Chapter 168: Folk Houses

The Otlanta Spider, that's the strict name of the giant spiders that once attacked Cheese's dwelling. Originally found in a few forests, this spider has a different habit than most of its other kind, and the Otlanta spider does not like to weave webs in one place and wait for its prey, preferring to take the initiative. When the prey worth hunting in an area is exhausted, they begin to migrate in other directions. In order to cater to this extremely aggressive way of survival, the spider's mouthparts have become so large that even if it does not rely on the fangs that already exist inside, a bite from such a giant pincer is enough to cause fatal damage.

Such ferocious nature has made these animals, which originally lived next to the elves, a long-eared nightmare. It is said that most of the elven rangers who disappeared in the forest were caused by the Aotranta spiders, so in addition to their original names, they also had another nickname, "Elven Killers". And after humans went deep into the forest and saw these terrifying species, some people who were not afraid of death became interested in domesticating these giant spiders.

The elves could never have dreamed that the terrible beasts that had plagued them for centuries and were even embodied as the wrath of the spirits of nature would become the best scouts of hunters in the forest after only a hundred years of domestication by humans. At the same time, it is precisely because of the successful domestication of the Aotranta spider that the disadvantage of humans fighting elves in the forest has been further erased.

However, having said that, in fact, there are not many countries or powers in the human race that actually have the technology to domesticate these spiders. Therefore, those few spider tamers have become high-priced mercenaries in the black market in addition to protecting their own forces. For these guys, Cheese still knows a little bit. In his early years, the mage had crossed paths with such a spider tamer, but at that time both Cheese and the spider tamer were still very immature. However, even so, the mage was told interesting information about the Aotranta spider and the spider tamer.

"Hopefully what that guy said is true. Recalling the conversation he had had, Cheese muttered to himself. The caster has a special way of using his own memories, and for Cheese, the mage can quickly retrieve a specific memory of his own if he wants to. But even so, Cheese couldn't guarantee that he would find the spider tamer in a day's time.

By the time Cheese arrived at their destination, a very ordinary-looking one-story house on the west side of the royal capital, Cheese had already darkened. In fact, it was the first time that the mage had used the tracking method in memory. So when he noticed that Lothar was looking at him with puzzled eyes, Cheese could only nod his head and indicate that this was where the spider tamers were.

Compared to the mage's hesitation, after receiving an affirmative reply, Lothar didn't have much thought. He knew what he knew, and Lothar would never speculate about what he didn't know. And since Cheese was sure that this was the enemy's stronghold, the Count of Montenegro naturally did not have any suspicions out of trust in the mage.

After gesturing his men to surround the room, Lothar walked over to the house and knocked on the door.

The thin wooden door made a crisp sound under the knock of Lothar's heavy armor. Cheese was sure that if the Count of Montenegro wanted to, he could have smashed the door with one punch.

As for whether someone would come out to answer the door, the mage didn't have much hope. No matter what kind of mission the other party receives, if most of the spiders he sent are wiped out and he returns in vain, he should be on guard to defend against the counterattack from the mage. And along the way with Lothar, not to mention the bear hunters who seem to be unapproachable, the golden armor of the lord alone is conspicuous enough.

So the purpose of Cheese's trip was just to see if he could find some useful information from the spider tamer's location. More importantly, he must prove to his opponents that he has what it takes to find and threaten them. Only in this way can the mage be sure that the other party will not dare to act rashly against the allies around him.

But something unexpected happened to Cheese. After Lothar knocked on the door, a sound of footsteps came from inside the house. The fragile wooden door was carefully opened through a crack, and an eye appeared in the gap.

"My lord, is there anything wrong with you?" may have been frightened by Lothar's appearance, the man in the door said in a somewhat trembling voice.

"Open the door, I need to inspect your house. Frowning, the Count of Montenegro said in an unquestioning tone. Although Lothar was only a few years older than Si, his battle-hardened aura made his words particularly intimidating.

"Yes...... Yes, my lord. The man in the door was frightened by the momentum of Lothar's body, and he couldn't stop apologizing for his rudeness, and at the same time hurriedly opened the door to welcome Lothar in.

The Count of Montenegro naturally walked into this room, with his ability, he was not afraid of what trap the other party had set for him, and the skinny middle-aged man who came to open the door was completely unable to pose a threat to himself. What's more, there was also a gray-robed mage behind him to help suppress the formation.

When Lothar entered the house, Cheese followed. As the wooden door closed again, the gold and gray disappeared from the sight of the bear hunters. But they were not worried about the safety of their own earl, and in terms of force alone, Lothar was definitely a warrior who could crown the entire kingdom.

Walking into the humble hut, both Lothar and Cheese frowned at the strong smell of rotting wood. And when they looked around the interior, the furniture and furnishings that looked like they had been turned out of the garbage made them quickly understand where the smell came from. At the same time, in addition to the rotten furniture, Cheese and the others saw the other inhabitants of the house.

Three children and one adult woman. It looks like a whole family lives here. There are two girls and one boy among the three children, regardless of their gender, and the clothes they wear tell others that the family is very poor. In short, this house doesn't look like a spider tamer's foothold.

Lothar didn't ask, but his eyes signaled to Cheese.

The mage's expression under the hood was also a little stunned, although he knew that his tracking method was not necessarily accurate, but the situation of this house was exactly the same as the characteristics mentioned in the tracking method. What's going on?

"My lord, what do you want to check?" asked the man who opened the door in a whisper, cowering.

"Uh...... Is this ......" Lothar was asked by the other party and didn't know how to answer, after all, it was still a little difficult for the dignified Count of Montenegro to let him say that he might have gone to the wrong door.

"Can you show me your hands and those of your family?" said Cheese. Although the mage himself thought that he might have found the wrong place, he decided to use a different standard to identify the people in the room.