Chapter 61

Chapter 61. Dunmore (3)

As he had expected from seeing it at a distance, the Bled Mountain Range was even less forgiving up close. The terrain was extremely rugged.

Dense trees and steep slopes spread across the entire mountain range.

The only fortunate part was that a relatively gentle pass had formed between two towering peaks, serving as a path that crossed the mountain range. The problem was that Balun had no reason to go that way.

Right now, Balun was not trying to cross the mountain. He had to burrow deep into it.

‘It really is a damned mountain range.’

As he climbed the sloping incline, Balun kept looking around. There was no path at all, and a dense primeval forest stretched out in its raw, untamed form.

The trees were so thick and tall that he could barely see above, below, or to either side.

It was a dangerous place that anyone would think was perfect for getting lost in, yet the Dunmore Branch Chief was moving through it as easily as if she were walking across flat ground. It was truly fascinating.

“Branch Chief. You are very good at climbing mountains.”

“Belia.”

“Hm?”

“Call me that instead of Branch Chief. That is my name.”

“Understood.”

“To answer your question, I would have to be good at climbing mountains. I was a woman who spent every day living off the mountains.”

Belia answered without even looking back. Balun watched her hair flutter lightly with each bold stride she took, then asked, “You must be from a mountain village.”

“Well, I suppose you could say that.”

“Are you not tired?”

“Not really?”

“You have good stamina. You do not look like it.”

Without exaggeration, she looked so slender that one low kick might break her leg.

“If anything, I am the one who wants to ask you that. Are you not tired? We have climbed for quite a while, but you do not even seem fatigued.”

“I am not tired.”

“That is impressive. I have never seen a human follow me this well in my life. Even knights who claimed to be exceptional were huffing and puffing like mad.”

“I did this every day too.”

Since he had done nothing but run across mountains and fields every day, it would have been impossible for his stamina not to improve.

On top of that, the effects of Enhancement Art and consuming Fine Root of Mandragora had been making his body stronger by the day. There was no way he would be exhausted just from climbing a mountain.

“By the way, how much farther do we have to go before we reach their base?”

“We still have to go farther. It is very deep inside.”

“They must have hidden it extremely well.”

“That is right. They hid it so thoroughly that even I was surprised while looking for it. The words ‘these people are truly insane’ came out on their own.”

Belia, who had been muttering for a while as she moved forward, suddenly stopped. Balun naturally stopped as well.

“What is it?”

“Wait a moment.”

She sniffed the air. Then, unbelievably, she pointed to the left with her finger.

“What did you do?”

“Checked the direction.”

“You can check directions by smelling?”

“Of course.”

“That is fascinating.”

“I cannot teach you. It is a trade secret. Even if I did teach you, you would not be able to learn it.”

Balun smacked his lips.

He had been about to ask her to teach him.

“Come on. It is that way.”

“That is a downhill path.”

“That is right. Their base is hidden deep in a valley below here.”

From that point on, a downhill path appeared, and it was truly strange. To think such a buried path had formed inside a towering mountain peak.

“Do people know about this place?”

“Probably not.”

Balun nodded. After seeing it for himself, he understood why. It was at a fairly high elevation, and it was hidden by dense trees as well.

“You could have told someone instead of keeping it to yourself.”

“Why would I? It would not help me.”

Belia spoke with a cynical smile.

“If I told them this information, would the Lord give me a large sum of money? Would the Merchant Guild hand me a generous bounty?”

“Now that I hear it, I suppose that is true. I asked something pointless.”

“Besides, even if I told them, it probably would not have helped much. The moment those bastards realized they had been discovered, they would have moved their base.”

“Is that not something we cannot know? Would it not be enough to send troops all at once and wipe them out in one sweep?”

“No, they would definitely have found out. They must have informants inside Dunmore. The information that their base’s location had been exposed would definitely have leaked, and they would have abandoned the base and left immediately.”

“They are impressive.”

Balun was genuinely impressed. From the way she described them, they sounded like some kind of special forces unit, but they were clearly bandits. Bandits who robbed passersby of their money.

“They are impressive. That is why I came all the way around like this. Well, I am curious too. I want to see what kind of bastards they are and what their faces look li…….”

Belia’s words suddenly cut off. It was because Balun had grabbed her head without warning and pushed it down.

Just as she was about to say something in response to his abrupt action, Balun brought a finger to his lips with an endlessly serious expression.

Belia lowered her voice and asked, “What are you doing?”

“I sense a presence.”

“What?”

“A person.”

Belia turned her head in confusion. She focused her senses, but she could not feel anything.

“A presence? I do not understand. Are you saying you sensed something even I could not?”

“I did not sense it with my senses.”

“Then what?”

“The sky.”

At those words, Belia looked up at the sky. The sky was only blue.

“What about the sky?”

“The birds sitting in the trees flew away in a flock. That means there is something in the opposite direction from where they flew.”

“That is certainly suspicious. But you cannot know from that alone, can you? They might have flown away to avoid something like a bear.”

“Look at that.”

Balun pointed with his finger. Belia looked in the direction his finger was pointing, but she could not understand what he was pointing at.

“At the far end. Do you see the bent grass?”

“What are you talking ab…… Ah, do you mean that, all the way over there?”

“Yes. That is a footprint. A human one, at that. It means someone moved through this area.”

Belia’s eyes soon filled with disbelief.

He saw bent grass at the far end of a place where there were trees and grass in every direction? Something even she could only faintly see, despite him being a mere human?

“This feels strange. I think we should be even more caref—mm!”

Balun stopped speaking and immediately dropped flat to the ground. At the same time, he reached out with his right hand, grabbed Belia’s head, and shoved it downward. Under that powerful force, Belia sprawled flat on the ground.

Then he immediately covered her mouth with his hand and whispered into her ear.

“Stay down and do not make a sound. If you make noise, we will be caught.”

Belia nodded seriously without showing any sign of panic.

A moment later, a rustling sound rang out, and someone appeared. They were people wearing leather armor and cloaks, with dark green hoods attached to their cloaks pulled low over their faces.

They moved quietly in a group, with quivers on their backs, shortswords at their waists, and bows in their hands.

‘Bandits.’

Their whispering voices reached Balun’s sensitive ears faintly.

Balun brought his left hand to the hand axe at his waist, ready to swing it at any moment.

“It was around here?”

“Yes. That was definitely what the report said. They heard a presence.”

“There is nothing here.”

“Still, a report is a report. Should we not search thoroughly?”

“Well, yes. We should. Otherwise, the captain will chew us out again.”

The bandits kept muttering as they prowled around nearby, as though searching for something.

A short while passed like that.

“Squad Leader! I found something! Do you see this here?”

“The dirt has been dug up.”

“Yes. Someone definitely passed through here.”

“Check the footprints. Are they human?”

“There are footprints, but to call them human is a bit….”

“They certainly are not human.”

“Yes. It seems to have been a bear. Or perhaps a tiger?”

“So it was nothing. Everyone, withdraw.”

“Yes.”

The bandits answered in unison and returned in the direction they had come from. Balun and Belia stayed crouched for a long while before slowly lifting their heads.

Belia let out a small sigh.

“Whew, I thought we were in serious trouble.”

“Indeed. My heart nearly stopped.”

“You certainly know how to joke, considering how calm you were.”

“That was not a joke. I mean it.”

If she knew how hard Balun’s heart had been pounding from earlier, she would not have said that.

Unfortunately, Belia had no opportunity to hear Balun’s heartbeat.

‘Damn, that really could have gone badly.’

Nor did she know just how much Balun was panicking inwardly.

“Anyway, thank you. I survived thanks to you. You have good instincts.”

“If I did not have good instincts, I would have died long ago and would not be here. I probably would have died when I was around eleven.”

Belia stood up, looked around, and tilted her head.

“But something is strange.”

“What is strange?”

“Why did those bastards mistake them for bear tracks?”

Belia herself was confident she would not leave footprints in the forest, so she was fine. But Balun was not the same, was he?

“That is because I intentionally damaged my traces while coming here.”

“What?”

Belia’s eyes widened. What in the world did that mean?

“Ah, wait. The reason you were deliberately rubbing your feet against the dirt as we came here was….”

“That is right.”

“You are insane.”

Belia soon clicked her tongue in astonishment. He had predicted this and climbed with an exhausting gait the entire way here? Through this rugged, steep mountain, no less?

‘He is a monster. I think I understand why Patem praised him so much.’

She swallowed those words inwardly.

“Let us go. It is not far now.”

“Very well.”

Even though they had nearly faced a dangerous situation, the two of them did not stop advancing. They simply moved more slowly and carefully than before.

As they carefully descended the winding slope, Balun said,

“This will not be easy.”

“What?”

“The battle.”

Balun continued speaking while recalling the bandits he had seen earlier.

“Those bastards were not a rabble. They were all skilled.”

“Ah, of course. That is why Dunmore has fallen into such chaos.”

“It is more than that. They all received formal training.”

Every one of the dozen or so men he had seen earlier was like that.

Their unbroken formation, their steady gait, the way their fields of vision did not overlap at all even as they searched while maintaining formation, and even the composure that showed through their entire bodies.

Balun knew well. Those were things that people who had never trained could never possess.

That was not all.

Their bodies looked light. Even while moving along the slope, their movements were not restricted in the slightest.

He might not have known in the past, but now he understood exactly what that meant.

‘It means they all know how to handle mana.’

In other words, they were not ordinary bandits.

‘Damn it. Should I have asked for more money? I do not think 801 gold will be enough for this.’

Balun screamed inwardly. He wanted to back out, but he could not do that now.

‘Just let this be truly difficult. Count or not, when I return, I will complain as loudly as possible. I mean it.’

After they moved like that for a long while, “Stop moving.”

Belia stopped and raised her hand.

“What is it?”

“We are here. Do you see down there?”

“Where are you talking ab…… Ah, that.”

What appeared below the slope was a valley.

Beyond the ravine, where the sound of rushing water could be heard clearly, there was a wooden fence.

And beyond it stood several wooden buildings.

‘The base.’

Balun let out a low groan and shook his head.

‘No, of course they could not find it when it is hidden this deep. How is anyone supposed to find something like this?’

It was impressive that they had hidden their base so deep inside, and it was equally impressive that they climbed out from somewhere this deep and roamed across the entire mountain.

“Is that enough? I am done guiding you, so can I go back now?”

“Can you not just fight with me?”

Even though he had boasted that she did not have to fight, Balun asked anyway.

“That would be difficult. I do not want to die. If someone has to die, die by yourself.”

“Did you not say you were a Special-Class Rogue?”

“I am a Special-Class Rogue, not a Sword Master or an Archmage.”

“Then it cannot be helped.”

At her firm refusal, Balun hid his regret and nodded.

“Do not worry about it. I was joking.”

He had not been joking.

“All right. Balun, I wish you luck. If you make it back alive, I will buy you a drink.”

“An expensive drink?”

“Yes. An expensive drink.”

“And the food to go with it? That will be expensive too, yes?”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

Balun nodded. He still had lingering regrets, but a promise was a promise. It was time to part ways.

“But how are you going to fight? Now that you have found the base, are you going to charge straight in? You are a Barbarian, after all.”

Seeing the strong curiosity in Belia’s eyes, Balun shook his head.

“What are you talking about? I have to gather information first. Until I do that, I will not attack, even if it takes several days.”

“What kind of information?”

“How many enemies there are, how many houses there are, whether the boss is really here, who the boss is if he is here, whether there are traps, and how the base is structured.”

“…….”

“What the terrain of this valley is like, whether this is the only entrance, whether there is a detour, whether there is perhaps a crawl hole, whether there are terrain features I can use, whether there is cover where I can hide….”

As Belia listened to Balun’s endless rambling, she shook her head with a fed-up expression.

What kind of Barbarian made plans this meticulously?

‘He is saying something absurd.’

Unable to believe it, she dismissed Balun’s words as a joke.

“Fine. I am leaving. I wish you luck.”

She turned and disappeared up the slope.

Even after she vanished, the cautious look in Balun’s eyes did not loosen as he looked around.

***

After finishing her guidance, Belia pretended to go straight back, but in truth, she did not leave.

It was because she wanted to see how Balun would attack these bandits.

She hid herself with Stealth, climbed up a tree that gave her a clear view of the valley, and watched Balun. Before long, she had no choice but to regret what she had done.

Because Balun really did survey the surroundings with extreme thoroughness.

As if he had become a sloth, Balun moved very slowly and searched every corner around the valley.

Curious about how long he would keep doing that, she endured the boredom and watched him.

Balun did it for a full three days.

Aside from the time he spent digging a hole in a suitable place to take brief naps and taking dried rations out of his Subspace Pouch to fill his stomach, that was all he did.

“Is he truly insane?”

On the third night, Her patience exhausted, she unknowingly muttered aloud.

“No, just how long is he planning to keep doing th…… Oh?”

Her words soon stopped.

She lowered her body and moved her mana, increasing the mana supply to her Stealth, which had been growing faint.

‘Finally.’

Her eyes gleamed.

The third deep night in the Bled Mountain Range.

Balun began stepping into the valley.