Chapter 79: Making progress.

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Making progress.

Chapter 79: Making progress.

That change in itself was drawing upon more and more energy from him, which he couldn’t understand since he hadn’t absorbed any demons as of late.

Osborne looked toward the deeper parts of the forest.

"Well, at least there should be something here." He turned around and reached into the shelter.

A moment later, he pulled out his rusty blade.

The weapon looked terrible compared to the swords he had once carried at the Roosevelt Household, but it was still better than nothing.

The rusty blade was ugly, cheap, and completely unremarkable.

Perfect for his current situation.

Osborne placed it against his waist before stepping into the forest.

Regarding his days of traveling, he wasn’t simply wandering aimlessly.

He had a plan in mind.

His destination was the central plains.

It might have seemed foolish to travel deeper into the kingdom when he was trying to disappear, but after thinking about the situation carefully, Osborne had decided that the central plains were probably his safest option.

The Roosevelt March was located in the south.

That meant the southern regions were more or less in their control.. even if she wasn’t a Duke, she held a place in the kingdom most would decide wasn’t that much different.

The north wasn’t much better either.

Demon-fighting militias and military groups were heavily placed throughout the northern territories because of the constant threats coming from beyond the kingdom’s borders.

Even with the demons having retreated, it would be awhile before the kingdom lowered their guard.

That left the central plains.

The area was far more populated than the forests he had been travelling through, but that was exactly what made it useful.

A person was harder to find when there were thousands of other people around.

If Osborne wanted to disappear, he couldn’t spend the rest of his life hiding inside forests.

Eventually, he would need money.

Food.

Information.

Possibly even a place to stay.

And if he wanted to investigate his condition, he would need access to people who knew more about demons than he did.

The central plains gave him the best chance of finding all of that.

Of course, there was another problem.

He had no money.

Osborne sighed.

’I’ll deal with that when I get there.’ he thought to himself.

For now, food was more important.

His enhanced senses made hunting considerably easier than it would have been before.

He could hear small movements between the trees, smell animals from much farther away.

And once he focused, tracking became almost effortless.

It wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for.

A deer.

Osborne moved quietly through the forest, keeping his body low as he followed the animal.

The deer remained unaware of his presence.

Osborne tightened his grip around the rusty blade.

A few moments later, he moved.

The hunt didn’t last long.

By the time the deer realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

Osborne returned to his campsite later that morning, dragging the dead deer behind him.

He dropped it beside the remains of the fire.

"Finally." His stomach growled again.

Osborne stared at the deer.

"Yes, I know." He said.

He crouched down and placed his hand against the animal.

A small flame appeared around his palm.

Flame Touch.

The heat spread across the surface of the animal, allowing Osborne to remove its hide far more easily than he could have done with his rusty blade.

He carefully prepared the flesh before cooking it over the fire.

The smell of roasted meat soon filled the forest.

Osborne stared at the food while waiting for it to finish.

It was strange.

A few weeks ago, he would have considered this situation miserable.

Eating food he had hunted himself while sitting in the middle of a forest was hardly the sort of life a noble was supposed to experience.

Now, however, he didn’t really care.

His circumstances had changed and his priorities had changed with them.

Once the meat was ready, Osborne immediately began eating.

He didn’t bother trying to make the meal elegant.

There was nobody around to impress.

He simply tore pieces from the meat and swallowed them one after another.

The amount he ate would have been enough to feed several ordinary people.

Yet Osborne continued until almost nothing remained.

Eventually, he leaned back slightly.

Satisfied.

His stomach finally stopped complaining.

"Much better." He rubbed his stomach before standing.

A small burp escaped him.

Osborne froze for a moment.

"..."

He looked around.

Nobody was there.

"Good." He said, feeling relieved since there was no need to worry about manners.

He turned toward his makeshift shelter.

It was time to leave.

Osborne crouched down and began dismantling the shelter piece by piece.

He removed the branches, scattered the leaves, and kicked dirt over the area where he had slept.

Once he was finished, there was barely any sign that someone had been there.

He also scattered the remains of the campfire and covered most of the ashes with dirt.

The entire process took only a few minutes.

Osborne looked at the spot.

If someone came searching for him, they might still realize that someone had camped there.

But they wouldn’t know where he had gone.

At least, that was the idea.

"I don’t know if my ploy actually worked."

Osborne adjusted his helmet.

"If they really are coming after me, I can’t afford to be careless."

He looked deeper into the forest.

There was still no sign of anyone.

Good.

Without wasting any more time, he began walking again.

The journey continued.

Hour after hour.

Osborne moved through the forest without stopping, occasionally drinking from the water he had collected earlier and eating whatever food he had managed to find.

The further he travelled, the more familiar the surroundings became.

The forest slowly became less dense.

The trees were no longer packed tightly together, and sunlight reached the ground more easily.

Eventually, Osborne noticed something ahead.

He stopped.

His eyes narrowed.

A road.

A proper road.

He had finally reached one of the routes connecting the deeper parts of the kingdom.