Chapter 123: Carter's Instructions

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On a slope by the side of the main road, Dirk and the other guards busied themselves with setting up tents. After getting sidetracked by the herd of Gold Rams earlier, they ended up significantly delaying their progress homeward. They would have to travel overnight in order to reach the nearest city.

Priority number one was ensuring the safety of Roel and Alicia, therefore the two guard captains came to a consensus that it would be too dangerous to travel under the veil of the night.

One must know that it was no joke to be assaulted in the dark. The threats lurking in the wilderness were much more terrifying at night, and many distinguished figures had lost their lives to them. Even though Dirk had great confidence in the strength of his subordinates and the royal guards, he still felt that it was unwise for them to take on unnecessary risk.

Besides... if he were to suggest for them to continue traveling under such an atmosphere, he could very well earn the ire of every single person in the convoy.

"How much meat are we going to get later on? I mean, we have quite a lot of people here, and Gold Ram meat is quite valuable after all. We can't just finish up everything here by ourselves, right?"

"Regarding that, the chefs initially decided on slaughtering three Gold Rams, but the young master says that it's not enough to reward the men, so he told them to add two more in."

"Are you serious?"

"Bless Lord Roel!"

The soldiers chattered merrily with one another while skillfully constructing the tents. Those that were done with their duties gathered around the campfire with excited smiles as they waited in anticipation for the marvelous meat they would be eating with relish very soon.

Such was the joyous atmosphere drifting throughout the camp.

Meanwhile, on the side, chefs were busy preparing the slaughtered Gold Rams. They carefully removed each hair from the skin, before storing all the precious fur in a sack. Then they proceeded to wash and clean-up the meat, getting it ready for use in tonight's meal.

"Big brother Roel, the fur of these rams is worth a fortune. Should we try rearing them?"

"It won't work. I've already asked about it. Once a Gold Ram loses its fur, it would perceive itself to be in a 'state of danger', and this would accelerate the rate of its mutation. Its fur will not regrow, and it would become highly aggressive and dangerous too. Worst of all, its meat would also become tough."

"Ah, so we can only shear a Gold Ram once. That would explain why their fur is so expensive."

"Yes. By clearing this herd of Gold Rams, we have resolved a possible threat to the region. These Gold Rams won't be as easy to deal with once they grow up."

Roel watched the chefs busy with their work, feeling satisfied with the outcome. On top of the great profits, he would earn a good reputation as well.

Meanwhile, Alicia nodded her little head before lowering it contemplatively.

Roel and the other guards had chased the Gold Rams a far distance away, so Alicia didn't manage to perceive Grandar's power. However, that didn't mean that she hadn't noticed any anomalies.

The respectful gazes of the soldiers, Dirk's amicable attitude, or the subtle subservience of the royal guards; the sensitive Alicia had keenly picked up on all of these differences. It made her realize that something must have happened.

She remembered that Roel had only reached Origin Level 6 a few months ago, so it should have been impossible for him to win the admiration of these Origin Level 5 elite soldiers.

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