Capítulo 31: Chapter-31 The Three Adventurers
After some time, I was still standing beside the wounded beast's body, with my hands and forearms covered in its blood, the herb paste, and a sticky yellow liquid known as Nemlen's sap.
The wounds on the beast's back had stopped bleeding, but they had consumed all of the Nemlen's sap that I had. The beast had lost consciousness halfway through the treatment due to too much blood loss, but it was still breathing.
It took me a whole 10 minutes to seal the wound. Fortunately, the predator had not appeared again in this period of time.
I queried the system in my mind, 'What are its chances of surviving?' while wiping the sweat off my face with the upper portion of my right arm.
[60% if the predator does not come back in the next 3 to 5 hours.]
'And if it does come back?'
[25% if the predator comes back in the next 2 hours.]
[10% if in the next one hour.]
[2% if in the next 30 minutes.]
Hearing the system's answer, I grimaced and felt bitter. but I could only weakly smile before turning around to leave.
As I slowly walked away from the beast, I didn't look back anymore. I had done what I could; maybe the predator will come back sooner than the male Monther can even heal, and all my hard work will go down the drain. But I didn't care about that anymore.
I came to a halt, took a handful of dirt in my palms, and rubbed them together. I was doing this to remove the blood from my hands.
Now, whether the magical beast would survive or not would depend on its fate and its will to live.
Soon, I started running. I was trying to get as far away as possible from here as soon as I could.
*****
Nearly five hours before the incident with Monthers,
On the north side of the Forest of Echoes, where the march of tall trees finally comes to a halt, one would come across a meadow that looked as if it had stepped from the pages of a storybook.
The grass was light green and ankle-high. It wasn't just the sight of the meadow that pleased the senses. The sounds, smells, and tastes were also out of this world.
On the flat land, a village was situated. Surrounded by high walls of wood made by using tall tree trunks.
The village was riddled with buildings that were made by using the resources of the forest; the vast majority of them were built with wood.
The size of the village was the same as a small town, but because it didn't have any official name, defined boundaries, or even a Baron as a governor and was only managed by the Adventurer's Society, it was not given the title of a town.
A neon-blue river wound its way from the north side to the east of the meadow, cutting through the heart of the village.
Where, a network of small man-made canals branched out, directing the water to various ponds and wells, forming a comprehensive water supply system that crisscrossed the entire village.
On the west and south sections of the walls, there were two watchtowers that stood watch over the gates.
Every morning, the south gate and the west gate, used by adventurers and hunters to venture into the Forest of Echoes for their quests, were opened at the crack of dawn, precisely at six o'clock.
On this particular morning, two individuals were busy pulling the massive wooden panels of the southern gate toward them to initiate the opening process.
Both men bore tanned complexions and appeared to be in their early forties. The first had a bald head, his black beard contrasting sharply with his bare scalp. His companion sported brown hair and a matching brown beard.
Both were attired in shirts adorned with chainmail, while their lower bodies were encased in armour. For the task at hand, they had removed their upper body armour, putting them beside one of the pillar supporting the watchtower.
The two men exerted themselves, continuedly pulling the massive wooden gate with all their strength.
Gradually, the gate swung open, revealing another closed wooden gate of equal size situated behind it.
Looking toward the second closed gate, the two men wasted no time and advanced. With each step, a thumping sound resonated on the ground, accompanied by the subtle clanking of metal.
Approaching the gate, they seized the heavy wooden door bar that held it shut and set it aside on the right, beside the one from the first gate.
This time, instead of pulling, they pushed with all their might, and soon the gate emitted a creaking sound.
The hinges on these door panels had loosened considerably, causing both panels to touch the ground. Consequently, they displaced some dirt as they were pushed.
As the second gate fully opened, the brown-haired man spoke while wiping the sweat on his head.
"Phew! Now then... Let's put back on the upper armour too, or we'll be in for another lecture from the village chief," he remarked wearily.
The bald man let out a sigh. "Haa, it's the middle of summer, for goodness' sake. I can't bear to have that thing on me for more than an hour. I'll wear it when it's absolutely necessary.
And, I already told him the same thing yesterday. If he wants us in armor all the time, he can get a magician to enchant it with a cooling spell," he grumbled irritably.
"Hahaha, come on now. It's not that bad. Now that the gate is opened, we can just go and position ourselves up in the watch tower, and then the cold breeze from the forest will keep us cool."
As the two guards were talking, a group of three—two young men and a woman—were walking towards them. They looked like adventurers based on their attire.
Soon, the group reached the two guards, and then one of the two men, who had red hair and red eyes, from the group of three raised his right hand in a greeting motion while speaking a little louder.
"Hey, Mr. Reese! Mr. Brad!"
The two guards, who were still conversing about whether to wear their upper body armor set or not, were jolted by the sudden voice and turned to look toward the group of three.
"Huh? Oh, it's you guys. Haha. Going on a hunt again?"
"Yeah," the red-haired man answered with a cheerful smile. Then his expression took a 180-degree turn, turning into a grim one, and he spoke again.
"Ahem! We just wanted to tell you guys that we will be going a little deeper into the forest this time, so we might not be able to return before the last light of today."
"Oh, so you're finally going deeper for your quest?" The brown-haired guard chimed in on the conversation.
"Yes," this time, the women in the group responded. "We are hoping, we have better luck this time. We've been here for four days now, and when you factor in the time it takes to get back and deliver those items, we only have today and tomorrow to find them."
With a faint smile she spoke the last part, "Any longer, and we'll exceed the time limit for completing the quest."
Hearing her words, her two fellow cohort members also became a little dejected.
The red-haired man sighed and attempted to change the subject. "Hey, um, what if we were to return in the middle of the night? Would you guys really not allow us back in until it's morning time?" he asked.
"That's... right," one of the guards responded, a bit surprised by the sudden question. They both scrutinized the three individuals, their eyes running up and down, as if assessing them.
Realising that, he was trying to change the topic, the bald guard name Reese chuckled and spoke.
"Why ask something you already know? You're aware of the rule: after the last light of the day, all the gates are closed. No one can either leave or enter the village through the northern or western gates."
He continued, "And I'm sure you also know that if you wish to enter after dark, you'll have to go to the eastern wall section, where there's a wicket gate. Only there will you be allowed to enter the village."
"Oh! Yeah, opening the gate is a massive no-no, but if any of you are injured or hurt, we can throw in a rope and pull you up. Haha!"
The group only smiled weakly upon hearing the man's words. Taking in a deep breath before releasing a large sigh, the red-haired man said, "It's tough being an adventurer."
Hearing this, all four figures around him nodded their heads in agreement, like it was a fact.
Soon after that, the three young adventurers exited the village through the now-opened southern gate and walked toward the forest's direction.
As the two guards gazed at their receding backs, both were able to see the three figures vanishing into the woods.
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