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Chapter 72: The Plan to Surprise Natsu
Chapter 72: The Plan to Surprise Natsu
"Ooh~ ooh~~~"
Living in the city, Rod rarely heard a rooster crow in the morning. He lifted the thin blanket, got up, and pulled back the curtains to take a look outside.
The sky wasn't fully bright yet, and a thin layer of mist seemed to cover everything, gradually dissipating as the sun peeked over the horizon.
From behind, he heard the faint snoring of Natsu and Happy. They were sleeping soundly, their carefree attitude both worrying and enviable.
So, Rod tiptoed around them, careful not to wake them as he made his way to the door.
Then, he thought better of it and retreated. He squatted down, took a deep breath, and shouted between their heads:
"Wake up!!!"
Natsu and Happy jolted awake, each rubbing their ears as they turned away from each other. Rod burst into laughter, just as carefree as Natsu.
"Damn Rod!"
Natsu and Happy pounced on him, and the three of them wrestled into a tangle.
When they finally made their way downstairs for breakfast, each of them had a black eye.
The village chief thought they must have gotten into a fight the night before, but the dim light had prevented him from seeing clearly.
After a hearty breakfast, Rod summoned Worm:
"Today we're going to investigate the situation on the mountain. I'll leave this guy with you.
If anything urgent happens, just tell him ‘go back,’ and I’ll get the signal to return as soon as possible."
With the lack of modern communication methods, Rod had to rely on this approach. Worm was smarter than other monsters, required less magic, and wasn't much of a fighter, making it perfect for this task.
This decision came to him when he suddenly sensed Worm returning to the Howling Abyss last night.
Worm looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings—neither home nor the guild—and showed a bit of reluctance.
But as long as Rod gave it clear instructions, it would follow them—except when he and his friends were fighting and needed help.
Seno, the village chief’s daughter, picked up Worm: "I’ll take good care of it."
The three of them turned to leave, just as they saw little Claudy peeking out from behind the door, looking at them timidly.
Realizing she had been noticed, Claudy quickly hid again.
Rod didn’t mind, continuing to walk out while reminding Natsu not to act impulsively.
Just as they were about to step out of the yard, Claudy mustered her courage and ran up to them.
"Excuse me..."
The three turned to face her.
Claudy’s courage seemed to drain away immediately, and she asked in a weak voice: "Excuse me... can you defeat the monster on the mountain?"
Rod tried to be gentle in his response: "You know about the monster on the mountain?"
Claudy nodded and then shook her head: "Dad says it’s a leopard monster, with the upper body of a leopard and the lower body of a human.
It’s as tall as two people, with teeth as long as chopsticks and a mouth as big as a basin. Its tail is thicker than my arm, and it has a long, long mane."
As she spoke, Claudy began to sob, tears welling up in her eyes:
"Dad says the monster is like that. His wish is to defeat the monster and protect everyone. Dad told me to be good and wait at home. He said he would come back soon, but... but..."
Natsu placed his hand on the little girl’s head, and Claudy’s crying paused.
"Then you should continue being good and wait at home. Your dad’s wish, I will help him complete."
Claudy’s tears burst forth, and she stared in amazement at Natsu’s back as he turned to leave, her vision blurring.
To see this warm-hearted big brother more clearly, Claudy used her arm to wipe the tears from her face.
Rod sighed inwardly, formulating a plan to ambush Natsu in an emergency, pull him underground, and take him away. He knew that Natsu's foster father had disappeared one day and never returned, and such an event would be hard for Natsu to ignore.
Moreover, the little girl's tears were truly touching, and Rod felt for her, but he couldn't afford to lose his composure.
"Happy, keep an eye on Natsu. We can't let him do anything reckless."
"Aye," Happy replied, lacking confidence.
Rod summoned two river crabs and a pack of shadow wolves, instructing them to speed up.
The beasts he had been tracking last night had simply hidden in the jungle, carefully exploring new territories and seeking shelter, which was puzzling.
Rod had to set aside his confusion and analyze the new information.
The intelligence provided by the little girl, Claudette, was based on her father's account. Considering the possibility of information loss and exaggeration during transmission, Rod couldn't fully trust it.
The most reliable piece of information was that the Beast King might be a leopard-like monster. Leopards, by their nature, were likely to be fast and agile opponents.
To deal with such a foe, Rod thought of Jett...
Stone Beetles could be useful, and the sweeping attacks of Beak Birds might also come in handy.
He hadn't obtained the antidote from the Bog Toad yet, but using it against an enemy wouldn't be a problem, as long as he was careful not to affect his allies.
Rod and Happy caught up with Natsu and pulled him to a stop at the foot of the mountain.
Rod had already gathered information about the terrain from Bit and Mastiff. Rushing up the mountain blindly could lead to a nasty encounter with venomous snakes, which would be disastrous.
"The more you want to help Claudette, the more important it is to stay calm. If something happens to you, that child might never trust anyone again."
This reasoning had a marginal effect, and Natsu sat down, crossing his legs and arms. "How long do we wait?"
"Until I find it," Rod replied, connecting with the river crabs' vision. "The first one has climbed to the first peak and hasn't seen anything unusual yet. The shadow wolves are trying to pick up the scent of the beast."
To keep Natsu and Happy from getting impatient, Rod narrated the scenes he saw through the river crabs in real-time.
After about half an hour of searching, a grizzly bear descended the mountain and noticed the two humans and one cat. It showed some caution but, upon comparing their sizes, it lost its fear and charged.
Natsu stood up, clenching his fists. Perfect timing.
"Signs of a battle," Rod finally found something. On the ground was the mutilated body of a wild boar, clearly gnawed on by some animal. The exposed ribs and spine were broken, but it was unclear whether this happened before or after death.
The shadow wolves sniffed the air and chose a direction, sprinting ahead, with the river crabs following closely.
Trees, rocks, and flowers flashed by in Rod's vision until they stopped at another site with battle marks.
This time, it was the body of a wild wolf, its spine broken and its body bent in an exaggerated way.
The shadow wolves showed no sympathy for their fallen kin, sniffing forward and dashing to the next location.
Thus, Rod encountered the bodies of various beasts, including tigers, grizzly bears, and leopards.
Each one appeared to have been bludgeoned to death, a scene that was both cruel and...
Strange.
If the mountain beasts had died in combat, their wounds should mostly be from bites. How many beasts used blunt force?
(End of Chapter)
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