Chapter 63 Rich results

The Battle of the Monkeys and the Bird.

Gort quickly painted a vivid picture: it was actually a group of fruit-stealing monkeys attacking an eagle. "The bird had built its nest in the Fragrant Coconut Tree, and there seemed to be eggs in the nest. The monkeys, instead of stealing fruits, were stealing eggs."

He found this quite amusing.

Lister, however, mounted his horse and announced on the spot, "That's it for today's logging. Everyone, leave Thorns Ridge. Teacher Marcus, come with me to Oyster Village." There was no doubt that the bird was a Wind Wandering Falcon, and the eggs in the nest were its hatchlings.

They were his quest reward.

With the lord's order, the logging crew immediately ceased their work and began returning to the town along the half-finished gravel road. Lister had already set off with Marcus and four squire knights towards Oyster Village. By the time they reached the east coast, they saw the patrol team surrounding a Fragrant Coconut Tree.

There was a pile of monkey corpses beneath the tree.

"My lord!" the patrolmen bowed.

Lister looked up at the canopy of the tree, which was several dozen meters tall. The shortest ones were as high as a four-story building, while the tallest could reach twenty stories.

The one before them was the tallest, leaning at a sixty-degree angle towards the sea. Looking up at it, its crown appeared like a tiny speck.

The canopy was bustling with chaos, as chickens flew and dogs jumped about, occasionally dropping the lifeless body of a monkey. Even if they didn't fall to their deaths, their bodies were mangled with cuts that resembled slashes from razor-sharp blades.

"Monsters are up there. These wounds seem to be inflicted by magic Wind Blades," Marcus warned as he lifted a corpse of a Fruit Thief Monkey.

Lister casually pointed out, "They're Windwander Falcons. This group of Fruit Thief Monkeys must have been attacking the falcon's nest, probably in search of its eggs. The battle seems intense. Teacher Marcus, do you have any way to retrieve the egg safely? It might hatch into a new Windwander Falcon."

Marcus nodded in realization, then frowned. "If it were just climbing a tree, it would be easy. But with a group of Fruit Thief Monkeys and a Windwander Falcon up there, it's very dangerous. Monster guardians are the fiercest, and Fruit Thief Monkeys themselves are a pack of vicious beasts."

"Well, let's wait for a while. Perhaps, they'll weaken each other," Lister said uncertainly.

Given that it was a reward for a quest, it shouldn't be too difficult to obtain. Otherwise, retrieving an egg from a group of combat-ready Fruit Thief Monkeys or a single fighting Windwander Falcon would be an impossible task.

They waited for another quarter of an hour.

Monkey corpses piled up, and the patrol team collected them joyfully. These were high-quality game, although they couldn't consume them. The territory belonged to the castle and thus Lister, but the lord would surely reward them with some benefits.

Lister pondered for a moment and instructed the patrol team, "Collect all the dead Fruit Thief Monkeys. Finish off the severely wounded ones, and tie up those with lighter injuries. I want some alive."

He hadn't forgotten his previous idea of training the Fruit Thief Monkeys to climb trees and harvest Coconut Palms.

"Yes, my lord!"

Marcus interjected suddenly, "My lord, beware! The remaining monkeys are attempting to escape!"

As his words echoed, Liszt spotted about a dozen Fruit-Stealing Monkeys swiftly descending the trunk of the Coconut Tree. Hot on their heels was a large bird with almost no feathers left, flapping its wings as it pursued them.

"Marcus, join me in intercepting the Wind-Wandering Falcon. The patrol team, block all the Fruit-Stealing Monkeys, let none escape. Try to capture them alive if possible!"

Liszt seized the opportunity presented by the age-old adage 'when the clam and the crab fight, the fisherman profits.'

"Understood!" The patrol team was exhilarated at the chance to strike while the enemy was down. They drew their weapons and stationed themselves beneath the tree.

Marcus unslung his bow and nocked an arrow, ready to shoot at any moment. Liszt, on the other hand, drew his Red Blood Sword, the gem-encrusted weapon instilling him with confidence.

In the blink of an eye.

The surviving dozen Fruit-Stealing Monkeys began leaping down from the tree, only to be met with the patrol team's fierce onslaught. Exhausted from their previous battle, the monkeys were too drained to mount a decent defense. Like headless chickens, they were unsure where to flee, leaving them vulnerable to the attack.

The spear struck the monkey, and in a few moments, it fell to the ground, unable to move.

On the other side, a featherless Wind Falcon was chasing a fruit-stealing monkey. Unbeknownst to it, Liszt had already charged on his horse, his Crimson Blood Sword ablaze with raging flames as he unleashed the ultimate technique, Blazing Inferno Slash. A shower of flames rained down, and despite the Wind Falcon's agility in dodging, it still got caught by the flames, igniting the few feathers it had left.

Perceiving the danger, the Wind Falcon let out a piercing cry and flapped its wings fiercely, attempting to soar into the sky.

Liszt wouldn't let it escape. He bellowed, "Marcus!"

Marcus was ready. He released the bowstring, and two arrows flew in unison, accompanied by a short, sharp whistling sound. They pierced the Wind Falcon's body viciously, burying their heads deep, and blood splattered through the air.

The Wind Falcon swayed unsteadily before crashing onto the sandy shore.

...

When the last fruit-stealing monkey was knocked down by the spear and subsequently captured alive by the patrol team, the battle between the monkeys and the bird came to an end without a victor. All were reaped by the opportunist, Liszt.

After taking inventory:

There were a total of forty-six fruit-stealing monkeys. Thirty-nine were either dead or severely injured and finished off. The remaining seven, with lighter injuries, were bound and secured.

The body of the Wind Wandering Falcon was retrieved, not much larger than an ordinary earth dog. A nimble patrol member skillfully climbed to the top of a fragrant coconut tree, found the nest, and extracted an egg slightly smaller than a pineapple. "My Lord, there really is an egg!" The patrolman held the egg up excitedly, presenting it to Liszt. Liszt reached out to take the egg. Before he could even begin to admire it, a faint cracking sound emerged from within. "My Lord, the egg is hatching!" Marcus exclaimed in surprise. Liszt was also taken aback. He thought to himself that the Smoke Mission was indeed extraordinary; the egg had started hatching as soon as he touched it. As they stood there in a daze, the cracking sounds continued incessantly. Moments later, the shell cracked open, revealing a bald and ugly bird head, which opened its beak and let out an unpleasant "chirp" noise. The enormous eyes on the bird's head stared at Liszt, continually crying out as if demanding food. Liszt coughed lightly. "Teacher Marcus, what do baby Wind Wandering Falcons eat?" "They should...eat small fish and shrimp, right?" "Then, patrol members, go to the fishermen's houses in Oyster Village and bring back some live small fish and shrimp." He vaguely remembered from a documentary on "Man and Nature" that sea birds fed their chicks with wriggling fish, clearly indicating that they were alive.

Yet, he also recalled that some birds would swallow small fish and shrimp before regurgitating them for their chicks to eat.

In short, he should feed it live prey first.

Today's harvest had been immense. He wasn't too concerned about a single bird-type magical beast—the thieving monkey was a major threat that had been dealt with, allowing him to freely pluck the fragrant coconuts, not to mention having "laborers" to harvest them. The corpse of the large Wind Wandering Falcon was also a valuable asset. Whether he sold it or consumed it, it would be highly nutritious.

Furthermore, the upcoming quest completion would reward the town with scarce population.

"What a delightful day!" Liszt felt particularly pleased as he watched the Wind Wandering Falcon chick devour the small fish and shrimp. "Teacher Marcus, let's return to the castle. We'll continue the banquet tonight, yes, with grilled thieving monkeys!"