As a venomous snake, I evolved into a god through devouring.

"Turns out they're just a bunch of opportunistic soldiers."

Upon seeing the cavalry marching towards the village, Kasper immediately understood.

The military is a violent organization that serves the ruling class of the state. Even on the modern Earth of the previous life, killing innocent people to claim credit and plundering civilians were common occurrences.

Not to mention the human empires of this world.

"The villagers on this main road have had the worst luck imaginable."

A while ago, goblins were preparing to attack the village, and now, less than a month later, cavalrymen with big banners are going to plunder the village.

If the labor force and adventurers in the disaster-stricken village could be considered hellish, then what about the exploitation by the power structure and system that followed?

Kasper sighed inwardly.

Looking at the villagers who had no choice in their own lives, he felt as if he could eat more.

Kasper climbed down from the tree, where Simba was already lying on the ground, waiting for him to climb onto his back.

"Let's go, Simba."

Having received Kasper's instructions, the wolf got up and headed deeper into the dense forest.

"My lord, where are we going now?"

In the past few days, Simba, who previously had difficulty speaking, has been able to communicate with Casper without any problems.

However, as a member of the wolf clan, the latter had a deep-seated concept of hierarchy and would not easily disturb Casper unless necessary, making him exceptionally taciturn.

"Don't go back to your residence for now. Go explore other places far from the village, catch some more prey, and bring them back to store."

Coiled on Simba's back, Casper gave instructions.

Those cunning soldiers looted the village, and the meager possessions the villagers had were unlikely to satisfy their greed. They might even venture into the nearby forest to see if there were any good things.

Therefore, Simba and I should expand our area of ​​activity away from the village to avoid running into the soldiers. In addition, we should also consider the possibility of being discovered and tracked, which could expose our base.

Going hunting is the best option that Casper can think of at the moment, combining reason and emotion.

Compared to Kasper, who lacks sharp teeth and cannot tear pieces of meat, Simba can do many things, which greatly enriches his survival strategies.

Considering that hunting is not a guaranteed activity, Kasper would always bring back extra game when he took Simba hunting. On sunny days, they would hang the game on trees to dry, as a food reserve for the coming winter.

Will other animals come to steal the meat?

There were some at first, but they have become much less frequent in recent days due to Caspar's sting operations.

According to Kasper's rough estimate, the food they have accumulated so far is enough for him and Simba to live off for about a week.

This amount was certainly not enough to meet all his needs, but the pleasure of gradually accumulating things was so irresistible that he immediately switched to hoarding mode.

To Kasper's delight, the hunt was quite successful.

Besides the grouse they initially devoured, they also caught two hares and a pheasant.

"We can catch some fish by the stream later, what a great catch!"

A delighted Casper led Simba home, humming a little tune all the way.

But when he returned to the base, he saw a scene that he would never forget.

"Weeds?! Where am I supposed to eat all of them?!"

……

Two figures clad in armor, dragging bulky long sacks, were heading deeper into the dense forest.

Two hours later, they finally stopped.

"Let's take a break, this hellhole road is no place for humans to walk on!" The man with the mustache spat and threw the sack in his hand on the ground before his companion could respond.

The heavy sack hit the ground with a dull thud.

The soldier with the scar on the other side of his face did the same.

The two took a couple of steps and then collapsed onto the tree roots.

"I don't know what's wrong with the warhorse; it refused to move once it reached the edge of this forest..."

"Dragon's Might... Don't forget, a red dragon fell in this area. Perhaps a creature that has consumed dragon blood is roaming nearby?"

"That idiot Raymond should have been stabbed to death by Captain Finn," the mustachioed man said, panting as he ripped open his collar. "Now look what's happened, we're stuck doing dirty work in this godforsaken place."

He stared hatefully at the sack on the ground with his narrow, squinting eyes. If he hadn't been so exhausted that he was about to fall apart, he would have kicked it a couple of times already.

"Come on, you know the rules." Scarface wiped the sweat from his forehead. "The Legion warlock swore a blood oath before leaving."

The so-called "Blood Oath of Comrades" is an arcane spell developed within the empire. If a soldier who has been cursed has killed a fellow soldier, a red blood light will appear above his head the moment he enters the city gate, leaving him nowhere to hide.

The empire forbids soldiers from having the blood of their comrades on their hands; anyone found doing so will face severe punishment.

But where there's magic, there's a countermeasure.

Unless you kill them with your own hands, the "blood oath of comrades" will not react.

That's why Finn had them take Raymond to the dense forest near the village and abandon him there, leaving him to be devoured by passing wild beasts and monsters.

"But are there really powerful magical beasts in this area?"

The little mustache couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"What if he's not completely dead and manages to crawl out? Wouldn't that be a huge problem?"

No, it won't.

The scarred man shook his head, then gestured with his chin in the direction he had come from.

"I saw leopard droppings on my way here, so this is clearly its territory. In a while, our friendly spotted friend will end this guy's life."

Hearing this, Little Mustache felt relieved, but then his stomach rumbled.

"Damn, I've walked so far through the mountains, my stomach is growling. I'll go find something to eat nearby and make a fire here to have a meal."

The man with the small mustache propped himself up on his knees and walked further away.

As for Scarface, he remained seated. There wasn't much to eat in the dense forest, and he would wait for Little Mustache to finish his errands before going over to help.

To his surprise, just a few minutes later he heard a joyful shout.

"Come here, Simon! Look what I've found!"

Did he really get incredibly lucky and find something good?

Scarface, still bewildered and uncertain, temporarily forgot his physical exhaustion and got up to head in the direction Little Beard had previously explored.

When he finally reached the source of the sound, he saw the other person carrying some pieces of meat, laughing as they approached him.

"The goddess has been kind; we've actually found dried meat in this deep mountain forest."

Dried meat?

Unlike his simple-minded companions, Scarface's first reaction was not joy, but confusion.

Leopards do have the habit of dragging their prey up trees to eat, but the act of cutting and drying them seems to be the work of an intelligent creature.

Could they be savages living in this area, or perhaps goblins?

Completely baffled, Scarface couldn't help but ask a question.

"Where did you find so much jerky?"

"On a tree not far away."

The man with the mustache moved the jerky in his hand to make room for his hands to move around, and then pointed out the direction to Scarface.

"Right there."