Chapter 578 (1/2)

Charon and her group, with Fran as their escort, were searching for a pack of wolves to kill while gathering herbs.

However, the search was not going well.

In the vicinity of the academy, they live in holes on the plains, but the wolves around here have their dens in the forests. In addition, they dug holes in the trees’ roots and hid in them.

If they didn’t know that, they would have had a harder time finding them. But the receptionist of the Adventurer’s Guild would tell them that hint right away if asked. Even Charon, who had thought about getting a map at the guild, didn’t seem to think that the wolves’ behavior here would be so different.

Charles, their escort, had an indescribable expression on his face. He wanted to teach the students, who were continuing their fruitless search, about the wolf behavior here but that would not be a good experience for them.

He wanted to teach them, but he shouldn’t. The frustration must be torturing him from within.

We knew about the wolves’ behavior because we’ve tracked and spotted them many times during our herb gathering before.

I think they were probably the closest to the wolves when they were looking for medicinal herbs at the river.

Since Urushi was hiding in Fran’s shadow, Familial Hatred didn’t seem to have shown its effect before, but it might do so to an advanced wolf-type magic beast though.

We followed the students at a leisurely pace, keeping an eye out for any magic beasts that might approach them.

We have only had one encounter today. And that was only because we went to kill a Lesser Wyvern that was in the distance by teleporting.

But we had been in some good fights these past few days, so Fran doesn’t seem to be frustrated today. It must be so refreshing for her, unlike being in the stifling city. And she was also in the mood for a picnic with Charon, Khanna, and the others today.

As we continued to move, Charles issued a warning.

「Aah, please don’t go any further to the lake」

「Oh, we’re already that close?」

「Yeah」

When we were at the lake before, the Modoki used to appear only near the center of the lake, but it seemed that they would appear in a wider area now.

A few cases of people being attacked on the shores of the lake had also been reported. Therefore, the Adventurer’s Guild decided to restrict the students from approaching the lake for their safety.

However, that only applied to the students of the Academy of Magic. They could not deprive the local people of their livelihood, so there were no restrictions on the traffic of the ships.

And the result was the scene in front of us right now.

「Eh? Hey, that ship seems to be under attack!」

「I-it’s true!?」

A cargo carrier had been attacked by a Modoki.

When Charon and Khanna shouted, the other students seemed to notice it too.

「W-wait! Don’t go!」

Charles was desperately trying to hold back the students who were about to run away.

「But, if we don’t do something, they’ll sink that ship!」

「Yeah! We can help them!」

「Oi, you guys need to calm down!」

「We can’t even go there, you know!?」

Some of the students appealed that they should go to the rescue, but the students who remembered the information about the Modoki were against it. However, the students in the rescue group were appealing with good intentions while the students who were against it were the weaker ones.

The ones who were against it would also like to help if they can.

However, if the students go there, they will surely be killed by the Modoki.

(Master, let’s help them)

『Yeah, the students would be reckless if we leave them alone』

(Nn)

『Urushi, we’ll count on you here』

「Woof!」

The students’ eyes then focused on Urushi as he jumped out of Fran’s shadow.