169 Chapter 169: Mission with father (2/2)
”I see a village, about three hundred meters…in this direction.” I vaguely gestured somewhere to my right, where Corvus spotted the village. After all, I didn't have a compass, so I didn't know where east or north was. I could take my smartphone out and check, but honestly, it would be pointless. Dad wouldn't understand where exactly I was referring to if I just said ”three hundred meters east of us” unless he checked his compass as well. It would be much simpler and clearer to point in the exact direction. ”Pretty small village, from the looks of it. A farming community.”
”Cool.” Dad nodded and glanced upward. The sky had darkened, and we heard a howl somewhere in the distance. My Corvus couldn't see the source, but I wasn't worried. I had Ursa Major watching our rear in case any monsters snuck up on us, and a ring of Canis Minor foraging ahead to check for ambushes and traps. Even so, neither of us was enthusiastic about camping out in the wilderness at night. ”Let's stop over there for the night. I hope they have an inn or someplace where we can stay.”
”Yeah.”
A growl drew my attention, and I hurried forward, only to see my pack of Canis Minor pouncing on a Horned Antelope in unison. Despite its gentle appearance, the Horned Antelope was an aggressive monster that gored anything it saw with its monstrous horns. It was certainly not herbivorous, and enjoyed preying on poor humans. Fortunately, it was rank F at best, and was no match for my Canis Minor. Behind, I heard a thunderous bellow as Ursa Major struck something that looked like Striped Tiger that tried to pounce on him. With a single blow, he stunned the monster, and he proceeded to lumber forward to finish it off. The Striped Tiger slashed at him, but Ursa Major wisely evaded the first blow, and then caught it in the flank with his claws. As the Striped Tiger thrashed about, Ursa Major began to tear the poor thing apart.
”How reliable.” Dad grinned, amused. ”At this rate, I don't need to call upon Angelica.”
”Please don't.” the last time he summoned Angelica, he ended up setting Jing Tian City ablaze. And that was just last week. ”Speaking of which, how is she? I haven't seen her…not even last week, when you summoned her.”
”Same as usual.” Dad shrugged. ”She's a summoned spirit, so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to answer your question. Hey, you should be concerned more about your old man. If I bite the dust, Angelica vanishes along with me!”
”There's nothing in this world that can kill you, Dad,” I replied dismissively. Dad turned serious and shook his head.
”Oh, you'll be surprised. There exists monsters in this world that are beyond our imagination. There will always be a taller mountain. The same goes for me.”
”Oi, don't go setting up death flags already, Dad.”
”Ha ha, yeah. True. I'm still too young to die.” Dad chuckled and slapped my shoulder. ”Anyway, lead the way! Let's reach the village before it gets completely dark!”
I followed the route my Corvus helped me spot earlier and we covered the remaining three hundred meters in about thirty minutes. The forest terrain was pretty hard to traverse, and we had to fight off a couple more monsters, but we managed to reach our destination unscathed.
”My, my. How rare…I wasn't expecting visitors.”
There was an elderly lady who had just finished harvesting something and was pushing a cart of crops toward a shed. I stepped forward and offered to help.
”Thank you, young man.” The elderly lady stepped back as I took over, and then stretched her back. ”Ah…my spine hurts. I wouldn't know what to do without you.”
”I'm sure you will manage just fine. You still look very strong and healthy.” Dad offered her a smile. The elderly lady laughed at that.
”My, what a flatterer! But my age is taking a toll on this frail body. I'm afraid I won't last much longer.” She patted the small of her back. ”What brings the both of you here?” she glanced at the ceremonial rope that stretched across the perimeter of the forest, its enchanted runes forming some sort of barrier. ”Monster hunting? There hasn't been any monsters capable of breaking through our barrier for years now.”
”We're investigating some uh…bandits.” Dad scratched his head. ”Their trail led us here.”
The elderly lady's expression stiffened for a moment, and she narrowed her eyes.
”…bandits?”
”I guess you can call them that.” Dad shrugged. ”A criminal organization, to be more precise. Conducting illegal experiments.”
He didn't elaborate, but the elderly lady fell into thoughtful silence for a moment.
”There has been a few newcomers recently, but they often pass through our village and head straight to the mountains.” She turned and gestured toward the mountains beyond the village. ”I don't know where exactly they go, but there was a huge convoy a few days ago.” She fumed. ”Ran through Thaksin's field and smashed all of his vegetables to pulp. Those bastards…Thaksin raged and demanded for compensation, but they just blasted him with a spell. We contacted the authorities, but by the time they arrived, those bastards were gone.”
Dad and I exchanged a glance. Seemed like we were on the right track. If anything, we headed toward this direction precisely because we received a tipoff from the authorities regarding a bunch of suspicious dudes showing up and making a mess of someone's field in some village in this area.
”They had all these trucks and heavy vehicles. I bet those illegal experiments you're talking about are stored inside those trucks. They have to be! Otherwise they wouldn't be rushing through our village like that.”
”We'll check them out,” Dad promised. ”But for now, do you mind if you point us toward an inn where we can stay for the night?”