I'm The Only One With Cancer

Chapter 182: Travel Continues

The group’s journey towards Listarte continued...

In the third forest they needed to pass through, the group encountered some slimes that were around the level 20s.

However, since slimes were not really aggressive unless provoked, the group was able to pass through the third forest safely without spending too much time in it.

At this moment, the carriage had just climbed up a little hill as they followed the road.

"Although the roads are well-maintained, it’s not really developed..."

Zen commented casually.

Being born in a world with asphalt roads that allowed for more efficient and smoother transportation, he really did not know why the Kingdom of Light did not bother developing the roads between cities.

Hearing him, Ferd chuckled, "There have been many people, merchantries, organizations, and others who wanted to pioneer road development programs for the Kingdom of Light, especially between its major cities such as Lumina and Listarte."

"Oh, really?" Zen’s eyes shone with interest.

The two of them were currently sitting in the driver’s seat, while Verso slept in the carriage.

Ferd kept his eyes on the road as he spoke, "Well, normally, it would be easy considering the advancement of magic and technology throughout the continent, but the main problems are the monsters."

"Monsters? Can’t the kingdom just assign some patrolling guards or command posts?"

"That’s a good idea, had it not been for the fact that the problems aren’t the wandering monsters only, but also the monster tide."

"Monster tides?" Zen was not unfamiliar with the concept, as it was something found common between manhwas, mangas, and other fictional stories.

Ferd nodded, "Yes. First of all, let me ask whether you are familiar with the Blood Moon?"

’How could I not?’

Zen thought to himself of the ghoul that attacked him in the training grounds on his first day of playing in the Free World.

"I am familiar with it," He answered as he felt a little nostalgic, ’It hadn’t even been that long, but so much has happened in the past month... That ghoul... maybe the reason why I was able to meet Teacher.’

Oblivious to his thoughts, Ferd continued, "Well, the thing is, the Blood Moon rises on a random day at least every two to three months. With it, the spawn rates of monsters increase exponentially. It’s not even strange for some monsters to spawn directly inside the city."

"Furthermore, the situation outside the cities is much worse, since forests and other mana-dense areas produce many more monsters that form a monster tide." The butler glanced at Zen as he spoke.

Zen nodded as he listened attentively before asking, "Is that also why we haven’t seen a village since leaving Lumina?"

"Not really..."

Ferd shook his head in response, "There are three routes that we could take to reach Listarte. The route we chose is the fastest, most straightforward one among the others. As you have seen, we needed to cross four forests, all of which are mana dense, to reach Listarte."

"So no one would build a village along this route?" Zen asked after a moment.

The butler nodded affirmatively, "That’s right."

"But then, what about the villages outside the cities? Would the cities at least send them some reinforcements?"

"Depends. Soldiers, knights, and other armed forces of the city councils are often limited. Most of the time, they don’t have enough manpower to send to the villages."

"Then are they just left alone whenever there’s a Blood Moon?"

"No. That’s where mercenaries like you come in."

"Mercenaries, huh?" It was not the first time Zen heard this term, ’I thought we’ll be called adventurers like in those fantasy stories...’

Ferd, again oblivious to his thoughts, nodded, "Yes. Both otherworlder and native mercenaries like slaying monsters to gain levels and loot drops."

"Is that so..." Zen still had some questions left in his mind, ’About meat and other byproducts, I wonder how the natives procure it since the wolves I killed earlier turned into particles of light...’

However, he refrained from asking such questions due to a certain not-so-smart reason, ’Meh, it’s better to just discover it for myself. What fun will it be if I can just ask everything~.’

The two then fell silent as the sound of turning carriage wheels filled their ears.

Zen leaned back as he became immersed in his thoughts.

’Hmmm, from our conversation, I can confirm one thing...’

’First is the fact that the reason why that ghoul was able to attack me despite me being inside the city... It should be because of the Blood Moon. Teacher did not place too much importance on it, so I didn’t really bother finding more about it... But it’s all good.’

’Besides this, I wonder what that old mage meant about me having the original magic skill? That’s quite strange since I didn’t hear Teacher or Aunt Ada mention anything regarding that...’

Zen could not help but be a little confused, ’Did they not know it as well? Or did they just not care about it at all? Knowing them... I guess the latter is more probable.’

Tukutuk— Tukutuk— Tukutuk—

The carrigae continued moving while Zen was immersed in his thoughts.

This went on for around an hour before the fourth and final forest they needed to pass through appeared on the horizon.

"Is that it?" Zen asked as his eyes widened.

The grassy hills and flat lands that stretched as far as the eye could see, the forest on the horizon, the birds flying in the sky, the beautiful milky white clouds of differing shapes...

...as well as the breathtaking touch of the sunset’s hue, all made a mesmerizing scene.

Ferd nodded, "Yes, Sir Deadman. After we get past that forest, we’ll be arriving in Listarte in no more than half a day."

As he said this, the butler seemed to hesitate for a moment, "Sir Deadman, I know otherworlders like you need to leave every now and then. If you like, we can set up camp first before entering the forest."

"It’s alright, I can manage," Zen replied with a smile.

"If you say so..."

Ferd smiled as well before flicking the reins, urging the horses forward, "Hiyah!"

With the two horses moving at maximum effort, it did not take them long to get to the entrance of the fourth forest.

Knock— Knock—

At this moment, there was some knocking sounds on the window to the driver’s seat, which came from inside the carriage.

Knowing that Verso must have woken up, Ferd slid the cover and saw Verso’s innocent expression.

The boy gestured with his hands, *Are we there yet?*

*Not yet, Young Master. But we’re close,* The butler signed back.

After a few more small talks, Zen handed him a chocolate bar before Ferd closed the window’s cover again.

"That should keep him entertained..." Zen said with a chuckle.

Ferd laughed along, "Well, I must say, the treats from your home world really are a delight."

The butler had long realized that these strange, sweet treats were from Zen’s world.

After all, as someone with knowledge about the whole continent, Ferd knew that this kind of delicacy could not be seen anywhere.

As for how Zen was able to bring something from his homeworld, Ferd did not bother asking about it.

The carriage soon entered the forest.

With the butler’s control, the horses only moved slowly as Zen focused on his senses.

Through his monstrous stats, even without any skills specialized in detection, he was confident in his ability to sense enemies, especially with his magic.

Seconds turned into minutes.

Time passed by, but nothing eventful has happened so far.

"It’s better if nothing happens..." Ferd muttered under his breath.

Zen glanced at him, "You... why did you have to say that?"

"W-What?"

Before Zen could answer, his ear twitched.

Rumble— Rumble— Rumble—

Woooooh—--

"What the..."

A rumbling sounded beneath the earth, followed by a strong gust of wind.

Zen saw that the ground seemed to crack as something moved under it, "Is it something like a basilisk? Those things move underground, right? But aren’t they only seen in desserts...?"

Rumble— Rumble— Rumble—

CRACK!

The area in front of the carriage cracked open as something that looked like a giant flower stem rose from it.

"A plant?" Zen tilted his head curiously.

The stem was green and looked just like a part of a healthy plant.

GRRR—-

However, the loud grumbling sound that it emitted made him think otherwise.

"What..."

Zen looked up and saw a ’flower’.

The only difference it had from a real flower was the fact that its petals looked like a wide-open mouth with countless teeth on it.

It also had a huge tongue that was more than a few meters long, dripping with saliva.

Drop— Drop—

Zzzzzz!

Some saliva that dropped instantly eroded the large boulders below.

"What the hell..."

Zen’s eyes widened in shock as he could not take his gaze off the monster before them.

As the monster settled above ground, it looked at the carriage in front of it and licked its ’lips’, which were the petals similar to a flower in bloom.

Due to the angle, Zen was finally able to see its details.

[Flower Basilisk Lv. 87]