Chapter 417

Chapter 417: Progress From All Sides (Part 1)

Meanwhile,

After spending over a month at the Adventurer’s Guild in the royal capital, Army Lady, Lvzi, and Stealth One had uncovered no intelligence regarding reincarnators.

After deliberation, Stealth One remained at the capital’s Adventurer’s Guild while the other two women agreed to explore surrounding towns.

Their objectives included investigating reincarnators and seeking news of Jilly.

After traversing several towns of varying sizes, the pair indeed obtained intelligence about Jilly in a northern kingdom town slightly larger than Aowenduo Town.

At that town’s Adventurer’s Guild, Lvzi and Army Lady learned Jilly had accepted a B-class quest: to slay fire-type lizard monsters called “Noyeldo” in the Sunset Mountains and retrieve specified materials.

However, the quest had been accepted three months prior.

Noyeldo typically rank between Class D and Class C monsters. Being common in the Sunset Mountains, such hunts shouldn’t require over three months…

“…Perhaps Miss Jilly encountered misfortune. While Noyeldo aren’t dangerous, the Sunset Mountains host many perilous monsters,”

The guild clerk hesitated before sighing.

Vanishing or dying during missions wasn’t uncommon for adventurers. Over a month earlier, they had added Jilly’s name to the “Missing Persons” registry.

“Sunset Mountains…”

Hearing the clerk mention the Sunset Mountains, Army Lady’s gaze flickered as memories surfaced.

These northern mountains belonged to one of the Three Mountain Lords—a vast volcanic region where most volcanoes lay dormant beneath lush vegetation teeming with monsters.

With this new lead, the women departed the guild.

“What do you think, Army Lady? Should we search for her?”

Lvzi immediately leaned toward the golden-haired girl upon exiting.

“We should. Mother liked that human girl. Regarding the Sunset Mountains’ Mountain Lord—I recall Flossie described it as a trouble-averse turtle-type monster dwelling deep within mountains.”

Army Lady replied while pushing away the green-haired girl with distaste.

“It’s reportedly the longest-lived among both the Eight Lords of the Forest and Three Mountain Lords. That turtle rarely involves itself in reincarnator conflicts. If Flossie’s intelligence holds, it won’t attack us unless provoked.”

Lvzi added, chuckling as she reattached herself to Army Lady’s arm.

Army Lady attempted to dislodge her but soon relented.

“Then we’ll target the Sunset Mountains next. We can hunt advanced monsters for training too… And stop clinging to me!”

The blonde girl spoke while pinching her companion’s cheek.

…

Simultaneously,

The Duchy of Ma’ika, Duchy of Donelas, Principality of Reba, and southern nations… The eight other ant tribes dispatched to these regions each experienced distinct developments.

Flying faster than the winged monster Reifon, Purple Cloud, Purple Mist, and Yellow Hair swiftly reached the southern nations with Dragon Flossie.

Before entering these smaller nations, they first sought the missing Lord of Mountains in the Mountains of Beasts per Dragon Flossie’s guidance—aiming to recruit it for the ant tribe or at least secure its neutrality in reincarnator conflicts.

According to Flossie, this Mountains of Beasts Lord was a diminutive cat-type monster. Like Flossie, it possessed full Class S levels but excelled in agility, stealth, and ambush tactics over direct combat.

In a direct fight, Flossie is confident she could defeat him one-on-one, but if he wants to avoid battle and escape, Flossie would not be able to stop him.

But before considering whether a conflict might happen upon meeting him, they first need to find him.

The Mountains of Beasts is not smaller than Granville Monster Forest, so finding that small Lord of Mountains in this densely vegetated and monster-filled forest is not an easy task.

After searching dispersedly for over two months, Flossie, Purple Cloud, Purple Mist, Yellow Fur, and three hundred Stealth Ants still found no trace of him.

“It’s been so many days; she should have noticed our presence in the Mountains of Beasts by now.”

One day, after searching in vain, Flossie sighed and said.

“Did you notice? Then why don’t you speak up? Aren’t you friends with her?”

Purple Cloud asked with confusion.

“Of course we are friends, and I know her very well…”

Flossie smiled helplessly.

“This girl not only likes to run around in her own territory, but she also loves to play. If I’m right, she must be playing hide and seek with us now.”

“…Then what should we do? This is her territory, and we don’t know it better than she does. How can we find her when she is so good at hiding?”

Purple Mist was surprised at first, then complained.

“Just ignore her.”

“Ignore her?”

“That’s right. As long as we don’t play along with her, she will naturally show up in front of us when she gets bored.”

“Will that really work?”

“This is the only way we have, and there are just as many advanced monsters here as in Granville Monster Forest. Before she appears, you can hunt advanced monsters in this forest as much as you want…”

Flossie smiled.

“If we hunt many monsters, maybe that guy won’t be able to hold back and will jump out. After all, most of the advanced monsters in this mountain range are her food.”

…

The moment Flossie began helping Purple Cloud and Purple Mist “level up” in the Mountains of Beasts.

The remaining three places.

Dig One and Dig Two arrived in the capital of the Duchy of Donelas. They joined the Adventurer’s Guild as adventurers. The Stealth Ants who came with them to the Duchy of Donelas stayed behind to guard the two girls, while the others spread out in the kingdom to investigate information about reincarnators.

Darkling Stalker and Weak Sound went to the Principality of Reba.

Although they had fought together before, Weak Sound felt a little scared of Darkling Stalker, who could be seen as her younger sister.