This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 231

Unexpected Fortune

On the way back to the camp, everyone remained silent as if there was nothing to discuss. Once they arrived at the small camp built by the students, the prince and Ryker separated from the group, likely having many matters to attend to. Ellie informed Aman that she wished to retreat for training and asked not to be disturbed. She requested that food be left at the entrance of her tent, which she would collect once she emerged from her meditation.

Aman had already been informed about this by his brother, so he didn’t pay much attention. The mission had ended sooner than expected, giving them the entire remaining 5 days for training before the next week began. Aman and Koross, like Ellie, benefited from the abundant resources of the Setter family, including permanent spiritual power-enhancing crystals. So, they took turns standing guard, with the prince, Ryker, Wint, and Zoey assisting.

The students from the Stratagem Branch lacked combat skills and couldn’t help much in case of an attack. Nevertheless, they didn’t remain idle. Knowing that they would be of no use during this time, they didn’t attempt tasks beyond their capabilities. Many took turns preparing 3 meals for the group, while others focused on assisting the more knowledgeable direct students. Although the stratagems they could create were simple level 1-star stratagems...wouldn’t a large number of level 1-star stratagems still be useful?

At least they were contributing. If a beast attacked and triggered the stratagems, they could handle one or two creatures, demonstrating their high sense of responsibility.

Ellie entered her tent, spending half a day making everything appear more seamless. 4 stratagem creators volunteered to guard her tent, ensuring no one disturbed her. Since no one intended to bother Ellie anyway, this arrangement was reassuring. As night fell, Ellie’s small figure gradually vanished. Despite the watchers around, Ellie could easily slip away unnoticed with the power of her spores.

As for the stratagems set up around the camp, she had already marked their positions, so there was no issue there.

Once she was out, Ellie swiftly made her way through the forest towards the association’s city. Fortunately, the association’s city and the royal city where the students were on their mission were not far apart. Traversing the Green Forest, she could reach her destination without passing through any other kingdom’s city. Therefore, she took only half a night to travel, and just as dawn began to break, Ellie, as Luke, was at the entrance of the association’s city!

"Hmm? Sir Hunter, why have you only just arrived?" The clerk was very surprised. 3 days ago, the association had called all the hunters for an emergency mission for the kingdom, and it was expected to be several more days before the hunters would start returning. Who would have thought a hunter would appear at the association today?

"I apologize. I only heard about the call yesterday. I was on a distant mission before that, so..."

"Oh, I understand. I will check your name immediately. Earlier, there was a call and a penalty for hunters who did not join the emergency mission. But since the mission started only 3 days ago, you can still join in time," the clerk quickly searched for the information to remove the name and handed the mission equipment to the young hunter.

In times of war, the association must cooperate to protect the kingdom, calling all hunters for the mission. Anyone who did not show up would be penalized, equivalent to desertion. Additionally, special equipment was used for this period. The equipment was divided into several parts, with the main device held by the leader, containing the names of participants and indicating their status.

If there was a call to action, the crystal the hunter held would glow to signal an order. If the holder died, the crystal would shatter and send information to the leader’s main device immediately. This allowed the leader to know how many hunters were still available. If they weren’t in such situations, they wouldn’t use this expensive equipment.

The female clerk worked quickly, appropriate for the situation, completing the process in just 5 minutes and handing Ellie her personal crystal.

"Drop your blood on it. I have entered your details as a hunter, so don’t worry about your identity being revealed. This is for the Hunter’s Association only. The blood drop just shows your vital signs."

"Mmm, understood."

"So, please hurry. Everyone is heading to the Dawn Light Forest on the 2nd floor. The mission from the kingdom is to protect Dawn Light Forest, as it borders the royal city and the Ares Institute’s city near the Rhea Kingdom. This makes clashes highly likely."

"Got it," Ellie replied, understanding that she would receive further details from the leader. The association provided free teleportation in this situation, sending Ellie, under the name Luke, to the city in the Ares Kingdom’s 2nd-floor city immediately!

Upon arrival, she saw many hunters working diligently. Most of those remaining in the city were soldiers patrolling the area. Upon seeing a hunter appear, they checked her personal crystal and sent her to the front lines immediately. Ellie had to run through over 40 kilometers of forest to reach their camp. Compared to the Hunter’s Association’s camp, it was much larger but had surprisingly lax defenses.

"Hand over your personal crystal. Why is a hunter like you here?" The hunter who acted as a guard blocked Ellie from entering. Although they saw the blue crystal symbolizing a hunter on a mission, her sudden appearance was too unusual.

All the hunters had gone to deal with the surrounding beasts to prevent them from causing trouble during the fight against the Rhea Kingdom. Thus, it was unusual for a hunter to suddenly run into the city.

"Apologies, I just returned from a mission and only learned about the call to assemble. The association clerk sent me here," Luke explained.

"Oh, is that so?" The hunter understood the situation after verifying the information.

"In that case, head to the front lines. The leader of the Hunter’s Association is currently handling the surrounding beasts. They don’t want any beast nests nearby; otherwise, unexpected threats could complicate things during the confrontation with the Rhea Kingdom."

"Understood." Luke ran further. The camp wasn’t far from where the hunters were clearing the area, likely because they had just set up the camp, so this was only the initial phase of the hunt.

"Is that you, the newly added name?" When Ellie reached the leader, he immediately recalled the new name on the list, identifying it as the scrawny young figure before him.

"Yes, sir."

"Mmm, the details indicate you’re skilled with a bow and...ah, this is quite interesting. You have a beast that can handle corpses?" At first, the association leader didn’t pay much attention to Ellie, given her frail appearance, he thought she wouldn’t that skilled. However, after reviewing the mission details provided by the clerk, his interest piqued.

"Yes, this is the beast," Ellie introduced the little Apple. Although the leader wasn’t sure how the small creature would handle it, the latest mission details had raised his expectations.

"Good. Follow me. Although a lot of the meat is needed, some parts are not intended for use by the association. Actually, we would burn or bury them after this, but your beast’s power should handle it, correct? If it works, it will save us a lot of time."

The leader led Ellie to a group of hunters cutting meat and separating valuable parts. This wasn’t professional butchering; it was a race against time, so the hunters on mission took care of it. They separated meat for consumption and kept fangs, claws, or other valuable parts that could turn into expensive weapons. The rest, including inedible animals, skins and innards, was left behind.

Even though they had just started hunting for a day, there were already quite a few carcasses. Don’t forget, this was the combined effort of the kingdom’s hunters, so it was no surprise they gathered so many resources.

"Shall I start now?"

"Mmm, proceed," the leader nodded. He didn’t know that the little Apple, perched on Ellie’s shoulder, was drooling. He was simply curious to see if the so-called "Demon Frog Warrior" could meet expectations.

The small frog, about the size of a palm, began to expand. This time, it grew to about 1 meter, as the number of corpses wasn’t as extensive as the previous dump site. Still, the remaining parts here were more beneficial than what the disassemblers managed on their own, making it an unexpected yet welcome benefit.

The frog’s unusual tongue, unlike that of a typical frog, surprised the leader a bit. However, he wasn’t familiar with all types of beasts, so encountering an unfamiliar one wasn’t that strange.

Crunch!

The sound of bones being crushed by the long tongue sent shivers down everyone’s spine. They had heard rumors about the Demon Frog Warrior, who reportedly dealt with the Seven Night Poison group easily, but had never fully believed them. However, the crushing power of the demon frog’s tongue seemed like it could indeed kill people effortlessly. Moreover, its shape was quite odd. The most frightening part was the strange, dangerous-looking orb behind the demon frog.

No one knew what that orb could do. When the demon frog’s owner first registered, there was no mention of its ability to handle beast carcasses. Furthermore, he was so bold to travel alone, this indicated either great strength or a highly reliable companion.

In no time, the beast corpses were gone. The leader exhaled in relief, grateful for the reduction in their workload, as they no longer needed to dig graves for the carcasses. However...his interest in Luke grew; it seemed this kid’s abilities went beyond just dealing with corpses.

"It seems corpses are a gourmet meal for it," the leader commented. Luke nodded without hiding anything.

"Oh, I see. So...this was just feeding. Its true power must be considerable, right?"

"Yes, sir, my beast is very strong."

"I see. In that case, you won’t mind if I assign you additional tasks, right? That wasn’t even real work. So, let your demon frog handle the corpses every evening. Meanwhile, I’d like you both to help manage the surrounding beasts. The faster we deal with them, the better. You can either let your beast eat the parts or bring them back to the camp."

"You mean I can hunt freely, sir?"

"Yes, unless you prefer not to?"

"Of course, thank you very much, sir. I actually prefer solo hunting."

"Good! But be cautious of the Rhea Kingdom’s forces. Although they haven’t made any moves yet, they are not weak and use beasts like yours. Their capabilities are unpredictable."

"Understood."

Ellie, posing as Luke, accepted the order. It seemed the leader understood people’s abilities well. He could have ordered Luke to join others, but he trusted that Ellie would perform better patrolling alone. In a wartime situation, being assigned to hunt freely was dangerous, indicating a high level of trust.

He likely assessed that Ellie could protect herself, even against the Rhea Kingdom’s forces.

"Return before dark every day. Your achievements will be recorded by the blue crystal, so you don’t need to worry about your efforts going unnoticed."

The camp leader provided a few more details, which Ellie nodded to acknowledge. The clerk had already explained these things to her, so she wasn’t very worried. Perhaps, by helping with this hunt, Ellie could significantly raise Luke’s rank.

Ellie’s thoughts were indeed correct. Soon enough...everyone would be talking about the "Demon Frog Warrior." Even the people of the Rhea Kingdom would be terrified by the appearance of this renowned figure!

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