"There's no need to be concerned about that Necromancer for now, though." Hector continued. "Now that they have been exposed, I sincerely doubt they would dare to make an appearance again so soon."

This gave Red some comfort, but it still didn't eliminate the threat in his mind.

"I'll inform the Baron about that." Domeron spoke up. "Once the Cursebreakers gets wind of this, they'll scour the forest in search of this Necromancer."

"Aren't they going to affect local matters with the bandits, though?" Red asked.

"Not necessarily," the swordsman shook his head. "As far as they are concerned, they don't care about anything other than culling undead corruption. If any bandits have been infected, they'll just get rid of them too."

The boy didn't know whether they would be able to trace this matter back to him. However, keeping such a big deal secret would be next to impossible.

"What about the bandits?" Narcha raised another matter. "Aren't they collaborating with Gustav?"

"That hardly comes as a surprise," Domeron replied. "We always suspected that Gustav might be bribing them for safe passage. The fact they were seen together at such an important juncture is certainly more concerning, though."

"This still doesn't explain the way they were acting," Eiwin interjected. "They seemed to know our exact position within the forest, and their coordination didn't seem to belong to low life brigands. We considered the fact they might be using communication talismans. But there's no way Gustav could supply that many of them to the bandits."

Everyone around the table seemed stumped for an answer. Their gazes then slowly turned to Hector, hoping the old man could clarify the matter. The elder, however, was also in deep thought.

"There are other means through which cultivators may communicate over long distances," Hector finally spoke up. "However, they are likewise as rare and as expensive as talismans. Whatever the case may be, these bandits have shown they can't be treated as common brigands. I'm even more certain that their arrival in the region might be connected to the monsters' disappearance..."

At the very least, Red was relieved not everything weird happening in the region was because of him.

"What do you want to do?" Domeron asked.

"This is not something the lot of you can solve by yourselves." Hector shook his head. "I want you to speak with the Baron. Any effort into stopping these bandits and hunting that demon down needs to be organized by him."

"What about Gustav? Do you want to force his hand?"

"Hmph, that little rat is not stupid enough to be caught in such a manner." the elder scoffed. "He'll likely contribute to our hunts and won't hesitate to throw these bandits to the wolves to clear his own name."

That did seem to fit with what Red knew of the man.

"Then what about Rickard?" Narcha asked. "Do you plan on dealing with him yourself, old man?"

"Hah, why would I need to personally deal with a brat like that?" Hector laughed. "Let the Baron's people lead the charge. If they really can't deal with someone in the middle of the Lesser Ring Realm, then they don't deserve to rule this town."

Red was once more surprised by Hector's attitude. In the end, the levity with which the elder talked about the situation seemed to indicate he really wasn't that worried about it.

"We might not be able to accomplish Madam Frida's task in these conditions." Eiwin had a regretful look on her face.

"Frida is a reasonable woman," Domeron assuaged her worries. "She'll understand the circumstances around the forest."

"I can only hope she'll still deliver on the uniform."

As the meeting seemed to be concluding, Rog immediately got up from his chair to leave. Hector, however, simply waved his hand, and a gust of wind forced the hunter down again.

"I'm not finished yet!" the elder admonished him. "The next matter directly concerns you, Mister Rog!"

"Ugh..." Rog grumbled at these words. "What do you want from me, old man?"

"I need you to keep scouting the forest." Hector replied. "Although we are not going to make our move yet, we still need to be kept informed about the general situation."

"That's not easy, old man." the hunter scratched his beard. "It depends on how far you want me to go. I can't promise you that I'll escape their detection with how they're acting."

"You don't need to risk it, just go as far as you feel comfortable with. I need to know if Rickard intends to make any moves against our town before they're at our doorstep."

"Shouldn't be a problem then..." Rog nodded. "But what about that demon? Should I try tracking it too?"

"If you can." Hector shrugged. "As long as it sticks to the forest, that only creates more problems for our foes."

'Ruthless...'

Red had been under the impression that demons were a bane for the cultivation world from Eiwin's explanation. Hector, however, didn't look worried in the slightest about it running rampant. This didn't seem to align with what he had been led to believe.

Sure enough, as the boy looked at Eiwin, he could see the woman had a frown on her face. Still, she didn't speak up.

"That's all I had to say." the elder continued. "I might have other tasks for you lot soon, so don't go running away over the next few weeks."

As Hector brought the meeting to a close, the Sect members started to disperse. Eiwin, however, approached Red before leaving.

"You should go check on Master Goulth," she advised him. "He was extremely worried once he learned of your disappearance."

The boy nodded and walked out of the hall too. He still had a lot to do after returning from this trip. Yet, he decided to follow Eiwin's advice first.

Arriving near the blacksmith's workshop, Red could feel the man's presence through his crimson sense. The last fluctuation belonged to him, and it seemed to be on par in strength to Narcha's own. After some hesitation, the boy knocked on the door.

"Come in!" a shout came from inside.

Entering the workshop, Red was able to find the blacksmith at his usual place. The giant didn't look up as the youth approached him.

"You're back, huh?" Goulth spoke up in a grumpy voice.

"How did you tell it was me?" the boy asked.

"It's the footsteps," the man explained. "I can tell who it is by how their steps sound against the stone..."

The blacksmith trailed off, and an awkward silence settled in the room. Eventually, though, Red decided to speak.

"I need your help with something."

"Hmph, why don't you go ask Narcha for her help?" the giant grumbled. "I'm sure she'll probably be more helpful than an old man like me."

Red didn't know how to respond. Eventually, though, he just pulled the cleaver off his back and extended it towards the man.

"I found a weapon." the boy spoke up.

"Where?!" Goulth's sour tone disappeared as he turned around to look at the youth. His gaze was immediately drawn to the cleaver in the boy's hand. "That... That is... Let me see it!"

Red simply handed the weapon over. The blacksmith meticulously examined it under the sunlight coming from the windows. With his thumb, the blacksmith slowly touched the blade's edge. A small trickle of blood immediately traced off of it.

"Impressive!" Goulth exclaimed in admiration. "Which monstrous insect did you pick this from?"

"How can you tell it came from an insect?" Red asked in wonder.

"It's the chitin," the blacksmith explained. "It's the material most insects' exoskeletons are made of. Although I don't know which monster this came from, I can recognize the material."

"I see..." the boy nodded. "I don't know the name of the insect this came from, though..."

Again, Red wasn't lying.

"It's still impressive..." Goulth continued. "Whatever monster this was, it was probably very close to forming a monster core... Unfortunately, it looks like a part of it was damaged. A liquid capable of doing this must have been very corrosive!"

Red recalled the giant spider's glowing green blood.

"So," the giant lowered the cleaver. "What do you want to do with it?"

"Is there a way to repair it?" the boy got to the point.

"Repair it?" Goulth frowned. "Not possible. The problem with working with animal parts is that you obviously can't replace or repair them as easily as other metals. There is, however, something else we can do with it..."

"What is it?" Red perked up.

"We can reforge it!" the blacksmith smiled.

It seemed the man had completely forgotten he was supposed to be mad at the boy.

"How so?" Red frowned. "You said we can't repair it."

"We can't, but we can use other materials," Goulth explained. "We can extract the useful part of this weapon, that being the blade, and use it as the basis for another weapon. Of course, this blade is a bit too small, so we can't do anything too big... But it should still work!"

"Can you do it?" the boy was excited at the prospect.

"Of course I can! I can make it even better than it is right now, but..." the blacksmith trailed off, a smile crossing his expression.

"What is it?" Red was confused.

"I'm not doing it!"

"...Why not?" the boy frowned.

"Because you're the one who's going to do it!"

This immediately stunned the boy into silence.

"What?! Don't look at me with that face!" Goulth laughed. "I'm sure you'll be able to do a good job!"

"I don't even know how to make a simple dagger yet." Red protested. "How can I work on something like this?"

"Well, I'll teach you!" the giant replied. "It might take a while, but when you're ready, you can make this blade into any weapon you want... Don't you feel excited at the prospect of creating something for yourself?"

Now that the man mentioned it, this was indeed something that interested Red. However, his main concern was how long it might take him to be up to the task.

"Is it going to be difficult?" the boy asked.

"Oh, particularly so!" Goulth smiled. "Dealing with monster parts is completely different from dealing with metals... Any mistakes, and you could shatter this blade and make it completely useless!"

'You're not making a compelling argument...'

"However, this is necessary if you want to craft your own equipment in the future." the man continued. "You can also consider it as a kind of test from me. After all, if you want to pursue blacksmithing in the future, this kind of task can't even be considered a challenge!"

"...Very well." Red just nodded. "But I can't work right now... I need to rest."

"...That's fine, kid." the giant shrugged, handing him the blade back. "I was occupied anyways..."

Red grabbed the blade and put it into his strap. After saying his farewells, the boy headed back to his room. Once he was inside, the youth took off his backpack and dumped the items he had recovered from his stash onto the bed.

A bright-green crystal, a yellowed paper with writing on it, a map of the underground, and a shoddy knife. All of his treasures were finally reunited with the boy.

Now, he needed to address the most important matters.