The book owner was in the lead.

There were also many important items.

They said there was a village just past this place.

They said it was a three or four day journey, so their scheme was to somehow get out.

“Ra, Rael…”

Amelin grabbed his sleeve, watching the carriages move away.

His voice trembled.

Unless he was a fool, he couldn’t not know what was happening.

They had been abandoned.

Now, he had to find a way to survive.

“W-what should we do?”

“Just a moment.”

He focused his mind.

He spread his senses.

He felt traces of mana everywhere. Then, he turned his head to the left. There was barely any trace over there.

“Let’s go that way.”

“Huh?

“Quickly. We need to escape.”

“What about the people?”

“If we stay there, we’ll just die with them.”

He spoke as he ran. Amelin hesitated, then followed.

The protagonist also thought there was no other answer.

There was nothing she, merely an apprentice, could do.

They ran into the forest on the left.

There were no orcs in their path.

His senses were correct.

Just as he felt relieved, someone followed them from behind.

It was a mercenary. There were two of them.

Among them was the mercenary he had thought was sly.

“Let’s go together.”

The mercenary smiled.

He was quick-witted.

He seemed to have realized that the vanguard had abandoned them.

Even in that bewildering situation, he chose to abandon everything.

And on top of that, he followed the protagonist.

It was amazing.

He nodded.

It was good to have someone stand in front.

If the Mercenary held on for a bit, they could handle it even if Orcs appeared.

“Can we clear the way?”

“Just distract them.”

There were Orcs nearby.

There were also people. They were helpless passengers.

“Kuaaaak!”

Everyone was running away.

The Orcs’ axes came down on their backs.

He frowned at the tearing screams.

There was nothing the Protagonist could do.

He just felt the Killing intent from the people.

If they were lucky, they would live; if they were unlucky, they would die.

Rael’s skill was not enough to defeat all the Orcs.

The Protagonist was also in danger.

Occasionally, when Orcs chased them, they fought. The Mercenary would block for a moment, and then Magic would be cast at the Orcs.

As they reduced their numbers and fled, the pursuit gradually lessened.

However, the Protagonist’s senses still detected a lingering pursuit.

At this rate, it would never end.

He panted for breath.

Even though the Protagonist had climbed mountains, he hadn’t properly trained.

With the boy’s stride, he had to move his feet faster than adults.

Perhaps because of that, he quickly became exhausted.

It was incredible that he had run at full speed for thirty minutes in the first place.

It would have been impossible if the Orcs hadn’t been chasing him with axes from behind.

Amelin, being a woman, felt her legs tremble. She was at her limit.

She had to come up with something.

She frantically looked around. She needed to find somewhere to hide.

Then something caught her eye. More precisely, she smelled something.

“Wait a minute!”

“W-what is it?”

“That! We need to dig that up quickly!”

She pointed and shouted as if screaming.

In her urgency, the Mercenaries dug up the plants without even questioning her.

They were herbs.

They were growing in several places around the tree.

It was the smell of the herb called Quihen that the Guide Old Man had used.

If it had been a simple smell, she wouldn’t have noticed.

But she remembered the smell of mana.

Smelling it made her mind clear.

She took out her waterskin and wet the herbs.

She rubbed the wet herbs on her body.

“Pour water and rub it on your body!”

“Water?”

“No time to worry about wasting it.”

The Mercenaries saw it and followed suit. Amelin did the same.

After all, they could create water.

She stopped when she felt it was enough. Other herbs would have had a scent. But these herbs had a scent that humans couldn’t detect.

She wasn’t sure.

Perhaps it wouldn’t work at all in the Capital City.

She wasn’t entirely convinced, but there was no time.

The presence was getting closer.

I hid behind a nearby rock.

Amelin followed and hid. The Mercenary crouched behind a nearby tree.

After a short wait, I heard footsteps.

They were Orcs. There were about five of them.

They were poisonous ones. They were following that.

My heart pounded.

The Protagonist’s skill was best when far from the opponent.

If discovered at such close range, it would be over.

Two Mercenaries couldn’t stop that many Orcs. If a battle broke out, I wouldn’t even be able to cast a spell before being cut down by an axe.

‘Please, just go away…’

I even held my breath.

Perhaps because of that, my heart seemed to beat faster and faster.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, the Orcs left. It worked.

If it hadn’t worked, I would have had to fight the Orcs.

Only then did I exhale.

“Huuuu…”

I looked at my companions.

Amelin gasped for air. The Mercenaries sat on the ground, looking up at the sky.

We survived.

Thanks to the Old Man, we survived.

Quihen was the herb the Guide Old Man told me about.

I remembered him using the herb, which saved me. The Guide Old Man had, in a way, saved the Protagonist.

It was a relief.

It was a dangerous moment.

Quihen didn’t work on Goblins.

He said it would work on something more dangerous. The Orcs were definitely more dangerous. So it seemed to work.

The immediate crisis was over, but it wasn’t good.

He sighed.

The road ahead was bleak.

The trade caravan, which had twenty carriages, was destroyed.

There was still a long way to go to the destination.

He didn’t know what to do from now on.

As he hesitated, he felt a gaze.

Everyone was looking at the protagonist.

They were implicitly pushing the decision onto the protagonist.

This was the first time this had happened.

Even if it wasn’t Amelin, the mercenaries were adults.

He couldn’t understand why those mercenaries would hand over the choice to the protagonist.

It was probably because of the skill he had shown earlier.

Perhaps it was because they saw him run straight into the crisis that he was in the Capital City.

His shoulders felt heavy.

When he was alone, he could make choices lightly.

Anyway, even if there was a loss, it was the protagonist’s loss.

But now it was different.

Depending on the protagonist’s choice, the lives of three people were also decided.

The sneaky mercenary asked.

“What should we do, Beggar?”

“Let’s find a hiding place.”

“A hiding place?”

“There might be Orcs roaming around.”

“Not a bad choice.”

The Mercenary nodded.

There would still be Orcs roaming around.

For now, they had to avoid the damn Orcs.

They had to hide in the Cave and definitely overcome the crisis.

The group followed the Protagonist’s decision without complaint.

They walked, stepping on fallen leaves.

They dug up Herbs they saw around. They were good ones to boil and eat. If there were any fruits, they took those too. It seemed they would need food.

There were many Caves where animals lived.

Fortunately, they found one. It was dark.

The sly Mercenary picked up a branch.

Seeing him, another Mercenary also picked up a usable branch.

Amelin lit it. A Torch was created.

The two Mercenaries took the lead.

Looking at the floor, centipedes crawled. Besides that, there were many strange insects.

They thought they couldn’t sleep lying down.

The Protagonist recalled if there were any Herbs he knew that could repel insects.

He remembered seeing it in an Herb book.

However, he wasn’t sure if it would be in this area. He had to look for it later.

The Cave was deep. As they went in a little, a large space appeared.

Water dripped from above.

The Mercenary shone the Torch. A Cloth rack was visible.

“No bats.”

“It’s quite a clean Cave.”

The reaction was good.

Rael felt a question.

The floor looked like Mud Magic, and insects were crawling.

But to the Mercenaries, it seemed to be considered quite clean.

The group settled there.

They brought more branches and lit a bonfire.

With the Flame, the bugs didn’t come close.

Smoke escaped upwards, as if there was an empty space in the Cloth tent.

There was also dry ground. They settled there.

Each member of the group gazed at the bonfire.

No one spoke.

Amelin was the first to break the silence.

“What do we do now?”

No answer came.

The Trade Caravan was ruined.

It had disintegrated even before reaching the first Village, let alone its destination.

My head ached.

I didn’t even know where we were at the moment.

Considering the number of Orcs appearing, we might be in the middle of Orc territory.

We almost died in Goblin territory, but this was even worse.

Orcs were stronger than Goblins. If a hundred of them appeared like last time, we might just have to lie down and beg them to kill us.

Rael said,

“There’s a big Village about three or four days away.”

“You mean we should go there?”

“Not right away.”

There were Orcs.

There were many Mercenaries, but they didn’t dare to confront them.

Now there were only four of them, at most.

Excluding Amelin, there were three of them.

It was dangerous to leave right away.

Let’s wait a few days.

What are you going to do during that time?

We need to prepare. We also need more herbs like the ones we just used. You don’t want to fight orcs, do you?

Everyone in the group shook their heads.

They had experienced the terror of the orcs. There was no way they would want to fight them.

Once a direction was set, they felt more lively. They would be safe once they reached the village.

They each decided on their roles.

Rael decided to go outside the cave.

He needed to gather more Quihen before the herbs’ effects wore off. Seeing what was growing on the way, it was likely a natural habitat.

Besides that, they also needed firewood and herbs to repel insects.

The sly mercenary also stepped forward.

The other two decided to stay.

Amelin seemed pleased.

The sly mercenary kicked her.

Even though it happened during combat, it was awkward to face her.

One mercenary and Amelin decided to explore the cave further.

Rael went outside.

He looked around. He didn’t feel any mana.

He walked stealthily.

But the mercenary raised his arm to stop him.

I’ll go first.

He nodded. There was no reason to refuse when he offered to lead the way.

He watched the mercenary walking ahead.

He turned his head from side to side.

Occasionally, he would sit down and examine the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for traces.”

“Traces?”

“I learned tracking skills separately. Because my father is a Hunter.”

It was amazing.

The Mercenary wasn’t just observant.

He had even learned tracking skills separately.

But he wondered if there was really a need to find them.

It was then.

The Mercenary pointed to the spot where he had cleared the fallen leaves and said,

“Look here.”

“What is this?”

“These are the footprints left by Orcs.”

“What do you do by looking at footprints?”

“You can learn a lot of information. The number of opponents. And their movement path. Depending on the traces, you can even tell when they passed by.”

“You can know even that?”

“You have to be observant.”

“I’m very observant.”

Finding Herbs also required good observation skills.

Although he found valuable Herbs by the smell of mana, before that, he had climbed mountains every day.

If he hadn’t been able to find Herbs, he would have starved to death when he was in the Village.

So he thought his observation skills weren’t bad.

“Really? Then look at this. What does it look like to you?”

“They just look like footprints.”

“These are footprints from two hours ago. These are several days old.”

“They look the same to me.”

“That’s why I said you need to have a good eye. Not everyone can learn tracking skill.”

He nodded.

The mercenary seemed a little more trustworthy, doing something even the protagonist couldn’t.

With his tracking skill, he could even guess the location of the orcs just by their footprints.

The protagonist could barely sense the presence of nearby orcs at best.

They both surveyed their surroundings, but for different purposes.

The protagonist searched for herbs, and he kept watch. Each had their own role.

They found what they wanted faster than expected.

While gathering firewood, they came across some herbs.

It was Quihen.

It seemed there was a lot of Quihen in this place.

Once they had found roughly what they wanted, they turned back.

It would have been good to find herbs to repel insects too, but wandering around too much was dangerous.

On the way back, there was a capital city where they could get herbs.

With a lot of luggage, walking became a bit difficult.

He still felt his limits every time he exerted himself.

His combat skills improved well, but his body didn’t grow worth a damn.

He had just turned one year older, making him thirteen, and his future seemed bleak.

He spoke to the mercenary.

He knew it would be less tiring that way.

“Why did you follow me?”

“Because you’re strong.”

“Strong?”

“And your short sword was fast. You were the only one who deliberately ran in the midst of it all, so I followed you.”

“For that reason?”

“Hey. What I said was difficult. When you suddenly have to fight, even a seasoned mercenary is bound to panic. You saw people losing their minds, right? In the midst of all that, you were the only one who got your bearings and ran away properly. Seeing that, I thought, ‘Ah, the direction that kid is running in is safe.'”

“That’s amazing.”

The mercenary praised the protagonist.

However, at that remark, the protagonist thought the mercenary was more amazing than himself.

Because it wasn’t the kind of thought an uneducated mercenary would have.

“Now it’s your turn. How did you know that direction was the right one?”

“I can sense the presence of orcs.”

“With magic?”

“It’s a little different, but similar.”

“I see.”

The mercenary was silent.

Walking was difficult. He endured for a bit, then asked again.

“What are you thinking?”

“I was thinking it was a good idea to follow you.”

The mercenary grinned.

His attitude seemed to have changed slightly.

“What are you going to do now?”

“As I said before, we’ll have to wait a few days. How much food do you have?”

“I have some jerky.”

“That’s a relief.”

“The drinking water is the problem, though.”

To find water, they had to search the forest. If they encountered beasts or monsters in the process, it would be difficult. Finding a water source itself was a risky endeavor.

The mercenary’s worries were instantly resolved.

“I can make that.”

“Ah, right.”

The mercenary scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

It seemed he had momentarily forgotten that Rael could create water.

That appearance was a little like a mercenary, which actually put me at ease.

On the way back, no more herbs were seen.

However, I decided to focus on the fact that we hadn’t encountered any orcs.

No fighting was a good thing.

Upon arriving at the cave, Amelin greeted me.

She said she had made an amazing discovery.

When I asked what it was, she didn’t answer.

Instead, she took my hand and led me further into the cave.

After a short while, a large space appeared.

But she didn’t stop there.

As we approached one side, there was a narrow path.

Going down there, a building was visible. It looked like the entrance to ancient ruins.

It was a dungeon.