Chapter 31

Upon entering the village

What came into view gave one a sense of desolation.

The entire village was not large, and one could see all the houses in the village at a glance, totaling only about 30 buildings.

A small portion of the ground was covered with a layer of gravel and was relatively clean, but most areas were overgrown with weeds.

Judging from the varying heights of the weeds in different areas, it seemed someone was cleaning them from time to time.

All the houses were low, single-story buildings; a few of the better ones could be seen to be built of stone bricks, but judging from the gray-white walls, these better houses were also quite old.

"Our village is small, but there are a few vacant houses. If you don't mind, you can rest in the house in front."

The thick gray-brown beard on both sides of the village chief's cheeks and chin shook with the movement of his speech.

"Thank you, Village Chief." Tang Zheng looked at the house the village chief pointed to, then thanked him.

"Hehe, it's just a small matter; our village hasn't had guests for a long time." The village chief let out a gentle, light laugh.

As the two were talking.

From the doorways and windows of the villagers' houses around, many curious eyes and heads peered out.

The entire Carne Village was not large, so any movement would naturally be known by others very quickly.

Tang Zheng thanked him simply and, under the gaze of many eyes, entered the vacant house in the village.

Carne Village was actually very ordinary, and there was nothing worth Tang Zheng's attention.

If one had to say.

It would only be that young girl named Enri.

The girl who, with the help of an ordinary magic item, the "Horn of the Goblin General," managed to blow out an entire army.

Tang Zheng highly suspected that she had a natural talent similar to "extremely high goblin affinity."

However, at the moment, she was just an ordinary girl.

Creak!

Pushing open the wooden door, the connection to the door frame made an old sound.

Tang Zheng walked into this vacant house; it was very empty, with only a wooden bed, and there was a thin layer of dust on the floor.

On the ceiling beams and the four corners of the roof, there were also some tattered spider webs.

In the corners where the wooden boards met the floor, the color was slightly darker, which should have been caused by dampness.

In such a poor border village, Tang Zheng did not expect a very good accommodation environment; the reason he came to Carne Village was because it was the closest village to the Forest of Tob.

And because it belonged to the territory of the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke, the safety was actually very high.

From "E-Rantel" to Carne Village, it takes about a day's journey, so a round trip takes at least two days.

Although Tang Zheng had already replenished his supplies, he still needed to guard against unexpected situations and needed to exit the forest in advance.

Or in a situation where supplies were consumed too much and were insufficient.

At this time, naturally, there had to be a place specifically for resting.

Carne Village could not be more suitable.

"I should have prepared a 'Clean' magic scroll." Tang Zheng looked at the dust in the room and the spider webs on the beams, shaking his head slightly.

Sure enough.

Even though he had learned a lot about the preparations adventurers make when going out from the "Rocks" team, there were still things he overlooked.

Tang Zheng could only clean the room himself and clear out a clean area.

Only then did he take out a basketball-sized ceramic jar from the toolbox and place it on the ground, then took out a piece of cured meat, broke it into small pieces of varying sizes, put them in, and poured in the water from the waterskin.

"Heat."

Tang Zheng extended a finger and pointed it at the ceramic jar.

In less than half a minute, the clear water in the ceramic jar began to boil, gradually turning into a pot of meat soup, emitting a meaty aroma.

"Not to mention anything else, this magic is at least quite convenient for heating food." Tang Zheng smelled the salty fragrance in the air and a faint smile appeared on his face. A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and the simple meat soup was already made.

Tang Zheng took out a bowl, ladled a scoop for himself, and then picked up the black bread and started eating.

Even after boiling, the cured meat still had a somewhat heavy salty taste, but paired with the dry and hard black bread, it was not bad.

Cured meat is one of the staple foods adventurers keep in the wild; because it is cured very saltily, it is almost impossible to eat directly.

It is often used to make meat soup or as a substitute for salt, which is an important way for adventurers, who are manual laborers, to replenish salt.

The aroma of the meat soup with a faint salty taste drifted out through the window.

It immediately caused a small commotion in Carne Village.

The main economic source of Carne Village is growing crops, mainly wheat, and collecting some herbs on the edge of the forest.

Hunting wild beasts?

For villagers who are only level 1 on average, this is a quite dangerous thing.

Tang Zheng remembered that there should be a hunter in Carne Village with the basic class of "Ranger," but the other party was at most level 2.

=9+Book_Bar

Glanced at the attribute panel.

Genius 1lv + Sword Saint 6lv = Comprehensive Level 7lv

The experience left over from killing the two Eight Fingers members before, plus the goblins and small magical beasts killed along the way, allowed Tang Zheng to level up once again.

In terms of progress, it was not too slow.

Tang Zheng felt that it should not take many days to raise the mid-tier class "Sword Saint" to the maximum level, and after that, the main focus would be to raise the level of "Genius."

Shalltear and Zesshi Zetsumei's "Priest" class are both 10lv.

Although Tang Zheng was not sure if this was the level condition for the "Priest" prerequisite for "Valkyrie," raising it to this level to maintain consistency was never wrong.

The next day, June 2nd.

As soon as the sky brightened.

Tang Zheng packed up and left Carne Village.

Before leaving, he specifically went to the village chief's place and paid 5 copper coins for the overnight stay.

The people of Carne Village were quite simple and honest; the village chief did not intend to take it, but it was forced into his hands by Tang Zheng.

He might very well return to Carne Village later, so increasing favor in advance was a way of interpersonal interaction.

He could still afford five copper coins.

…………

The air was filled with the unique scent of the jungle—a mixture of branches, leaves, soil, and decay—wafting out from within the Great Forest of Tob.

Rustle—

Tang Zheng stepped on the thick branches, leaves, and moss; every step he took made a "rustling" sound like branches colliding and being crushed.

Deep in the jungle, the sounds of various animals and birds could be heard from time to time.

Tang Zheng held an iron sword in his hand and advanced along the outer area toward the eastern direction of the Great Forest of Tob.

Among the three Forest Rulers, the strongest and most difficult to deal with is the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke; with Tang Zheng's strength, he wouldn't even be able to escape if he ran into him.

Don't look at how cute he is in the anime; that's because it's from Ainz's perspective. In reality, the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke, is a quite terrifying magical beast!

The other two Forest Rulers.

The Western Magic Snake, Naga, has high intelligence and is also a magic caster, which also carries a high degree of danger.

Only the other Ogre, although equally powerful, has low intelligence and is the type who is stubborn!

Most importantly, he belongs to the warrior class; besides possessing super recovery ability and physical attack methods, he has no other attack methods.

In the event of an accidental encounter, the probability of escaping after running into the Ogre is clearly much higher than running into the Western Magic Snake, Naga, or the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke.

Lush, towering trees covered the surroundings, and sunlight passed through layers of barriers, penetrating the dense canopy and falling in dappled patterns on the ground.

(End of chapter)