Chapter 22: Advancing into the Forest of Ratmen

Twelve soldiers, wearing half-plate armor and wielding ordinary spears.

Three hunters: one young man and two middle-aged men.

Aliris, Black and two others, the Mayor—the old knight Joniel, and five knights in full plate armor.

Including himself, there were a total of 21 available combatants.

Not to mention that Aliris, Black, and Joniel were all confirmed Tier 3 Knights.

"Your Highness, is this enough?" Black asked.

Kana nodded without hesitation. "It's enough, more than enough. Those rats aren't that formidable."

To be honest, using this much force to suppress Skaven was a bit extravagant.

Those rats would likely turn and run the moment they saw them.

"The Kingdom of Safro is on the edge of this continent, in such a remote place. Logically, there shouldn't be any Skaven here. Based on the information gathered from the villagers, it can be confirmed that the Skaven only started stealing from the town this week. It is almost certain that the Fishman Prophet was correct; these Skaven only arrived here within the last month or two. They are still in a cautious nesting phase."

As the suppression mission was about to begin, Kana provided some basic knowledge to the group.

Creatures like Skaven were essentially hostile mobs in the game. They were distributed across almost every part of every continent. However, their primary gathering points were not on the continent where Kana was located.

But since even Black and the old knight Joniel were unaware of such creatures, it meant there were almost no Skaven in this country. Otherwise, any intelligent race with established towns would inevitably have dealt with them.

Thinking carefully, such monsters were rare in the early stages of the game. Even the Kingdom of Cohen didn't have many Skaven, so it was normal that Safro, which only shared a border with them at the very tip of the continent, had none either.

"Let me tell you what our enemies look like."

As he spoke, Kana gestured toward his thigh. "They are roughly this tall, like upright rats. Their fur is mostly black. If nothing goes wrong, they generally speak Common."

This sentence surprised everyone present.

"They can talk?" a young soldier asked in surprise.

"That's right. All Skaven possess excellent linguistic talent; they can learn the language of another race in a very short amount of time."

As for why this was the case, the speculation was that they had used the Genesis Stone. In this world, if something was irrational, blaming it on the Genesis Stone had an accuracy rate of up to 95%.

"They are small in stature and agile, but they lack strength. However, beware of their teeth—they are extremely sharp and carry certain toxins and bacteria. Most of their weapons are slingshots, wooden spears, or scavenged broken blades."

Hearing Kana's words, the soldiers' expressions improved slightly, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

From the sound of it, these rats seemed incredibly weak.

"But do not underestimate them. They are numerous. Once the fight breaks out, each of you will likely have to fight multiple opponents at once."

Just as Kana finished speaking, the young hunter suddenly raised his hand.

"What is it?"

The young hunter looked at the crowd cautiously and said nervously, "My Lord, I think... I think I have seen these Skaven before."

"What? Then why didn't you report it?" Joniel asked, somewhat angrily.

His angry and stern tone clearly frightened the young hunter.

"I... I..."

"Don't be nervous, I won't blame you. If you perform well during this operation, I believe Joniel won't be stingy with his rewards."

Hearing Kana mediate, Joniel calmed his emotions and took a step back. He bowed slightly to Kana. "My apologies, Your Highness. I was impulsive."

"It's fine. As the mayor of this town, your anger is understandable."

The young man also recovered his composure.

"Tell us the specific details of what you saw."

The young man nodded. "I was setting traps in the woods across the river, about two months ago. From a distance, I saw a large rat moving quickly through the forest. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Later, there was no prey left in that forest. I assumed I had scared them off, so I never went back."

Kana nodded. "Good. You will lead the way in a moment."

As everyone prepared, Kana took a round shield from Joniel.

Before this, with Aliris's help, they had already confirmed how these rats had arrived: clearly by small boat.

Through various inquiries, it was highly likely that the boat had been stolen from a fisherman. One fisherman had lost a boat a few days ago and had assumed it was the work of the Fishmen.

They had come to the other side by boat. It wasn't a fishing boat, but a medium-sized river boat; after all, Riverbend Town was near this large river and had a demand for such vessels.

As soon as they landed, the young man pointed to a patch of woodland in the distance.

"Right there. That's where I saw the large rat."

After he spoke, Joniel looked at Kana, clearly waiting for his command.

Among them, there was no doubt that Kana was the most noble, and Kana was also the one who understood the Skaven best. Naturally, the command fell to him.

*A strike team consisting entirely of warriors and knights... to be honest, I've never led a squad like this,* Kana complained silently to himself.

"Lead the way."

After saying that, he turned to Aliris and said, "Keep an eye out for the scent of Skaven blood in the air."

Aliris nodded; she had already memorized the scent of Skaven blood.

They hadn't walked far before Aliris seemed to smell something. She found a tiny trace of blood on a leaf.

"It's the same as the bloody scent in that house. There is a faint smell of blood drifting from that forest."

Hearing this, Kana nodded, having formed a rough idea.

"You there," he pointed at the young man.

"George, My Lord, my name is George," the young hunter said hurriedly.

"Enter the forest. Be careful. Act as if you are hunting. Scout the area to see if there are Skaven inside. As soon as you see even one, come back out."

George felt nervous hearing this and swallowed hard, but he nodded vigorously. He turned and ran into the forest.

While George was scouting, Kana spoke to the others.

"If those rats are indeed inside, in a moment, Old Mayor, you will take eight soldiers and the two hunters, and bring Black and the others with you. Your task is to go to the other side of the forest and form a slightly dispersed encirclement. If any Skaven try to run out, kill them. Kill as many as you can, but do not give chase."

Black seemed to grasp Kana's intention and said with a frown, "Your Highness, do you intend to lead the rest of us in a charge?"

Kana nodded.

"No, that's too dangerous," Black refused outright.

His duty was to protect Kana. If Kana led a charge and something went wrong, he would be held heavily responsible.

"Don't worry. With Aliris here, if things get desperate, you can charge in with me."

Hearing this, Black thought for a moment and could only nod.

A short while later, George ran out of the forest.

"My Lord, I saw it! A very large rat was standing up, holding a broken spear in its hand. But the rat saw me too, and it ran away after seeing me."

Hearing this, Kana nodded and commanded directly, "Old Mayor, do as we discussed. Take your men to encircle the back of the forest."

After a thought, he added to prevent accidents, "Once the encirclement is set, send two hunters a bit further in. If we start fighting and no rats come rushing out, then you all charge in."

The Mayor nodded and led his men around the forest to the rear.

"The rest of you, follow me."

Kana took his shield, drew his longsword, and led the group into the woods.

George was a bit dazed, but he followed closely behind Kana.