The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Strongest in Our Neighborhood (7)
“Yes.”
“Do you think that free knight might be willing to help us once more?”
Kailin answered carefully.
“He would likely help if we asked. However, Elder…”
“Hmm? What’s the problem?”
“He’s currently suffering from an Internal Injury and needs treatment.”
“Is that so?”
Elder Elena brightened at this.
“Then I can help with that. Once he’s healed, he’ll be even more willing to aid us.”
“I believe so as well. If that’s the case, I’ll go to Jang Gain right away and explain the situation.”
“Is he nearby?”
“I couldn’t bring him into the village, so he’s waiting for me at the edge of the Birch Forest.”
“Hmm, while we do need help from an outsider, bringing one into the village is… well, the Birch Forest isn’t far, so let’s go together.”
“Yes, understood.”
Shortly after, Elder Elena and the three of them made their way to where Jang Gain was waiting.
* * *
“You greedy beast, I understand you’re big, but isn’t this too much?”
After tossing two hindquarters of a deer he’d hunted from the forest to Saber Tiger, Jang Gain sliced thin strips of meat for himself and laid them over the campfire. As he waited for the meat to cook, Saber Tiger had already devoured both hindquarters and was now eyeing the remaining leg, licking his chops.
“Here I am feeding you with meat I hunted, when it should be the other way around—you should be feeding me with what you catch. Things are backwards, thoroughly backwards.”
Jang Gain tossed another leg over.
As he ate, something occurred to him, and when he glanced at Saber Tiger, the beast noticed and their eyes met.
“Say, your jaw seems pretty strong now. Let me see! Ah-ha, just as I thought. Your jawbone is almost completely healed. At this rate, couldn’t you hunt on your own?”
Squeak, squeak…
“And you’ve got new teeth too. Is it because you’re a Spirit Creature and recover quickly? Or is it because Sairan keeps coming by to treat you?”
Whisk.
Saber Tiger’s eyes, held fixed on Jang Gain by the grip on his jaw, suddenly rolled to the side.
The moment he released the jaw, the beast turned to look in that direction and began wagging his tail.
“If you’re greeting them like that, it seems the Spirit Beings are arriving. Have you all finished saying goodbye to the villagers?”
Though nothing was visible yet to his naked eye, when he extended his Ki Sense, he could feel four powerful auras rapidly approaching from far away.
“They really are coming.”
Jang Gain was slightly startled to realize that Saber Tiger’s ability to perceive his surroundings was even more expansive than his own Ki Sense.
“But who’s coming with them? I feel an aura far stronger than the other three.”
He wiped his mouth clean of grease and waited. Soon four figures approached.
“Jang Gain, were you eating?”
“Yes. I was told you’d all depart together after completing farewells today, but it seems there’s one more person joining us?”
“This is Elder Elena, one of our village’s elders. Say hello.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Jang Gain.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Elena, an elder of Routa Village. Kailin mentioned I could call you Jang Gain, but would it be alright if I did the same?”
“Yes, Elder. You may call me Jang Gain.”
After their greetings concluded, Kailin continued.
“Jang Gain, I’m afraid I have to ask one more favor of you.”
“Please, go ahead.”
Jang Gain responded with proper deference.
“Several days ago, some children from our village went off to train in a place rich with Spirit Force. It seems they’ve been abducted by human Hunters. Would I be able to ask for your help?”
“Abducted? Are there human traffickers even in the spirit realm?”
“Unfortunately. Would you be even more shocked to learn there are quite a few?”
Even as he asked in genuine surprise, Jang Gain recalled meeting Vinston and Puaring days ago.
“Among the abducted children, are there any named Vinston and Puaring?”
“What! They’re among them—but how do you know those children?”
“Those children passed through where I was several days ago and got frightened by Saber Tiger. While I was preventing Saber Tiger from attacking them, they sustained some wounds, but the children treated those injuries for me. That’s how I came to know them.”
As memories of the two children’s kind hearts and pure, innocent faces surfaced, genuine rage kindled in Jang Gain toward the abductors.
“So that’s what happened! In any case, if the Hunters leave the forest and slip into Human Territory, it becomes far too difficult for us to find them. We must find them before that happens, by any means necessary.”
Considering that even demonic beasts existed, traffickers seemed trivial by comparison, and Jang Gain nodded in agreement.
“I understand. If there’s anything I can help with, I will.”
“Thank you so much. Oh, and the Elder has agreed to help treat your injuries. Her healing is far superior to Recovery Potions.”
Kailin paused, seeming a bit embarrassed.
“I didn’t come to treat you just to make persuasion easier.”
“I would never think such a thing. More than that…”
Jang Gain glanced down at his own body as he spoke.
“I’ve already recovered quite a bit thanks to Sairan’s help.”
“Never mind—let me have a look myself.”
Elder Elena stepped forward readily as she spoke.
Under ordinary circumstances, Jang Gain would never have allowed anyone so close, but since this woman had come with the immortals, he didn’t raise his guard.
As Elder Elena reached her hand toward Jang Gain’s head, a white radiance poured forth from her palm.
The elder drew the light slowly inward, scanning methodically from his head down through his chest, his heart, and finally to his dantian.
Jang Gain waited tensely under the touch of Elder Elena’s hand, feeling as though she were seeing straight through to his very core.
It was only after some ten minutes that Elder Elena finally spoke.
“You’ve suffered a severe internal injury—a deep laceration below your abdomen. Fortunately, it’s largely healed, though faint fractures remain. If you exert yourself too forcefully, it could tear again and become far worse.”
“Really? I thought it had mended completely.”
“Fortunately, I believe I can offer my assistance.”
Elder Elena instructed Jang Gain to lie down.
Once he had done so, the elder placed her right hand over his dantian and her left over his heart.
It was a place where, normally, no one would be permitted to touch.
“You may experience some discomfort as the wound heals.”
“I understand.”
Moments later, a mysterious and auspicious energy began to gather in Elder Elena’s hands. That energy filled Jang Gain’s dantian completely, then coursed through the meridians of his entire body.
Wherever the mysterious and auspicious energy touched, new flesh seemed to form—the faint pain that had lingered faded away, replaced by a cool, refreshing sensation.
‘Good heavens—an energy like this exists? It’s on an entirely different plane from Sairan’s!’
Jang Gain lay there as if in a dream, lost in a daze, until Elder Elena withdrew her hands and he finally managed to sit up.
The elder stood breathing heavily, drenched in perspiration.
Jang Gain flexed and unflexed his fists as he spoke.
“Thank you, Elder. My body feels incredibly light—lighter than it has in ages.”
“I’m sorry to rush, but is it possible we could depart now?”
Eldom raised a light breeze across his palm, and Jang Gain nodded in agreement.
“Yes—Saber Tiger has fed as well, so we’re ready to go.”
As Jang Gain nodded, Sairan summoned a great sphere of water and extinguished the campfire in one swift motion.
Jang Gain observed the sight with close attention.
The way the water droplet formed and swelled from empty air never ceased to fill him with wonder.
“That’s a truly remarkable technique.”
“Technique?”
Sairan tilted her head quizzically.
“The way you summon the water.”
“Is that what you’d call it? We call it—ah, this isn’t the time for such talk. I apologize, but we should hurry.”
Elder Elena showed interest in Jang Gain’s words before rising to her feet.
“I’ll lead the way.”
Shortly after Elder Elena set off, the three immortals, Jang Gain, and Saber Tiger followed in her wake.
* * *
Elder Malata, who had been tracking the Hunters for some time, found her expression darkening as the trail suddenly vanished as if it had evaporated.
Though she had employed both the Wind Spirit and the Earth Spirit, and scoured the surrounding area meticulously, the broken trail would not resume.
“The trail’s gone again.”
“Elder, it appears the Hunters possess a technique to elude even the spirits’ eyes. There are so many false tracks that our pursuit has become quite muddled.”
“Hmph! The trail was broken earlier, and we searched the area superficially before. We should return to that fork in the road and begin our search anew from there.”
“Understood.”
Elder Malata’s party moved swiftly back to the previous fork. They began to examine the broken trail once more.
After roughly thirty minutes of searching, a new trail appeared.
“Elder, there are several horse hoofprints here.”
“Horse hoofprints! The Hunters must have tethered their mounts here, then journeyed to Dekana Lake to abduct the children and bring them back!”
“The hoofprints continue downward from here.”
“If they rode horses, they would have traveled faster. Let us go at once.”
“Yes.”
After riding for about an hour following the hoofprints, another fork appeared. The tracks split into two paths at the junction.
Elder Malata had no choice but to stop and deliberate.
“One of these is surely a false trail.”
“The longer we delay, the harder it will be to find the children. Let us divide our forces. We’ll take this path while you, Elder, follow the trail with the deeper impressions.”
“Very well. Gulan, Zaesan, and I will take this direction—you five take the other. If your trail ends, return at once and pursue my path. If mine ends, I shall pursue yours.”
“Understood.”
Elder Malata dispatched five of the village warriors down one fork, then set out with two companions following the hoofprints.
After tracking for roughly an hour, the trail vanished once more.
Realizing she had been deceived, she turned back toward the fork they’d just left and saw the five warriors she’d sent the other way returning toward her.
“Why have you come?”
Malata asked, her expression puzzled, but Hasut, approaching from the opposite direction, only deepened his frown in response.
“The trail went cold, so we’re turning back. Elder, why are you here?”
“The trail went cold for us too.”
“What? Then both trails were false?”
Malata clenched her teeth instead of answering.
The sun was already setting, and it was becoming impossible to follow the tracks by sight alone.
“Go to where the trail ended and search the surrounding area. I’ll do the same.”
“Understood.”
Malata turned back toward where the trail had vanished, releasing a brief sigh.
“If only we had multiple Communication Orbs… this grows more difficult by the moment.”
Magical Communication Orbs were expensive magical tools crafted and sold by mages, and the village had only three. One of them was with the missing teachers and couldn’t be reached, so only she and Elena could communicate at present.
Whoosh.
At that moment, light flared from the Communication Orb in her pocket.
She pulled it out quickly, and Elena’s silhouette appeared within it.
“Is this Elena?”
―Yes, Elder Malata. Where are you? We’ve just arrived at the foot of Hoarn Peak.
“You’ve reached Hoarn Peak already? I thought you wouldn’t arrive until dawn tomorrow. How did you get here so quickly?”
―We exhausted our Spirit Force summoning the Wind Spirit.
“Even with the Wind Spirit, you should have faced countless monsters attacking along the way.”
―Ah! The human knight brought Saber Tiger, so the other monsters didn’t dare approach.
“What? Saber Tiger? A human controlling Saber Tiger?”
―Yes.

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