Chapter 177: Close Encounter

Sometime later, the punitive expedition group reached the northern outskirts of the Red Goblin Mountains.

The area was filled with dense trees from the forest and wasn't ideal for a large camp spot due to the poor visibility.

However, Helia descended from one of the magic airships and felled many trees with a single [Water Slash] spell in a short instance.

"Pitch camp! We will set up our base here! The logs are yours to use!" Helia stated.

As everyone started setting up their own camps, Vaan scouted the edges of the cleared land.

His Omni-Sense spread out and picked out multiple life signals of goblins lurking deeper in the forested mountains. Among them, some were not far from the edge of the campsite.

However, the green goblins did not make any move on the people from the camp. They only secretly watched while staying out of sight.

Given the cowardly nature of the green goblins, they wouldn't dare to ambush such a large group with so few numbers.

"Hey, you there! What are you doing over here?" a Late-stage Senior Witch under Lord Helia suddenly called out and questioned Vaan.

When Vaan turned to look, it wasn't just the Late-stage Senior Witch but also, Lord Helia, Marquis Ember, and Headmaster Astoria making their way over together.

"I am scouting the area in case we get ambushed by goblins. There's a few lurking in the area," Vaan calmly replied, even though he wasn't expecting the expedition's big shots to directly approach him.

"Oh?" Helia smiled with interest and said, "I didn't expect someone else to have this thought."

Shortly after, Helia signaled her people to enter the forest and root out the green goblins in hiding.

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Although the magic airship had excellent visual coverage of the region from the sky, the dense trees made it hard for them to see much past it.

"Why aren't you setting up your camp like Lord Helia instructed?" Headmaster Astoria asked with a hint of curiosity.

"I have no need for a camp, my Lady. I am fine with sleeping in the open. The comfort of sleeping in a camp or in the open makes no difference to me. It can't be compared to the comfort of a real bed," Vaan calmly replied.

However, he secretly admired Astoria's beauty.

As expected, even among witches, Headmaster Astoria's beauty was first class, a true beauty among beauties. It wasn't just her physical appearance but her overall air and temperament.

Although he had stayed at Blackmoon Academy for a year, Headmaster Astoria was someone he could rarely meet. But that also meant that she had never met him. They had belonged to two different worlds.

If he took off his realistic face mask, he doubted Headmaster Astoria would recognize him.

Of course, it was a different story for Lord Helia beside her, who had seen his face plenty of times recently.

"You seem like a veteran hunter, so it would be strange if you didn't know that very easy to get sick, poisoned, or even killed if you are bitten by too many insects at night, especially in a place like the Red Goblin Mountains."

It wasn't just humans that evolved after the appearance of mana. Insects and all other living creatures also evolved due to mana, even nature itself.

"That's what I have this leather pouch of insect repellent powder for," Vaan slightly smiled.

After showing his insect repellent powder pouch, Helia and Astoria became curious about what his other pouches contained.

"Excuse me for a sec," Ember suddenly said to Helia and Astoria as she pushed forward.

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She raised the special detection magic tool towards Vaan, which emitted a weak but increasingly stronger glowing heat as it got close to him.

Swoosh!

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In that instance, Astoria drew her sword on Vaan. At the same time, Helia also took a defensive stance, ready to fire her water spells at a moment's notice.

"Wait!"

Ember stopped Helia and Astoria from making rash moves before she could determine something.

While Vaan was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Ember waved the special detection magic tool in front of him before settling on a patch of dried blood on his left shoulder.

"What kind of blood is this?" Ember interrogated.

"It should be blood from one of the beasts I've hunted," Vaan listed several beasts, with Phantom Wolf being one of them. "May I ask what this is all about, Grand Inquisitor?"

"It's nothing much, just a false alarm," Ember nonchalantly shook her head and said, "This tool is used to detect people who have injected themselves with Furhengir's blood."

"However, it can be a little faulty as it also picks up the blood of all other wolf bloodlines."

"I see…"

Vaan's eyes subtly flickered as he quickly understood why he was approached.

At the same time, he could not help but feel fortunate. He was almost unlucky enough to be caught as a member of the Assembly of Silent Night even though he wasn't one of them.

'Furhengir's blood… Looks like the special detection-type magic tool only works rank five wolf bloodline and below. To think they had something like this… How fortunate,' Vaan thought.

The unknown was always terrifying.

Nevertheless, after Ember confirmed Vaan wasn't a member of the Assembly of Silent Night, she left him alone.

"You're free to go," Ember coolly stated.

Astoria retracted her giant greatsword, and Helia also eased up. They followed Ember into the forest to scout afterward.

Nevertheless, Vaan remained on the spot with a thoughtful look.

'Furhengir's blood… Furhengir's blood… If I had such quality wolf blood, I would have a much greater chance at awakening my Immortal Lycan Bloodline,' Vaan mused.

Looks like he had multiple objectives to achieve on this expedition.

…

Roughly half an hour later, everyone finished setting up their camps. However, before they could relax, Helia summoned all the hired mercenaries to the front of the camp.

"Although I hired all of you for this expedition with the promise of a fixed payment, I do appreciate those who contribute more. I will reward extra for those who hunt more goblins, so do remember to collect their left ears as proof of your kills."

"That is all I wanted to say. You may enter the mountain and start hunting immediately. Clear a path for the main force, and immediately report back if you find anything suspicious on the mountain!"

"Ohhh! Praise the Lord!"

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A portion of the Rank 2 Aura Masters cheered after hearing about bonus rewards and felt pumped with excitement.

Some even charged into the mountain immediately after receiving the permission, making the start of the hunt.

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