Chapter 71: The Beast with Strange Movements
Chapter 71: The Beast with Strange Movements
"Mr. Rod, the torches you asked for are ready, but..."
Bit glanced at the ongoing battle, wondering if they were even needed.
Rod replied, "Perfect timing. Throw all the torches outside the door."
Bit nodded, "Understood. Are you planning to attack the remaining beasts?"
"No, aim them all at Natsu."
"Ah?"
"Quick, do it now," Rod urged. The battle was almost over, and if they didn't act fast, the preparation would be for nothing.
"Yes!" Bit directed the villagers to throw the torches outside, but they were hesitant to aim at Natsu.
Rod's intention was clear to Happy, who flew over the wall and shouted, "Natsu! Food is here!"
Natsu turned around and saw dozens of torches flying through the air.
"Ooh~~~ Great!" Natsu leaped up to catch the torches, opening his mouth wide to suck in the flames as they flew into his mouth.
He managed to grab a couple that were out of reach.
By the time he landed, Natsu's cheeks were puffed out, and he chewed a few times before swallowing.
Rod couldn't understand why Natsu needed to chew the flames. Was he worried about 'fire bones'?
"He ate them!"
"He can actually eat fire!"
"Fire mages can eat fire?"
The villagers looked at Rod in amazement. If fire mages could eat fire, then what could this mage who controlled beasts do?
Their strange 'knowledge' had just increased.
No wonder they had the confidence to take on this mission with just two people!
Natsu then treated the torches in his hands like lollipops, crunching on them a few times before discarding the wooden sticks.
"Thank you for the meal!" He wiped his mouth, his body suddenly engulfed in flames. "The power surges through me!"
Natsu took a deep breath and exhaled a massive burst of flames, like a dragon's roar: "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The fierce flames swirled like a tornado, engulfing the remaining beasts and rendering them incapable of fighting.
Two small Sharp Beaks almost got caught in the blast.
Rod, standing on the arrow tower, slapped the railing in anger. "Natsu! Watch out for your own teammates!"
"Ahahahaha..." Natsu scratched his pink hair, laughing it off. "Sorry, sorry. It's hard to see in the dark, and I got a bit carried away. But no one got hurt, right?"
Rod didn't buy it. The bastard was probably so careless because he knew the monsters wouldn't die.
Otherwise, Happy, who had been with him for so long, would have been roasted by now.
Happy shivered, "Rod, you're thinking some scary things."
Rod denied it, "No, I'm not."
"Beating them so quickly, you truly are a mage, sir!"
The villagers were amazed by the mages' combat prowess, and some added a respectful title.
Bit was dazed, realizing the true purpose of the torches. "Mr. Rod, what should we do now?"
Rod said, "Open the gate and put out the fire. Didn't I tell you to prepare for this? The flames will reach the walls if we don't act soon."
"Ah, right!" Bit immediately shouted, "Open the gate, put out the fire, and protect the walls!"
"Ooh!!"
Fortunately, the main battlefield was on the main road, and the flames hadn't spread too far or grown too large. Otherwise, they would have had a lot more work to do.
The villagers used a winch to raise the gate and went out with water buckets and carts filled with sand to extinguish the fire.
In the smaller fire, this task was much safer than facing the beast horde.
Rod used the Crab's vision to survey the village's surroundings and noticed a few more beasts running in another direction.
But they didn't seem to be heading for the village; they were just passing by.
The village chief didn’t wait idly at home but instead hobbled to the village entrance with his cane. "Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Is anyone injured?"
"Chief! Thanks to the great mages, no one was hurt."
Natsu entered through the main gate, and Rod jumped down from the arrow tower with Happy.
The village chief expressed his gratitude on behalf of the villagers.
"It’s our job," Rod said. "I have a question, are there any other villages nearby?"
The village chief shook his head. "No, the nearest village is dozens of kilometers away."
That was strange. Where were those beasts heading? Were they just wandering aimlessly? Rod could only recall the other monsters and send a river crab to follow them and see.
"You three have been on the move and then immediately joined the battle. You must be exhausted," the village chief said. "There shouldn’t be any more trouble tonight. Please come to my house and rest."
"Thank you, we’ll be a bother," Rod replied, not at all politely. He was truly starving.
Natsu had a dubious suggestion. "Rod, why don’t we just push on and take care of all the beasts on the mountain at once?"
"Stop joking. It’s a mountain range that stretches for miles. Even if we stayed up all night, we couldn’t cover it all," Rod advised, then suddenly became wary. "You’re not thinking of burning the mountain down, are you?"
"Of course not. If burning the mountain was the solution, why would they post a mission?" Natsu denied. "I just want to get it over with quickly."
Rod nodded. "Oh, in that case, why don’t you go ahead and do it yourself?
"I’ll have a delicious dinner with Happy, take a nice bath, and have a good sleep.
"Tomorrow, we’ll come up to the mountain to find you and bring you a cold breakfast."
Happy agreed. "Aye!"
"You two..." Natsu muttered, but obediently followed along.
Rod had discovered a new way to communicate with Natsu.
The village chief’s dinner was lavish, with three chickens specially slaughtered to welcome them.
Actually, the meat from the beasts they had just defeated would have been enough, but the village chief probably thought it would be impolite, so he used his own resources to treat the guests.
While eating, Rod kept an eye on the movements of the beasts and found that they seemed to be wandering aimlessly. Some even split off in different directions.
It was very strange.
That night, Rod, Natsu, and Happy rested in the same room on the second floor.
It wasn’t that the village chief lacked extra rooms, but Rod felt it was safer for them to stay together. He slept lightly in unfamiliar places and could also prevent Natsu from sneaking out to cause trouble at night.
Before bed, Rod held a strategy meeting with Natsu and Happy.
"Tomorrow, I’ll send the Shadow Wolves and Swift Crabs to recon the mountain and find the Beast King’s whereabouts. Until then, no one is to act on their own."
"That’s so troublesome. Why can’t we just go up the mountain and search?"
"It’s not possible. The villagers can’t gauge the Beast King’s strength, so they can’t provide us with useful information. We have to investigate on our own," Rod explained seriously. "If it’s beyond our capabilities, I’ll abandon the mission and seek help from the guild."
"Rod, how can you give up so easily..."
"Aye, I agree with Rod’s plan."
"Happy, even you!?"
"Because Rod makes sense."
Happy patted the small green bag on his back, which contained a fish Rod had secretly given him.
"We’re a team of three, and it’s two against one, so we’ll do it my way," Rod said. "Now, get some good sleep and recover your strength."
Natsu grumbled but went to bed.
In truth, Happy had a more effective way to convince Natsu, but he didn’t want to bring it up. This way, the decision was made with a bit of fun.
(End of Chapter)
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