Chapter 114-1 – At the edge of the Dark Forest

Amandina and Scarlett traveled to an abandoned orchard near Firburh.

The abandoned orchard was renovated several months ago, with the crumbling walls fixed with wooden logs made into an enclosed wall and extended the area of the original orchard’s size, making it bigger than before. Trees were planted around the area, making it enough to hinder visibility to what was inside the orchard.

In addition, there were hidden scouts placed at specific points. The corners of the wooden walls were made into watchtowers, allowing quick access to alert the makeshift training camp of any situation.

This was the place Brendel chose to train the future White Lion Infantry secretly.

The orchard was divided into two sections. The south-eastern corner took a quarter of the orchard, and provided the mercenaries and adventurers a place to sleep in. These men were specially chosen to protect the first batch of White Lion Infantry, as well as maintaining order.

Brendel had considered adding them to form a new army, but it largely depended on whether Cornelius was vested enough in training them.

The latter was currently in charge of training the White Lion Infantry.

Originally, he was a little displeased that Brendel transferred him out from the city, but after arriving to the orchard and seeing what the new army meant, he realized that Brendel regarded him highly, and he was not being shunned.

He immediately became enthusiastic about his task and arranged the army’s affairs orderly. Even though his abilities to command on a battlefield was middling, he was talented in handling internal affairs few could match due to his meticulous personality.

Amandina and Scarlett’s carriage went deep into the area and they found several mercenaries waiting for them. When the girls descended from their carriage, they saw youths waiting and chattering amongst themselves in the open ground near them.

Amandina walked quietly towards the shade of a nearby cedar tree. Scarlett, who was in charge of her safety, stood silently beside her. Most of the trees around them were evergreens found in Trentheim, and even in winter there would be dark green leaves that were covered in snow.

Sixty youths were specially chosen from the natives in Firburh, and the mercenaries had them gather in orderly rows on an empty plot of land.

Some of the youths had not seen much of the outside world because they were formerly craftsmen and farmers. A few of them were descendents of the gentry in Firburh, while the rest were made up from young adventurers and mercenaries. When the youths spotted the girls, they realized there was a young noblewoman who had come to the orchard, and it caused a commotion to happen.

“Look, it’s the female aristocrat who repaired the walls!”

“Why is she here?”

“She’s the daughter of the lord, right?”

“What are you talking about, the lord is as young as she is!”

“Isn’t the lord who took over a middle-aged man?”

“No, that’s the lord’s commander.”

“I see, then she’s the lord’s fiancee?”

“That’s a logical deduction.”

The loud voices wormed into Amandina’s ears, and she was forced to listen quietly. Her eyes went to Scarlett for a moment.

“...... What is it?” Scarlett returned her glance, her ponytail whirling behind her as her head moved quickly..

“Nothing,” Amandina said, and averted her gaze.

The White Lion Infantry was one of her lord’s plans, which was started ever since Firburh was taken over. However, creating a powerful army was far more difficult than just pouring resources into it. Brendel intended to train this batch of youths to become the backbone of the White Lion Army, and eventually allow them to reach the level of commanders.

They were going to be his personal knights.

All of them had one common point, they were no older than twenty, and some were only thirteen. They were like blank pieces of paper, full of potential.

They were highly curious and restless about their future. It had been only three days since they entered the orchard and had only received simple training. The mercenaries had already roughed them up a little to remind them of discipline.

The majority of them were still rash and naive, save for the few descendants of the gentry and the young mercenaries who had been trained well. These exceptions stood there motionlessly, but they were alert to their surroundings and did not get involved with the chatter.

Thus they easily entered Amandina’s eyes.

“Some of these young men seemed like they are trained. Who are they?” She asked.

“A few are descendants from the owners of the nearby lands. The others are young mercenaries.”

“The gentry? But why would their descendants come here?” Amandina thought it was strange.

“It seems like they snuck out of their homes.”

[Ah. So they are seeking excitement? I wonder if the mercenaries checked up on their background.]

But it was unlikely for them to be spies. It was incredibly risky for them because they would be entering the Dark Forest, and there would be no way for them to report their activities.

As for those who joined Brendel’s faction purely for excitement, she hoped they would not regret their decisions.

She took out a pocket watch— It was something that Brendel used a few months back when he led the refugees out of Fortress Riedon. Even though it was not worth much, it was something that allowed him to time the enemy’s movements accurately. She took great care of it and did not intend to change it.

She flipped open the cover.

[It’s nearly eleven.]

When she raised her head, she indeed saw a mercenary running towards her; he stopped before her, placed a hand over his chest and bowed.

“The preparation is almost done, my lady.” He said.

Amandina nodded, and he bowed again and ran off. Her eyes shifted over to the four caravans that were a short distance away. These caravans certainly could not compare to the nobles’ carriages. The latter were led by four horses and they were built to look like artworks rather than a mode of transport. The former was of much poorer quality and used by merchants or farmers to transport goods.

The mercenaries obviously did not care how good the carriages were, and busily handed out number tags to the youths.

It was a method that Brendel copied during his stint as a worker in Schafflund. These tags were also made of wood, but inside them were magic imprinted by Tamar. A Crimson Crystal imbued with detection magic would easily verify their authencity.

In order to prevent tampering, these Crimson Crystals that the mercenaries had would lose their effectiveness after a while, and they must be replaced at fixed intervals. Brendel was the only person who had a crystal to detect the identification permenently.

The youths got onto the caravans after they received their tags, and soon enough the orchard was completely silent as though the noisy chattering was an illusion.

Amandina finally let out a relieved sigh.

“Alright, let’s send Brendel off.” She said to Scarlett. “Tell the other drivers to move out in separate directions. Our lord’s movements are supposed to be a secret, so we should be careful as we possibly can.”

The red-haired girl nodded, slightly impressed at the length to what Amandina was willing to do in order to meet up with Brendel.

“Do you want to go with him?”

“What?”

“To the Dark Forest.”

Amandina jerked once, but she did not answer.

============ Brendel’s POV ==============

When Brendel left his horse carriage, he could feel the lazy sunlight on his back. The youth could not help but stretch out his back like a cat. He turned around and looked at the Dark Forest; the sunlight pierced through the black needle leaves and shone down in a dazzling manner to his eyes, and the grass received the remainder of the thin light rays.

“I knew this wouldn’t be anything good, you little brat.” Grumbling came behind Brendel’s back.

Brendel turned around to see a gloomy Kodan jumping down from the carriage. The latter’s attire had changed to a guard’s uniform when he left the city. He carried a longsword, dagger, short bow, and a quiver filled with arrows. He looked more like an adventurer instead of a traveler enjoying a trip.

The old man took in a deep breath. Even though the Dark Forest was a dangerous place the air was unusually refreshing. The scent of the forest was invigorating despite the cold weather. Kodan looked at the ground and saw that his boots were standing on a thick carpet of grass. It was as though the snow had hardly affected the vitality of the vegetation.

He stomped the ground as hard as he could and the impact immediately caused creatures to scurry out.

“Centipedes, snakes, rats, and scorpions......” The old man shook as head as he spoke: “This is truly a ghastly place.”

“I heard that you fought at the kingdom’s borders during the November War.”

“Don’t remind me of that experience.” Kodan glared ruefully at Brendel.

Kodan’s army were forced to retreat into the Dark Forest and fight there during the November War. That was the only time when the commanders did not care about strategies at all; both factions fell into bloodlust like two dying animals tearing at each other throat, but neither of them could deliver the finishing blow.

The savage war exceeded everyone’s imagination. Hundreds of men who went out as companies, ended up with only tens or even single-digit survivors. The battlefield covered over tens of miles, and corpses could be spotted everywhere in the wild.

The stench of rotten blood and meat made the borders a living hell, especially when one compared the small skirmishes that happened during that era.

Brendel understood and did not talk about it anymore.

Carglise was the third person who jumped down. He pulled Mordenkainen out from the carriage and dragged him about.

“Let go of me!” The Elementalist yelled, and his duck familiar also quacked in protest, but there was no way for him to oppose a swordsman with his strength, especially when it came to Carglise who’s also a Silver-ranker.

Carglise ignored his yells, looked around with interest and breathed in deeply: “So this is the Dark Forest?”

“Why, does the place disappoint you?” Kodan snapped.

“It resembles the forest in Mount Graham, yes.” Carglise looked curiously into the deeper sections of the forest. The poor lighting made the area look like it was a dark oil painting.

“Hmph, I hope you don’t regret what you said.”

“Regret? Well, at first I was regretting it a little, but now I’m not,” he shook his head before grinning at Kodan, “entering the Dark Forest and treating it like an adventure, why didn’t I think about it before?”

[That’s because you’re just a little crazy brat, and you haven’t met this utterly insane brat who’s standing next to you.]

Chapter 114 part 2 – At the edge of the Dark Forest (2)

Even though the old swordsman grumbled in his mind, he regarded Brendel carefully from the corner of his eyes.

Brendel smirked a little when he caught Kodan’s admonishing stare. The reason why he sought Kodan was quite simple. He wanted to use this opportunity on his adventure to train the youths. The Dark Forest was filled with danger at every corner and it was the best place to train.

There was also the fact where it would be easier to impart his ideals to them by having the youths around him.

The problem with this strategy was the unpredictable dangers within the Dark Forest. It was a difficult task to protect these youths alone, and he could not spend all his time to do just that, so he needed more people to help him.

Ciel, Medissa, and Scarlett were powerful Gold-rankers, while the Mercenaries of Lopes were Silver-rankers. However, the current Firburh could hardly allow Brendel to bring out too many of his forces. If it were not for the fact that Scarlett still could not leave his side for too long, he was not even willing to choose to bring her along.

Therefore Brendel claimed that it was a short trip and used it as an excuse to bring Kodan along to help him. Even though the latter grumbled about it, Brendel believed that he would still lend a hand in the end.

[Well, it looks like he only hesitated for a moment before he agreed. As long as I didn’t get him to openly fight against Count Randner or become my subordinate, he’s quite willing to go on an adventure. Still, if looks could kill......]

“Very well, where are the whelps that you needed to take care of?” Kodan said in a gruff voice.

“They are going to reach here soon enough,” Brendel replied.

He looked out to the Wilderness outside the Dark Forest, and soon spotted a black dot which rapidly became bigger. The four carriages soon reached to where they were and stopped one by one.

The mercenaries hurriedly descended from the carriages when they recognized Brendel’s figure, bending their bodies slightly as they greeted him:

“My lord!”

“Is everyone here?” Brendel asked.

“Yes, my lord.”

“How about Scarlett?”

“Miss Scarlett is here along with Lady Amandina.”

Brendel looked up and his eyes landed on the final carriage that was black in color. Amandina and Scarlett alighted from the carriage, but what surprised him was the two Wild Elf sisters in the carriage.

The younger sister Dia even waved at him.

“My lord!” She called out.

The Mercenaries of Lopes were busy with their missions for an extended period of time, and she had not seen Brendel for a while. She seemed particularly excited.

“Why are they here?” Brendel walked over and nodded at the little girl, but his eyes went to Amandina with this question.

Amandina seemed to have predicted Brendel’s question, but she suddenly glanced at the four carriages as if to confirm something subconsciously, before she spoke: “Miss Felaern is here to take care of your needs.”

[A maid serving at my side with all these people around me!?]

Brendel nearly choked on his saliva and looked at her in shock: “...... I don’t need a maid.”

The older Wild Elf sister’s face twitched several times, and the shadows around her eyes seemed to darken. She glared at him and the meaning of her eyes could not be any clearer: “You’re being disrespectful, my lord!”

“I.....” Brendel opened and closed his mouth several times like a fish. He really did not think about that Felaern was a maid, but the way how she conducted herself truly overlapped the duties of that job. He thought for a moment, but had no choice but change his words: “I mean, I don’t need someone to take care of me. I’m not like a kid who needs to be spoon-fed or be dressed up—”

“But you’re the lord of Trentheim,” Amandina said in an earnest expression.

“But that’s a fake title, just like how I’m a fake noble in the past.”

“The past is certainly in the past,” Amandina raised an eyebrow, and her voice was a little reproachful, “but now you’re the fake lord of Trentheim, every single fake word or deed has to be filled with the fake acts of a noble. How can you not have a fake maid?”

She turned her head away slightly to look at him in a meaningful way: “Or perhaps you prefer Lord Ciel to take care of your daily life, my lord?”

Brendel was finally at a loss for words and trembled when he imagined that situation. He glanced at Felaern. In truth, he had gotten used to Felaern back at Firburh who had been tasked by Amandina.

In the end, he raised both his hands to show that he submitted.

“This little girl isn’t bad,” Kodan observed Amandina from head to toe as he came up and spoke to Brendel, “an aristocrat’s daughter who’s pretty and has decorum. That’s hard to come by. Your grandfather would be satisfied.”

“What are you talking about?” Brendel said with a huff.

Sometimes an old man just wanted to see the world burn.

“What?” Kodan realized something and spoke with a beaming smile: “Are you dissatisfied? Then I’ll introduce her to Carglise. Since he’s your adjutant and has the same kind of personality as you—”

Brendel coughed once and looked at Amandina: “Stop talking nonsense.”

“You’re a flirt but you don’t follow it through. You lose out to your grandfather on this point, boy.”

This time Kodan did not get angry at Brendel’s disrespect and patted his shoulders instead, looked like he was triumphant and left his side as though there were springs in his boots. It was rare to find a weakness in Brendel, and he showed off smugly.

Brendel rolled his eyes and looked back at Amandina, whose face took on a rare blush. She lowered her head and said quietly: “Please prepare now, my lord, your time is limited.”

“Do you not intend to join us?” Brendel suddenly realized there was a second meaning in her choice of words, but Kodan’s words suddenly made him conscious of Amandina and how she appeared to be a little cute when she went against most of the time.

The girl nodded.

“It’s too dangerous for you to go back alone—”

“But Scarlett said she wants to go along with you, so she can’t escort me back.....” Amandina thought it would be fine since the road between the Dark Forest and Firburh was not too far, and since the city’s surroundings were controlled tightly by the mercenaries, she would be fine.

“What I mean is for you to come with us,” Brendel said.

“What?” Amandina blurted.

Brendel rarely brought her out because she had hardly any physical abilities to speak off. Even though she felt it was a tiny regret, she knew where her abilities should be used in and did not think much of it.

Now that Brendel suddenly brought up this request, it had gone out of her plans. She knew what kind of place the Dark Forest was, and if she went along she would just be a burden.

“I...... It’s not a good thing, right?” Even though she refused, but there was a small voice that told her to accept it. When she thought that she could go on an adventure with her lord just like the past days, the girl who was usually calm hesitated.

But Brendel was not asking her out based on a whim. He got Scarlett to bring Amandina out safely because he wanted Amandina to take over Valhalla’s administration. She would be his first adjutant in the future, and maintaining a normal operation was integral to his plans. He needed her to be familiar with this sleeping land.

Valhalla was an unusual land that would shock any mortals once it was awakened. The fastest way to get the person to accept it was to activate it themselves and let them experience the process of its awakening.

There were many things he had to do and could not possibly stay in his lands for long.

“It’s fine, this is certainly part of my plans, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be replaced. The Dark Forest is indeed a very dangerous place, so I’m leaving the choice to you.” Brendel said.

“But what about Miss Romaine?” Amandina frowned and hesitated once again: “If I’m not there, no one will be able to rein her in.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t do anything crazy.”

“But.....” Amandina looked confused.

During the past few months in Firburh, there was hardly a day that went by without Romaine causing some kind of trouble. She wondered how the self-proclaimed merchant girl survived her past life, and even respected the latter’s aunt greatly for being able to keep her in check.

Her aunt must have been an extraordinary lady.

But Brendel believed differently. If he was missing in Romaine’s life, she would be more docile than anyone else. The reason why she got trouble all the time was to attract his attention. Even though she was airheaded at times, she was naturally wily like a fox, which made him feel that she was adorable.

“So how about it?” He asked.

“Of course I do,” Amandina gushed after an afterthought, but she quickly recovered herself with a cough, “What I mean is, I’m not afraid of danger if it’s for you, my lord.”

“Thank you,” Brendel replied with a small smile, but he immediately pointed at Dia who was curiously studying the forest’s plants: “I can understand Felaern, but what is with the situation with her?”

[I can understand the choice with the older sister, but why the younger sister? Though it might be a good thing if a second lucky babe searches the loot. I approve of this transaction!]

“She’s here upon Sir Tamar’s request,” Amandina said.

[Oh, come to think of it, the younger sister had been acting as an assistant to Tamar, but what request—]

“Ah, she’s here to collect materials for him?”

Amandina nodded: “But I’m not sure what kind of materials can be gotten in this place.”

Chapter 114 (3) – At the edge of the Dark Forest (3)

Brendel understood Tamar’s thoughts.

The Dark Forest was part of the Wilderness that had never been claimed. People hardly entered the place, and the Laws within this area were affected by Chaos and would be reset at a fixed interval. Mysterious things of shapes and sizes could be found in the forest, and the treasure beneath the earth’s surface was unimaginable.

However, due to the increasing Mana within the forest, various creatures mutated and increased their activities, and even the vegetation spouted with full of life. There were pockets of Mana that gathered in great intensity; crystal quarries could be found near small streams of water, fountains that spouted small flecks of gold ore.

Even though bards sang about such stories all the time, the Dark Forest made it likely for them to become true. Brendel nodded and said:

“I see. It’s true that the Dark Forest is a place where civilization bans people from going there, but it’s also a treasure vault in their eyes. After the second Holy War, many Houses had their powers greatly reduced and they were no longer capable of funding the pioneering knights who entered the forest in great numbers.

But the legends depicted in history is ultimately left behind. There are tales about how the river water which had been basked in the moonlight was able to bring the dead back to life, or that the crimson soil contains the blood of a Sage and made it possible for steel to become gold. There are rumors of a gigantic dragon graveyard where the bones of the dragons could be found which are more precious than diamonds. There are even hallucinogens of burning rare leaves that could bring about illusions of a paradise.

historical

Indeed, it’s definitely the biggest kind of treasure for an Alchemist. If they get any one of these materials, they could make a legendary artifact— though most of these daring Alchemists who ventured into this forest usually ended up as meals for the beasts around here.

This is another truth; the Dark Forest is also a place where monsters dwell in the highest concentrations.”

Brendel explained to Amandina in detail, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully: “Grandmaster Tamar can actually request me to get the materials directly instead of going through Dia. Though it’s also my mistake for forgetting that the Dark Forest is a great treasure vault for any Alchemist.”

Amandina suddenly chuckled: “I suddenly understand why Grandmaster Tamar has his own thoughts about this matter.”

“What does that mean?”

“Perhaps you should ask Dia.”

Felaern turned her head expressionlessly and called out to her sister: “Dia—”

“Yes?” The younger sister trotted over, but she kept her distance cautiously and meekly when she saw Felaern’s disapproving eyes: “Is there something that needs to be done?”

“Our lord has questions for you.”

“My lord?” Dia looked at Brendel with puppy eyes. Compared to Felaern, she was much more willing to approach him because he frequently told her interesting stories.

From this viewpoint, Felaern was quite a failure as an older sister.

“Dia, why did Grandmaster Tamar tell you to come along?” Brendel asked.

“To collect materials, my lord!”

[Isn’t this normal?]

Brendel glanced at Amandina, but the latter pointed her chin back at Dia as if to tell him to ask for the details.

“What kind of materials?”

“Grandmaster Tamar said—” Dia tried to mimic Tamar’s personality, but after Felaern sent a murderous glare at her, her behavior instantly turned respectful, though she spoke through pouted lips: “There are Mana Crystals in the Dark Forest that are just below high-grade, so if it’s possible I should gather more of it.

This includes Moon Crystals and Gold crystals...... Mana plants like Blood-spotted roses, Whipvine-tail flowers......

As for metal mines, it would be best if there are Adamantine mines, though Mithril would be just as good, still, the best metal would be Orichalcum. Of course, It would be fine if it’s a lesser metal like Cold Iron.....

Legends state there’s a fountain of youth, Wings of an Archangel, the Poem of Dragons, the Heart of Gold......”

“S-stop, stop, time out!” Brendel hastily stopped her when he found that she had no intention of stopping.

At first, the list sounded like it was reasonable, but the list was becoming more and more absurd. The Fountain of youth was already a Legendary item. The last three items that Dia said even reached God-tier rarity.

[This Tamar is really treating the Dark Forest like a Dwarven Treasure Vault. Do you really think you can get these treasures once you enter the place? If it’s so easy, everyone would have rushed in here. Also, do you really think these items won’t be protected by some crazy high-level mythical monsters? I can kind of understand his thoughts, but even protecting ourselves in this place is kind of a luxury for us already, let alone bringing out these items.]

Most areas of the Dark Forest were less dangerous and not as mysterious as the legends described, and it was rare to find precious metals or unique plants. Tamar’s list was more of a dream.

Even if a powerful lord sent in their Gold-ranked fighters to the Dark Forest, they might not necessarily return and instead get turned into a monster’s meal.

Brendel dared to venture into the Dark Forest only because he knew the place well. After all, he had an endless supply of lives in his past world as a gamer to explore the place, and even had the compilation of information gotten from other gamers.

Since he had Tamar’s requested list, he rearranged his thoughts.

[I was wondering how I should train this bunch of newbies, but Tamar’s list has given me a clear direction. We will spend a greater half of the day to move towards the druids, then explore the vicinity with the remaining time. Then we can split up into three groups, myself, Kodan, and Scarlett. Each group will be rewarded based on their performance and the things they find. That way we would have competition and allow them to bond with each other. A good plan, if I say so myself.]

Brendel made a rough plan and inspected the rowdy group of youths. A few moments later he heard someone shouting in the group:

“Merial!”

Brendel recognized Carglise’s voice, and he spotted the young man dragging Mordenkainen across the ground with incredible speed.

“Carglise? W-why are you here?” Merial appeared a little confused and blinked several times b-->>

next page