Chapter 65: Acquaintance
It would likely take quite some time for the Unknown Creature to reach Aindook.
Even though Pokémon have their own information networks, if it’s not on the way, the Unknown Creature might get lost and take a long time to arrive.
But for Lei Wen, this was already a last resort.
The Unova Region is vast, and even Lei Wen, a transmigrator, couldn’t determine their general location based on the surrounding terrain.
They couldn’t place all their hopes on the Unknown Creature.
Therefore, Lei Wen decided to send Ai Wen to scout for human settlements nearby.
That afternoon, Ai Wen, carrying plenty of food, bid farewell to everyone in the territory and embarked on his mission.
Finding a human village was not difficult for Ai Wen.
As a messenger with extensive experience in wilderness travel, Ai Wen knew that many villages and towns were built near rivers.
After leaving the territory, Ai Wen followed the river downstream.
Along the way, Ai Wen occasionally encountered monsters drinking by the river.
Fortunately, his extensive wilderness survival experience taught him how to avoid these dangerous creatures.
During the day, Ai Wen cautiously moved along the river, using the sunrise and sunset to gauge his direction and avoid getting lost.
At night, Ai Wen would find a secluded cave or climb a large tree to rest.
The sun rose and set, and the food in his pack dwindled each day…
After traveling day and night, Ai Wen finally discovered signs of a human village on the fifteenth day after leaving the territory.
From a distance, Ai Wen saw several women in old clothes fetching water by the river.
He excitedly ran towards them, waving vigorously, “Hey!”
The women, hearing the commotion, had just stood up when they saw someone resembling a wild man running towards them.
The women let out a startled cry and, somewhat frightened, tried to turn and flee.
However, when one woman, who appeared to be around thirty years old, clearly saw the face of the “wild man,” she froze in place.
The wooden basin she was using to wash clothes clattered to the ground.
“Ai Wen?!” the woman exclaimed, disbelief in her voice.
“Huh? You know me?” Seeing the woman’s reaction, Ai Wen was stunned. He looked closely at her face, and a familiar name immediately came to mind: “Martha!”
“Yes, it’s me!”
Unprecedented joy filled Ai Wen’s heart. He quickly stepped forward to check on Martha’s condition. “You’re alive? No, no, no, how did you all survive?”
Martha, like them, was a commoner dispatched with Lord Lei Wen to the fiefdom.
Ai Wen often delivered letters to her in the Royal City, and they got to know each other.
At this moment, seeing Ai Wen safe and sound, Martha felt relieved for her friend while also having many questions to ask.
The two hit it off, and under Martha’s guidance, they entered the village. After passing through a country road lined with blooming flowers, a camp with many tents appeared ahead.
The people in the camp were busy.
Among the crowd, Ai Wen saw many familiar faces.
“Hey! Everyone, come quickly, look who it is!” Martha called out to the crowd, her voice filled with excitement.
The crowd, hearing the shout, turned their heads in unison. When they clearly saw the figure, disbelief spread across their faces.
“You’re… Ai Wen?!”
“Heavens! Where did you come from?”
“What about the others? Why are you here alone?!”
A group of people surrounded Ai Wen, enclosing him in the center.
Ai Wen grinned and then explained in detail what happened after the blizzard that separated them from the main group.
“…Lord Lei Wen led us to set up camp in a valley plain. We chopped trees together, built wooden houses, and have settled down. This time, I was ordered by Lord Lei Wen to search for nearby villages.”
“Oh, right, and you? How did you all survive?” Ai Wen quickly inquired.
“Us?” The group exchanged glances.
Martha said with a smile, “It’s all thanks to Lord Geralt. He led us through the blizzard and we found this village. The people here took us in and allowed us to stay.”
At that time, they were separated from the main group, and just when everyone thought they would surely die, Lord Geralt appeared.
“Lord Geralt is also alright?!” Ai Wen was pleasantly surprised.
“Yes!” Martha nodded.
Ai Wen quickly looked around but couldn’t see the Lord’s figure. “Where is Lord Geralt?”
Martha hesitated for a moment before replying, “Lord Geralt is very worried about Prince Lei Wen… He’s been searching everywhere for Prince Lei Wen during this time. Just yesterday, Lord Geralt left the camp to go search for Prince Lei Wen again. He should be back in a few days.”
“Hoo… That’s good, it’s good that Lord Geralt is alright!” Ai Wen breathed a sigh of relief and added, “Prince Lei Wen will be very happy to know that Lord Geralt is still alive!”
“Yes!” The surrounding people nodded in agreement.
Ai Wen turned and looked around, noticing that the camp was larger than he had imagined.
Recalling the blizzard, Ai Wen couldn’t help but ask:
“How many people do you have left here?”
Martha: “Only two hundred and twenty-one.”
Her expression was grim, clearly recalling unpleasant memories.
Hearing this, everyone fell silent.
There had been five to six hundred people when they set out from the Royal City.
And now, only they were alive…
*
Deep within a forest, a tall, robust, handsome man with long, silver-white hair leaned against a tree, gazing up at the sky.
Beside the man, a Pokémon covered in hard armor, with a pair of huge axe-like teeth on its face, was sharpening its teeth on a large stone.
“Crrunch, crrunch—”
The grating sound interrupted the man’s thoughts. He turned and looked, then tossed a whetstone towards the Axew.
“Use this!”
The Axew accurately caught the whetstone, examined it for a moment, and then, through instinct, began sharpening its teeth with it.
Seeing this, Geralt withdrew his gaze, looking intently into the distance.
Three months. It had been three months since he was separated from Prince Lei Wen.
Based on Geralt’s scouting of the surrounding terrain during this time, it was impossible for the group to have crossed the blizzard in their condition.
Therefore, Prince Lei Wen and the others must have stayed somewhere, just like them.
Geralt’s mind couldn’t help but drift back to that scene.
At that time, they had encountered a group of terrifying monsters in a forest.
The monsters launched a fierce attack, and to protect Prince Lei Wen, he chose to lure them away alone.
He was cornered at a cliff and had no choice but to draw his sword and fight them.
But at that moment, something unexpected happened.
The monsters, upon seeing him, did not attack en masse. Instead, they sent one member of their pack at a time to fight him.
He defeated several monsters with his sword alone. In the end, while fighting the leader of the pack, his sword clashed against the opponent’s blade-like teeth.
His sword broke, and the opponent’s tooth also snapped.
At that moment, just when Geralt thought he was doomed, the monsters chose not to attack further.
As if respecting a fellow powerful being, they simply gazed at him deeply, as if imprinting him in their hearts forever.
One of the monsters he had defeated even chose to leave its pack and follow him.
“…”
Having rested, Geralt stood up, looked at the monster that had fought alongside him, and spoke with a hoarse voice:
“Let’s go, it’s time to find Prince Lei Wen!”
