Chapter 71 | The Seventh Witch

The mixed caravan that departed from Mente Town had been traveling for several consecutive days.

During this time, they passed through several towns and post stations.

Consequently, many of the passengers within the caravan had changed.

On the carriage Shulim was riding, the young woman from the first day had already gotten off at one of the towns along the way.

Later, another young woman boarded. She seemed even younger than the previous one, likely only fifteen or sixteen years old. Her attire was incredibly simple, consisting of a tightly wrapped gray robe. And just like Shulim, she carried a wand of her own.

This new passenger appeared to have a very cold personality. Even when the elderly woman tried to strike up a conversation to get close to her, she barely showed any interest.

Gradually, the elderly woman gave up on trying to talk to her, which made the carriage much quieter.

As far as Shulim was concerned, this was actually quite nice.

“Strange. Where has the caravan reached...? It feels like the outside has been nothing but forest for some time now.”

Looking at the dense, lightless forest flanking both sides of the road, a sliver of doubt rose in Shulim's heart...

Meanwhile, the caravan's escorts were gathering to discuss something.

“Everyone, you all probably know that as the time of the Demon King's return draws near, monsters everywhere have become increasingly active, right?” Alec said.

The other adventurers nodded in agreement.

“More than just hearing about it—the frequency of our monster encounters while out on quests has been skyrocketing lately...”

“Increased frequency would be fine on its own, but what I fear is running into something too powerful. I know a team who, while out on a quest a few months ago, suddenly crossed paths with an Earth Grizzly Bear. In the end, the entire party barely made it back alive!”

“Yeah, I encountered a similar situation once before. If our party's scout hadn't spotted it early, we might have been done for. Thanks to that, we had to abandon the request...”

The adventurers continued to exchange their experiences from recent years. From their words, it was easy to tell how severe the surge in monster activity had become.

“Ahem, everyone, we can chat about those things tonight. Let's talk about the business at hand first.” Alec interrupted their discussion and said solemnly, “Before we set off, I received some intelligence. The stretch of road ahead seems to have high monster frequency, with multiple monster attacks already reported. So, the next stretch of road will likely not be very peaceful. Everyone must stay absolutely sharp!”

Hearing this, the adventurers' expressions grew serious as well.

“Understood!”

“Alright, then let's rearrange our patrol and sentry duties...”

As the adventurers heightened their vigilance, the frequency of the four swiftfoot beasts patrolling back and forth increased significantly.

Although the passengers weren't explicitly informed, they could still sense the growing unease from the tense atmosphere radiating from the adventurers. Their voices naturally grew much quieter, and the entire caravan continued silently down the forest road...

Before long, the caravan arrived at an uphill climb.

Looking at the long, though not overly steep, uphill road ahead of them, Alec couldn't help but frown.

Getting ambushed in a place like this would be far too dangerous.

The caravan wouldn't be able to speed up and escape, and even turning around would be no easy feat for a convoy of this size.

“Steen!”

“What is it?” The masked Steen walked over.

“Could you find a high vantage point and check our surroundings?”

“A vantage point...?” Steen surveyed the area and nodded slightly. “Alright.”

With that, he turned and left the group, slipping into the adjacent thicket...

Meanwhile, on the mountainside not far ahead of the caravan.

Within the gloomy forest, pairs of greedy eyes slowly emerged. They stared at the approaching caravan, their cruel, innate desires on the verge of bursting out...

“...Hmm, this tree will do.” Steen patted a massive tree in the forest and climbed to the top in just a few quick motions.

Gripping a branch with one hand, he shielded his eyes with the other to scan the horizon.

“Huh?” When he looked in a certain direction, his eyes narrowed as he tried to get a clearer view.

The next moment, his eyes flew wide open.

“Oh no—!”

Back inside the carriage, Shulim, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly narrowed her eyes. Gripping her wand tightly, she stood up abruptly.

The other occupants of the carriage had not even figured out why she had suddenly reacted this way when a sharp whistle of wind ripped through the air outside...

“Ambush—!!!”

In an instant, the once orderly caravan fell into utter chaos.

“Moo—!!!”

The giant pack beast stomped around in a panic. Over a dozen arrows were already jutting from its body, and a continuous hail of arrows kept flying at it from the forest. The driver desperately tried to gain control of the beast, but it was impossible at that moment.

“Adventurers, take the outer perimeter! Everyone else, get off the carriages immediately!”

“Drivers, gather the carriages in one place and form a circle! Non-combatants, head to the center...”

“...Get the giant pack beast under control immediately!”

“It's no use! It's completely startled!”

“Then calm it down!”

“...Move, hurry!”

Within the caravan, several adventurer leaders, including Alec, rapidly organized the convoy to counter the attack.

“Alec—!”

At that moment, Steen ran back from the forest, panting heavily. “It's goblins! A massive horde of goblins!”

“What—?!” Alec was startled, his face turning solemn.

Goblins were not hard to deal with on their own. The real challenge lay in their overwhelming numbers; once a chaotic melee broke out, the weaker members of the convoy would inevitably be left vulnerable.

“Dammit!”

“Hunting Fangs, on me—!”

Without hesitation, the members of the Hunting Fangs party immediately fell in behind Alec, preparing to take the initiative and strike back.

However, the barrage of arrows suddenly ceased.

“The ranged attacks stopped? Oh no, the goblin melee vanguard is about to charge!”

The moment the words left Alec's mouth, a cacophony of shrieks erupted from the forest on both sides of the road.

“Gyak!”

“Kek!”

“Garu!”

“Ga...”

The next moment, a flood of green-skinned goblins wielding crude weapons, interspersed with several hobgoblins, burst from the forest, rushing toward the caravan on the road from all directions.

“Anyone with a weapon, arm yourselves and get ready to fight! Drivers, haven't you circled the carriages yet?!”

“We can't! This road is too narrow to turn around!” a driver yelled anxiously.

“Tch! Dammit!” Alec clicked his tongue, having no choice but to raise his sword and charge at the oncoming goblins. “All adventurers, buy us some time!”