Eiwin brought the map out as Red had asked.

"What do you want to know?" She asked.

"You said there are a lot of bandits around the forest, right?" The boy replied. "Where exactly are they located?"

"Well, it's hard to say for sure." Eiwin pointed at an area of the forest. "We think they mostly keep to the hills since they have an easier time hiding around there. We didn't have to worry much about them in the past since monsters would block their path. However, now they've been spreading throughout the entire forest."

"I assume it's not normal for them to be so close to the city."

"It's not." The woman shook her head. "Even if Miss Frida hadn't entrusted us with a task, we would still need to investigate this."

"When exactly are you going to do that?" Red asked with interest.

"Preferably over the next week once Rimold returns."

'That's too long.'

The boy couldn't help but be disappointed at the reply.

"What about the area we met in?" The youth shifted topics. "Where was that exactly?"

"That should be..." Eiwin searched through the map before pointing at a spot. "Around here."

Red looked at the place she indicated. This was near the river and at the very edge of the map.

"That's very far from town." The boy frowned. "What exactly were you searching for down there?"

"Well, you know we were looking for the reason behind the monsters' disappearance." The woman explained. "A hunter said that he saw a large creature in that area from afar, so we went to investigate."

"And did you find anything?" The youth was curious.

"Not at all." Eiwin shook her head. "We spent almost two days looking through that area, but even with Rog's help, we didn't find any traces of such a creature."

That made Red feel more at ease. The boy had more or less gotten the information he wanted. However, he kept asking more questions in order to conceal his true interests and avoid arousing suspicion. After the lesson was over, the youth left the library and had more time to consider his own plans.

Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of bandit's nests between the youth and his goal. Red was confident in his sneaking abilities, but he wasn't as familiar with the forest compared to the tunnels. He knew better than to underestimate such a challenge.

'I need to be better prepared.'

The only problem was he didn't know how much time he had. However, Red had other pressing matters to worry about first.

...

After the boy had lunch, he secluded himself to his room under the excuse of cultivation.

In the following hours, Red distracted himself with cultivation. He continued to knock at the next Upper Leg acupoint, and to his surprise, he could feel it giving way. Perhaps in a few days, he could completely open it. Once he was done with practice, he read through the book on minerals again.

There was still a lot Red didn't understand in it, but there were more words he could recognize this time around. Unfortunately, even with his newly acquired knowledge, the boy still didn't find any mentions of a moonstone. He could only conclude this was an unknown material, as Goulth claimed.

Before the youth knew it, the sunlight coming through the window became fainter. Night was arriving very soon, and with it, Red's ultimate fate. Given the circumstances, Red was no longer in the mood for anything else. He decided to patiently await his destiny in his bed.

Sunlight finally disappeared, and the boy closed his eyes in anticipation. Soon enough, a familiar sensation sliced into his mind, and Red could feel the same overpowering gaze from yesterday setting upon him. His mind was immediately put under a lot of pressure.

'It's still there.'

This time the youth was prepared for it, though. Red managed to resist the influence of the gaze and concentrate on detecting any potential changes to his body. Nothing happened in the following few minutes, but he didn't let his guard down.

It wasn't until more than an hour had passed without changes that the boy deigned to slightly relax.

'It's not absorbing anything...'

Red felt an enormous weight being taken off his back. He didn't have to worry about dying, at least not tonight, it seemed.

Once Red managed to calm himself down, he got up from his bed and walked outside. The youth was worried that looking at the moon might prompt some reaction from the creature, so he avoided glancing up. Now that he knew the curse was probably not going to strike again so soon, the boy felt confident in starting his plan.

Red walked over to Rog's room and knocked on the door. He heard the sounds of footsteps from inside before the door opened up slightly. The hunter stared at the boy with a strange expression.

"What do you want?" The man asked unceremoniously.

"Do you think I could travel through the forest on my own?" Red likewise got straight to the point.

"You're a quick learner and fast on your feet, so you'd probably be fine." Rog replied. "But I wouldn't fancy your chances if some bandits got on your trail. You're still too weak to take on a group of them in combat."

"How likely are they to notice me?" The boy asked.

"Depends." The hunter shrugged. "Not all bandits are created equal. However, there's a lot of them out there, so chances are pretty high if you go deeper into the forest."

Red had more or less arrived at the same conclusions. Yet, hearing it from an experienced hunter like Rog made him confident of his judgment.

"Do you have a smaller bow?" The youth asked.

"Might have. One second." The man closed the door and went inside.

Red heard the sounds of items being shuffled around from within the room. A minute later, Rog opened the door again and was carrying a bow in his hand.

"Here, a short bow." The hunter handed it to him.

The boy accepted the weapon and examined it. Indeed, compared to the other bow, this one was much easier to handle for someone of his size.

"If you had a smaller bow the entire time, why didn't you give it to me earlier?" Red asked with a frown.

"I forgot it was there." Rog shrugged. "Besides, it's weaker than a longbow. I don't really like using it."

The youth understood his point, but he wasn't worried about power so much as accuracy right now. Compared to a longbow, this weapon was more reliable.

"Do you have knives too?" Red asked.

"Yeah, sure." Rog pulled a few blades from his belt and handed them to the boy.

The youth tested their weight before nodding in satisfaction.

"Can I keep all of this?" The boy asked.

"Sure, just don't let Eiwin know." The hunter didn't seem to care.

"Alright." Red nodded before walking off on his own.

Rog also went inside his room and closed the door. The two of them went about their business as if the interaction had never happened.

...

Red returned to his room and took stock of his newly acquired equipment. He felt confident in his armaments, but he knew weapons alone weren't enough preparation for a trip. The youth needed rations and medicine, as well as other camping items.

Most important of all, the boy still didn't feel confident in his chances. Both Rog and Eiwin had told him about the bandit infestation deeper into the forest. Even if Red could sneak up that far, could he be confident that he would remain completely unnoticed?

He trusted the hunter's assessment above his own. If the man said he would likely be noticed, then that was probably the truth. These bandits were clever, well-armed, and a number of them had opened quite a few veins. If Red was dealing with monsters, he would be more confident in his chances, but that wasn't the case here.

If they noticed him, the youth didn't know whether he could escape or win in a fight. That being said, Red had faced worse odds in the past. For one, the youth doubted his task would be as hard as sneaking through spider territory. Still, a question remained - did he have to take the risk of going alone? Unlike in the underground, where he had no choice, here he actually had other options. When it came to his life, it was probably best to reflect on everything carefully.

The youth had obviously considered asking for someone else's help, but he was hesitant. Rog, the best option, had no reason to help him, and he was the most unpredictable of the lot. Eiwin and Goulth would probably be willing to help him, but Red felt like he would need to reveal his background to convince them. Allen would definitely go without any questions, but the youth immediately eliminated him as an option. There was also the risk that any of them would reveal his intentions and background to others.

In the end, none of these options were ideal. Red was seriously considering taking the risk of going alone before he suddenly had an idea.

'What about...'

The youth hesitated for a second, but in the end, decided to give his idea a try either way.

...

Leaving his room, Red went about searching for that individual. He didn't need to look very far, though. The unmistakable sounds of heavy striking echoed way beyond their point of origin, the training field.

The boy approached the area and saw Narcha hitting a training dummy with a wooden sword. This time, she didn't look nearly as angry as last time the youth had seen her.

Interested in learning more about her combat skills, Red watched from afar. The woman was holding a heavy weapon, similar to her iron saber. However, it didn't look like the weight had any impact on her movements. Narcha chained blow after blow, each one fiercer and faster than the last.

To the untrained eye, it looked as if there was no rhyme or reason behind her strikes, but the boy knew this wasn't the case. The warrior was able to strike the training dummy with precision, and every move of hers was made with the next one in mind. Unlike her personality might suggest, Narcha was very meticulous in combat.

In fact, Red couldn't help but be reminded of Viran as he watched her practice. For some reason, the youth felt as if their ways of fighting were very similar.

A few minutes later, Narcha finally concluded her practice and turned around. Once she saw Red staring at her from behind the fence, though, she immediately frowned.

"Are you spying on me?" She asked in her usual unfriendly tone.

"I'm not really hiding, though." Red was confused by the question.

"Ugh, I mean... Nevermind!" Narcha shook her head in anger. "What are you doing here, kid?"

"I have something to ask of you." The boy got straight to the point.

When the warrior heard that, she was surprised. However, she promptly remembered their conversation from a few days ago.

"Is it about that favor?" Narcha asked.

"Yes."

"I thought it would take you a good while longer to come up with something." The woman smirked. "Well, what is it that you want? I won't do anything evil for you, though, and whatever you want has to be within my capabilities."

"It should not be a problem for you..." The youth trailed off. "But first, you need to promise me not to tell anyone about this."

"Promise you?" Narcha frowned. "Is it that serious, kid?"

"Not really, but I would rather no one knows about it." Red shrugged.

"Fine!" The warrior relented. "I promise not to tell anyone. Is that enough for you?"

'It's as good as I'm getting, I guess.'

Red just nodded.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Narcha repeated her question.

"I need you to escort me on a trip into the forest."

At the mention of that, the woman's expression changed.