Pale Emblem

Chapter 188 Monsters in the Forest

After reporting on the work of the past two days, the three heralds left Clark's room together.

They were trusted servants in front of their master, and General Clark's messengers outside.

Outside the house, the deep night enveloped the deserted streets, and the autumn wind in the middle of the night seemed biting and cold.

Matthew pulled up his windproof mask and fastened the buttons of his hood, muttering, "Since the master started dating Priest Linda, he seems to have become a different person."

"Hey, don't talk nonsense here!" A companion pulled Matthew and whispered to him.

"Did I say something wrong?" The young and hot-tempered Matthew broke away from his companion's hand and said indignantly, "The commander died in the Brown Town stronghold, and the master didn't say anything. He would never treat his servants so coldly before. And..."

"What else? And you are so bold that you dare to speak ill of the master behind his back!"

The elderly servant who had left earlier came out from the dark corner alone and stared at Matthew and the others coldly.

Matthew sobered up instantly, walked forward and said with an apologetic smile: "I am loyal to my master, how could I possibly say something bad about him! I just can't stand that woman who always makes decisions for my master."

"Yes, yes, Matthew's original intention was to protect his master. Mr. Fermont, please don't misunderstand him." The companion also walked over to plead for Matthew:

"We are all brothers and sisters, and we are all loyal servants of our master. We should take care of each other. Let's put it this way. Matthew and I will invite you to the adventurer's inn for a drink, and we will cover all the expenses."

"There are two new waitresses in the Adventurer's Inn. I heard they are very beautiful. It's a good opportunity to go and take a look." The third companion also joined in with a lewd smile on his face.

In fact, Matthew's biological mother was a half-elf slave girl of the Clark family. His biological father was unknown. He could be a male slave, a male servant, a visiting guest, or Clark himself.

When Matthew was born, Clark was exactly 16 years old, and in the first two years he was able to enjoy the female slaves in his home.

However, according to the laws of the Disa Alliance, the matrilineal status determines the lower limit of children, and the patrilineal status determines the upper limit of children.

Commoners give birth to commoners, slaves give birth to slaves, and nobles give birth to nobles.

Matthew's mother was a slave, so he was born a slave of the Clark family.

Unless his biological father acknowledges him and grants him a higher status within his authority, he will remain a slave.

There have been rare cases where a father of a noble family made the son born to a slave girl his heir.

Obviously, Matthew did not have such luck. As a domestic slave, he was separated from his biological mother at the age of four and taken to the Clark family's slave training camp to start collective life and receive systematic servant education and skills training.

When Matthew was 15 years old, the slave training camp recommended him to Clark based on his expertise to serve as a trusted servant.

Clark's trusted servants were all born into slavery, just like Matthew, including the relatively older Philmont.

So, the companion begged for mercy from Fairmont by saying that they were all brothers and sisters.

The heralds all looked glamorous on the surface, but as slaves, they actually did not have much private property.

Fairmont just wanted to give these three heralds, who were younger than himself, a warning and would not report them to his master.

Without solid evidence, Clark couldn't believe his one-sided statement.

Since these young men had already given in and were willing to pay for him to drink, Fairmont was very satisfied and said in a reserved manner, "Well, let's do it tomorrow. Tomorrow is our turn to rest."

"Okay, Brother Fairmont, we'll meet at the Adventurer's Inn tomorrow afternoon." Matthew said with a dry laugh.

Fairmont nodded, turned and left alone.

As they watched him disappear into the alley, the smiles of the three young heralds gradually became strange, and their eyes were filled with an imperceptible bloodshot light.

Matthew smiled strangely and whispered: "Hehe, hehe, hehe, you will become our brother when you meet the mistress tomorrow."

..............................

At noon the next day, there was a primeval forest 400 kilometers northeast of Godore Fortress.

This place is very close to the border of the Dragon Kingdom, and outside the border is an area where even the Dragon King Filmat cannot fly, so it is also called the Outer Realm by the Disa Alliance.

The Godore Mountains have come to an end, and the surrounding terrain has begun to become flat, with many towering trees growing in the fertile and deep soil.

There are very few such sights in the Disa Alliance. Gaius and Muse, who were exploring for the first time, felt extremely curious about everything around them.

The girl held her cousin in one hand and pointed at the dense treetops with the other, chattering non-stop like a cheerful little lark.

Compared to the relaxed and happy playful attitude of the young masters and young ladies, the servants and guards would never dare to be careless, especially when they are in an unfamiliar environment, and no one knows what kind of monsters there are in the woods.

These dragoons from the famous families were divided into groups of six and spread out as much as possible to expand the alert range and search area.

Chimeras and wyverns won't fly to the Outlands, they should be nearby.

Although Gabus and Muse's servants have not found any clues yet, they have not seen any animals or birds in this primeval forest, which is enough to prove that Chimera has been here and left a strong dragon scent.

Perhaps, Chimera and the wyverns had already fought with the monsters that had broken into the dragon kingdom nearby, which scared away the animals in the forest.

Now as long as they find the fight scene, they will definitely gain something.

Whether it is the dragon blood of Chimera or the flesh and blood of invading monsters, they are both of high value.

Chimeras and wyverns will not actively attack Dragon Vein Half-Elves, so the Servants are not particularly worried about encountering Chimeras.

As for the possible invading monster, it has most likely been killed or driven away by Chimera.

If everyone acts carefully, they can always ensure the safety of the two little masters.

This was the conclusion reached by several servants after evaluation and discussion. Otherwise, they would definitely try to delay the journey and wait for the parents of Master Gaius and Miss Muse to catch up and arrest them.

So far, they have not encountered any particularly dangerous situations during their journey.

Not discovering it doesn't mean there is no danger. Muse's servant Savannah has sensed danger, but she couldn't determine the source.

That was a few days ago. They had just separated from a group of adventurers they had met by chance. When they passed through the wetland meadow, Savannah sensed a terrifying and ferocious gaze secretly watching them. The process of peeping was so brief that Savannah suspected that she had an illusion. But she did feel that the terrifying gaze shuttled to Miss Muse, and then disappeared.

She sent experienced dark hunters to search in that direction, but found no valuable clues.

Everyone thought that the spy in the dark was most likely the sabertooth beast that the Thunderstorm Adventure Group had warned them about. The powerful and secretive beast finally gave up on targeting their group and chose to retreat.

Savannah had her doubts. She was a level six Oak Guardian with a unique ability close to that of a spellcaster. She could draw on the mysterious power of nature in lush forests, wilderness, and grasslands.

Sabertooth is also part of the natural realm, and it will not consider a level 6 Oak Guardian as its first target.

Therefore, the source of the dangerous gaze was not an animal. He targeted Savannah first, probably because she was the strongest fighter on the team.

Savannah had no evidence, and the danger had been resolved, so the matter came to an end. She only told Miss Muse to carry the amulet given by the adventurer Victor in the most conspicuous place.

The little girl Muse is always so carefree, and her innocence and happiness often infect those around her.

"Savanna, Savanna, look up quickly, these tree crowns are so magical and beautiful, they are even courteous to each other." The noble girl giggled.

Above their heads, the lush treetops were swaying in the wind. Although they were close together, they did not collide with each other, and there were clear gaps between them. The sunlight shone through the gaps in the treetops, like a dream scene shining into reality.

Savannah, who was tall and covered in secret armor, said in a gentle tone: "Perhaps I can hold a ceremony to communicate with the trees in the forest and ask them why they are so shy?"

"Hey, are you shy?"

"I take them as they are."

"Can trees be shy?"

"You think they will."

At this moment, a short whistle from their companions suddenly came from the forest, indicating that they had encountered a threatening monster.

After Gaius's servant Frank identified the whistle, he said with a grim expression, "To the northeast, 700 meters away, three teams have encountered monsters. The bad news is that these monsters may be the same species, and we accidentally approached their nest; the good news is that they have not yet launched an attack, and we can choose to retreat now."

"Retreat? Why retreat?" Gaius asked excitedly, "What kind of monster is it?"

As the master, he had no interest in learning the content of the whistle communication, and the same went for his subordinate Frank.

Frank shook his head and said seriously: "It's an unknown monster."

"That means it came from outside the domain." Master Gaius became even more excited: "It may be the target of Chimera. Let's go and take a look."

"My Lord, I suggest shrinking the formation first, withdrawing the people in the front, and letting the people behind catch up." Frank, a level 6 archer, turned around and asked, "Ms. Muse, what do you think?"

"I'll listen to Sister Savannah." Muse said crisply.

What a good child... Frank thought, Muse is usually naughty and has a lot of tricks, but when faced with an emergency, she is still very well-behaved and never makes rash decisions.

"If it's Mr. Frank who's in charge, I believe you can resolve this crisis." Savannah said generously, and added: "The forest gave me a hint that those monsters just want to force us back."

Frank gave Savannah a grateful look and turned to look at his little master.

Master Gaius could only compromise and give up the idea of ​​personally commanding the operation. He said, "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, but I have one request. Don't retreat easily. I don't want to come out for a stroll and then go back empty-handed and become a laughing stock of others."

"Don't worry, my Lord. I will assess the risks, prioritize your safety, and then take down the monster's lair," Frank assured his master.

Gaius was still not satisfied, and muttered, "It's to ensure the safety of my sister. As for me, I can take some risks. This is why I came here... You know, this is a necessary experience for growth."

Frank signaled to the guards around him to use the whistle to order all members to move closer to the core of the team.

The sound of whistles echoed back and forth in the woods, and soon the dragoons on the periphery returned with their mountain dogs.

They automatically formed a defensive formation, protecting the two little masters in the middle.

The monsters in the forest also approached the half-elf team.

They are about the same size as tigers, with colorful fur patterns, thick limbs, sharp claws, a rat tail behind them, a flat head, and a wide mouth with two rows of triangular razor-like teeth.

These monsters are agile and can leap seven or eight meters in a single leap. Their sharp claws can easily grab onto tree trunks. They are particularly good at climbing trees and can bounce back and forth between the treetops.

Frank, a level 23 archer, estimated that there were monsters on the ground, a dozen on the trees, and more monsters were heading this way.

"Great Master, the minds of these monsters are in chaos. We can't communicate." A fourth-level beast trainer of the Golden Claw explained to Frank: "This situation is similar to that of the Shadow Beast. I suspect there is also a mother behind them, just like the Shadow Lurker."

"I understand... Please control the owl-faced bears. Now is not the time to use them." Frank nodded and said with a serious expression.

Owl-faced bears are aggressive and aggressive, their fur stands on end when they see monsters. The trainer tries hard to calm them down and prevent them from rushing out to bite the monsters.

These ferocious-looking monsters didn't look easy to mess with. Frank judged from the information conveyed by the scouts and the falcons that there were about 100 of these monsters in the woods.

Fortunately, they did not surround the half-elf team, but approached them head-on, forcing them to retreat from the forest with their roars and claws.

Frank was experienced in adventures, so he ordered the dragoons to maintain a defensive formation and slowly retreat until all the monsters in the woods appeared and the trainer's dust falcon did not discover any new situations.

The great venerable finally gave the order to attack.

"All bow warriors aim and shoot at the monster in the tree."

"The shield guards and swordsmen deal with the monsters on the ground."

"The beast trainer commanded the mountain dogs, owl-faced bears, and dragon beasts to attack from both wings of the team and outflank the monsters."

"Do your best to destroy them!"

(End of this chapter)