"Things would've been much easier if we had a magical item to find those balls."
"Pfft!..."
"My, my... I wonder what's so funny, Mr. Arezu?"
At noon on the day of their departure for the orc-hunting quest, Lynn and Arezu had finally reached the western forest road.
They continued along the path, hoping for an encounter with the orcs. But even after reaching the end of the road just before sunset, their hunt had yielded nothing.
Of course, they weren't the only adventuring party on the hunt—perhaps that explained why the orcs, who were supposed to ambush travelers on this road, were nowhere to be found.
Most likely, another adventuring party had already hunted the orcs down and pushed deeper into the western forest, searching for the location of the orc nest.
"Should we head into the forest too, or go further ahead to the campsite?" Arezu asked, considering the most logical course of action for their party.
If they entered the forest now, they could still cover some distance before sunset. If they continued further ahead, they would reach the open plain along the road where they had camped during the goblin-slaying quest.
"Can I try something first, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn asked.
"Sure, go ahead."
Before they made a decision, Lynn used her scouting skill to check their surroundings.
'Search'
Her mana rippled like a wave through the ground and air, resonating with anything that held mana of its own, and sending back signals of their locations.
Though she didn't find the orcs they were looking for, she found something else. Unfortunately, those she found also sensed her—tracing the source of her skill, Search.
"Tsk..." Lynn clicked her tongue, annoyed that she couldn't mask her presence.
"I'll have you know, Mr. Arezu, I expanded the range of my Search to its limit. That's why they detected it. Not because I'm bad at using it."
Arezu hadn't even questioned her skill, but Lynn explained anyway.
"I wasn't doubting you in the first place." Maybe just a little, Arezu thought. "Just leave the defense to me. I'll make sure none of them reach you or the wagon."
Arezu readied his halberd-axe, taking a defensive stance against whatever was coming through the trees. But Lynn didn't follow his plan.
"For now, you can relax and look after the meat—I mean, Chevaline. I'll take care of this."
Like he said, Arezu wasn't seriously doubting Lynn's ability. Just a bit. Still, the number of enemies he could sense heading toward them was overwhelming for one person—even for both of them. Yet Lynn confidently stepped forward, ready to cast her mystic spells.
She closed her eyes, focusing her mind and continuing to track the approaching monsters using her Search, still active.
Not long after, a dozen shadows burst out from the trees and bushes—wolf-like monsters, all lunging straight at them and the wagon.
Arezu panicked. Even with the wolves right in front of them, Lynn hadn't moved. He raised his halberd-axe, preparing to defend her. But at that instant, she finally cast her spell.
"Obelisk"
Without the usual ground-shaking rumble that Arezu had come to fear, dozens of rock spikes erupted silently from the ground—polished like spears—impaling the wolves mid-leap.
Even as their kin were slaughtered before their eyes, more wolves attacked.
But Lynn was ready.
"Ice Lance"
Dozens of icy spears rained from above, piercing every wolf foolish enough to charge at her.
In the blink of an eye, the peaceful forest path had become a slaughterhouse.
Some corpses were left hanging midair, impaled through the head or gut by blackened spears. Others lay skewered on the ground by crystal-clear lances.
The stench of death filled the air, blood pooling on the forest floor—seemingly alive, as it avoided the spot where Lynn stood, wearing an innocent smile and a glint of madness in her eccentric eyes.
"How's that, Mr. Arezu?"
So that's Lady Impaler, Arezu thought, stunned into silence, unable to answer her.
Even after Lynn dismissed the rock spikes jutting from the earth, the sheer number of corpses made it impossible to dismantle everything before sunset—let alone burn or bury them to prevent them from rising as undead due to the Curse of Envy. However...
"Just pick three of them as our loot, Mr. Arezu, and hang them on the back of the wagon. Then we're leaving."
Though puzzled by her command, Arezu did as she said, still keeping an eye out for more wolves hidden in the forest.
"You're worried about the rest of them?" Lynn asked, easily reading his concern. "They won't attack again."
"And why is that, Lynn?" Though he had an idea, Arezu played along, indulging her smug expression.
"Because even monsters know what fear is, Mr. Arezu."
Her playful tone and innocent smile betrayed the chilling aura radiating from both the carnage around them and Lynn herself.
As they rode away from the site of the massacre, Lynn explained why they didn't need to worry about the wolves turning undead.
"Are you not familiar with that kind of wolf monster, Mr. Arezu?"
"Do they have a name or something?"
"Obviously. Those monsters are called Wargs."
Wargs are low-level monsters resembling wolves. They grow over a meter tall—or more—and are infamous for their insatiable hunger. No matter how much they eat, their sickly appearance—skin stretched over bone—never changes.
That explains the disturbing look, Arezu thought, eyeing the three Warg corpses dangling from the wagon.
Corrupted by curses—especially the Curse of Gluttony—Wargs will devour anything that resembles flesh, even the corpses of their own kind.
"The remaining Wargs will eat those bodies down to the bone. So we've got nothing to worry about, Mr. Arezu."
"You're more thoughtful than I expected, Lynn." Arezu said, his words carrying an indirect apology for assuming she might cause trouble for other travelers.
For a moment, Lynn was quiet, hiding her embarrassment. But her usual mischief quickly returned.
"Are you falling for me now, Mr. Arezu?" she asked, glancing back with a teasing smile.
"Please keep your eyes on the road while driving, Lynn."