CHAPTER 20: A NEW CANDIDATE?

[Would you like to use the skill Resource Gathering?]

Dorian paused for a while.

’Hold on. Pause. Are you telling me I can use this skill to search for retainers?’

[Correct.]

[Would you like to proceed?]

’Heck yeah!’

Dorian quickly grabbed his chin with one hand on his waist as he began thinking about the type of retainer he needed.

’I guess someone who is sharp and quick-minded and also has great talent for managing and supervising tasks on my behalf. Oh, and pretty as well; I don’t want to have to be looking at an ugly face all the time.’

[Request has been confirmed.]

[You are now using the skill Resource Gathering.]

[Resource has been discovered.]

’Ah! So fast!’

[Gender: Female.]

[Location: West of the Jilo forest, 45km away.]

’Interesting, so the information regarding humans and items is different.’

[Would you like to access a live image?]

’Proceed.’

Dorian’s eyes suddenly took a dim red glow, and in an instant, he was able to see where the individual the system detected was, like a movie playing in his head.

From what he could see, the girl in question was indeed in the forest; she had long black hair and wore a beautiful black dress.

However, that wasn’t what caught his attention.

Right in front of her was a man, dressed in tattered clothing and covered in blood. Not too far away, three giant spiders had flanked them, with two other men dead on the floor.

’Perfect timing.’

Dorian turned his gaze to Maria.

"Quick, let’s head to the forest."

"Uhn? Forest? Why we just—"

Maria’s remark barely reached him as he had already begun running.

With an annoyed sigh, she had no other choice but to run after him.

...

Along the way, Dorian and Maria were able to hitch a ride on a moving carriage, which quickly transported them to Jilo forest, at the outskirts of the barony.

Upon reaching there, Dorian wasted no time before he leaped out and charged forward, his face etched with total seriousness.

Maria, on the other hand, bowed her head in thanks to the man before she sprinted away, holding a sword in her grip.

’Dammit, I hope I am not too late!’

Dorian ran as fast as he could, following the golden line on the ground.

There was no way he could tell the current condition of the girl since he could only use the resource-gathering skill once, which led him to follow his gut above all else.

Maria, who was right behind him, suddenly sensed something approaching.

"Lord Dorian, watch out!"

She shouted, grabbing Dorian by the arm and pulling him towards her.

As soon as she did that, a massive spider leaped out of the bushes, its strong legs leaving cracks on the ground.

’Holy! It’s much bigger in person.’

Getting his balance, shock settled on his features when he spotted the girl he had come to save, rolled up in webs connected to the spider’s butt, and being dragged away.

But since it had spotted two additional prey, it wanted nothing more than to add them to its collection.

Slowly, it turned around, now facing the duo.

’Dammit, don’t tell me she is dead.’ Dorian clenched his fist, watching the girl and hoping to see any sign of movement.

"Lord Dorian? What’s the plan? Are you planning to hunt down beast spiders now?" asked Maria, positioning her back in front of him.

Suddenly, Dorian uttered,

"Maria, can you distract the monster long enough for me to free that woman from the webs?"

Maria didn’t give a quick reply. She scanned the spider for a while, which was moving towards them, and then the woman who was being dragged around.

"Yes, I should be able to," she finally replied.

"Good, let’s go then. If you feel your life is in danger, prioritize surviving first, okay?" Dorian sprinted forward.

This made Maria sigh.

"I am fighting a monster for you; my life is in danger regardless."

She turned her gaze to the blade she was holding. While they were headed to the forest, Dorian had bought it off a street vendor. It wasn’t strong or high quality, but it should do well in a fight.

Speaking of, Maria was already used to fighting monsters since she was always warding them away from invading the barony.

In other words, this fight was nothing new to her.

She drew out the rusty sword, watching as the spider headed towards Dorian.

"Hey! This way!"

Cang!

She threw the sheath at the spider’s head.

Not only did this action draw its attention, but it also caused it to rage, as seen with the way it charged towards Maria at full speed.

Taking a deep breath, Maria activated her mana, blue lightning dancing around her and the tip of her blade.

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, she had charged forward, slicing not one, but two of the spider’s legs in one fell swoop.

The spider crashed to the side, its weight causing it to fall with no legs to support its body.

Meanwhile-

’The other spiders I saw are probably hiding in the bush here; I need to get this girl and get out of here fast.’

As he got to the back of the spider and noticed the spider had collapsed to the ground somehow, Dorian wasted no time in acting.

Using his finger, he dug a hole right into the cocoon of webs and managed to create a wide enough space for him to pull the woman out.

Once he pulled her out, he carried her like a princess, looking over the other side to make sure Maria was already there.

Also, he could see the woman’s chest heaving, which meant she was still alive.

’And here I thought things could have been so much worse.’

Taking a single step, Dorian was ready to charge forward when, from nowhere, a spider charged out from behind him, its mouth opened wide enough above Dorian’s head.

From that range, all the spider needed to do was close its jaw, and Dorian’s head would be severed from his body in minutes.

In other words—

’Fuck.’

...

[A/N: I guess I have to come to terms with the fact i didn’t write this book well or something. I still need to grow, and I intend to do that, even if it takes me 100 books.]