Operation Make Monsters Clear a Path: Start!

During this time, he prepared a ton of jerky, all of which was E-Class essence food. He had an excess amount of meat, anyway, so might as well.

The only wasteful part of this was the spices, but after some time, he learned how to minimize the use of the spices while retaining the 'beast-attracting' qualities of the food.

For now, Durgan started about a hundred meters away, placing a few jerky there. To make things harder for the monsters, he placed them under rocks, revealing just enough for their scent to get out.

He would place a jerky every meter or two along a predetermined path, ending up at the barrier. They should flatten it eventually while trying to get the meat, and more and more mobs should, theoretically, line up, trying to get the meat. Ideally, they also injured each other.

And they did. At least to a degree.

They weren't enough to completely flatten a clean path, though. Durgan placed the jerky relatively densely considering the average sizes of the beasts, but sadly, those damned brootrats were able to squeeze through the gaps and took the jerky underneath.

This was why there were relatively unsquashed places, and it certainly wasn't a neat enough cleared line to create a pathway on.

Finn tutted, disappointed at the results. "Looks like we'll have to make them run to and fro," he said, making Durgan blink at him.

"Hmn?" What was the Innkeeper on about this time?

"To and fro, from the end back to the barrier, until they created a path for us," Finn explained, with his fingers moving to show his point.

The halfling stared, before adjusting. "I see…how do we keep them running in a neat line?" he asked. Sure, they managed to gather a lot of beasts, but how far would they go?

If they did this for the entire way, not only would it take a long time, they'd also be so far away from the barrier by then.

They wouldn't be willing to spend even the diluted beast repellants to control their paths, either.

Finn grinned at him, and it gave him a bad feeling.

A few minutes later, with Tumble's help, Durgan now had a fishing pole tied to his back, with Class-D meat hanging on the pole, using vines as a makeshift string.

Durgan stared.

"Well, it'll be fine, it's just mostly awakened monsters in the area. I don't have to worry about you, a peak-tier Toughened Tank, don't I?"

"..."

Durgan felt really awkward. This was the last thing he'd have thought he'd be doing as a staff member! "I've never seen something like this before."

"Well, we've never had to build an inn in the middle of nowhere before either."

On the other hand, the two goblins and Pang (who was comfortably resting on Ranran's head) saw them off. "Bring us more customers, la!" Pang said, and then waved those chubby paws.

After they made a rough path, Finn, wearing diluted beast repellent (he fortunately got five new bottles the day prior), would then clear up the remaining shrubs and maybe plant a few surgefern pods.

He would then be followed by the goblins, also wearing diluted beast repellents, and add the tiles every meter or so. Since they were doing such a cumbersome thing as playing tag with beast mobs, they were definitely going to maximize this 'bulldozer' of a resource and reach past the stream, at least!

The original plan was just for the portion of the stream. Anyway, many people who ventured into this area would need to find a water source. It was simply more likely for chance encounters over there.

Now, with the 'bulldozer', Finn adjusted the target by a few kilometers, all the way to the nearest 'road' formed by others.

ROAAARRR!

Durgan headed out with the very attractive D-Class Essence Food hanging above him. He jumped over the beasts, angering them, and went past them all while making sure that he and the beasts followed the prescribed path.

ROAAARR! They growled, screamed, and howled, following after him, leaving a relatively flattened line behind.

Durgan's skill was not in speed however, so he did have to defend himself multiple times. In order not to waste 'labor' though, he did not kill them, but just pushed them back and made them stomp on the soil more.

His speed had always been troublesome to him, but it was advantageous to this road-clearing mission. Oftentimes, if there was a tree on the way that he had to take down, he might have to go back and fro over and over, jumping overhead of the monsters or over the trees, and then going back again to ensure the area was flattened enough.

In any case, even if the dwarf was super exposed, Finn and they weren't worried for Durgan at all. Despite his small stature, he was already at the peak of his rank. Although Durgan seemed convinced he would never reach the fortified rank due to his race, he was still a proper powerhouse, especially in the level 1 areas.

While the monster tag was ongoing, Finn was not too far behind. Of course, he wasn't close enough that the beasts would turn around to target him instead (in case the repellent expired without him knowing).

In his case, Finn was spreading the seeds, er, the fern spores.

Finn had two jobs. One was to clear out the remaining obstacles with his weapon, and another was to sprinkle some spore ferns parallel to the makeshift pathway they were making.

According to his [Farming] skill, the way to let the fern grow was to soak it in the sapsurge sap, which he already did. Because he could only carry so much, he could only spread it every few meters, alternating on either side.

The regeneration rate of plants in this place seemed to be a bit fast. If he cleared out the scrubs, trees, and the like, they should be proper plants within a few months. He worried that the paths would be covered again.

Hopefully, this line of surgeferns would create a path with fewer monsters. If they did enter, hopefully they'd go through the line they made and stomp down on the shrubs and plants that would regrow there.

Soon, the monster tag passed the stream, making sure it was downstream from their own source, and then Durgan continued on his way. The stream was a signifier that they were near the small lake, but that wasn't their target.

He did take note, however, to place signs near the streams soon. Most people would go near the stream if they found out about it, so they were the best places to put signs. They'd put it high enough so it wouldn't get carried away by some flash flood, of course.

The two would continue like this for a while until their baggage was used up, and then they'd run back to the inn to rest and restock.

They would attract the monsters there and take care of them while hiding behind the barrier, replenishing their 'jerky stock', which would either go to the inn or be used to gather even more monsters.

And so here they were, still purposely playing tag with monsters, and they would do so for the next few days.

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