Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 336

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Reincarnated as a Legendary Talent Genius of a Noble Family Episode 336

220. Trampled Grass Field

“Huff, hah.”

“Ugh, I’m, I’m dying.”

Climbing mountains is naturally not an easy task.

Once you get used to it, you can fly around freely, but it takes quite a long time to reach that point.

Moreover, if you’re not lightly climbing with just your body like taking a leisurely stroll, but carrying military packs with food and weapons, it becomes quite exhausting.

Of course, this is all by general standards.

“Senior, it seems like weaklings have joined us.”

Benatio, who was slightly above average level, seemed fine for now.

The problem was the rest.

It had been several hours since we started climbing the mountain.

We took breaks in between, but that didn’t mean our stamina was completely restored.

It was even gradually getting dark.

We had departed in the morning, walked for about 3 hours to reach the mountain, and had been climbing since a little past noon until now.

And night comes a little earlier in the mountains.

“At this rate, my, my arms are going to fall off.”

“You walk on the ground with your feet, Diego.”

“….”

Diego was making groaning sounds.

But seeing how he was keeping up fairly well, he definitely had grit. I hadn’t seen his swordsmanship skills yet, but I’d find out soon enough.

The North team was struggling more than expected.

Even setting aside the aftermath of the ambush, perhaps they hadn’t been able to build up their stamina.

Except for Milton and one or two others, everyone was panting and gradually falling behind.

“It’s fine, we keep going.”

Milton looked at me and, as if telling me not to worry, urged his team members on.

“What are you all doing? This isn’t the time to fall behind!”

Everyone seemed to muster their strength at those words, but only briefly.

Falling behind happened in an instant.

At this rate, someone’s going to tumble down.

I looked around.

There was no need to worry about being chased anyway. We were taking different routes prepared by the Knight Order.

“Milton.”

“It’s fine, Dane.”

“No. I think now is the time we should rest.”

With our mana restricted, forcing ourselves to climb would cause problems later.

“….”

Milton seemed reluctant, but eventually agreed after my continued words.

“Pushing team members alone won’t solve the problem. Stamina isn’t something you can control with willpower.”

Mental strength is only possible when backed by physical stamina.

There’s nothing more foolish than emphasizing mental strength and forcing overwork when there’s no physical stamina.

“…I understand.”

Milton eventually followed my words, and we soon found a suitable spot to set up and take a brief rest.

“I’m starving to death.”

“I’ve never been this hungry before… I don’t think I starved this much even during the coming-of-age ceremony.”

“Back then, they at least gave us plenty of rations before sending us out. This damn Knight’s Camp is really… what kind of camp is this?”

I fell into thought for a moment.

If this were a short mountain climb, I’d rest briefly and get up.

But if we brought tents and had to spend the night here, the story was different.

So I said to Benatio.

“Benatio.”

“Yes, Senior.”

“Diego and I will be away briefly. Make sure to keep proper watch with Milton.”

I didn’t know Milton’s skills well, but I figured he wasn’t as good as Benatio.

So that was one reason I couldn’t take Benatio with me.

Another reason.

If I took Benatio, I was worried about Diego being left ‘alone.’

So I intended to put Diego to use while leaving Benatio behind to secure our rear.

Benatio seemed to understand my words well.

“Understood, Senior. But where are you going? If it’s hunting… we don’t seem to have proper means to cook.”

“We’re not. Even if we had the means, I have no intention of doing it.”

Mountains.

A truly threatening environment, yet at the same time, an environment perfect for drawing attention if you make a mistake.

Monsters, beasts.

Most had developed senses of smell.

So even if we hunted, it would be difficult to light a fire and roast the meat.

Well, we could chase them all away if they came, but that’s probably not what the Knight Order camp wanted.

That said, we couldn’t just eat all our remaining food right now to fill our stomachs.

Therefore-

“We’re going to look for something else.”

We needed something a bit special.

“Diego, let’s go.”

“Huh? Oh, okay!”

So I headed with Diego, temporarily leaving our route to go somewhere a bit deeper.

“Dane, where are we going?”

“To look for fruit.”

“Fruit?”

“There’s fruit that’s good for filling you up.”

“There’s fruit like that?”

There is.

In my previous life, among the unit members, there was a fellow who had been living hidden in the mountains before being drafted.

His name was Aspas.

Anyway, I had experience learning various things from him.

Of course, I also learned some things while climbing mountains on missions, but that couldn’t compare to the knowledge that fellow taught me.

By the way, he was quite a talkative fellow.

“How do you even know things like that? Should I say Count Sogress’s family is really amazing? It’s unbelievable. You knock down twenty people, make the North team come down below. Anyway, you….”

Just like this fellow.

“Let’s go with your mouth shut.”

“Okay.”

So we moved at a not-too-fast pace for about 20 minutes.

Finally, I discovered what I was looking for.

“There it is.”

Mornit.

A small plant visible between disheveled bushes.

This would be exactly the right time.

A small plant growing among thorn bushes.

The fruit that ripens around this time provides an unbelievable amount of satiety and vitality, though in small quantities.

It’s quite rare, so even people living in the mountains rarely see it….

Probably, this Tolone Mountain Range doesn’t see many people coming and going, so that’s why it looks like this.

Anyway, I found it.

“Diego, draw your sword. Do you see those brown fruits inside that thicket?”

“Huh? Fruits? What do you see? It’s pitch black right now?”

Ah, right.

Only I can see them.

“Just cut down the thickets around here.”

“Alright. Leave it to me.”

Surely his arm won’t fall off from cutting, right?

Swish, rustle!

No, it won’t. Thank goodness.

“This is it.”

“You could see this?”

In this situation, Diego seems more amazed that these fruits were visible to my eyes than by the existence of the fruits themselves.

“Gather them. They’re very oily, so don’t squeeze them tight or anything.”

“Aha. So these are those fruits. They smell really nutty.”

“That’s why wild animals often come here to eat them. Let’s go. That’s nowhere near enough.”

Time might be delayed a bit, but what’s important now is providing enough strength to keep moving.

Originally hidden among the thickets and invisible, plus with the night making visibility pitch black, right now there’s no one besides me who could find them.

“Over there, there’s more.”

“…How exactly are you seeing these?”

Like that, we finished collecting only after gathering dozens of fruits from over ten thickets.

“How much time has passed?”

“Probably less than an hour.”

“Let’s head back right away. We need to eat and then depart.”

Saying that, I held out a fruit to Diego.

“Try eating it.”

Diego put the fruit in his mouth without hesitation.

“Wow!”

Then his eyes widened, and after eating a few more, he spoke to me in a surprised voice.

“This… what exactly is this?”

“Now you understand why we came to pick them in the middle of the night?”

“If we stockpile these, they’d make excellent food supplies! Should we pick more in preparation for returning to camp?”

I shook my head.

“No. We’ve picked all the wild clusters around here. There might be other wild clusters, but it would take too long to find them.”

“That’s a shame.”

Like Diego said, I’d like to stockpile and carry them with us, but we don’t know where other wild clusters might be.

Crucially-

“If you eat too many of those, you’ll get constipated.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. Pretty severely.”

They have sufficient value as emergency rations, but they’re not great for frequent consumption.

“Let’s get going.”

Anyway, just as we finished our work and were about to start walking.

What’s this?

I stopped for a moment and showed my fist to Diego behind me.

It’s a hand signal to stop.

The sound of Diego holding his breath with a gasp.

I quickly deployed a barrier.

Rustle, rustle.

And by a hair’s breadth, something that instantly pushed through the grass field ahead and passed by.

After a moment, I released the barrier and headed toward the grass field.

“The weight and speed are considerable.”

What could that thing that pushed through the grass field be?

It’s definitely not human.

If it were human, the grass field wouldn’t be crushed like this.

Moreover, judging by the direction and degree of the breaks, the speed was tremendous too.

Most importantly, I saw it with my own eyes.

“Wh-what’s wrong, Dane?”

“I don’t know. But something that looks dangerous was here.”

It’s hard to track that thing right now.

We can’t leave our position for too long.

“We’ll need to set up night watches when we get back. Let’s go.”

Returning like that, I was met with Milton’s somewhat flustered expression.

“You’re really saying eating this will fill our stomachs?”

“If you don’t like it, don’t eat it.”

“…Sorry. This isn’t the situation to be picky.”

Understandable.

When you’re starving to death, it would be hard to believe that fruits could fill your stomach.

But this is a bit different.

“Huh?”

Sure enough.

After eating a few and some time passing, those guys’ eyes widened.

“Really… my stomach feels full?”

“There’s an oily feeling in my mouth too…”

“What kind of fruit is this? I’ve never eaten it before?”

That makes sense.

It’s a plant that’s hard to see in the barren Northern Region.

Of course, even living in the capital or Southern Region doesn’t make these fruits easy to find.

We were lucky to discover a natural habitat and pick them like this, but actually eating them would normally cost a very high price.

“Benatio. You should eat some too.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Senior. I never thought you’d go pick Mornit in the middle of the night.”

I chuckled at those words.

“You knew about them?”

“Well… I wonder.”

That guy avoiding answers again.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

Right now, I only need to worry about safely leading these guys to the summit, rather than Benatio’s intentions.

From the moment I decided to bring these guys down, I gained the obligation to lead them.

“Thank you, Dane.”

Having finished eating all the fruits, Milton approached and expressed his gratitude.

“I never knew such fruits existed, but even if I had known, it would have been difficult without you.”

“I know. They’re hard to find at night.”

“…Amazing anyway.”

“There are a few more, so let me know if you think any of the guys are getting low on stamina. And we’ll be departing soon, so check everyone’s condition.”

“Got it. We’ll definitely move quickly.”

“No. We’re going to set up camp. We won’t be moving very far.”

“Set up camp?”

“There’s nothing more dangerous than climbing mountains at night.”

If I were alone, I could probably manage somehow.

But considering the difficulty of securing visibility, the drop in body temperature, and most importantly, the fact that everyone was exhausted despite having filled their stomachs….

“Now is the time to rest, Milton.”

Milton had a somewhat anxious expression.

Probably worried about what would happen if we fell behind.

But it’s only temporary.

“I understand, Dane. I’ll follow your words. Your words… somehow don’t seem like they’d be wrong.”

“Make your own judgments too.”

After saying that much, I got up from my spot.

It was time to go set up camp.

But then—

Bang!

Faint, but I definitely heard it.

The sound of a signal flare exploding.

And through the leaves, I could clearly see flames in the distance.

“Whatever team it is, they seem to be in a dangerous situation.”

This made the reason why we should rest now even clearer.

I recalled whatever had trampled through the grass field earlier.

Indeed, what could it be.

Something intentionally prepared by the Knight Order camp?

Or perhaps, a monster that exists in these mountains?

“…Let’s move quickly.”

I chuckled as I watched Milton hurriedly return to the northern guys.

Well, whatever kind of being it is doesn’t matter.

I’ve met and fought vampires and demons and won.

Ah, there was also a golem.

I wonder if that Mini Golem fellow is doing well.

I hope he’s having decent squabbles with Karnas.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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