Chapter 286: The Mystic Fox

Chapter 286

The Mystic Fox

The tension in the village gradually lessened as Professor Medik and Professor Regan took control. However, the emotional state of the villagers who had suffered losses earlier did not improve much. They constantly grumbled about the situation whenever they had the chance. This issue also began to affect the current residents from the Village of the Windy Chasm. They were not entirely pleased to learn that the displaced villagers would be staying in their village for an extended period.

The first problem that arose in this situation was food scarcity. With more people living in the village, the issue of food shortages became more acute. Additionally, like the Village of Windy Chasm, the displaced village had very few men left. Most of the men had died in the war, leaving only the elderly, women, and children.

Despite their displeasure, there was nothing they could do. This was an unforeseen situation...

The next morning, Nara, who had stayed at the village chief’s house as his son wanted her to have a proper rest, felt comforted by the care she received. After the sun rose, Nara, not having seen the young man since the previous night, began to wander around the village again. She asked about him from various people—she was even bold enough to ask her fellow students—but ultimately found no information.

The village chief was also worried. After his son had been missing for 2 consecutive days, he asked everyone to help search for him. Both professors also requested the students to assist. However, no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find him because he had already been captured.

On the 3rd day of his disappearance, everyone concluded that he must have perished in the forest. The village chief was heartbroken, but this wasn’t the first time someone had gone missing. In the end, he could only perform a ceremony to mourn his son’s passing. Many villagers believed the young man had ventured into the forest to help find food for the village but ended up losing his life there, just as many others had before him. Ultimately, Nara returned to the tent she shared with her fellow student from the same branch, looking more despondent than ever.

Ellie didn’t pay much attention to Nara. She believed that someone like Nara would never allow herself to wallow in sadness for long. Soon enough, she would be back to her old self, causing trouble once more.

And indeed, that was the case. After the villagers built temporary shelters for the refugees, both professors organized a hunting party for food. By then, Professor Lucien had arrived at the village. Professor Medik had reported the students’ progress, noting that they had performed well in setting up the stratagems and helping the villagers clear the surrounding rocks.

The kingdom did not blame Professor Regan and his students for the presence of a level 6 magical device, as it was not something anyone could have predicted. However, the institute could not grant a large number of points for the mission Professor Regan’s group undertook, as their mission was still incomplete. However, the institute wasn’t that cruel. To give the students a chance to redeem themselves, the institute assigned them a new task: helping to take care of the villagers and restore the village to its normal state as quickly as possible.

The kingdom sent Professor Lucien to assist, along with 4 volunteer priests. Professor Regan’s students followed him to the destroyed village, while Professor Medik’s students stayed behind to take care of the villagers. They would receive some additional points for their efforts.

Professor Lucien and Professor Medik led the students into the forest to hunt beasts to provide food for the villagers. This hunt was not particularly challenging for the two professors, but they knew that venturing into the deeper parts of the forest would have consequences.

It was a law of nature: high-level beasts lived deep in the forest, while low-level beasts inhabited the outer areas. This meant that high-level beasts rarely troubled the villagers. However, with such intense hunting, human food supplies increased while the food for beasts decreased. It was no surprise that some high-level beasts had started to stir recently.

While the professors and students were present, the villagers would not be affected. But once they returned to the institute, the only food left for the beasts would be humans.

Not only would humans become prey for high-level beasts, but humans themselves would also face difficulties hunting small animals for over a decade, as these creatures had been wiped out. Soon, the villagers would struggle to generate income and find resources.

Professor Lucien had already sent a detailed report to the palace, outlining these issues. The kingdom would need to send other groups to protect the village in the future, as it was their responsibility to ensure the villagers’ safety at best. However, regarding the restoration of the village, they took this opportunity to assign Professor Medik, who was already here, a task.

The order was...to ask Professor Medik to help teach the villagers to cultivate suitable plants to generate income. Despite the fact that this task was extremely difficult, they acted as if it was not that significant.

The area around here was mostly large rocks, and the soil was hard and not very suitable for farming. Even so, Professor Medik was still trying to find a solution, believing that there must be some plants that could grow well around here. So, what they did during the hunt was to divide into small groups to help identify plants that could thrive on the mountain, as these plants might become a source of income for the villagers.

The students were divided into 2 simple groups: most of the female students were tasked with surveying, while the male students volunteered to handle the beasts. This meant that Nara, who was prone to causing problems, would have to be with Ellie’s group...

"My lady, this plant has an unusual color. Does it have any useful properties?" One of the female students held up a small plant with yellow-green flowers for Ellie to examine.

And yes! Professor Medik had assigned Ellie the task of preliminary examination. If there were any herbs she did not recognize, she could consult him later. But if it was something she knew and deemed not useful for cultivation, she could discard it. As a result, all the students paid close attention to Ellie.

Initially, Nara participated in this task with a disheartened spirit, but now she felt intense jealousy toward Ellie. Her hands clenched tightly with hatred. She believed that the position Ellie held should have been hers. It was as if she saw a superimposed image, making her hate Ellie even more!!

"Oh! Lady Fear, that’s just common grass. There’s plenty of it in my village. It’s not useful at all," Nara couldn’t help but speak up, even though no one wanted to talk to her now.

"Duchess Ellie..." The female student hesitated a bit, not looking at Nara because she didn’t want to give her any attention. However, Nara’s words made her uncertain.

"This is called Orange Tiger grass. It actually becomes beneficial only when its roots are about 100 years old. So, if the goal is to help the villagers in the short term, cultivating this plant isn’t very practical. But it’s worth taking back to the institute for experimental cultivation," Ellie replied with a smile.

If you said that the villagers would benefit from this inspection, Ellie felt that the one who truly benefitted the most without doing much was herself!

The Orange Tiger grass would indeed be useful only when it reached 100 years old, a fact recorded in the texts. This was because its medicinal properties became very valuable when its life force reached a certain level. If the Orange Tiger grass had sufficient properties, its price could reach 10,000 gold coins per plant. It’s said that if someone found Orange Tiger grass over 100 years old, they could become rich in an instant, which was not an exaggeration.

So, while this grass might not be beneficial for the villagers, it was extremely valuable to her. Ellie could cultivate it in her secret dimension plot in large quantities. In 10 years, she might have fields of Orange Tiger grass that could be sold for thousands of plants...

"So, in the end...it’s useless, right? Why do you have to pretend to care about others’ feelings when, in reality, you’re just pretending?" Nara muttered irritably. However, her words were not quiet at all.

"It seems that someone here still hasn’t learned their lesson. Do you want to get your tongue cut off for daring to insult the duchess...?" One student pretended to cover her mouth in shock, making Nara regain her senses. She stormed off, pretending to go another way, but in truth, she just wanted to avoid any severe punishment.

Nara walked away from the group, feeling frustrated. She didn’t know what to do anymore. If she could turn back time, Nara would never let things get so complicated.

The first thing she would do was make Ellie out to be the one who used the awakening potion. After that, the villagers would surely blame Ellie for stealing her father’s money. If she had reported this to the institute from the start, Ellie would never have been able to attend the institution. But...she thought of all this too late.

Initially, she planned to use Ellie as a steppingstone to do all the menial work for her in the institute. She never thought her tool back then would become so successful and became everyone’s power like this!

"What should I do? What should I do? It shouldn’t be like this, right?!!" Nara was very frustrated. She bit her nails in deep thought. Then, suddenly, as if something inspired her, she heard a small growl behind her. At that moment, a light sparked in her eyes.

Ellie had been monitoring Nara all along. She couldn’t believe that such an event would actually happen. The corner of Ellie’s mouth twitched helplessly. It seemed the heroine was indeed loved by this world. Just when Nara felt frustrated, the world controller gave her a way out.

She had used spores to check the surroundings, and now, a legendary beast that shouldn’t exist appeared from a rock crevice? Huh! If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed such a thing could be real!

- Mystic Fox, Level 4 (Special): Attributes – An intelligent beast, currently only 5 days old and unable to use any powers. After it reaches 5 months old, the Black Fire of the Abyss power will appear.

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If it weren’t for this being such a high-level beast, Ellie would have used her spores to decompose it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t discover it beforehand, as if the creators of this world knew Ellie was an obstacle in Nara’s life path. Thus, they used underhanded tactics to hide it from her sight.

How could a beast that was only 5 days old come into existence!? But...since they are creators, maybe they used the previous incident with the poisonous stream to trigger the birth of such a high-level beast.

This world, so devoid of justice, was truly detestable. Despite Ellie’s years of effort to strengthen her bonded plants, Nara did nothing but could easily receive a powerful beast simply by causing trouble daily.

As Ellie sighed, no one expected Nara, who was cautiously approaching the small fox, to suddenly have to dodge a fierce attack, causing her to fall face-first.

“A-Ahh!!” Nara’s scream echoed through the forest as a tall figure suddenly appeared...

“Are you injured? If I hadn’t bravely stepped in, you would have been food for that beast by now.”

“W-Wint?”

“Yes, it’s me... Come, you must be frightened. That beast, though young, is not to be underestimated. Stay back while I take care of it.”

“N-No, you can’t.”

“What is wrong with you?” Nara struggled, feeling that the little beast wasn’t truly going to harm her. Its eyes seemed to promise that it would become her strength after this. Nara’s heart pounded furiously. Every time she wanted Wint’s attention, he was nowhere to be found. So why was he suddenly stepping in now?!

Wint kept pretending to look puzzled by her words. He also pushed Nara away from the impending fight. His gentlemanly behavior, for the first time, irritated Nara to the point of tears.

“No, Wint!! Stay out of my business!” Nara couldn’t take it anymore and shouted at him loudly.

Wint was slight taken aback, his gaze fixed on the small figure with confusion. Then, utilizing his annoying habit to his advantage, he gently patted Nara’s head warmly. While Nara couldn’t understand Wint’s actions, he had already bound her.

“Wint!! What are you doing!!”

“Don’t worry about me like that. You know how strong I am. Just wait here for me, okay? Once I deal with this beast, I’ll set you free. I don’t want you to face any more danger on my behalf...Just having the demonic toxin in your body already makes me feel so guilty.” Wint put on a sorrowful face. Nara opened her mouth, wanting to use Ellie’s previous words and call him an idiot. However, before she could say anything, Wint had already leapt forward to fight the newborn beast!!

When no one was looking, the tall young man smirked evilly. Thankfully, he had noticed Nara’s odd behavior earlier and followed her secretly. If he had come any later...it seemed he would have allowed the enemy of the duchess he must protect to become even stronger...