Chapter 1,154 The Secret Forest
In the forest, the three masters and servants, traveling lightly and simply dressed, not only had to avoid the natural hunting creatures in nature, but also the pursuers from the human world.
He had no choice but to break into the secret forest where royal hunting events were held. Because it is too unsafe to walk in a human town, and you have to be prepared to be recognized by spies at all times.
The day before, I thought that as long as I put on civilian clothes, without the ornaments of the noble heraldry, and left the imperial capital, a city with as many nobles as dogs, I would not be recognized in a gathering place where ordinary people gathered. Who knows that this is just a self-righteous extravagance.
In the past, the biggest difficulty in all evacuation plans was how to leave the imperial capital. As long as they can successfully walk out of the city gate, it is basically difficult for the pursuers to find their target. Because outside the imperial capital, there are not many such people who can still recognize the nobles living in the imperial capital.
Maybe the servants at all levels in the imperial capital can do it. But how can people who have lived in other towns or rural areas for most of their lives recognize a nobleman who may never see him once in his life? To ordinary people, he is a noble person.
In the old days, even if a wanted poster was drawn with a human face, it was limited by the painter's skills. Whether you could find the person based on the picture actually required some luck. As for the temporary pursuit of a target who has escaped from the imperial capital, in addition to sending out helpers who already know the target person, by the time the portrait is drawn and sent to various places, the target may have already escaped and it will be too late to pursue him.
However, compared with today, the biggest difference lies in the rise of forums. Although this thing is mainly text messages, sending one or two pictures will not explode the magic stone that opens the forum browser. Someone originally developed the technology of photographing products in order to build a forum mall in Xijia District, southwest of Midi. Since you can take pictures of objects, it’s not surprising that you can take pictures of people.
Therefore, the magic man who was hunting down Marquis Farshid was instantly transmitted to all parts of the empire through the convenience of the forum, and was in the hands of the people of the Rizal family who were responsible for hunting down the Marquis. Because it is a real-life shooting, there is no question of painterly skills or whether it is realistic or not. Even if they are not full-time members of the pursuit team, as long as they are related to the Risa family, they can become informants and form a tight dragnet.
The fleeing Marquis also discovered that no matter where he went, he would be recognized. At first, he thought it was a spy in the family who leaked his whereabouts.
But when he saw the pursuer opening the water mirror screen of the forum and chasing him more and more closely, how could he not think of the problem? Although the Marquis is not a heavy user of the forum, as it is the fastest tool for information circulation, it is impossible for him not to understand it.
It is precisely by understanding the convenience and popularity of the forum that you can understand what kind of situation you are in. As a last resort, he plunged into this royal hunting ground.
Although the secret forest has a royal title in the imperial records. In fact, it will not be fenced here, and no one is allowed to enter to hunt animals. On the contrary, it should be said that the vitality here is too strong and the fecundity is amazing. If left alone for a certain period of time, a tide of beasts will form and fight back at human gathering places.
Therefore, the royal family takes the lead and convenes nobles of all sizes for hunting regularly every year. In addition to being used to train troops, it can also reduce the number of wild beasts and monsters in the forest, collect available magic materials, and at the same time reduce the probability of beast tides to avoid harming neighboring towns.
The reason why this forest is not cleared...it can only be said that the living footprints of the lost humans are not like the earth, which is so full that they have to compete with nature for space. Moreover, the forest and the mountains behind it are vast, no different from a small country; coupled with the complex terrain, even if regular legions are dispatched, it will be more difficult to clear than to attack other countries.
Secondly, for ordinary adventurers and mercenaries, this is an excellent production place for beast magic materials. As long as it can be effectively controlled and restricted, no one will want to directly kill the chicken that lays the golden eggs. From another perspective, this is a restricted area for ordinary people, and it is quite dangerous to walk in it.
After breaking into such a place, the Marquis's intention was to reduce the number of pursuers and spies as much as possible. At least in this forest where monsters are rampant, there are no children, beggars or vendors who would betray their whereabouts for a few Danba (copper) rewards.
But in their haste, the three marquis failed to make sufficient preparations. Wearing leather armor, a standard sword, fire, and a blanket, he just broke into the forest.
Fortunately, the three of them are not pampered young men. Even the Marquis, who has the highest status, has endured hardships under his father's upbringing. Although I have never been an adventurer and traveled around, I still have the skills to survive in the wild.
Maybe when it comes to hunting monsters, the three of them are no better than those old hunters. But whether they don't let themselves become prey or fight if necessary, the three of them have a higher chance of survival than most hunters and adventurers.
It's just... this matter was out of control from the beginning. It would be a lie to say that the Marquis didn't have any resentment in his heart. Especially after escaping from the imperial capital, just imagining what will happen to the people left behind makes me feel full of apologies.
If we had more time, we would be able to make better arrangements. Instead of being like this now, running away is not enough to describe my embarrassment. He would rush into the forest, but he also vaguely wanted to find trouble with wild beasts or monsters to vent his violent anger.
In the secret forest, there are areas suitable for large groups to hunt. But that also means easy access to roads, which is certainly not conducive to someone trying to hide their tracks and escape. Therefore, the three Marquis Farshid chose another direction. It is also a place where some old hunters or a small number of elite adventurers will go.
In this forest area full of towering trees, there are no major roads because it is sparsely populated. At most, it is a trail that hunters regularly walk, and more often than not, it is a path taken by wild beasts.
Even though this is a natural world, there is no such thing as a ferocious beast at every three steps or a magical beast at every five steps. The ecosystem of the Lost Land will still abide by the most basic principles. The territories of carnivorous animals will not be too dense or overlapping. After all, sufficient food must be ensured. If there is not enough food, they will expand outward. When the scale of expansion is large enough, a so-called beast tide is formed.
Therefore, although the secret forest is considered dangerous by ordinary people, in the eyes of experienced hunters, there is still a safe passage. It's just that such a passage is not fixed and may change at any time due to the change of beasts occupying the territory. Therefore, we must rely on the heritage and experience of hunters to determine where the safe path is at the moment.
Although the Marquis and his party had learned relevant knowledge, they were not as clever as professional hunters after all. As we go deeper into the forest and it becomes more and more difficult to walk, the forward speed that should have slowed down is not at all slower than before. Marquis Farshid was quite surprised when he realized that this phenomenon was contrary to the expected situation.
The only explanation is that the subordinate who led the way was very familiar with the forest, so the group could always find the right direction and avoid taking more wrong paths.