After Nolan left E-Rantel in the morning, he followed the intelligence and crude map he had gathered from the Adventurer's Guild.
He headed northwest, towards the furthest border region of the Re-Estize Kingdom, near the Great Forest of Tob.
There was a place called Carne Village.
This village,
though a border settlement, had a history of nearly a hundred years. However, despite its long history, it couldn't change the village's impoverished state.
It was a completely inconspicuous, even overlooked, existence within the kingdom. Yet, in the anime, it was central to a series of plotlines!
Of course,
this village actually had no direct connection to various plotlines; it was more like a plot's transit station.
"Waaah!"
From the grass on a desolate hillside by the road, a goblin that had been lurking there suddenly charged out.
Nolan glanced over, his iron sword was drawn from his waist instantly. He easily dodged the ambushing goblin with a sidestep, while simultaneously swinging his arm to strike down.
Puff!
The blade flashed!
The goblin shrieked and was cut in half on the spot.
'Gained 30 experience.'
Nolan emotionlessly flicked the green blood from his iron sword and looked around. Four more goblins emerged from the grass.
"Such troublesome creatures." Nolan's thoughts stirred, and he spoke:
"Magic Arrow!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
After consuming 5 points of magic power, Nolan consumed another 1 point of magic power, creating 4 magic arrows in one breath and shooting them at the 4 goblins that appeared.
Four green blood flowers bloomed!
As the sound of falling bodies echoed, information appeared on his status panel.
'Gained 27 experience.'
'Gained 25 experience.'
'Gained 30 experience.'
"The experience is similar to that of wild beasts. I should be able to gain 1 level by the time I reach Carne Village. Leveling up is indeed faster in the early stages."
Nolan walked forward and cut off all the ears of the dead goblins. After all, goblin ears could be exchanged for money at the Adventurer's Guild.
This was no small income.
During the rest of the journey,
Nolan encountered several more waves of attacks, but they were no longer just goblins; there were also some small magical beasts.
Under such circumstances, Nolan finally arrived at a small village surrounded by wooden fences, with wisps of cooking smoke, at dusk.
A quick glance revealed that
such defensive wooden fences offered almost no hindrance against attacks from magical beasts in the forest!
And the fact that Carne Village, which was so close to the Great Forest of Tob, had always existed without being destroyed by magical beasts, was itself an interesting matter.
Having encountered magical beast attacks intermittently along the way, Nolan's feelings were naturally the most genuine.
After leaving E-Rantel, the number of magical beasts and goblins gradually increased, but the closer he got to Carne Village, the fewer magical beasts there were.
This was because, in the Great Forest of Tob, there were three powerful magical beasts known as the "Forest Rulers"!
The Great Magical Beast, Forest Ruler of the South—Forest King, Hamusuke.
The Eastern Giant, Forest Ruler of the East—Ogre, Gu!
The Western Demon Snake, Forest Ruler of the West—Naga Rulalurus!
These three beings could be said to collectively rule the entire Great Forest of Tob, and Carne Village was precisely within the territory of the Forest King, Hamusuke.
This was also why no magical beasts attacked Carne Village.
These three Forest Rulers were all around Level 30. The Forest King, Hamusuke, was even higher in level. According to human terms, they were all beings who had entered the realm of heroes.
But even among humans in the hero's realm, it was almost impossible for them to be a match for the three Forest Rulers in a one-on-one situation!
This was the advantage of demi-humans or heteromorphic beings.
Nolan shifted his gaze from the entrance of Carne Village to the primeval jungle in the distance, which was already visible to the naked eye and stretched endlessly.
His vision was obstructed by the towering, dense foliage, and he couldn't see anything, but a look of solemnity and apprehension appeared in Nolan's eyes.
In the Great Forest of Tob, the truly terrifying entity was not the three Forest Rulers!
But a being located deep within the forest!
Two hundred years ago, during the era of the Thirteen Heroes, one of the magical beasts that appeared in this world was the "Demon Tree." Its level was as high as 85LV, and even back then, it wasn't completely eliminated; it was merely sealed deep within the Great Forest of Tob.
When the anime plot began,
Shalltear's sudden encounter with the strongest force of the Slane Theocracy, the Black Scripture, and their possession of the World Item [Downfall of Castle and Country],
was entirely due to Shalltear's bad luck!
The Black Scripture's true purpose in deploying with the World Item was because the seal on the "Demon Tree" had begun to loosen.
They intended to break the Demon Tree's seal and, incidentally, control it with the World Item [Downfall of Castle and Country], but they encountered Shalltear instead.
This led to an inexplicable battle between the two sides!
It was only briefly mentioned in the anime, but there were some descriptions in the light novel.
The Black Scripture suffered heavy losses, and the human who used the World Item was even killed by Shalltear's dying counterattack before she was fully controlled.
This was also why Shalltear, despite being controlled, turned into a "wild monster"—it was entirely because the person who used [Downfall of Castle and Country] had died.
"Who are you?!"
Suddenly, at the entrance of Carne Village, two middle-aged villagers appeared, holding steel pitchforks, looking at Nolan, who had appeared at their village entrance, with wary and vigilant expressions.
"Excuse me, I am a traveler passing through the village, and I would like to ask for a night's lodging here." Nolan looked at the two and spoke softly with a gentle tone.
Upon hearing this,
the two villagers holding steel pitchforks exchanged glances. The wariness and vigilance in their eyes did not diminish at all. Instead, they first looked in the direction behind Nolan.
Only after realizing that Nolan was alone did the expressions of the two villagers slightly relax.
"Wait a moment."
These two villagers clearly couldn't make a decision. One of them spoke to Nolan, then turned and quickly ran into the village.
He didn't have to wait long.
The villager who had left returned with a man who looked to be around forty or fifty years old, with somewhat dark, rough skin and grayish-brown hair.
From his appearance, he seemed to be the village chief of Carne Village.
After the village chief arrived, he carefully scrutinized Nolan, especially pausing his gaze on Nolan's black hair.
"Are you here to ask for lodging?" the village chief asked with a somewhat rough voice.
"That's right."
Nolan nodded.
"Then please come in." The village chief did not ask any more questions and instead spoke very readily.
This somewhat surprised Nolan.
Carne Village rarely had outsiders visiting, except for tax collectors and merchants buying herbs in late autumn.
"Chief?"
The two villagers spoke with some surprise, apparently not expecting the chief to agree so readily.
It was already evening, and someone arriving at their village at this time clearly made the two villagers uneasy.
"These past one or two months are when the magical beasts and wild animals in the forest are most restless." The village chief sighed lightly and opened the fence.
Upon hearing this,
the two villagers finally realized that although their village was peaceful, the road to it was not. The fact that the other party could come here alone showed that he was not weak, and the village's wooden fence would not be able to stop him at all.
Since the other party did not force his way in, it meant that the black-haired young man had no ill intentions.
Understanding this point,
the two villagers no longer had their initial wariness.
Led by the village chief, Nolan followed him into Carne Village.