While Thirteen, Cristopher, and Rianna were eating in the dining room, something flew in from outside of the window and landed on top of the table.
“Welcome back, Vassago,” Thirteen said before pouring water into a bowl and placing it in front of the dumb-looking bird.
He then grabbed a bowl of nuts that he had prepared in advance and also pushed it toward the bird, who was busy drinking water from the bowl.
This was the fourth day since the bird had left to do his mission, and he had returned to report his findings.
However, since there were people inside the room aside from his Master, Vassago just drank and ate before closing his eyes to rest.
Cristopher and Rianna watched the bird with great curiosity, but the two of them didn’t do anything to disturb its rest.
“Young Master, what is this creature?” Cristopher asked.
But before the Thirteen could answer, Rianna beat him into it.
“It’s a Pocopoco,” Rianna replied. “It’s a bird that can imitate almost all sounds, even the voices of people. They can be very noisy and a pain to deal with.”
“Oh?” Cristopher frowned as he looked at the sleeping bird before shifting his gaze to his Young Master.
The chubby boy knew that Thirteen wouldn’t do anything unnecessary or things that didn’t serve a purpose.
Since that was the case, he kept his silence and just focused on his meal. He was certain that his Young Master would tell him more about it once they were alone.
An hour later, Cristopher and Rianna went to do their duties, while Thirteen took Vassago to his room.
“It is as you expected,” Vassago said after the seven-year-old firmly locked the door behind him. “The Tigerkins are also preparing for a large-scale battle. It seems that they have finally decided to reclaim all the cities that were captured by the Barbarians during their raids.”
Thirteen sat on a chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
“So the Barbarians kept on poking the Tiger in the eye, and they’ve finally angered it,” Thirteen smirked. “I bet they are regretting their decision now.”
Although the Tigerkins were still weakened from their war against the Valbarra Kingdom and their failed expansion in the Barbarian Lands, they would still go all out once they were pushed into a corner.
That was a trait of the majority of the Beastkin Race.
Some Beastkins were Pacifists, but the Tigerkins were one of the Beastkins that didn’t shy away from battle.
‘This conflict is going to be bloody,’ Thirteen thought. ‘Once the Tigerkins reclaim the territories that were taken from them by the Barbarians, they might continue to charge forward due to their momentum.
Although Gronar City was a distance away from the frontlines, it was not impossible for them to get raided by the Tigerkins, who were able to pass over the Barbarian’s borders.
“Can you give me an estimate of how soon the fight will start?” Thirteen asked.
The Pocopoco pondered a bit before giving an estimate.
“I believe that it will take them two months before they start reclaiming the cities that were taken over by the Barbarians,” Vassago replied. “But there is also a possibility that it will happen earlier. The safest timeline I can give you is just a month.
“Whatever your plans are in the Warsor Plains, you need to finish them in a month. If you stay too long in that region, there is a high possibility that you will get sandwiched between the two warring factions.”
Thirteen nodded. “A month is a bit tight, but since we have no choice, we just have to do it. How about the information about the Beacon of Light? Did you get any leads?”
Vassago shook his head. “No. Even the Wind Spirits that I talked to didn’t know anything about it.”
A sigh escaped the seven-year-old’s lips because he had already expected this scenario.
“In any case, you gave me valuable information,” Thirteen said with a smile. “Good job, Vassago. Did you also accomplish your two other missions?”
“I did,” Vassago replied. “The Purple-Furred Honey Badger is currently roaming the Northern Edges of the Warsor Plains. For now, it is safe to hunt within a hundred mile radius of Gronar City…
“As for the Jinn that are prevalent in these lands, I only found the Golden-Eyed Hyenas roaming the plains. The stronger ones hunt solo, while the rest hunt in groups of six to ten.
“Their den is located in the Northwestern Region of the Warsor Plains, and the one leading them is a Rank 5 Overlord. The chances of you encountering their leader are almost non-
existent as long as you don’t purposely head to their lair.”
Thirteen nodded in understanding.
Vassago’s report matched the information he saw in his database. Even though 300 years had passed, the Golden-Eyed Hyenas were still the Jinns that monopolized the Sumatran Region.
‘Still, the Golden-Eyed Hyenas are tough opponents,’ Thirteen thought. ‘If we’re not careful, they might call for reinforcements and have us surrounded. It is not worth the risk.’
After listening to Vassago’s complete report, Thirteen finalized the route that his Hunting Party would take for maximum efficiency.
Since their time was limited, they would be targeting specific groups of Monsters in order to farm their Monster parts.
He trusted Vassago’s estimate of one month before the large-
scale battle between the Barbarians and the Tigerkins started.
Because of this, he decided to embark on their Hunting Trip as soon as he finished bidding for the Chad Skunk in the Auction that would be held in two days.
‘I’ll just have to find another way to obtain the Five-Leaf Clover,’ Thirteen mused. ‘If my guess is correct, the Beacon of Light will appear when the war between the Barbarians and Tigerkins is in full swing. We’ll just have to wait until then.’
After organizing his thoughts, he went to see the progress of their preparations for their upcoming expedition.
—————————
Somewhere in the Houdini Desert…
Harry’s face was grim as he looked at the teenagers who were under his command.
Their numbers had decreased to six after they were ambushed by Trolls during one of their hunts in the Houdini Desert.
To make matters worse, they were forced to abandon more than half of their food supplies in their haste to escape the pursuit of the Troll Hunting Party.
Beaten and battered, they decided to head East to the Barbarian Lands, where they believed they would find a safe place to hide from the Monsters, who seemed to have increased their hunting activities in the region.
Colbert was one of the teenagers who barely managed to survive the ambush. Deep in his heart, he was cursing Harry for his poor leadership judgment.
‘If he had only listened to me when I said we should have taken a different route, none of this would have happened!’ Colbert gnashed his teeth in anger, but he had no choice but to hold his feelings back.
Harry was stronger than him, and if he tried anything funny, the Scion from the Remington Clan could kill him without a second thought.
What Colbert didn’t know was that Harry was also blaming him in his heart because if not for the teenage boy’s insistence to hunt near the territory of the Trolls, none of this would have happened.
They were doing quite well as they hunted the other Monsters in the Houdini Desert, but Colbert became too greedy due to their success.
The other teenagers, who had become overconfident of their victories decided to agree to his proposal to move closer to the Troll’s Domain in the hopes that they could get an Avatar like Cristopher’s.
‘I should have followed Zion and Rianna and left these people behind,’ Harry thought bitterly. ‘I knew that this person was bad luck from the start.’
Unfortunately, no matter how much Harry regretted it, the damage had already been done.
He could only hope that by going East, he would once again meet up with Zion and Rianna, whom he believed were better teammates than the bastard Colbert, who had almost sentenced their entire party to their doom.