"More than thirty people died?"
Gray, who heard it next to him, couldn't help but change his expression slightly.
Villages in this world are generally relatively small. The average village only has a few hundred people, the largest one has only one or two thousand people, and the smaller villages may even have only one or two hundred people.
More than 30 people died in a village in a short period of time. Even in this world where people often die due to various accidents, this is already a huge number of casualties.
"It is indeed unusual to continuously come out of the forest and attack villagers. Where is Giethoorn?"
Viscount Fergus asked with an indifferent expression.
The Viscounty of Fergus covers a total of 3,000 square kilometers, and there are many villages within the territory. Naturally, it is impossible for him to remember what kind of village Giethoorn is.
Moreover, he did not attach great importance to the life and death of civilians. This was a common problem among nobles, as can be seen from the calm look on Viscount Fergus's face.
If he were not worried that too many deaths would affect the cultivation of the land, Viscount Fergus would probably ignore this matter.
Common people also knew the character of the nobles, so when there were casualties, they did not notify Viscount Fergus immediately. It was only after the casualties increased and people became panicked that the village chief bit the bullet and asked Viscount Fergus for help.
"Back to Lord Viscount, Giethoorn is next to the Red Leaf Forest."
The old man said quickly.
"Red Leaf Forest?"
Gray's face moved slightly, and he probably knew where Giethoorn was.
When I checked the map of the entire Purple Moon Kingdom this morning, I checked the location of Fergus Viscounty and saw the name "Red Leaf Forest".
It is a forest that spreads very widely, not only in the territory of the Marquis of Sidney, but also in the territories of other marquises. Among them, the Red Leaf Forest in the Viscount of Fergus should be a small corner of the Red Leaf Forest. , Giethoorn should be at this corner location.
"All wild beasts come out of the Red Leaf Forest?"
Viscount Fergus frowned slightly.
He was naturally aware of the Red Leaf Forest within his own territory, and he could determine the approximate location of Giethoorn from the Red Leaf Forest, which was why he frowned.
If it were an ordinary forest, it would be fine. For small forests like Shipo Forest, after the Fergus family took over the territory, they directly cleared the forest and hunted down all the large beasts.
The Red Leaf Forest is different. With the vastness of the Red Leaf Forest, there must be many powerful blood beasts in it. Many of them, even he is definitely no match for them.
"Yes, it is."
The old man said with a nervous look on his face.
"Is there anything else going on besides wild beasts leaving the forest from time to time?"
Viscount Fergus continued to ask.
"No, no more."
The old man thought carefully and added.
"Oh, by the way, recently, you can often hear the roaring of wild beasts in the forest."
"Okay, I already know the specific situation. You can stay in the castle first and lead the way for us tomorrow morning."
Viscount Fergus thought for a moment and said.
"Thank you, Lord Viscount, thank you, Lord Viscount!"
The old man quickly plopped down and knelt on the ground again. It was not until a servant urged him to follow him that he stood up and left with a grateful face.
The old man left, but Lord Linde stayed. Viscount Fergus asked after gesturing for him to sit on the vacant seat.
"What do you think is the reason why these beasts often riot?"
"I think they are probably blood beasts. The beasts that attacked the village were probably driven away by the powerful blood beasts that suddenly came here. They panicked and attacked the village due to lack of food."
Lord Linde touched his goatee and expressed his guess.
"That's what I thought, and I think there's probably only one blood beast."
Viscount Fergus nodded and said.
"Blood beasts have a very strong sense of territory and usually act alone. Unless they are gregarious blood beasts, they will inevitably fight with each other until one of them dies or escapes."
"That's what the Viscount said!"
Lord Lind thought for a while and felt that Viscount Fergus's guess was indeed very common sense.
"Bernar, what do you think?"
Viscount Fergus looked at Gray and the others and asked casually.
Gray, Bernal, and Ellis looked at each other. They had never seen a blood beast. Their understanding of blood beasts was really limited, and they couldn't come up with any insightful ideas at all.
On the other hand, Caroline's delicate eyebrows were raised slightly, and her red lips spoke softly.
"I think this blood beast was probably driven here by other blood beasts."
"You failed in the battle for territory and were driven here?"
After hearing Caroline's words, Viscount Fergus couldn't help but show a look of approval on his face.
"It's quite possible. He might even have been injured during the fight. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to the border of the forest."
Inspired by Caroline's words, Gray couldn't help but have a guess flash in his mind and said immediately.
"It could also be a pregnant female."
"Pregnant she-beast?"
Viscount Fergus looked at Gray in confusion.
"Um."
Gray nodded and said.
"I read in a book in the library that when a female beast becomes pregnant, her strength will decrease and she will find some relatively safe place to give birth to her cubs. Some people have encountered a pregnant blood beast at the edge of the forest."
"It is indeed possible. I have also read that book."
Caroline obviously thought about it and answered.
"We won't know the details until we investigate tomorrow. In this case, you haven't seen the blood beast yet. The four of you will go with me tomorrow."
Viscount Fergus thought for a while and decided.
A blood beast that was driven to the edge of the forest by other blood beasts or was pregnant should not be too powerful. With his strength, there should be no problem in protecting the safety of the four people.
Of course, he thought more of it as a blood beast that was driven to the edge of the forest by other blood beasts. There may be a pregnant blood beast, but it should not be big. If a pregnant blood beast is so easy to encounter, in the kingdom, There are not that few families with blood beasts.
"yes."
In the voices of the four Grays, anxiety and excitement coexisted.
The reason for the anxiety is that he knows that the blood beast is extremely powerful. As long as he is an adult, he can basically reach the level of a fierce blood warrior.
They were excited because they had never seen a blood beast before and they were likely to see one next, so they were excited.
Early the next morning, Gray and his party left the castle and headed for Giethoorn, guided by the old man.
Along with them, there were more than 30 cavalrymen. Lord Linde did not follow, but was left in the castle to guard the castle.
Da da da!
A group of more than 30 people were all riding on the road. Even the old man from Giethoorn was being carried by a cavalryman.
Gray was wearing a gray battle uniform, riding on his black horse, following the team, looking around with interest.
A bush on the side of the road, an unknown red-leafed tree, and the weeds that had turned yellow due to the arrival of autumn, all attracted his attention.
Apparently he was suffocated from being locked up in the castle.
On his left side, Caroline was wearing a purple women's battle uniform, showing off her beautiful figure. She often looked at the various scenery around her, but unlike Gray's curiosity, she was more interested in admiration.
On the left side of Caroline were Bernal and Ellis, both of whom were wearing white battle uniforms. Neither of them paid much attention to the scenery on the road. It was obvious that they were already used to seeing it.
Unlike Gray, who was always facing assassinations, the two of them were not targeted by other viscount families and had many opportunities to leave the castle and have fun.
After almost two hours of driving, a small village appeared in front of everyone.
This is an extremely small village, with only a few dozen houses in the entire village.
Most of these houses are simple houses made of wood. They are only for practicality and do not pay excessive attention to beauty, making them look ugly.
There were only a few houses made of stone, and Gray and others were led into one of the stone houses, because this stone house was the home of the old man who led them.
Even though the old man was submissive in front of them and knelt down at every turn, he was considered a "powerful" figure in this village.
After all, he is the head of a village, so he has quite a lot of power, especially in this world where the law is not widely spread. In many cases, the village head is just one word.
In the hall of the stone house, five people, including Gray and Viscount Fergus, sat at a round table, drinking tea and taking a short rest.
The tea sets and tea were brought from the castle, and the castle soldiers boiled water and made tea throughout the process.
On the one hand, it is because most nobles are mysophobic and will never use common people's bowls.
On the other hand, the world of nobles is always full of conspiracies. It is possible that there are spies from other territories hidden among the villagers. It would be great fun to throw some poison into it.
Next to the five people, the village chief and his family members, an old woman, a middle-aged couple, and two teenagers, a boy and a girl, stood cautiously beside them, carefully accompanying them.
"For what?"
At this moment, there was a sound outside the house. From the sound, it seemed that some villagers were stopped by the cavalry protecting them outside the house.
"Village chief, village chief."
This was the voice of an anxious man, with a strong native accent. It was slightly different from the language commonly used by nobles, but it was barely understandable.
"Let him in."
Viscount Fergus ordered, and soon after, a middle-aged man with messy hair was led in by the cavalry. When he saw the village elder standing next to him, he immediately shouted anxiously.
"Village Chief, Village Chief, someone died again. Last night, another wild beast ran out of the Red Leaf Forest and killed two children."
(End of chapter)