Chapter 32 Gnolls

Chapter 31 My Name is Ymir <TOC> Chapter 33 The General's Rebellion

Translator: SumTLMan

“Wait?”

Rayne whipped his head around to see a pair of blue pupils as deep as the stars in the universe staring right back at him.

However, there was no murderous intent in those eyes.

With a small sigh of relief, Rayne asked: “Is there anything else that you need, Miss Ymir?”

“…”

Ymir’s brow furrowed.

After a few moments of silence, she pondered over the matter and seemed to have come to a decision before she said: “This is the ‘Bakaaya Highlands’, do you really intend to cross it by yourself?”

Bakaaya Highlands?

Why did she emphasise the name of this place?

Rayne was unfamiliar with the name, but the Ice Ridge Wilderness was a vast place full of many small and named locations.

Although hearing what she said, he naturally didn’t take it to heart.

Of course, Rayne didn’t want to give the impression that he didn’t know his way around, so he played it cool and said: “Of course I do. As you can see, I’m a solitary wilderness hunter.”

“…”

Ymir looked at his clumsy performance and held her forehead slightly.

Sure enough, this guy didn’t know what he was getting into.

After a pause, she explained more bluntly: “I was trying to say that the ‘Bakaaya Highlands’ is one of the Empire’s notoriously dangerous places with its many high-order magical beasts. It’s rare for anyone who hasn’t advanced to the third-order [Demon Hunter] to come here at all.”

After saying that, she looked at Rayne with a strange expression.

“Da… Dangerous place?”

His brain felt as if it had picked up some odd piece of important information that it couldn’t digest for the moment.

Rayne’s first thought was: Could it be that this woman is just trying to scare me?

Listening as she continued speaking again: “Six months ago, the famous ‘Feathered Serpent Wilderness Hunting Squad’ of the Wilderness Hunters Union was completely wiped out around this area. Their captain was a famous fourth-order transcendent, [Summoner] Merkezi. And where we’re currently at happens to be in the hinterland of the ‘Bakaaya Highlands’…”

“All the fo… Fourth-order powerhouses died around here?”

At this new piece of information, Rayne’s expression immediately froze in place.

Finally, that strange look in her eyes just now had made complete sense…

It turned out that she’d seen through everything he had said long ago.

A place that could wipe out a fourth-order [Great Demon Hunter] squad was no place for a rookie who had just entered the world of transcendence to traverse.

When Rayne thought about it again, he now understood in retrospect that he wasn’t unlucky when encountering those “fanged rabbits” last night. Instead, he possessed the aura of the son of providence when he didn’t encounter a high order magical beast while riding his motorcycle all the way into the depths of this “Bakaaya Highlands”?

Rayne also understood that this woman wasn’t saying all of this with the intention of “repaying kindness with a vengeance” but in order to politely remind him of his foolish behaviour and to save his life.

……

Rayne thought to himself: According to what she said, this place is so dangerous that… If I go at it alone, I may not survive nightfall.

At this moment, Rayne immediately realised his situation, and his face grew increasingly ugly.

He knew that there was no need for this woman to lie at all.

Moreover, she’d obviously been able to ignore him, yet she’d gone to this extra trouble of reminding him, clearly wanting to repay his favour for saving her life last night.

This woman’s tone was always insipid, and it was clear that when she had explained this fact, she was confident of getting out of this dangerous place alive.

The odds are that if he continued this journey on his own, he probably wouldn’t make it out of the “Bakaaya Highlands” alive.

He’d rather have thick skin and follow behind this woman to survive than go at it alone.

In a dramatic turn of events, the rescuer was now the one who needs rescuing, and this stranger who had been saved was the key to Rayne’s survival.

His mouth, however, wasn’t suitable for opening this discussion.

And the next thing that he would’ve never expected was that instead of nailing the embarrassment of his dilemma, the woman who wasn’t far away took the initiative to offer him a way out.

“Well… I think I still need an accompanying doctor to help care for my injuries…”

She looked at Rayne and turned back, pondered for a moment, and then asked with a solemn expression on her face: “Will you accept my offer of employment, Dr Rayne?”

Her remarks show a high level of emotional intelligence, self-restraint and grace that didn’t let a person feel the slightest ounce of embarrassment.

Rayne almost thought that he had misheard.

But a moment later, his eyes lit up as he took a big step forward and tried to bow towards her: “The pleasure is all mine, Miss Ymir!”

No sooner than when he wanted to lower himself to show his modesty that she had helped by holding him up.

This woman wasn’t only smart, but she was also considerate and understanding.

For the first time, Rayne witnessed the world’s kindness to him.

……

The camp was well stocked with supplies, sleeping bags, food, gear for wilderness survival, surgeon’s instruments and medication supplies.

Rayne carried all the commonly used things on his back so as not to reveal the fact that he had a storage ring.

It was a couple of big bags, like a backpacker on a hike.

Ymir quietly followed him and never spoke again.

Apparently, she had guessed, although she didn’t know where the steam-powered vehicle had gone… But the Imperial Knight she’d thought would be around last night was probably the somewhat slick young doctor in front of her.

Although very curious about Rayne’s identity, she didn’t ask.

Commoner, wilderness hunter, or even eccentric bandit or not…

None of these matters anymore.

After all, she had survived, hadn’t she?

…….

“Miss Ymir, where are you going?”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m planning to go to the nearest ‘Snow Hawk Keep’ and stay there for a while.”

“Then I’ll go there…”

“Oh.”

“…”

Rayne backpacked ahead, occasionally encountering some complicated terrain and assisting Ymir behind him.

The mysterious and powerful blonde lady seemed to be used to being taken care of.

Rayne guessed that she might actually be the daughter of a high-ranking noble family.

The grace and ease with which she carried herself wasn’t a pretence of posturing but a way of life engraved in her bones.

At least the people at the bottom of this world, or even the lower nobility in general, would never be able to cultivate this kind of proud temperament.

……

The two of them just continued walking in the wilderness.

Ymir’s words were already few and far between, and the two of them might not exchange a single word for several hours as they hurried along on their journey.

And Rayne is also very self-aware.

Naturally, he was well aware that it looked as if he was looking after the blonde lady. In fact, it was Ymir who had taken him on the road as a small recruit to repay the favour of saving her life.

When you receive favour from others, you will speak less, so as to avoid any misunderstanding and fall into a predicament.

……

It wasn’t long after walking through the wilderness that Rayne realised what Ymir meant when she said that the “Bakaaya Highlands” was a dangerous place where even a fourth-order transcendent could end up being buried.

As the two people traversed the wilderness, their scent finally attracted a horde of terrifying predators.

The “Gnolls” are the tyrants of the Ice Ridge Wilderness.

They weren’t werewolves who were humans who had the genes of magical beasts, but a true upright canine beast who was cruel, bloodthirsty and vicious.

They’re one of the last creatures that wilderness hunters would want to encounter while in the wilderness, simply because of their high intelligence and ability to attack in groups.

What Rayne encountered was a horde of over thirty gnolls, armed with a variety of stone weapons.

A typical adult “gnoll” was considered a second-order magical beast, while the leader was a third-order magical beast.

Given Rayne’s system capabilities, his system has determined that one adult gnoll could easily kill three fanged rabbits.

These creatures also have a keen sense of smell, making them particularly good at tracking and hunting down prey.

If Rayne were to face such a horde alone, he wouldn’t be able to escape at all and would only end up being torn to shreds in no time.

In other words, even a medium-sized team led by a third-order [Demon Hunter] will definitely be wiped out if they came across such a group!

Fortunately, there was a big boss around him.

Rayne guessed that Ymir had initially been very powerful, but seeing as she was injured, her strength should be greatly diminished.

He had been worried that there would be a fierce battle when he met this horde of gnolls.

But to his surprise, he never imagined that the crisis would be instantly averted by a single glare.

The big boss, Ymir, didn’t even have to make a move at all. She just stomped her foot down, and a bit of frost had frozen the ground beneath them. Then with a single glare, the third-order gnoll leader let out a weak groaning sound, and the whole horde scattered immediately!

The more intelligent a beast was, the more sensitive to the danger they were in.

They knew that they couldn’t beat this human at all.

At that moment, Rayne realised that this big boss was even more terrifying than he had expected.

……

In this way, the road was travelled by day, and the campfire was lit at night.

The two traversed the “Bakaaya Highlands”, one of the most dangerous areas in the southern part of Omagh, while encountering many dangers along the way…

If Rayne had been on his own, he probably wouldn’t have survived… Even if he was given ten lives.

Finally, a few days later, the two got to know each other a little better and could say a few words to each other.

Even if Rayne was even more foolish, he eventually understood that this woman had guessed that he had a secret, but she didn’t say a word about it throughout the journey.

Chapter 31 My Name is Ymir <TOC> Chapter 33 The General's Rebellion