I'm The Only One With Cancer

Chapter 180: Second Forest

Tukutuk— Tukutuk— Tukutuk—

The carriage resumed its travels after passing through the first forest as it left Lumina’s perimeters.

It had already been a few hours since Zen dealt with the forest wolves, and so far, after that, nothing much had happened aside from the carriage getting stuck in a ditch, which was also quickly resolved.

At this moment, the second forest could already be seen on the horizon.

Before reaching the forest, the terrain ahead was only plain grasslands and was safe aside from being a little hilly.

This meant that even though the horses might have a little bit of difficulty, their levels indicated that they would not suffer much.

In addition, the lack of obstacles, such as bushes, boulders, and the like, decreased the chances of bandits or monsters hiding and ambushing them.

Nevertheless, Ferd still knocked on the carriage window on the driver’s seat.

Knock— Knock—

"What is it?" Zen’s calm voice resounded from inside the carriage.

Ferd cleared his throat and replied, "Sir Deadman, we’ll be reaching the second forest in about half an hour or so. To ensure that we’ll be able to reach Listarte in the designated time, it will be better if we can pass through this forest before the sun sets."

"Understood. I’ll be walking on foot once we reach the forest."

"That will be unnecessary, Sir. There’s still quite a room here in the driver’s seat. This way, you’ll be able to preserve your stamina and rest while keeping an eye out."

"We’ll do that then."

"Sigh~."

Hearing Zen’s words, Ferd could not help but heave a sigh of relief, ’It’s fortunate that Sir Deadman is easy to talk to, unlike other otherworlders or even natives.’

Tukutuk— Tukutuk— Tukutuk—

After informing Zen, the butler fell silent once again, making sure to be on high alert at all times as the sound of carriage wheels echoed in his ear.

Fortunately, the journey was short, and within about twenty-five minutes, they had already reached the second forest.

As they had agreed earlier, Zen exited the carriage and went to sit in the driver’s seat.

However, to Ferd’s surprise, Verso held the hem of Zen’s shirt with a stubborn expression.

Zen had a wry smile on his face as he said, "It seems like Verso wanted to go with me too, but I don’t know how to reject him..."

"I’ll deal with the young master, Sir Deadman."

Ferd replied as he genoflected in front of Verso and gestured with his hands, *Young Master, you can’t sit with us here. It’s too dangerous. It’s better for you to stay inside the carriage...*

The dialogue of sign language between the butler and the young master then started.

Zen could not help but feel amused as he saw Ferd do a lot of gestures while the boy only kept shaking his head stubbornly.

’Pfft, he’s like Sera with that stubbornness of his...’

Remembering some pleasant memories, he could not help but say, "Why not let him sit with us? I think we can all sit comfortably considering the space in the driver’s seat."

"That is indeed possible, but..."

Ferd had a hesitant expression on his face, ’I don’t want to inconvenience Sir Deadman any further...’

He was well aware that the rewards for the quest were not worth it.

Of course, other employers would rather take advantage of otherworlders, but it just so happened that Ferd had a kind nature.

"I’ll inform the young master about it."

Seeing Zen’s nod, Ferd began signing to Verso.

And this time, the boy did not shake his head outright in refusal, and instead, chose to listen attentively to his butler.

This lasted for about a minute or so before the two seemingly came to an agreement.

"Haaa..."

Ferd sighed as he stood up and said, "Sir Deadman, the young master has agreed to give you additional rewards due to the work stated in the contract not being quite appropriate with the current situation.

Initially, the quest only stated that Zen would need to accompany them throughout their journey.

This meant that he would not even be able to log out during the duration of the quest.

Ferd wrote the quest like this because he believed that hiring an escort was merely a precaution, and they would not even need to do anything.

However, the oversight that resulted in them unexpectedly encountering forest wolves back in the first forest made him quite guilty.

Of course, Verso also felt the same, as his every move was to be approved first by his young master.

Hearing the butler’s words, Zen waved his hands, "No, you really don’t need to do that..."

"We insist," Ferd replied firmly.

Seeing that both the butler and the young master both wore stubborn expressions, Zen acquiesced with a helpless smile.

To further ensure the safety of his employers, he made sure to cast a mana barrier that coated the entire carriage.

As Zen used magic repeatedly, he was able to discover many tricks that made his magic more unpredictable.

One such discovery is his mana barrier, which looked invisible to the naked eye.

His preparations took less than a minute.

And so, the journey continued with the butler, the young master, and the otherworlder in the driver’s seat.

Fortunately, the carriage Ferd and Verso had with them was luxurious and was quite spacious— being bigger than most ordinary carriages.

As they passed through the second forest, they could not help but notice that it was eerily quiet.

"Strange..."

Zen muttered, feeling something strange he could not quite put his finger on.

Beside him, Ferd had just relayed his words to Verso through sign language before he resumed driving.

As an experienced butler, he knew when to be nosy and when to just keep silent.

And in this situation, the latter was the correct call.

Zen raised his right hand, feeling the cold breeze with his palm, when he suddenly frowned, "Magic..."

Ferd kept calm as he still continued driving the carriage, ’If there are bandits, it would be best not to alert them. I’d better let Sir Deadman handle the rest...’

"Stop."

To the butler’s surprise, Zen suddenly ordered him to stop with a calm voice.

Afterwards, he got out of the carriage and looked at the seemingly natural stones littered on the road.

’The path in the first forest was maintained quite well... Even the road leading here is quite well-maintained, so why are there stones... Found it."

Zen moved some of the stones in front of the carriage with his hands and saw a blade embedded in the ground.

Ferd followed behind him and saw it as well, "This is a common trap by bandits. It will either hurt the horses, which will cause them to panic, or damage the carriage wheels, which will render it unable to move."

"Understood." Zen nodded with a serious expression.

The butler then whispered, "Sir Deadman, what are we going to do now—"

"Come out!"

Ferd’s face froze as Zen suddenly shouted before he could even finish his words, ’So, we’re not going to plan anything at all? Well, I guess with Sir’s magic we can...’

"Oho, I didn’t think that you’d be so brave even if you’re alone."

"Right, that brat looks young, I bet he’s just a knight trainee or something!"

"Haha, I bet he just wanted to do an escort mission for extra easy income but didn’t expect us to set up an ambush here!"

"Look at him! He’s only with a butler and a child! This is easy money for us!"

...

Bandits began to emerge from behind boulders, bushes, and trees lining the forest path.

’There are quite a lot of them...’

Zen counted quickly.

At least ten stood in front of them.

And that was only the ones in plain sight—the bandits flanking the carriage and those lurking behind it weren’t even included.

’A conservative estimate... at least twenty-five.’

Zen looked at the huge bandit standing around two meters tall, ’Human opponents are trickier since I can’t see their levels outright...’

Still, he did not think that they would be a problem, no matter what level they may be.

After all, just his Strength Stat was already 100.

And that was only in his base state, not including the enhancements he could receive when he uses his skills.

’Let’s treat this as practice...’

Zen thought as a steel longsword appeared in his hand.

Seeing this, the bandits were quite intimidated.

"He has his own storage artifact!"

"Maybe he’s an apprentice of someone powerful!?"

...

Before they could panic any further, the huge bandit boss hollered, "Don’t you see his sword!? It’s shaking! He’s clearly a greenhorn! Maybe he’s just some lucky noble brat who wanted to try being a hero!"

"He’s really shaking!"

"Hahaha! He’s just a kid, after all!"

...

Seeing Zen’s trembling, the bandits’ nervousness all disappeared as a ferocious expression appeared on their faces.

Some even licked their blades, wanting to scare him further.

The bandit boss had a huge smile on his face as he walked slowly, "Why are you shaking? Are you nervous? Do you wanna go back to your mama!?"

"Hahahaha!" The bandits laughed at his words.

Meanwhile, Zen only smiled, "Yes, I am."

"Oho?" The bandit boss’s smile got wider.

"I am nervous... and excited."

Hearing his words, the bandit boss’s smile faltered slightly.

In contrast, Zen’s smile remained steady, "I’m just wondering what it feels like to kill a human."

Swoosh— Thud!