vanishing!”

The shepherds were panicked.

Though this Magician was kind—helping paralyzed patients and injured farmers alike with holy light to ease their suffering—they had lost too many sheep. Even if they wouldn’t be executed, fines were surely coming.

They didn’t dare imagine what punishment Lord Ronin would mete out upon his return.

“Elron, what do we do now?”

Chahar was growing frantic. The castle had only a hundred or so sheep left—many had been consumed during banquets. If this kept up, they’d be wiped out.

Elron fell into thought. “If this is truly the work of a beast, it must be one skilled in concealment.”

At the mention of beasts, everyone grew uneasy.

Winter hadn’t even arrived yet—how had a beast descended from the mountains?

“At least it only targets sheep. It hasn’t attacked people.”

Elron felt a flicker of relief.

He knew Ronin valued his people above all—even losing a few sheep was preferable to losing a strong laborer.

But no sooner had he spoken than chaos erupted outside.

“Elron! Quick—save David!”

Elron stiffened. He recognized the voice—it was Tomas, the burly knight of the Grey Earth Trio.

He turned—and saw a group of guards carrying David toward them.

“What happened?”

Elron’s face paled. He rushed forward—and his heart nearly stopped.

David’s face was deathly pale. His chest was soaked through with blood. The horrific wound made Chahar turn ashen.

David had been among Ronin’s earliest followers, a former guard from Wushan Castle who had risen to become a professional knight, trusted deeply by Ronin.

If David died, Elron had no idea how he’d explain it to Lord Ronin.

“What happened?”

Elron asked even as he cast a healing spell.

White, milky light spilled over the wounds—and the bleeding slowed, then ceased.

“We found the beast that’s been eating the sheep!”

Dandy’s face was twisted with terror. “David and I searched westward. Earlier, we reached the woods north of Wushan Lake. We were checking the thickets—and suddenly, it was right there! David had no time to react—it swiped him with its claw!”

The group’s spirits sank.

Though there were still four professional knights in the territory, all were low-rank.

Though there were two mages, Eileen, the junior mage, knew only Water Gathering—useful for bathing a beast, useless for harming it.

Elron himself was high-rank—but he could cast only support magic. If this beast was of high tier, they were in serious trouble.

After several healing spells, David’s bleeding stopped entirely, the wounds had scabbed over—but he remained unconscious from blood loss.

Elron examined him, heart still pounding. “Thank the gods the beast struck only once—and didn’t use its full strength. Otherwise, David wouldn’t just have two broken ribs and some scars. Tomas, take him back to rest.”

He turned to Dandy. “Dandy, did you see what kind of beast it was?”

“It was large, with gray-black fur,” Dandy strained to recall, shaking his head. “It moved too fast. By the time I turned, all I saw was its back.”

Large. Fast. Combined with the claw marks on David’s chest—it resembled a beast like a tiger or leopard.

Such beasts were notoriously difficult to fight.

“Tell the townsfolk to avoid that area. Tomorrow, we’ll drive a few sheep there and see what happens.”

Elron pondered. “If my Light Bind can trap it, we kill it. If not—we retreat immediately. Send for Commander Redal in Grey Earth Village—or wait for Lord Ronin’s return.”

Elron frowned. It was already November 3rd. According to Ronin’s original plan, he should’ve returned one or two days ago. Had something delayed him?

Meanwhile, Ronin had set up camp in the woods, just miles from the forest town.

Tents of all sizes dotted the forest, surrounded by roaring bonfires inside and out, keeping the chill at bay.

It was no longer summer. Temperatures had plummeted, especially in the mountains. Without fires and tents, huddling together through the night could mean freezing to death.

Fortunately, this grueling journey was nearly over.

“My Lord,” said Knight Galiel by the fire, “Once I deliver you to the forest town tomorrow, I’ll lead my knights back.”

“In a few days, the cold will deepen. If we’re unlucky enough to catch rain or snow, our return will be far more perilous.”

Ronin nodded. “I had hoped to invite you to stay a few more days in the town. Since you insist, I won’t press.”

With Galiel’s knight squad escorting him, Ronin’s journey had been utterly uneventful—not even a wild beast had dared approach.

After sharing a few bites of meat and a few sips of warm wine, Ronin retreated into his tent.

He had departed on October 18th. Today was the 3rd. He had accumulated 180 attribute points—all spent. His mage level now stood at (318/400).

Soon, he would reach the peak of the high-rank mage tier.

If he completed a few more achievements and gained enough points, by December, when he returned to Wushan Castle, he might well hold the rank of Bronze Knight.

A dual-class Bronze-tier warrior was no small force. At that point, Ronin could afford to reveal a fraction of his strength without undue worry.

And by then, he would likely have nearly 800 Essence Cores stashed away—enough to create a full Silver Knight in one go.

With such top-tier strength in the forest town, and just one small knight squad forged, no outside enemy would dare provoke them.

As for the Sain Lordship…

Firiton, the knight who once barely needed to draw his sword to end Ronin’s life, now—even if he joined the forest town—would rank only third or fourth.

Even Lord Resen, rumored to have ascended to Bronze Knight, held no fear for Ronin.

Along the way, when Galil grew bored, he would seek out Macken for sparring; even though Galil was a Bronze Knight, Macken never fell immediately—he could still hold his own for three or five rounds.

If Macken could manage so well, then Riedal could last even longer.

To be honest, in Ronin’s eyes now, the threat from the Sein Domain had diminished greatly.

If the other side dared to lay hands on him again, it would give him a perfectly justifiable excuse for retribution.

(End of Chapter)