Chapter 24: The Screaming Marmot

“What a pity, I didn’t even get a chance to greet him or ask if he’d eaten.” Watching the other figure leave, Leo had no intention of following him and risking further danger. He stood there for a moment, then turned back the way he’d come, ending the day’s reconnaissance with a sense of regret.

It was like a lone wolf trespassing into a tiger’s territory—there was no need for words. A single cold stare was enough to make intentions clear.

As the master of this domain, the wild hunter radiating the aura of a beast conveyed his message to Leo with just a look.

This is as far as you go.

Next time, I won’t be so polite.

Leo had no desire to provoke him. Having grown up among half-savages, he possessed an intuition far beyond that of ordinary men and could sense the danger the other exuded.

The endless forest and steppe of Wolf’s Expanse were rife with foreign tribes and large predators, even magical beasts. No wild tribe could survive here without formidable strength.

Every member of these wild tribes was both a skilled hunter and warrior, equally adept with spear and bow. Those who dared to patrol alone were the best among them.

There was no need to look any further than the massive, two-meter-long yew bow slung across the hunter’s back and the thick, heavy arrows—enough to bring down a brown bear.

The oak shield Leo had stolen from Ulian, covered in leather and a full inch thick, was crafted and reinforced to the standards of the empire’s regular infantry. Yet even that would not withstand a direct shot from such a powerful bow at close range.

In the days that followed, Leo spent his time either training the militia or patrolling near the upper reaches of the river, familiarizing himself with the terrain and guarding against incursions by foreign tribes or wild beasts. But he never ventured beyond the great boulder where the wild hunter had appeared, lest he catch an arrow for no reason.

As his scouting range gradually expanded, Leo’s tracks led him deeper into the forest across the river.

The environment here was far more complex than near the Baylands. Not only did wild animals abound, but tracks of creatures Leo had never seen before began to appear.

“These must be wild boar, right? Did wild boars grow longer legs? Are the wild men chasing wild boar?”

Crouching to examine the deep prints in the soft forest loam, Leo muttered to himself as he noted them down.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t recognize them; he could always show his sketches to the well-traveled Ulian back at camp and ask about each one.

“What’s this?” Following the trail with wary steps, Leo was stunned when he came upon a massive pawprint.

What greeted his eyes was an enormous print, shaped like a human hand but tipped with sharp claws, easily a foot in length—a terrifying sight.

Prudently, Leo decided to venture no further and prepared to return to camp and inform Ulian.

For all his strength and training—easily able to trounce the militia as if they were children—in the wild, unprepared, he wasn’t sure he could handle a full-grown brown bear.

And this unknown beast, whose tracks were more fearsome than those of a snow bear, was not something Leo wanted to cross. He’d have to gather reinforcements and figure out a way to drive it off.

Just as he turned, Leo felt the ground tremble slightly, and from the distant woods came the sound of trees shaking.

Without a second thought, Leo scrambled up a large tree, climbing more than ten meters before looking down.

The trembling grew stronger, and even the thick pines began to sway. Out of the forest burst a colossal creature.

It was a giant brownish-yellow bear, over three meters long, oddly familiar and yet strange. It stumbled beneath the trees, and when its massive haunch brushed against Leo’s tree, the whole trunk shook violently, nearly throwing Leo from his perch.

Chasing close behind were four one-horned wild boars, their horns like those of rhinoceroses, snorting as they gave chase with all their might.

“Turn around and fight them, you fool! Four boars together aren’t even as heavy as you!”

Watching them dash beneath him, Leo couldn’t help but be at a loss. The four one-horned boars, though far larger than any wild boar he remembered, were still like piglets following a sow’s tail when compared to the van-sized giant bear.

He simply couldn’t fathom what the giant bear was so afraid of.

After waiting a minute in the tree and watching the beasts disappear, Leo saw four burly humanoid figures hurrying along, tracking the bear’s prints.

These figures stood about five feet ten, powerfully built with slightly hunched postures. Their skin, exposed between crude fur armor, was covered in coarse, curly black hair. Sharp bristles, like spikes, jutted from their crowns and upper backs.

Each carried a bone spear or a stone warhammer, and slung across their backs were simple crossbows.

One of them, passing under Leo’s tree, paused to sniff the air warily, giving Leo a clear look at its face.

Boarfolk!

Over two hundred pounds of black, hairy, thick-limbed mass, topped with the head of a wild boar.

Holding his breath, Leo watched the boarfolk vanish into the forest. They were the second foreign race he’d seen since the kobolds—but far more dangerous.

Their heavy, primitive weapons, their crude crossbows, even the savage tusks jutting from their mouths, were all more threatening than the kobolds’ thrown spears and stones. Any one of these could easily harm him.

After waiting several more minutes to ensure the danger had passed, Leo began to climb down from the tree.

But as soon as one foot touched the ground, the distant forest began to tremble once more—the giant bear and the one-horned boars had circled back.

“Give me a break! Fight each other somewhere else!” Leo nimbly darted back up the tree, perching in the branches as he watched the giant bear crash wildly about below, leading its pursuers on a frenzied chase through the woods.

Gauging the distance to the next pine, Leo sprinted along the branches, took a light leap, and landed on the neighboring tree.

Repeating this maneuver over a dozen trees, Leo moved through the canopy like a forest Tarzan. As the trees grew sparser, his view expanded.

Some dozens of meters ahead, the frantic giant bear was driven to the base of a small earthen slope.

The slope was not steep, just seven or eight meters high, but the soft ground could not bear the creature’s weight. Three times it tried to scramble up, and three times it slid back down.

With limbs digging like an excavator, it flung dirt in all directions, nearly burying itself in the process.

As the four one-horned boars and their masters closed in, the giant bear rose up on its hind legs, back pressed to the slope, front paws waving wildly. Then it opened its mouth and let out a piercing scream.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Hearing that childlike, shrill cry, Leo finally realized why the giant bear had seemed so strangely familiar.

Because it wasn’t a giant bear at all—it was a marmot!

Only, its size was so massive and bloated that it looked just like a bear—but when it stood upright, spread its arms, and bared those enormous front teeth, its true nature was impossible to miss.

A screaming marmot!

And it could speak!

After crossing into this world, Leo finally felt as though the atmosphere had become genuinely fantastical.