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Jiselle folded her arms and pondered. Many people say that the Forest of Demons has an ominous atmosphere, but that is largely due to the forest's dark environment.

I have never heard anything like what Lumina said, and there was no such thing in the records I checked from my previous life.

Of course, they might not have known, since elves were not included in the pioneer group in their previous life. After all, elves were the only race that could hear the sounds of nature.

'What exactly is there?'

Lumina may have been mistaken, but Giselle couldn't take her words lightly.

This place is definitely different from the outside. The energy is much more abundant than other places. So precious resources are abundant, and the monsters are bigger and stronger due to the influence of that energy.

The fact that the energy flowing through the Demon Forest was unique was considered the most plausible hypothesis even in my previous life. There was no other explanation.

'The forest wants to become one?'

I don't know what that means, but I'm sure there are secrets in this forest.

'There were some parts that were not confirmed even on the map I saw in my past life.'

The Duke had successfully developed the Forest of the Demons. However, even after most of the forest had been discovered, the center of the forest was still blacked out on the map.

There are no signs or records left about this place.

At the time, I thought it was unexplored territory and just passed it by without thinking much about it. After all, his goal was not to develop the Demon Forest, but to capture and eliminate the spymaster.

Even after returning back in time, I never really thought much about that area. I just passed it on to them, thinking they could develop it later when they ran out of funds.

But when I heard Lumina's story, I remembered the map I saw in my past life and felt a little uneasy.

'It wasn't undeveloped territory… … but was it covered up?'

There was one thing that had bothered me for a long time: the Duke's extreme obsession with the Forest of Demons.

At first, the Duke clearly did not know that there were abundant resources here. Nevertheless, he began to develop the area on a large scale.

That meant they were after something else. It certainly wasn't a simple territorial expansion or resource gathering.

Even in my previous life, I couldn't figure out why the Duke of Gongja had started developing the land. Most of those who participated in the development didn't even know why they were doing it.

'Harold also only managed Ferdium.'

Although it could have been destroyed, it was managed so that others could not occupy it. It was only after the Duke's rebellion that it was possible to push out Ferdium.

As soon as that happened, the Duke quickly began to clear the forest of demons.

'I'm sure. There is something in this forest that I don't know about.'

And that might have something to do with what Lumina was talking about.

Jiselle has been a mercenary for a long time. So she has developed a habit of not dismissing suspicious signs lightly.

Even if it seemed useless, I obsessively collected it because that was how I could survive.

"If you hear any strange noises or see any suspicious signs in the future, let me know. And tell the other elves to talk to me comfortably."

"all right."

The Forest of Demons is a place where you never know what might happen. You can't just ignore even the smallest sign.

Even if what Lumina said and what the Duke was after had nothing to do with each other, it's better to keep the possibility in mind than to ignore it.

'Whatever it is, I'll know it someday.'

After all, Jiselle's goal was to drive out all of the Demon Forest and take over all the land.

After killing the ogres, the group moved to secure the territory again.

Everyone was more alert and tense than before, because they didn't know when or where dangerous monsters would pop out.

The elves who heard Lumina's words told Giselle about things that made them feel uneasy or suspicious.

Most of it was just my mood, but there were also some unexpected gains.

"I think there's a bunch of monsters over there."

"Monsters are hiding among the trees."

"There's a strong energy gathered here. I think it's a precious herb."

Elves' senses are particularly keen in the forest. It's different from the amplification of those who manipulate mana.

They sensed the energy flowing through the forest, listened to the sounds of nature, and brought various information. Naturally, the elves were the first to discover monsters that were hiding far away.

People were surprised by the abilities the elves displayed. Jiselle was surprised as well. I had brought her here expecting such abilities to some extent, but I didn't know they would be this outstanding.

Galvarik grumbled again as he looked at those elves.

"What is racial discrimination… … . It's unfair… … . At least their appearance is ugly… … ."

The race that boasted the most outstanding abilities in the forest was the elves. The dwarves, who had not been on good terms with the elves to begin with, felt aggrieved for no reason.

Whether the dwarves were depressed or not, it was a very satisfying situation for Giselle.

"Good. I didn't know the elves could be this helpful."

Even though he knew all the information he had acquired from his previous life, it wasn't complete. It was just the locations of important resources and the areas of powerful monsters.

It is impossible to know the details that were not recorded, such as wandering monsters. Since the time of development was different, the monster's territory itself could have been different from the information.

But with the help of the elves, it was easier to avoid danger and obtain resources I hadn't known about.

It would have been better if Ascon had not told us what he felt every now and then.

"It feels like X… … . I feel like it has an X vibe… … . This place is like X. I really don't like it."

"… … What else don't you like?"

"I don't like being here because I'm like X. Let me go back to the spirit world. How old am I now, why do I have to suffer in a place like this? You piece of shit, XXXXX, XXXXXX, XXXX!"

Ascon, who lost his temper and swore at Belinda, was dragged away with his arms and legs broken and his mouth gagged.

With Ascon out of action, the list of wounded soldiers in the Fenris army increased by one.

Although there was one more casualty, the pioneering progressed steadily thanks to the help of the elves.

Jiselle continued to look at the map to gauge the location.

The development was much easier and faster than when I first came.

When the elves warn of danger, skilled knights and soldiers prepare for battle. Giselle gives instructions on how to deal with it and gives command.

Since no one let their guard down, the battle was not difficult. Even the wild beasts and monsters avoided the large army.

'They're all coming together slowly.'

It didn't mean that the Runestone resource site was close. It was still quite a distance away. Jiselle had other thoughts.

[The Forest of Demons was a truly dangerous place. The advance party failed several times. But that was only because they lacked information. They never lost twice to monsters they already knew. No matter how powerful the monsters were, they couldn't possibly defeat our excellent knights and elite soldiers.]

'I guess so.'

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Jiselle nodded, recalling the records she had read in her past life.

He himself is pushing through the forest with fewer troops than the Duke had sent at the time.

If you think back to the power of the Duke of Gongju at that time, the level of each and every soldier would have been incomparable to that of today.

However, the Duke of Gongju, even with stronger and more numerous troops, could not easily push back as Jisel was doing now. This was because he continued to operate the advance party and the exploration party under the pretext of saving important forces.

[Count Joseph did not care at all about the death of the advance party. He was incomprehensibly conserving his main force. Only Count Balzac, who occasionally could not stand the frustration, joined the advance party.]

[… … Based on the information we obtained as they continued to fail and die, we gradually became familiar with the Forest of Demons. Then, we once again discovered a monster we had never seen before.]

"what's this?"

The knight who was standing guard at the outermost edge came carrying a monster corpse. It was a corpse with half its body torn off, as if it had been attacked by another monster.

The monster was truly grotesque. It was only about half the height of an adult male, but its upper body resembled that of a red-skinned person, and its lower body resembled a spider's.

The nails on his hands were long and strong, like mole nails. They looked good for digging the ground or using them as weapons.

Just because the upper body is similar to a human doesn't mean it looks exactly like a human. It just means that the head and body structure are similar to a human.

Although its overall structure was similar to a human, its appearance was indescribably horrifying. The part that was thought to be the mouth had tentacle-like things attached to it, and its eyes seemed to have degenerated to the point where only traces could be seen.

The skull was long and extended backwards. There were tentacle-like things attached to the front of the head.

There was no way to tell what kind of creature it was. People frowned at the sight of the disgusting monster's corpse.

"Ouch, it's gross… … ."

"What the heck, there's a monster like this in the world?"

"There really are all sorts of things living in this forest."

Since it was the first time I had seen a monster like this, people came and chatted.

However, I wasn't particularly scared of it. First of all, it was considerably smaller than the other creatures living in the Demon Forest. Strictly speaking, it could be considered to be a large dog.

If it were a beast, this size would have been quite threatening to humans, but to people who had only seen large things since entering the forest, it looked secretly weak.

The disgustingness is definitely on the top of the list.

[They were noticeably weaker than the other monsters in the Demon Forest. Two or three armed soldiers could easily take them down, and if they were prepared to take on injuries, a single soldier could take them down. I couldn't understand why such weak creatures were living inside the Demon Forest.]

Jiselle, who recalled the records of her past life, approached the monster's corpse and spoke.

"These guys are called Greggs. It looks like they got separated from the group and died."

[We gave them new names in an ancient language and observed them for a few days near their habitat, just in case.]

[Indeed, there were quite a few of them living in their habitat. Like other monsters, they did not leave monsters that entered their territory alone. Several of them would attack and kill them, and then share the corpses. Sometimes, they would go out hunting in groups.]

People tilted their heads at Jiselle's words.

"Grex? That's the first time I've heard that name."

"Yeah. They're very dangerous."

People didn't ask how he knew that, because they were used to the lord knowing everything.

[Their hunting success rate was miserably low. Rather than successfully hunting, they were seen dragging monster corpses from somewhere and eating them. Sometimes, they would dig the ground with their strong hands and store the corpses that were left over. Despite their horrifying appearance, they were actually just insignificant monsters.]

"These guys live in groups. You shouldn't look down on them and think that each one is weak."

[However, there was one thing I couldn't understand. Sometimes, powerful monsters would appear and kill and eat them, but those monsters didn't occupy their territory. Even though it was quite large and the environment was good.]

"Do I need to prepare separately?"

Giselle nodded at Gillian's question.

"Yeah, I was going to go a little further and get ready, but I found a body, so I guess it's better to stop here."

[We watched for several days and nothing changed. The powerful monsters living in the Demon Forest killed them, ate them, and returned. So we concluded that they were just food for the monsters living in the Demon Forest. The numerous monsters living in the Demon Forest were letting them reproduce without taking over their territory in order to live comfortably.]

"What should I do?"

"We need to be more prepared than we have been so far."

"Just give the order."

[We decided to subdue them as soon as we reached a conclusion. It shouldn't be difficult. The Greggs were just small, weak, insignificant monsters.]

Jiselle said with a stern expression.

"Build a fortress here. Make it very big and strong."

[But that was… … one of the worst mistakes we made in the Forest of Demons.]