Guide
Toward the distant western horizon, the manticore flapped its wings leisurely as it flew onward.
Perhaps because they had practiced several times beforehand, the flight went smoothly. Manta had learned how to fly gently for the sake of its passengers, and thanks to that, the ride had improved to a very satisfying level.
However, there were still some problems.
'The wind is too strong.'
Every time Manta flapped its wings, fierce gusts tore across their bodies. Hair and clothing whipped wildly in the air.
It was extremely cold.
The drop in body temperature was noticeable. Even though Woojin had deliberately layered several coats, the chill still seeped in.
If they flew on a day when their condition was poor, there was a high chance they'd end up sick with a cold.
'Still, the speed is incredible.'
The scenery rushed past.
Mountain ridges that had once been far away on the horizon quickly approached and ended up beneath their feet.
If you could travel at this kind of speed, a little cold was nothing more than a trivial inconvenience.
As they passed over various landscapes…
Woojin suddenly noticed a flock of black-feathered bird-type magical beasts.
They were larger than eagles, with long beaks jutting forward.
'Crow-type magical beasts.'
There were quite a lot of them.
At least several hundred crows. They had been perched on tree branches preening their feathers, but then suddenly took flight all at once and began approaching.
"Caw! Caw!"
The unpleasant cries of the crows echoed continuously.
The flock circled around them as if forming a siege.
Claire muttered quietly.
"Don't tell me… they're trying to attack us?"
"Looks like it."
It seemed they were planning to charge in, relying on their numbers. That was one of the traits of crow flocks.
There was strength in numbers.
Crow flocks often harassed birds of prey like hawks and eagles. Their attacks were so aggressive that even bald eagles often fled when faced with them.
The flock gradually tightened its encirclement.
Seeing this, Claire grew tense.
"Aren't we going to crash like this?"
"Don't worry. It'll be fine."
The fearless crow flock seemed to be trying to drive away an intruder that had entered their territory.
But today, they had chosen the wrong opponent.
"Fire."
BOOM!!
The manticore fired a venom beam.
A green trail burning like sulfurous flame swept through the crow flock. Four or five crows caught in its path were instantly torn apart and melted.
Coco didn't stay idle either.
A silver glow appeared, swimming through the air like a trout as it sliced through the enemy formation.
'Nothing for me to do.'
Since the two magical beasts were already wiping out the flock on their own, Woojin simply sat there and watched the enemies get destroyed.
Crows died like swarms of mayflies.
Only then did the flock finally grasp the situation.
"Caaaw—!"
One large crow let out a long scream before abruptly fleeing in the opposite direction.
Soon the rest of the flock scattered in all directions. It seemed the leader had judged there was no chance of victory and sent out a retreat signal.
They couldn't let prey escape.
Thinking that, Manta quickly flapped its wings to chase after the fleeing crows—
"Just let them go. Chasing every small fry would be a waste of time."
"Grr."
At Woojin's words, Manta immediately gave up the pursuit.
The situation ended quickly.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yes. Claire and I are fine."
There had barely been any chance of getting hurt in the first place.
Arwen, sitting in the back, answered casually.
No issues.
"Then let's continue."
They resumed flying west.
After that, there were no major dangers.
Most magical beasts fled in fear the moment they saw the manticore.
Time passed like that…
Before long, the city of the gnoll tribe began to appear in the distance.
'We arrived faster than expected.'
They had taken frequent breaks and traveled leisurely, yet Manta's speed was so fast that they still reached their destination quickly.
Woojin stood up.
"Everyone wait here. I'll go to the gate alone for a moment."
He needed to go to the gnoll gate and inform the gatekeeper in advance.
Bringing a powerful magical beast like a manticore directly into the city would be rude.
Claire tried to follow him.
"I'll come too. You'll be bored going alone."
"It's fine. I'll run there and back."
"In that case, it's probably better if we wait."
Impatient by nature, Woojin planned to finish things as quickly as possible.
Realizing this, Claire gave up on following and sat back down.
Leaving his companions behind, Woojin began running toward the gnoll gate.
Soon an artificial structure came into view.
A stone wall built from large piled rocks.
Sitting atop the wall, a gnoll warrior yawned lazily.
The sight was familiar.
Ferocious muscles, shaggy brown fur, and a leopard-skin cloth wrapped around the lower body.
'Rogar is on gate duty today.'
Things would probably go smoothly.
Grinning, Woojin shouted toward the gate.
"Rogar! Come down here for a moment!"
"…Huh?"
Rogar, who had been dozing, suddenly lifted his head.
He hurriedly climbed down from the gate and immediately bowed deeply toward Woojin.
"Greetings, Guardian of the Tribe."
"Yeah. You've gotten stronger since the last time I saw you."
"I still have a long way to go."
After exchanging brief greetings, Woojin quickly explained why he had come.
"I plan to talk with Krnartash. But the magical beast I ride is rather large and intimidating, so I'm not sure if bringing it into the city would be acceptable."
"I see."
Rogar thought for a moment before offering a suggestion.
"You don't like attracting attention, Guardian. How about leaving that beast at our gate instead?"
"That's a good idea."
Accepted.
Woojin immediately returned the way he came and brought the rest of the group to the gate.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Each step Manta took echoed with heavy vibrations.
A lion-like magical beast the size of a house.
Seeing it, Rogar's eyes trembled wildly.
Woojin said jokingly,
"You're the one who said you'd take responsibility for it."
Of course, leaving a massive manticore at the gate without supervision would be a nuisance.
So one of them decided to stay behind and watch Manta.
Arwen volunteered immediately.
"I'll take care of Manta, so you and Claire should go look around the city."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I've already been here once before."
Claire had come to the gnoll territory for the first time.
Arwen, it seemed, had volunteered to take care of the chores so that the academically driven mage could comfortably look around the city.
At those words, Claire looked a little hesitant, apparently feeling guilty about leaving Arwen behind.
"I'll come back later and switch with you."
"It's fine. Take your time and enjoy the sightseeing."
There was no need to feel sorry. Arwen emphasized this and waved her hand as if telling them to hurry along.
As Woojin and Claire started walking toward the city…
Coco, who had been following behind, paused for a moment to think. Then it scampered back toward the gate.
It seemed Coco preferred staying with Arwen rather than exploring the gnoll city.
"The two of them are really close."
"Yeah. At some point they started sticking together like best friends."
Back when they were active in the deeper regions, every mealtime had forced Arwen and Coco to chew through inner cores like they were undergoing a form of culinary torture…
Perhaps that experience had forged a kind of comradeship. Before long, the two had grown extremely close—so much so that they didn't like being apart even for a moment.
Thanks to that, Woojin and Claire were able to spend some time alone together for the first time in a while.
"Is there anywhere you'd like to see?"
"Well…"
Claire glanced around the gnoll city once before lightly shrugging.
"There's nothing particularly eye-catching. It just looks like a typical frontier town."
"That's true."
The gnoll city lacked distinctive features.
Originally, there had been many peculiar huts made of yellow clay, bones, and animal hides.
But recently the gnolls had adopted elements of human civilization. They tore down the old huts and built new buildings instead.
The gnoll tribe gladly embraced these comfortable new homes.
But from Claire's perspective, it was somewhat disappointing.
"I wanted to see the traditional houses of the gnoll tribe… that's a bit of a shame."
"You'll probably get another chance someday."
The gnoll tribe had currently migrated south to avoid the mutant monstrosities. Their ancestral territory, passed down through generations, remained abandoned far to the north.
When the Third Expedition eventually resumed, they might get a chance to visit the gnolls' old homeland.
While chatting like that as they walked…
A rough-looking building came into view.
A mansion whose roof was decorated with the skull of a massive drake.
It was the residence of the gnoll queen, Krnartash.
Knock knock.
Woojin knocked on the large gate.
Soon attendants of the queen came out to greet them.
"What brings you here?"
A gnoll attendant spoke in human language. The pronunciation was a bit awkward, but understandable.
Woojin replied in the gnoll tongue.
"I've come to see Krnartash."
As he said that, he rummaged in his coat and pulled out a bone necklace.
This necklace was a medal awarded for great contributions to the gnoll tribe.
"Please come inside."
The attendant bowed politely and stepped aside.
Seeing this, Claire murmured in admiration.
"Wow, the gnolls are extremely respectful whenever they talk to you."
"Well, this is my turf."
"Your… what did you just say?"
"It's just something like that."
Woojin answered vaguely as he tucked the necklace back into his coat.
Following the attendant's guidance, they walked further inside.
Before long, they were able to meet the gnoll queen.
Krnartash sat on a chair made of stone.
She grinned, revealing her sharp fangs.
"Guardian! It's been a while since I've seen you."
"Have you been well?"
"More than well. Life's been so comfortable lately that I'm starting to worry I'll grow soft."
Krnartash spoke jokingly.
But despite her words, the gnoll queen seemed far stronger than before.
Even though life had improved greatly after forming an alliance with the Church Alliance, the gnoll tribe had not grown complacent. They were still steadily building their strength.
Krnartash asked,
"So why did you come here? Didn't you say you'd retire for at least a year?"
"I heard rumors that the Third Expedition has been delayed. I came to hear some information from your side—and while I was at it, I thought I'd stop by and see you."
At that, Krnartash nodded as if she understood.
"You heard about the underground ruins."
"That's right. Do you know anything about them?"
"A little. Humans seem strangely obsessed with underground ruins. Honestly, I'm not sure they're worth all that fuss…"
Krnartash paused before adding,
"…But it was interesting. Definitely. I've never seen anything like it in my life."
Judging by the way she spoke, it seemed the gnoll queen had personally entered the ancient ruin.
Woojin asked to confirm.
"You went inside the underground ruin yourself?"
"Yeah. I had nothing better to do, so I went to take a look. There was this strange tunnel like a giant mole hole, and inside it was incredibly vast and wide."
It had felt as if she had discovered a hidden world buried beneath the earth.
Fascinated, Krnartash had personally explored the underground ruin.
Surprisingly, the gnoll queen possessed quite a bit of information.
Woojin pressed further.
"What did you see there?"
"Strange stone objects and unfamiliar life forms. There were also mysterious writings carved everywhere… but I didn't go too deep into the ruin."
"Did something happen?"
Was there an obstacle that even the powerful gnoll queen couldn't overcome?
Woojin asked seriously.
Krnartash answered awkwardly.
"While I was looking around, I got a little too excited and accidentally broke a wall."
In her excitement during the exploration, the gnoll queen had lost control of her strength and slightly damaged the ancient ruin.
"What happened after that?"
"What do you think? I got kicked out. The humans scolded me until my ears rang."
The mages expressed deep regret over the damage to the ruins, and Krnartash was promptly expelled.
In effect, the gnoll queen had been banned from entering.
Apparently displeased about that, Krnartash continued grumbling.
"I wanted to look around a bit more… but if they say I'm in the way, what can I do?"
"That's a very fitting ending for you."
"…Is that an insult or a compliment?"
"Who knows."
It all depended on how you chose to think about it.
After brushing it off like that, Woojin continued.
"Krnartash. Could you guide us to the place where that underground ruin is located?"
The gnoll queen nodded without hesitation.
"That's not difficult."