บท 55: Forest Hierarchy

-------------

/Around 50 minutes after dealing with the Yirg in the forest…/

/Step step.../

"Finally... We're out." Dale mumbled to himself as he pushed some tree leaves from his face

Staring at the open green fields South of Resko, they had returned from their little expedition.

Luckily, the trio managed to leave the forest without encountering any sort of major inconvenience after the Yirg.

Although… Dale left the woods with quite a few mosquitoes and insect bites, and he swore that he would buy an insecticide and bring it with him next time.

How could these pesky existences still be able to pierce through his skin despite his level? He thought to himself as he flicked a large ant off his leg.

Upon arriving, they immediately went to talk with Edimund, talking about the strange Yirg they met in the woods...

...

"What?!"

And he immediately realized what this event could mean…

So after talking with him, they left for the Mercenary Guild while Edimund had a few of the villagers contact the other Elders while he finished his business in the crop fields.

A meeting was in the making.

…

/Half an hour later…/

Dale, Testros, and Misgurd were currently inside the Special room in the basement of the Mercenary guild.

But they weren't alone.

Next to them were all of the people of the Elder council minus the head of the village.

The room itself wasn't very special, it was made of stone and it seemed pretty solid, it had a single rectangular metal table in the corner of the room together with a few chairs…

But there were some stains on the ground… Blood stains.

And with the drain on the ground, all became clear.

This was a butcher room, where the monster's corpses delivered to the Mercenary Guild were once cleaned up and processed.

Many powerful creatures were once butchered here, their flesh made into food and tonics while their skin and bones were turned into armor...

Although the only thing left of this place's former history is the barely visible stains on the ground.

Next to the metallic table was the bloodied sack that was carrying the corpse of the Yirg…

"So what is it that you wanted to show me? Make it quick as I have to go back to take care of little Yumi." Old Tina said as she crossed her arms

Although, despite her tone, she was very serious about this situation.

However, as she turned to look at Dale, her expression grew dark as she said in a deep tone, clearly frustrated:

"Also…"

"Can one of you all explain to me why the kid is all bandaged?!" She exclaimed out loud

When she first entered the room upon being summoned by one of the other elders, she immediately saw Dale and without beating around the bush she immediately asked what had happened with concern.

She wasn't the only one like that though as all of the elders had some sort of reaction towards his current state.

All of them were similar as they were all concerned.

"Wait a bit, Edimund should be here soon… Everything has an explanation…" Testros said as he pulled his shirt's collar a little

"Don't even start, I bet you three met something in the forest, didn't you?"

"..."

"And by your impeccable state, I can safely assume that whatever happened wasn't so dangerous."

"..."

"So whatever happened, it was either that you two let him fight something and get hurt, or you two couldn't do something and he got hurt…"

"Both of which are very serious." She said with sharp eyes as her tone grew heavy

Both Testros and Misgurd felt a bit embarrassed, but to save them some face, Dale said:

"Don't worry Miss Tina, I am fine, besides, it was an accident due to the unpredictability of the situation, we'll explain better once Edimund comes."

"... Sigh."

"If you're okay with it then I won't complain, just be sure to pay more attention next time, youngsters shouldn't be filled with scars…" She replied as she shook her head

"And after this is all over, take a rest, you've been working a lot recently." She said with her gentle smile as she turned to look at the bloody sack

"I will." Dale said with determination as he smiled

…

They waited for a few more minutes and the sound of quick footsteps soon echoed in the hallways outside of the room…

/Creak!/

The door opened and a tall man entered the room.

It was Edimund with a few beads of sweat on his face, without a doubt he ran all the way from the farms here.

"I'm sorry everyone for the wait, let's start this meeting, if it can be even called that."

Everyone nodded, and with that, Edimund said:

"A lot happened recently, but I won't go over that as this isn't a meeting with that in mind, so let's get down to business."

"A few hours ago, our three friends over here went on a small expedition outside, and they found something rather alarming…"

"Please speak." He said as he looked at the trio

"..."

Dale kept his mouth shut, waiting for one of the other two to speak…

"So, as you know, both me and this guy over here decided to bring little Dale outside for some real experience…" Said Misgurd in a deep and serious tone

He started to go over their overall experience outside, without going into too many details.

And 5 minutes later he said:

"Everything was going rather well until we met a Yirg."

"A Yirg?! In the outskirts?" Barme, the old blacksmith asked out loud

"Indeed, but it wasn't any Yirg, and it was thanks to this guy that we avoided an even worse outcome…"

"You talk as if anything would've changed…" Dale joked

"It is true that there was the possibility of nothing happening, but the chance of something going wrong was also pretty big." Said Testros as he replied to Dale

"Your gut feeling spared us a surprise attack, and no matter the difference of power between us and the Yirg, that doesn't change the fact you prevented it, and that is something memorable in and of itself."

Misgurd then said with a smile:

"Having a strong gut feeling can often save you, I guess I've gone too old and now mine has stopped working Bwahahaha!"

"..."

Dale shook his head with a smile, letting Misgurd continue:

"As I said, Dale had a strange feeling about the Yirg, and so, we approached it with caution…"

"And it was then that we realized what it was…" He said as he got up, placing the bag on the table and opening it up

/Gasp!/

All of the elders, including Tina were somehow shocked to see the creature in front of them, and Tina immediately said:

"I can understand what this is about now… Sigh, so much has happened lately that I can't seem to keep up."

"First it is those things below us, and now this?" Said Ophelia, the retired hunter

The others had similar reactions, being this old, they had already seen a lot, and this they had definitely seen before…

"As you have all realized this is indeed a Yirg, and not only that, it's a pretty strong Variant." Edimund said with a frown

"There is only one reason for a Yirg of such caliber to be this far from the deeper parts of the forest, and that is... Lack of food."

Dale didn't know enough about the habits and characteristics of these creatures to draw a concrete conclusion, but going by animal behavior, there are only 2 explanations.

The first one is that there was a sudden decrease in prey, but if such a thing was true, then they would've been swarmed by several different stronger creatures by now.

And the second one is that it was…

"This Yirg was kicked out of its territory." Edimund said deeply

"The only reason why such a strong Yirg can't hunt is that it has no space in there, it doesn't have a territory, and that means something pretty extreme is happening in the deeper portions of the forest."

"Of course, there is the possibility it simply lost its path and came to this place by luck, and that would be good, problem solved..."

"But if that isn't the case, then we need to get ready for the possibility of being swarmed or at least attacked by one or more forest creatures."

/Silence/

Everyone remained silent, thinking about the words and the evidence displayed here.

If a Yirg like this can't hunt, then it means something stronger and more fearsome has taken hold of its territory, and normally, it would simply seek a worse territory from a weaker creature, such is the hierarchy of the forest…

But it didn't.

Instead, it came to the outskirts where the food isn't as nutritious as the ones deeper in…

This could've been an isolated case, but at the same time, it could be the first of many to come.

It seems that the Elders know about something Dale doesn't…

But overall, the situation looks Grim for Resko…