Ignoring them as easily as one would a cockroach crushed in the street—that was true arrogance born from the bottom of one’s heart.
Samimi wasn’t afraid of people causing trouble; she was most afraid of them not causing any, as there would be no fun in that.
‘Fine, they aren’t fools. You’re high-level and impressive, but if you have the guts, don’t run. We’re going back to call for backup.’
Samimi, Niubao, and the three rich-kid knights entered the Sea of Ten Thousand Forests as they had wished.
Aside from the towering trees, the most prominent feature here was the dense, uneven network of tree roots covering the ground.
This terrain was incredibly difficult to traverse, which significantly increased the difficulty of transportation. This was why the human race’s pioneering efforts had never been able to proceed smoothly.
Horses could easily trip and break their legs here, and carriages couldn’t be driven in at all. They basically had to rely on their own two feet to walk.
However, the spacing between the giant trees was quite large, making the space inside much more vast than one might imagine.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, creating a dream-like aesthetic. It was a fantasy scene that truly only existed in another world.
“Thank you, Priestess.”
“That was a close call just now.”
“You’re really loyal, Priestess.”
The rich-kid knights offered their stammering thanks.
“Enough, don’t waste your breath. I didn’t help you just to have you buzzing in my ear. Go on. We’ll cross our single-log bridge, and you can take your broad road,” Samimi said, waving her hand impatiently to shoo them away.
“Priestess, didn’t you say earlier that we could pay to hire you as an escort? We have money. We can pay.” One of the rich-kid knights rubbed his hands together and pleaded from the side.
“…Find a place to sit down and talk in detail.” Samimi pretended to be obsessed with money, her eyes lighting up at the mention of it.
But in reality, Samimi wasn’t short on cash. Before she left, she had stolen the gold coin pouch from Fabiana’s room. If anyone wondered why her backpack was so heavy, it was because it was entirely filled with travel funds.
When one went out to roam the world, they couldn’t act too refined and aloof. That would only make them stand out like a sore thumb. One had to be a bit more worldly to successfully blend into a crowd and hide their identity.
These rich kids were the perfect camouflage. They weren’t like true nobles; they just had money at home and didn’t possess any real power.
They were merely middle-class. Although they had the unpleasant air of the nouveau riche, they weren’t as annoying as true nobles—at least their desire for revenge wasn’t that heavy.
This was because children of merchants understood how to adapt to circumstances. Those who recognized the reality of a situation were heroes, and the ability to analyze an opponent’s strength was an important skill.
Once they realized the other party was stronger than them, a merchant would become as submissive as a quail. Furthermore, merchants understood the importance of cooperation.
The group formed a temporary party. The rich-kid knights dismounted and had to lead their horses through the woods. It wasn’t correct to say the horses were completely useless, as they could carry luggage. However, their horses were warhorses suited for sudden bursts of speed, not for carrying heavy loads.
Slowly, they arrived at the first pioneer camp.
As mentioned before, the space inside the Sea of Ten Thousand Forests was vast, so building a base for the human race inside was a completely viable plan.
As for this pioneer camp, it was something they had seen before—similar to the temporary barracks built around Shehong Academy when it was being blockaded.
There were incredibly thick wooden walls, and on the outside, there were wooden spikes to deter cavalry.
However, there was no need to defend against cavalry here; these were used to defend against attacks and charges from giant monsters.
The interior mostly consisted of simple, sturdy wooden houses. One shouldn’t look at the wooden construction and think such a camp was easy to build. Because the ground was uneven, building a pioneer camp required a large number of smooth wooden planks to level the foundation before houses could be built on top.
Every pioneer camp required various types of on-site inspections and considerations. It was much more complicated than building an ordinary fortress.
Every building inside had to have a practical purpose, as there was no extra space for people to enjoy themselves.
As they entered the pioneer camp, guards at the entrance stopped them, requiring them to show their Adventurer Identity Certificates before they could enter.
“You… You’re a Platinum Priestess?” the guard asked urgently upon seeing Samimi’s certificate.
“Yes, is there a problem?” Samimi asked.
“We want to ask for your help, Priestess. One of our camps on the front line is being attacked by a horde of monsters, and there are many casualties,” the guard explained.
“Where is the front line?” Samimi asked in return.
“It’s No. 24 Pioneer Camp,” the guard replied.
‘Huh?’ Samimi’s expression remained calm, but she was surprised inwardly.
Meanwhile, another guard had already run back to fetch the camp commander.
“Are you a Priestess? A Platinum Priestess? Hello, hello. I am the commander of No. 2 Pioneer Camp. We…” The commander of No. 2 Pioneer Camp intended to explain.
“Enough, I’ve already heard it from the guard. Lead the way,” Samimi agreed immediately.
“Regarding the reward…” the commander began to mention.
“Talk about it after the people are saved. Lead the way quickly,” Samimi said.
“Fine, fine, fine.” The commander immediately arranged for personnel to escort Samimi and Niubao. They left the very safe No. 2 Pioneer Camp and headed toward a camp deeper inside.
Just like that, Samimi and Niubao shook off the three rich-kid knights.
Although she had analyzed a lot of nonsense earlier about using them as a shield, plans couldn’t keep up with changes. Goodbye, rich boys.
Before they even had a chance to look around the camp, the two of them had to rush to the front line. But it didn’t matter. They were just going to another camp anyway; they could look around later.
“Everyone, protect the Priestess!”
The commander of No. 2 Pioneer Camp arranged for dozens of adventurer guards to protect Samimi and Niubao, while also acting as reinforcements.
The group walked quickly over the uneven tree roots, making their way through the Sea of Ten Thousand Forests with difficulty.
Those three rich knights still followed stubbornly. It seemed they couldn’t be shaken off easily.
They were actually quite loyal for wanting to help without compensation, but that was limited to these wealthy, hot-blooded young masters who didn’t need to earn money to support a family.
The other adventurer guards received a fixed salary from the Adventurers’ Association. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to live on. These guards were mostly middle-aged and elderly men; they were actually retired veteran adventurers. After all, if an industry wanted to develop long-term and remain healthy, there had to be a way to settle its elderly members.
The old adventurers brought the two of them to the base of a giant tree. Looking up, they saw a strange man-made device above.
It was like a ski lift cable car that could carry people. The speed wasn’t fast, but it could quickly traverse terrain that was difficult to move through.
Of course, in this other world, it was definitely powered by magic.
Led by an old adventurer, they first climbed a metal ladder bolted to the tree. Samimi and Niubao followed. The others remained below on standby, as the camp cable car could only carry two people at a time.
“Ahem, don’t look up.” An old guard coughed, telling everyone to be polite and not look around. This was mainly a warning to those three young rich knights. The others were old men who cared about their dignity, but the Priestess was far too tempting for these young men.
The rich knights bowed their heads and looked at the ground.
Samimi and Niubao didn’t care about such details. After all, a certain person’s soul had never been that of a woman, but unintentionally, only a man knew how to dress in a way that men found most appealing.
The two of them sat in the cable car, which was a novel experience.
“Priestess, this cable car will take you to No. 24 Pioneer Camp. Don’t move around later,” the old adventurer who came up with them said as he helped them operate the cable car’s start mechanism.
The mechanical structures began to move, magic flickered, and the cable car started moving forward.
“Whoa—” Samimi couldn’t help but let out a cry of excitement. It felt great.
However, what made Samimi most curious was that there was actually something like a cable car in this other world, and it blended perfectly with the setting without any sense of discord.
Although there were already magic light bulbs and magic water heaters, those were technological products for daily convenience, meant to keep the other world from devolving into a chaotic medieval mess.
But this magic cable car, much like the magic elevators, had the feel of a grand invention with an ambiguous purpose.
You couldn’t say they were incredibly useful, but you couldn’t say they were useless either. The speed of this cable car wasn’t necessarily faster than an inhabitant of this world with enhanced physical capabilities, let alone an adventurer who was basically a long-distance running champion.
It was only useful in emergency situations like this for transporting important individuals.
*Click-clack—click-clack—*
The cable car continued forward, passing through the sea of trees.
Gradually, a pungent smell of decay wafted from ahead. It was a special scent, different from the bloody stench of rotting corpses; it was a scent of death exclusive to deep-forest magic apes.
The cable car actually drove directly into No. 24 Pioneer Camp. Because this camp was built around a towering giant tree, the car could go right inside.
The two of them quickly got off and climbed down from the platform.
The camp was already in a state of chaos. Both sets of main gates were sealed, and all the adventurers had run to reinforce them. Samimi had already seen who the enemies were while she was on the cable car.
They were old acquaintances: One-Eyed Magic Apes.
Except this time, it wasn’t just one. Dozens of One-Eyed Magic Apes were prowling around the camp, and there was even a super giant Hunting Magic Ape King. It was currently slamming against the camp’s thick wooden gates.
Samimi and Niubao climbed down the metal ladder themselves. Still, no one came to receive them; no one even knew these two “monsters” had arrived.
“Niubao, go help guard the gate.”
With a command from Samimi, she headed toward the wooden church in No. 24 Pioneer Camp. If there were casualties in battle, they would definitely be taken to the wooden church.
The main doors were wide open, and the interior was filled with the stench of blood. After entering, she saw dozens of wounded adventurers lying on the floor. Frightening wounds were bleeding profusely, and one could tell at a glance they had all been mauled by the giant apes.
A large group of busy, frantic beast apothecaries was there treating people, using various crushed medicinal herbs to help stop the bleeding and reduce inflammation.
Seeing this tragic scene, a lot of information immediately flooded her mind.
And that was: Damn that wicked Holy See!
They would rather keep all the priestesses at home like high-society ladies than let them out to save the dying and heal the wounded.