CHAPTER 52: STREAM

CROW!

The loud, annoying cawing of wild crows strolling through the forest woke Ragnar and Noah from their slumber. Both of them opened their eyes with grumpy expressions, clearly not rested enough from the battle last night.

Without wasting time, the two of them used the dew residue on leaves around them to wash their hands and feet. Afterwards, they had breakfast and grumpily began their day.

"It would be extremely difficult to trace our way back to the Hamlet," Ragnar let out as the two of them strolled.

Noah nodded his head with a solemn expression, recalling the only person who made their trip easier. Now that he was dead, they had a hard time even trying to figure out their current location.

Ragnar could only sigh, wishing that he was lucky enough to receive a pathfinding skill from his sacrifice yesterday.

Although he did receive a magic swordsmanship skill, he did not get the opportunity to use it on the goblins, as he had to reserve his MP to keep the stone golems active.

"I know a way we can determine our location and make it back to the Hamlet though," Ragnar said.

"What is it?" Noah asked.

"At night, the monsterborn would fly through the forest and head for the Hamlet, we can use them to decide our direction and make it back."

"What?"

Noah did not find Ragnar’s suggestion safe or reliable, at the very least.

"The night before last night, while you guys were resting, I spotted that same monsterborn flying toward the village," Ragnar revealed, and continued, "I am sure it would repeat the same tonight. We can use it to our advantage."

"Are you not worried?" Noah asked.

Ragnar turned to him, confused. "Should I?"

"Of course," Noah responded abruptly, "The monsterborn have already killed one of our people and they could do it again. Shouldn’t you be worried about the fate of our people?"

"If anything bad had happened to them, I would feel it," Ragnar lied. "Nothing had happened in the two nights we’ve been away so there is no need to worry. Also, if we can follow the direction of the monsterborn and reach the Hamlet, we can easily slay it with our newfound powers."

Noah and Ragnar continued discussing as they strolled around, searching for mutated wild beasts and monsters to hunt down. They were extremely cautious while walking through pushy parts, as they feared another Slinkweed might be disguising amongst them.

Both of them used the few tips they had gotten from Milan before he died and navigated the forest carefully.

It was early morning, and neither mutated wild beasts nor monsters were as active as they would be at night or noon.

They only spotted a few ordinary wild beasts like antelope that escaped on sight. Not a single mutated wild beast was spotted.

After about three hours of strolling around, the sun began to settle in the sky and its glow began producing more heat.

As Ragnar and Noah were strolling, they heard the noise of water flowing.

Both of them turned to each other with widened eyes.

Then, without a word, they began locating the source of the noise and very soon they found a stream.

"This..." Noah squatted and felt the direction of the water’s flow with his hands before turning to Ragnar. "The water flows in the direction of the Hamlet, we can follow it and return home much sooner!"

"Finally!" Ragnar rejoiced inwardly.

Although he had intended to use the monsterborn to trace their way home, he only suggested that because of their limited option. Now that a better option has arose, he was extremely happy.

"Nice! If we move really fast, we can reach the Hamlet before evening," said Ragnar.

Not wasting time, the two of them rinsed their mouths and drank some water from the stream before they began their stroll home.

===

After about three hours of walking alone, the two of them began hearing footsteps. It was easy to discern that the footsteps were from humans. Thus, the two of them hid behind trees to see who it was.

A few minutes later, three muscular men dressed in neat clothing with leather armoring overlaying their outfits and three young women appeared out of the wood.

The women were holding leather water bags and the young men had swords strapped around their waists.

Ragnar and Noah peeked at the group, who failed to notice their presence as they were currently busy with themselves.

Two of the young men — guards judging from their clothing — grabbed the waists of the women beside them and spanked their butts aggressively. The other guard even pushed his woman against a tree and began kissing her aggressively while playing with her breast.

Normally, such activities were not that bad, if only it was consented.

"Please stop, I beg you. I am married." The woman who was currently being kissed against the tree protested as she pushed the guard’s face away.

"Who cares? Is your husband strong enough to take down a goblin like me? You should be happy that a handsome, strong young man like me is interested in your body," the guard responded arrogantly, pushing her hands aside and forcing a kiss once more.

The other women who were being grabbed by the waists by the other guards also protested. But they were too weak to leave their aggressive embrace.

"What the fuck!" Noah’s expression dampened as he saw the scene, and he cursed in a low tone, "Who are these guys? What kind of animals are they to treat these women like that?"

"Keep it down and observe before anything," Ragnar whispered.

Noah frowned even deeper and turned back to the scene — it was the same mess all over again, but the guards were getting bolder with their attempts, moving their hands between the thighs of the women who clearly protested against it.

"That is it!" Noah unsheathed his sword and revealed himself.

’Crap!’ Ragnar cursed inwardly.