***
Dakam continued to speak.
“Anyway, when you go out, you must apply herbs to your body. Otherwise, snakes and bugs will lunge at you.”
Certainly, as they moved while sticking close to Dakam, even the bugs were unable to approach.
Seeing that, I spoke to the squad leader.
“We should learn this kind of thing as well.”
“Indeed. It would have been difficult if we had come here on our own without any preparation. To think it turned out like this after running for only an hour from the patrol route. I had heard before that the patrol route was set only up to a certain point because there were too many poisonous creatures further in, and it was because of this place called the Poison Forest.”
That was the first time I had heard that.
However, it was also a story that was easy enough to understand.
As we went deeper into the forest, a musty and unpleasant smell was growing stronger.
And even without being as sensitive as Squad Leader Seol Poong, the sound of something rustling and moving out of our way was being heard.
Bi Sa-yeong swallowed hard and asked quietly.
“W-what is that sound?”
Then Squad Leader Seol Poong answered with a fed-up expression.
“It would probably be better not to know. Ugh, to think even those things existed.”
“Pardon? What else is there?”
“There is a centipede larger than a person. It is currently watching us from the forest over there.”
“A centipede larger than a person?!”
The only one who brightened at those words was Young Lady Cheong-yeon.
A centipede larger than a person.
Could it be that?
The Flying Heaven Centipede that was said to fly through the sky using the elasticity of its tail?
No way, it couldn't be that.
Was that not literally a legendary poisonous creature?
While I was having such thoughts, Dakam spoke with a bright expression.
“Ah, that thing is not so dangerous. It is a fellow that bounces high by hitting its tail on the ground, but its head is very good, so it recognizes people. It never attacks after I shared food with it a few times in the past.”
Well, to fly by hitting the ground with its tail.
It really was the Flying Heaven Centipede.
But it wasn't dangerous?
At the point where a centipede recognized a person, it already seemed dangerous enough.
I suddenly asked him.
“Then what are the most dangerous things in the Poison Forest?”
Then he thought for a moment and answered.
“If you go into the Poison Forest, there are hornets as big as a palm. Many of them move at once, and you die immediately if you are stung by even one. And although I have not seen them yet, they say there are spiders that look like human faces, swarms of red leeches in the swamp, and also a snake that has horns and is as large as a tree. All of them are very scary.”
Was he perhaps talking about the Great Yellow Tiger Hornet, the Man-faced Spider, the Blood Leeches, and the Poison-horned Python?
To think those were real things.
What was this place? It was terrifying.
Beside me, Bi Sa-yeong, who was making a similar expression, muttered.
“What kind of place is this... Are there any dragons here by any chance?”
Hearing that, Dakam answered him.
“Dragons? No, I have not heard that there are dragons.”
Bi Sa-yeong muttered with a hollow laugh.
“That is quite a comfort. Truly a relief.”
Still, fortunately, we were heading to Dakam’s residence by circling around the outskirts of the Poison Forest, not through the interior.
So, it seemed there would be no chance to actually see those legendary poisonous creatures.
It was...
A great relief.
Although Young Lady Cheong-yeon seemed a bit disappointed.
Dakam continued to speak.
“And the snakes are all dangerous. Small bugs are also dangerous. Ah! That fellow is also dangerous. It is a black leopard, but it ate too much poison, so its teeth and claws became poison. It is as big and fast as a tiger, but even spears do not enter.”
So, that story meant,
A black panther ate a lot of poison and became a poisonous creature?
It was as big as a tiger and even spears didn't pierce it?
Hearing that far, I grew a bit suspicious.
It was a suspicion that the things I had heard from Dakam so far might be a bit exaggerated or a bluff.
At least, it was so until Squad Leader Seol Poong opened his mouth.
“...It seems that is the fellow right there.”
“...Pardon?”
Following Squad Leader Seol Poong’s gaze, I saw something massive approaching, prowling under the faint moonlight filtering through the leaves.
Black skin that looked as dark as a shadow even under the moonlight, although it was as massive as a tiger, and two eyes emitting an eerie green light. It was clearly a black panther.
Dakam spoke in a panic.
“T-that fellow does not usually come out of the Poison Forest! P-please wait a moment.”
Then he took a piece of meat wrapped in leaves out of the leather pouch he was carrying on his back and threw it to the fellow.
It seemed he always carried it in preparation for meeting poisonous creatures.
However, it was of little use.
The fellow, who had taken a slight sniff of the scent of the meat, raised its head again and began to approach our side while glowing with green light.
It seemed we had a more delicious scent than the meat.
It seemed to be because we hadn't applied herbs to our skin like Dakam.
Lowering his posture and guarding against the fellow, Bi Sa-yeong spoke.
“At times like this, Jin, I regret that you lost weight.”
“Why, so you can throw me as bait and run away?”
“Hehehe, you know well.”
“Hmph! I shall repay the favor of you teaching me the Bi-jong movement art by running away faster than you.”
At that moment, Young Lady Cheong-yeon shouted.
“It's coming!”
The black panther that had been prowling toward us shot at us like a ray of light in an instant.
Pa-bak!
It was a tremendous speed that made Bi Sa-yeong and me instinctively flinch.
However, Squad Leader Seol Poong was in front of us.
Tadak!
Squad Leader Seol Poong, who shot out at a speed similar to the fellow, clashed with it in the air.
Peong! Peo-peo-peo-peong!
Bi Sa-yeong muttered with a ghastly expression.
“Unless my eyes are wrong, did that black panther just block the squad leader’s kicking technique?”
“Ah, I don't know who is the beast and who is the person.”
“That... is like a peak-level master.”
It was just as Young Lady Cheong-yeon said.
It was like a fight between peak-level masters.
Squad Leader Seol Poong, perhaps concerned about the claws that were said to be poisonous, kicked the inside of the fellow’s paws and used that elasticity to spin his body and unleash a series of kicks like a whirlwind toward the fellow’s head.
But the panther defended against those series of kicks with its front paws.
Both Squad Leader Seol Poong, who was pouring out an offensive with movements more beast-like than the panther, and the panther, which was blocking it in a way unlike a beast, were amazing.
The two continued the fight while flying across the trees.
Overall, Squad Leader Seol Poong had the upper hand, but he was in a situation where he couldn't deliver a proper blow; furthermore, as Dakam said, if there was poison on its claws, there was a risk that the tide of battle could be reversed with just a single strike.
We exchanged looks and waited for an opportunity.
Then, we shot out simultaneously when the fellow showed its back while close to us.
Pa-bat!
The swords of Young Lady Cheong-yeon and myself, and Bi Sa-yeong’s saber, became rays of light and pounced on the fellow’s back.
Sha-a-ak!
Ta-ta-ta-tak!
“Ugh?!”
“Ha?!”
“My goodness! What an incredible fellow!”
The fellow had momentarily swung its long tail like a windmill to block the swords and saber. Then, it immediately leaped away and retreated far back.
The fellow also likely felt that we were not easy to continue fighting.
The fellow, who scanned us once with eyes emitting green light, slowly disappeared back into the Poison Forest.
After a moment, Squad Leader Seol Poong relaxed his guard and spoke.
“It truly left.”
Only then did we also let out sighs of relief and mutter.
“So such a thing really existed in the world.”
“It is amazing.”
Then Bi Sa-yeong replied.
“I don't care that it exists in the world, but it's even more shocking that it was near us.”
I agreed.
After that, there were no major threats.
There were many unique snakes, but they were not a great threat, and Squad Leader Seol Poong simply caught them and showed them to us.
Of course, the only one who showed proper interest in them was Young Lady Cheong-yeon.
As I walked along the path, I tried to extract as much knowledge as possible from Dakam.
Plants good for detoxification, how to make the poisonous scent that chases away demons, and the grass used to chase away poisonous creatures, and so on.
I thought it might be a bit difficult because Dakam’s language was immature, but Dakam, who said he had learned those things from the Poison Elder, was unexpectedly quite talented at explaining.
While going along the path, he showed us by picking the actually necessary grasses and explained them in detail.
By the time we arrived at the residence where Dakam stayed, dawn was breaking.
Having memorized the path we came on, I spoke to the squad leader.
“Still, at this rate, it seems it would take about six hours if we return on our own.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
“I think it would take eight hours even if we move while taking our time to catch poisonous creatures.”
Then Bi Sa-yeong opened his eyes wide and asked.
“Are you saying you memorized the entire path we just came on? In the middle of the night? And all three of you?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Was it not a particularly difficult path?”
“Is it not natural if we want to return?”
When we looked at him with expressions asking why he was questioning something so obvious, he mumbled under his breath.
It seemed he found it very annoying.
Dakam’s residence was a small hut.
He led us with a bright face and guided us inside the hut.
The place where the hut was located was a place like an island recessed into the swamp of the Poison Forest.
It seemed they were residing there while stacking incense plants that poisonous creatures disliked like a wall around them.
Opening the door wide and entering, Dakam shouted.
“Poison Elder! Poison Elder! I brought people to help!”
“Dakam! Dakam is here!”
“Dakam, where were you!”
Inside the hut, there were Miao children whom he had mentioned were his younger siblings, and an old man with a clear sickly complexion lying on a bed.
They were cute children and a white-haired old man with a very cranky impression.
It was particularly interesting that the children’s pronunciation was very natural, unlike Dakam’s.
It seemed that even though they learned the language together, the achievement of the young children was superior.
“Dakam!”
“Dakam!”
As as many as four children surrounded Dakam and hugged him while sobbing, the old man lying on the bed frowned and shouted.
“Where on earth have you been all night after abandoning the brats?! And what is this nonsense about people to help?!”
As Dakam looked at us standing outside the door while comforting his siblings, Squad Leader Seol Poong went inside as our representative and greeted the old man.
“Greetings, Elder. We are people who have come to help you at Dakam’s request.”
Then the old man’s expression immediately turned ferocious.
He asked us with a growl.
“Who are you rascals? Are you perhaps the Orthodox bastards of the Flying Dragon Unit?”
We couldn't help but be momentarily flustered by that voice full of hostility.
Then, in the next moment, the old man shouted like an exploding volcano.
“Get out this instant?!”
Then he began to pick up nearby objects with one hand and throw them recklessly.
“You bastards who wouldn't even be enough if I chewed you up! What is there to tear off that you have come all the way here?! Get out right now!”
A wooden bowl he threw hit the wall next to the door and shattered.
Flowerpots, pillows, and spoons were also flying with terrifying momentum.
Perhaps because he was paralyzed on one side and couldn't control his body, he threw with only one hand and had no accuracy, but his momentum was quite significant.
The startled Dakam rushed in and tried to stop him.
“Poison Elder! What are you doing?! They are people who came to help us!”
“Shut up, you rascal! Did I not tell you long ago not to do useless things?! Do you think I would receive help from those kinds of rascals even if I were to die?!”
At that ominous momentum, we had no choice but to hurriedly step out the door.
Even after we came out, the voice of the old man raging and Dakam’s voice trying to stop him continued to be heard.
We looked at each other with bewildered faces.
Bi Sa-yeong spoke with a hollow laugh.
“What kind of shitty situation is this?”
Those words were exactly how I felt.