Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The adventurers dispersed and each went to do their own task leaving a few of them.

"There was no need for you to step up, this level of handicap is nothing" Simon said vaguely as he contemplated the objective of this man who was trying to get on his good side.

"You don't have to mind it, I just spoke up since I didn't like how these adventurers were piling most of the dangerous tasks on your shoulder" Chuck said while walking towards the wagon.

"Is that so" Simon narrowed his eyes at those words, did the latter think that he was some naïve young man to have believed those words.

"Ahaha, well besides that there is also another reason. You might not know but I am… I was a guild leader not long back. With my actions, I at least wanted to show you a provisional adventurer that not all adventurers are like that. I do apologise if I was being nosy".

Since the man was not looking in his direction, he couldn't see what the expression of the adventurer was nor what he was thinking. However, from his words, Simon couldn't perceive any negative emotions. Which led him to think that Chuck was doing all of this as a way of atoning for those guild members of his that he couldn't save.

The adventurer went to his teammates and Simon was approached by Adalinda who was by now extremely bored.

"What took you so long? I was dying from boredom over here" she complained crossing her arms.

He laughed dryly at this haughty act and explained her the situation. Adalinda listened intently; her eyes glowed strangely when she heard about the various dangers associated with this vast forest land. Simon could even see some excitement in those eyes of hers.

Her mood was like a swing as it fluctuated up and down, when she heard that some adventurer was trying to make things difficult for them, she couldn't help but display some killing intent.

"Hehh… that man is digging his own grave. Don't tell me you will just leave things like that?" Adalinda asked with a smile that was not a smile.

A ferocious glint appeared on his eyes and for an instant, Simon's eyes turned to their previous crimson colour.

"No way… if that man wants to play, of course I'll play along".

Two pairs of wicked laugh rang out as some devious plans were being cooked. The concerned man of their topic was unaware of it.

                                                                        ****

NEEIGHH… the Bane Moose roared and the convoy of wagons started moving at the first sign of sun coming out. The wagons marched with the adventurers taking the lead to scout out their surroundings as they delved inside the vast forest land. 

At a glance, the area spanned for thousands of kilometres with no sight of it ending. Tall trees and thick vines shrouded the area and covered most of the sunlight from entering in.

There would be intermittent cries of distant monsters coming from unknown directions sometimes, nonetheless, the convoy stuck to the rough route and proceeded forwards. A coarse road went between the tall trees and thickets and disappeared deep inside the valley.

<br/> To cross the northern outlaw forest, one must stick to this route so as to not get lost and risk diving into monsters or bandit's territory.

The adventurers and guards surrounded the wagon as it silently marched on. At the front, a group of people could be seen riding on Bane Moose as they scouted the place ahead.

Of course, Simon and Adalinda were amongst the group. Their task was simple and that was to monitor for any monster or unusual activities occurring at the front and signal the other behind them.

Simon looked around his surroundings and narrowed his eyes, although this was his first time coming to these parts of the land, he didn't feel any discomfort since he was adapted to exploring lands that were multiple times more dangerous than this.

Spreading his senses all around him and activating the skill [Detect Presence], he could perceive any unusual movements occurring around them.

The adventurers were spread apart as they searched for any traces of monsters or bandits around them. Once in a while, they would gather in a spot and exchange information before passing it to the convoy following behind.

Of course, since they all sided with the big nose man, nobody paid much attention to the detail that the two new provisional adventurers had provided since they thought that whatever information their little ability had allowed them to gather was useless in their eyes.

Compared to the information of the newbie adventurers, it was much more reliable to base their decisions on the veteran and experienced adventurers.

Simon shrugged his shoulders and didn't think much of the adventurers showing him cold shoulders.

Time flowed by and the sun was beginning to set. The faint light of sunrays that the adventurers were relying on to travel, soon began to disappear leaving the forest dark and gloomy.

With the arrival of the night, the nocturnal denizens of the forest began to wake up. The howl and cries of the monsters were more apparent now and there was a faint trace of uneasiness seeping within everyone's heart.

Adventurers and guards carried torches of fire moved forwards for a while before coming to a stop in front of a large clearance.

"Alright everyone we will stop here for the time being. Moving at night will be more dangerous since not many of us possess skills like [Night Vision]" Alvara the guard commander declared from the top of the Bane Moose she was riding.

The clearance that they decided to use as their temporary campground was big enough to easily hold the lineup of wagons and still have plenty of space to spare.

The faint moonlight seeped out from the clouds looming over the sky and brightened the area. Everybody except those acting as sentries, immediately started setting up temporary camps and fireplaces to cook.

Over at the large table, a beautiful woman wearing a purple dress and having a violet hair, could be seen looking at the map strewn on the table and pondering something. The woman was none other than the Mistress of the Serene Palace Merchant guild Cynthia.

At this moment Alvara, Jeeves, adventurers leaders and guards crowded around the table and were discussing something intensely.

A guard hurriedly came over and passed Alvara some object that looked like fur at a glance. She inspected it before showing it to the adventurers.

"This was found around here. It looks like fur of some monster that has been shed. Are you guys certain that this ground has been deserted?".

Her question was directed at the group of adventurers.                                                               

"Miss commander need not worry, my team have searched the place thoroughly and have found some traces of monsters once inhabiting this area; however, they have deserted this ground a long time ago and are unlikely to come back here".

The man who reported this was none other than Bignosio who had quite the smug face at this moment. With his years of experience, it was easy for him to tell some of the habits and tendencies of the monsters.

While that may be true, everybody was clear of the intention of this man who was trying to garner some attention from their client. They could see a fiery heat on the somewhat boorish face of the man with which he glances at Cynthia.

Bignosio would have made his move on the extremely beguiling woman if not for the order of guards and Alvara the guard commander who he was afraid of.

How could Cynthia not be aware of such nefarious gaze? However, the current situation was so that she couldn't help but ignore it for the time being no matter how disgusted she felt in her heart. The adventurer may be depraved but he had his uses and his experience was what their convoy needed right now.

"The fur that is in Miss Alvara's hand, if I'm not wrong, is from a monster called Mountain Bear, the fur being greyish brown is a proof of that. They are a kind of monster that usually prefer to stay and hunt alone, also they migrate to different hunting grounds during different seasons. Looking at how the scent of the monster is so faint here, this ground has been long deserted by them".

Bignosio described, putting the vast knowledge that he had accumulated over the years of adventuring, in front of everyone. His eyes continued to steal some sneaky glances at Cynthia.

Technically speaking, it was one of the guys from his group that had passed him this information while they were scouting. However, the man named Bignosio was shameful enough to pass it as his own knowledge in front of this crowd.

Awed and surprised sounds came from the various adventurers around the table, it was clear that they were impressed by his resourcefulness. However, the target of his impression did not spare him a single glance and only nodded at those words while still looking over the map.

Simon who was present amongst the adventurers crowding over the table, involuntarily arched his brows at those words from the big nose man.

He looked all around the place and narrowed his eyes, although he did not have [Night Vision] skill, he could still many times better than an ordinary person in the darkness of the night. Hence, it was easy for him to spot a few traces that could have been otherwise missed.