The Exiled Knight Takes Up Life as an Adventurer — A Former Captain's Secret Power and His Carefree Days in a Distant Land - Chapter 15

The day of the escort quest had finally arrived.
I headed to the caravan’s meeting point.

After greeting the merchant, Zaal, I had a quick briefing with the security team.

Once all preparations were complete, the caravan set off.

The caravan consisted of five wagons and twenty Rotoul—short mountain packhorses.
For a caravan, this was mid-sized.

The escort team consisted of twenty guards in total.

“Mr. Mardin. We should arrive in Irevs by this evening. If anything happens, we’ll handle it, so there’s no need to be too tense.”

The captain of the guards approached me.
He looked to be in his late twenties.
A longsword hung at his hip, and he wore a set of light armor.

From his manner and presence, I guessed he was a former soldier or knight.

I wasn’t particularly tense, but I nodded along—part of the job.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“I used to be part of the Krotue Knight Order of the Kingdom of Iese, so I’ve got plenty of experience dealing with monsters.”

“That’s impressive. I’ll be counting on you, Captain.”

As confident as he sounded, his commands were smooth and efficient.
He gave clear instructions and adjusted formation based on the terrain.

That said, with a caravan of this size, the risk of bandit attacks was low.
It would take a small military unit to even attempt it.

And monsters rarely appeared on the highway during daylight hours.

The caravan moved along smoothly.

Looking up, I saw the sun had reached its peak.

“Lunchtime!”

One of the attendants called out, and the caravan came to a halt.
We veered slightly off the road into the grasslands to set up for lunch.

“Captain, I’m going to scout the area. That grove over there caught my attention.”

“Understood. If anything happens, blow your whistle.”

I headed for the patch of woodland a little ways ahead.

From my bag, I pulled out a small vial and applied a crushed mixture of Mintleaf Mylt to my skin.
I’d bought it from the guild’s general store—it was a summer quest essential: insect repellent.

“Alright, let’s head in.”

I pushed through the grass and stepped into the grove.

The thick summer foliage cast everything in shadow.
Even in broad daylight, the inside of the grove was dim.

“Huh? No bugs? Actually… it’s way too quiet.”

Early summer usually meant an onslaught of insects.

Among them, the most troublesome was the Black-Striped Midge Musute, drawn to human breath.

“Not even a single Musute? What’s going on?”

Unease prickled at my skin as I walked deeper into the eerily silent grove.

Then something sticky brushed against my face.

“What the… spider silk? Raphil?”

No—it was far thicker than any standard Raphil thread.

I grasped it and looked around.

And there it was.

A massive web stretched between two ancient trees.

“D-Damn it. A Fang Spider Denefis nest! That thing is huge!”

Fang Spider Denefis—a C-rank monster.

A rare kind of arachnid beast with eight legs and ferocious predatory instincts.
It hunts everything—bugs, animals, even other monsters—by ensnaring them with the sticky Raphil-like thread it spits from its mouth.

“Must’ve devoured everything living in this area…”

The web spanned nearly twenty medelt in diameter.

It looked like it dominated the entire grove—clearly the territory’s master.

Sticky strands of Raphil thread were tangled with insects, small animals, and even a few minor monsters.

“With a web that size… how big is this thing?”

Fang Spiders like Denefis typically grew to about fifty sedelt in length.
But judging by this nest, that number could be far higher.

“This is bad… I’ve heard Fang Spiders react to heat and scent.”

Outside the grove, the caravan was already preparing lunch.

I turned on my heels and sprinted back toward the group.

“Captain! Fang Spider Denefis! I found one of its nests in the grove!”

“Fang Spider Denefis?”

“Yeah! It’s dangerous here! We have to move now!”

“F-Fang Spider… Denefis…”

The guards’ expressions changed—then burst into laughter all at once.

The captain raised a hand to silence them.

“My apologies, Mr. Mardin. But we’re not going to evacuate over a mere C-rank monster. Besides, isn’t handling monsters your job?”

“If it were a normal one, I wouldn’t be saying this. But that thing might be different. First, extinguish the fires.”

A smirking guard stood up with a scoff.

“Seriously? Why the hell should we run from some lousy C-rank spider?”

“Stand down!”

The captain raised his hand again.

“Forgive my subordinate. Mr. Mardin… is it really that serious?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen a web that size. This place is dangerous—we should relocate. I’ll attempt to take it down, just in case.”

“Understood. I’ll accompany you.”

The captain and I returned to the grove together.

The deeper we entered, the more unnatural the silence became.

Not even insect sounds—not in the middle of summer.

“There. You can see it even from here, right?”

I pointed toward the massive nest.

It was roughly fifty medelt ahead.

“I… I’ve never seen a Denefis nest that massive…”

Just as the captain finished his sentence, I drew my sword.

“It’s coming out—two of them!”

“They’re huge! At least two medelt long!”

“Yeah. If we don’t take them out now, the caravan will be in danger.”

The captain unsheathed his longsword.