But few hunters realized the meaning of what the king was talking about and was more interested in the defense tower that was being built and what it might have to do with changing the animals' behavior.
"Because the defense tower cannot be built on the road, the king ordered some people from the kingdom to cut down trees in the place where the defense tower will be built and clear the land."
Hearing this all hunters could be sure that this was what was causing this change in the forest, with the trees being cut down and part of the forest being destroyed for the king to build a defense tower the forest animals that lived in that area had to go to another territory in the forest.
When animals were unable to beat animals from other territories they had to go to the forest territory near where the villages stayed, which was always cleared by hunters, so animals that failed to dominate new territory went near the villages.
"Thanks for the information, we didn't receive the news of things that happen in the kingdom normally, we are already going back to our villages."
"Okay, so be careful, I know you know how to walk in the forest, but some soldiers have died from attacks by wolves and bears in the last few months when they were trying to clear the forest near the road."
"Thank you for the warning."
Hunters already knew the cause of the animals' turmoil in the past few months, but they were upset because they couldn't solve this problem, they couldn't ask the king to stop building the defense tower.
And even if they asked for nothing it would change because the animals could not return to a place where there was no forest, so the only thing they could do was to continue hunting in the coming months and wait for the forest to return to normal.
The hunters returned the same way they came and because of that they faced much fewer difficulties on the way back, after almost two weeks they were safely back to their village.
The hunt could be considered a success, they killed several lions, bears, wolves, hyenas, snakes, and other wild animals and thus had guaranteed the safety of the villages for a few more weeks.
They also returned with the cart full of animal skins and some animal bodies to be sold to the kingdom's merchants, and they also discovered the cause of the change in the animals' behavior.
The only bad thing that happened was that Dylan was injured, but he would recover after a few more weeks and learn to be more cautious after having a new scar when the hunters returned their families received them with much affection and longing.
After all, the hunt lasted two weeks longer than expected, Tim was very concerned about Jack these past few weeks and can only relax when he saw his son healthy and looking more like an adult man now.
"Hi Tim, sorry we came back two weeks later than promised, but it was difficult to find the cause of the animals' turmoil, but fortunately the trip was a success and Jack helped a lot in the last few weeks, I think he can be considered a hunter now."
"I am happy to know that it was not a burden for you, with you coming back well I am calm, so, did you discover the cause of this change in the animals' behavior?"
"Yes, it was an order from the king to cut the trees in a part of the forest near the road that connects our kingdom with the neighboring kingdom, we cannot do anything about it and we have to hunt more often and wait for the forest to return to normal."
"I'm glad it wasn't because of a war, we would be in trouble if it was the enemy army that was causing this."
"I also thought it might be because of this, but it looks like the war might actually happen, the king has ordered them to clear a part of the forest to create a defense tower near the road."
"I hope the king is just being cautious in building this defense tower."
Tim naturally knew what the king's idea of building a defense tower halfway between the two kingdoms meant, but they couldn't do anything about it and they couldn't get information out of the realm normally because they were in villages.
Jake and Tim came home and Tim said that Jake had a lot to learn in the coming months, Jack was almost learning everything that Tim had to teach and after a few months as hunters, Jack's physical strength had increased a lot.
So Tim already thought it was time to start letting Jack make some swords to train the skills they had learned in recent years as Tim's assistant, hunters would have to do more hunting to kill the wild animals that approached the village, but Jack he didn't have to help Ron and Mark always.
So a few months passed and the villages were already used to the changes that had to be made after the hunters returned, the women could not go to the river alone to wash their clothes and some men from the villages always had to accompany them.
The miners who had to work looking for metal also had to be protected from animals that could attack them in the mines, and several other professions started to need protection and thus the villages became more united.
In the morning Jack did his daily training with the sword, now he had much more skill after training several months with Ron, Jack was also more confident in his skills as a hunter, but he had no arrogance thinking he was better than the others.
After doing his training in the morning Jack went to the workshop to help his father, Jack was excited that Tim had been teaching him a lot in the last few months after he came back from the hunt.
"Good morning, Dad, what are you going to teach me today?"
"Hahaha, I see you are excited, Jack, this is good, I have taught you a lot in the last few years and even more in the last few months, now I think you are ready to try to make a sword yourself."
Jack was shocked to hear his father talking about it, he hoped he would have to wait until he was 20 at least before he had a chance to start making weapons, he didn't expect him to do it before he turned 17.