Chapter 222 Beast Village

The invaders of the beastfolk village were a pack of magic wolves. There were quite a few of them, around a hundred or so, which posed a significant threat to the village; a single mistake could lead to casualties.

Living in the Great Forest meant encountering such dangers.

There were simply too many magical beasts here. Once the rainy season arrived, they would migrate outward from the core region, inevitably stumbling into the beastfolk villages, resulting in villager casualties every year.

By the time Chen Nuo arrived, a few magic wolves had already broken through the village's defensive line and were attacking the elderly and children of the beastfolk.

Gyes was the first to charge forward, moving very quickly. As the village's warrior leader, he was naturally the strongest combatant in the village.

However, Chen Nuo's fireballs pierced through these magical beasts first.

Gyes didn't mind Chen Nuo taking the kills; instead, he nodded to him in a gesture of gratitude.

Eris and Ruijerd both actively charged into the pack of magical beasts, quickly leaving behind a pile of corpses.

As for the remaining magical beasts, they finally realized they couldn't seize this territory and fled with their tails between their legs.

After helping the beastfolk fend off the invading magical beasts, it was clearly felt that the beastfolk's attitude toward Chen Nuo's group had become noticeably more respectful.

This was a respect born of strength.

It was only now that Gyes truly realized the gap in strength between the two sides. Setting aside Chen Nuo and Ruijerd for a moment, even the swordsmanship displayed by Eris was enough to make him adjust his attitude.

An Advanced Swordsman, regardless of the kingdom, is an absolute backbone force.

Could this really be someone taught by his good-for-nothing sister?

Gyes was still somewhat reluctant to believe it.

But now was not the time to dwell on that.

As the village representative, he had to settle and entertain Chen Nuo's group first.

Despite being royalty among the beastfolk, the material conditions of Gyes's home could only be described as very average, even somewhat primitive, with no great difference from those of ordinary beastfolk villagers.

This was due to the beastfolk's culture.

In terms of the development of civilization and magic, they had been left far behind by humans, and now they had completely become a subordinate existence.

This was the main reason why slave gangs frequently dared to come to the village to kidnap people.

The current beastfolk could hardly be called powerful.

The strongest person in the village only had strength within the Saint-level range.

"If you have any needs, just mention them to me, and we will do our best to satisfy them."

Gyes led Chen Nuo's group to the guest rooms usually used for entertaining travelers and settled them there.

Over the next few months, Chen Nuo and the others would have to stay here. The imminent arrival of the rainy season had temporarily halted their journey.

"Noah, when is Sandrone coming back?"

Eris looked at the dinner brought by Gyes; her spoiled palate really found it a bit hard to swallow.

"Tomorrow, probably. She still has to hand over those demon race children tonight."

Chen Nuo sighed, also missing his little maid a bit.

Kishirika, on the other hand, was eating quite happily; someone who was often hungry didn't have the habit of being a picky eater.

Before long, Linia and Prusena, the cat-and-dog duo, ran over with clothes, wagging their little tails.

In this season, the beastfolk territory was damp and sweltering, so it was better to change into different clothes.

Gyes seemed like a rough man, but he was actually quite thoughtful and had made arrangements in advance.

"There's a large open-air bath in the village. Big Brother Noah can come bathe with us."

"I can even groom Big Brother Noah."

The cat and dog princesses said very proactively.

"I'm afraid if Gyes finds out, he'll come after me with a blade."

Chen Nuo was a bit intrigued, wondering how they would groom someone hairless like himself.

"Father was just called away by the tribesmen. It looks like there's some urgent business."

"Mm-hmm, he definitely won't be back for a while."

The cat and dog princesses spoke in harmony; they had clearly planned this. To be so clever at such a young age, they would surely have a bright future when they grew up.

Chen Nuo looked at Eris, and the young lady had no objection.

Back at Philip's house, the two of them were often served by beastfolk maids, so subconsciously, she didn't view the beastfolk as her competitors.

"A bath? I want to go too!"

Kishirika raised both hands and joined the group.

Ruijerd didn't mind. In his view, what was the big deal about a few children bathing together?

Although Chen Nuo always behaved very maturely and steadily, his appearance and age were still those of a child.

Soon, Chen Nuo experienced the grooming service of the cat and dog princesses, which was the highest etiquette of the beastfolk to express affection.

It was itchy but quite comfortable.

To reciprocate, Chen Nuo licked them back, only to end up with a mouthful of cat and dog hair.

As it turned out, even princesses shed fur.

...

...

Early the next morning, Sandrone returned to the group with Pronia.

Ruijerd learned from her that the demon children had been properly settled, and his heart was finally at ease.

There were actually other outsiders in the village besides Chen Nuo's group. There was also a human being held captive for cheating at gambling. He looked like a monkey and didn't seem like a good person, though he wasn't exactly evil either.

He just had somewhat sticky fingers.

Chen Nuo had met him and chatted briefly. The man was quite talkative, probably because the beastfolk guards usually ignored him.

This guy named Geese had no sense of being in a prison at all; he seemed more like he was on a vacation.

In any case, the beastfolk didn't really intend to kill him; they just planned to lock him up for a while as a punishment.

Since he was quite pleasant to talk to, Chen Nuo even shared some food with him.

A few days passed like this.

Besides occasionally helping the beastfolk clear out invading magical beasts, Chen Nuo spent most of his time walking the dog and playing with the cat, while also acting as a temporary tutor for the two princesses.

This was Gyes's request.

In the entire beastfolk village, one couldn't even find someone who could do arithmetic within ten. The entire population had a level of education akin to prenatal training.

To put it nicely, there was a lot of room for improvement.

To put it bluntly, they were illiterate morons.

Gyes was very troubled by this. Upon seeing Chen Nuo teaching Eris, he proactively made the request. He could even tolerate Chen Nuo "bullying" his daughters.

Though in reality, it was clearly the cat and dog princesses who were clinging to Chen Nuo and wouldn't leave, in the eyes of an old father, the same scene had a completely different interpretation.

The cat and dog princesses proved one thing to Chen Nuo through themselves.

A mathematical idiot like Ghislaine was not an exception among the beastfolk, but a very common phenomenon.

This was also why the beastfolk had only ever produced powerful swordsmen and never any mages.

Their intelligence levels couldn't even meet the minimum requirements for spellcasting.

It was hard not to call this a racial intellectual deficiency.

Gyes had also realized this and was determined to make a change for his people.

Learning swordsmanship couldn't make the beastfolk great again; the advancement of civilization still relied on the development of magic.

In this world, magic was the greatest productivity.

Swordsmanship might produce extremely powerful individuals, but that power was difficult to record and pass down like magic.

One only had to look at the various human magic kingdoms to see that their prosperity was built upon magic.

Being able to realize this, Gyes was already a rare sage among the beastfolk.

It was just a bit too much of a burden on Chen Nuo.

However, seeing that the cat and dog princesses had the right attitude and were very good at grooming, he still accepted these two students.

"How on earth did you calculate one plus one to be three? Can't you even count on your fingers?"

Chen Nuo said expressionlessly.

He had long since ceased to have any expectations for the beastfolk's intelligence and accepted this fact calmly.

Eris, on the side, showed a proud little look in her eyes.

She had long since mastered addition and subtraction within ten and was now advancing into multiplication.

Thinking from this perspective, Eris indeed had the right to be proud as a top student.

"Wuu wuu wuu..."

Prusena's dog ears drooped, and she lowered her head with a pitiful look.

The dog was best at playing the victim.

This tactic indeed had an effect.

Chen Nuo reached out and stroked the dog's head to comfort her. His patience had long been tempered by Ghislaine; he wasn't angry at all, just a little numb.

"It's okay, just do it over again."

"Big Brother Noah is the best! I love Big Brother Noah the most!"

Prusena wagged her tail and threw herself into Chen Nuo's arms to express her affection.

"Dammit, I want a hug too, meow."

Linia pushed Prusena down.

Eris watched the two sisters competing for favor and felt something was off, as if her own territory was being encroached upon.

But as the eldest daughter of the Greylat Family, she really couldn't bring herself to get jealous over beastfolk.

Just as Eris was biting her pen in annoyance, she caught the scent of smoke from outside. Was something burning?

"Invaders!!"

A sudden shout rang out, followed by the village's alarm.

Prusena and Linia instantly fell into extreme anxiety, subconsciously hugging Chen Nuo tightly.

Their previous experience of being kidnapped and imprisoned had actually left a great psychological shadow on the cat and dog princesses, which was why they were so close to Chen Nuo.

"Don't worry."

Chen Nuo reached out to comfort the cat and dog, smoothing down their ruffled neck fur.

The group walked out of the house to look.

Fires were breaking out in several corners of the village. In the light of the flames, the figures of the attackers could be seen.

They were going after the village's women and children, their movements crisp and practiced. They were clearly experienced veterans, and their strength was not weak—at least stronger than the village guards.

"Is it a slave gang again?"

Chen Nuo guessed their identity.

"What should we do, Noah?"

Eris was getting a bit restless.

After spending these days together, she had already come to see the beastfolk as her friends. Seeing this situation, how could she just stand by and watch?

"Put out the fire first."

Chen Nuo raised his hand, and gray rain clouds quickly gathered.

With the rainy season approaching, the water elements in the air were exceptionally dense, making it correspondingly easier to cast water magic.

advanced-level Magic — Downpour!

A magic that could change the weather was formed and released at Chen Nuo's whim. The scale was perfectly controlled, covering the entire village.

The wind howled, and the rain poured down.

In just a few breaths, the fires in the village were extinguished.

To be able to ignite such a large fire so quickly in this season, this group of slave traders must have used some methods, either magic or corresponding items.

This kind of fire was not something ordinary rain could put out.

But this Downpour was not natural to begin with; the dense water element mana it contained was enough to suppress mana of other attributes.

This was why the fire was extinguished so quickly.

And this was only the beginning of Chen Nuo's spellcasting.

Within the "Downpour," all information about the environment and living beings was fed back to Chen Nuo, sketching a detailed picture in his mind.

"Boom!!"

Thunder roared, and batches of bluish-purple lightning fell from the clouds, illuminating the entire village in a bright white flash for an instant.

Everyone lost their vision at that moment, and the ringing in their ears cut off all outside sounds.

After a good while, the beastfolk finally returned to normal.

And at this time, they saw that the original invaders had all turned into charred corpses.

Saint-level Magic: Cumulonimbus! (Simplified version)

If a complete Saint-level spell were released, its power would be enough to destroy a town.

This was not something a Saint-level swordsman could achieve.

Of course, within visual range, a Saint-level swordsman could close the distance and kill a mage before they finished chanting their incantation.

"Alright, it's over. Let's continue the lesson."

Chen Nuo said as he rubbed the heads of the cat and dog princesses.

"Big Brother Noah is so amazing!!"

"Is this magic? I want to learn it too!!"

Prusena's and Linia's large eyes were filled with worship and admiration.

Though they might be a bit slow in the head, the two of them had inherited the beastfolk's talent for clinging to powerful people quite well.

Back then, the ancestors of the beastfolk had clung to the human heroes and become the victors of the Laplace War.

Compared to Eris, who liked to maintain her dignity as a young lady, the cat and dog princesses certainly provided plenty of emotional value.

"..."

Looking at Prusena and Linia firmly occupying Chen Nuo's left and right sides, Eris suddenly felt like she didn't like the beastfolk that much anymore, and she felt an urge to bite someone.

The young lady hadn't exactly been cultivating her character over the years; her temper was still very explosive. Otherwise, she wouldn't have earned the title of Mad Dog. She had only restrained her sharpness in front of Chen Nuo.

"You two, don't take it too far!"

Eris grabbed the tails of the cat and dog, one in each hand.

For the sake of a man, the ship of friendship could be overturned in an instant.

Although Prusena and Linia were two people, together they were no match for Eris. The gap in strength was too large; even with the intent to resist, they were flipped over by Eris in just two moves.

"With this level of strength, you're only fit to eat my leftovers."

Eris declared very dominantly.

There were even leftovers to eat?

The big boss is truly righteous!

Prusena and Linia unconsciously started wagging their tails.

Beastfolk logic naturally couldn't be viewed through the eyes of a normal person. Eris had already proven her status with her fists.