It didn't take long to pack. It was mostly just me going to everyone's rooms and using |Item Box|. Afterwards, we said our goodbyes to people we got to know and left for the next village. Not even five minutes since we left, I heard Raon sigh.
"I kind of miss that place." [Raon]
"Already?" [Solace]
"I kind of understand. The food, the people, and…" [Wilharrow]
"Having a roof over our head?" [Fina]
"Exactly." [Wilharrow]
You know what? I respect it. Sleeping outside is NOT comfortable.
"How far until the next village?" [Raon]
"From our pace… probably a few days." [Wilharrow]
Raon didn't seem to like that. Either way, we indeed traversed the land over three days. We ran into a few friendly demons a few times and even shared camps. Eventually, we arrived at our destination.
"Huh? What's going on?" [Raon]
We saw a group waiting at the front of the village. A group of demons wearing black cloaks that somehow reminded me of either witch doctors or witch hunters.
"You people there! Stop!" [???]
One of them pointed at us and approached.
"My name is Pyre of the Black Dragon Order. We're here to investigate possible infiltration of heroes. Please cooperate." [Pyre]
He whipped out a silver medallion with the insignia of a flame molded into it. I suppose it was his form of identification.
"Um… Pyre, sir. What do we need to do?" [Wilharrow]
The demon passed a gaze over us.
"A group of beastmen. What is your business here and what is your relation?" [Pyre]
"We're family. Each of us are siblings and we're here to travel. We're looking for a good place to settle down." [Wilharrow]
"I see." [Pyre]
He took out a leather journal and a quill before scribbling something down on it. Meanwhile, I observed his equipment. He and his allies appeared to be using rapiers and also had ropes or whips tied to their waist. They weren't kidding about trying to capture people.
"Your names?" [Pyre]
"Wilharrow." [Wilharrow]
"Finea." [Fina]
"Raon." [Raon]
"Alt." [Solace]
"Leon." [Leon]
"No last names?" [Pyre]
"None." [Wilharrow]
Pyre wrote a little bit more in his journal.
"Alright. Now I just need one last check." [Pyre]
He waved Wilharrow over.
"...Do you need something?" [Wilharrow]
"Yes. Stay still." [Pyre]
He then reached for Wilharrow's head.
"According to previous cases, all heroes wear strange disguises. I'm sure they're lies, but you can't be too care-ah." [Pyre]
Pyre found himself unpleasantly surprised to see that Wilharrow's furry ears came off quite easily.
"H-Hero! There's a Hero!" [Pyre]
"Seriously?!" [Raon]
Pyre's companions were alerted and quickly came charging. Meanwhile, Wilharrow was at a loss for words.
"Impossible…! The disguise plan was foolproof…!" [Wilharrow]
"Gods damn it, Wilharrow! Get a grip!" [Solace]
From what I could see, there were only twelve demons including Pyre. We had to take them down and leave before reinforcements came.
"|Analyze|." [Solace]
They ranged from level 50 to level 70. I guess they were a weaker squadron or something because Zuyil who was over level 100 was an exceptional individual.
"Sorry, Pyre." [Solace]
Pyre began to draw his sword as my fist made itself comfortable on his face.
"Urgh!" [Pyre]
He hit the ground, slid for a bit, and laid there motionless. Did I hit him too hard?
"H-He got Pyre! Get him!" [???]
A bunch of people started bum rushing me. Thankfully my allies aren't like my ranked teammates with half a brain, so they joined my side.
"I'll take right." [Raon]
"I'll take left then." [Solace]
"I'll support you two. Leon, cover me." [Fina]
Raon and I were supplied with |Physical Boost| and |Agility Boost|. We took six demons each, or rather I took down six and Raon accidentally let two slip by.
"Leon! Two are going your way!" [Raon]
"Okay." [Leon]
Was all she needed to say before I watched her drop two full grown demons.
("What was that?") [Solace]
From what I saw, Leon only touched them. They were knocked out within an instant without any sign of struggle.
("Okay, that's kind of scary.") [Solace]
In any case, we just knocked them out while Wilharrow was in disbelief at the failure of the disguises.
"Wilharrow, what do we do now? We've got people hunting us." [Solace]
"I… I can't believe it…" [Wilharrow]
I rolled my eyes.
"Bro. Snap out of it. We need to go. NOW." [Solace]
Wilharrow remained in his state of disarray, causing Fina to slap him.
"Oh damn." [Solace]
"Huh?!" [Wilharrow]
That woke him up.
"Wilharrow. You're our leader. Get a grip and tell us what our next move is." [Fina]
She practically commanded him.
"Oh. Um. Yes, you're right. I apologize." [Wilharrow]
He then picked up the fake ears Pyre took from him and put them back on.
"For now, we should avoid areas that are likely to have people looking for us." [Wilharrow]
"Uh oh. You can't be saying…" [Raon]
Wilharrow nodded.
"We'll be taking the arduous route through monster territory." [Wilharrow]
Despair washed over Raon as he fell to his knees. Meanwhile, I was celebrating in my mind.
("YIPPEE!!! More |Experience|!") [Solace]
"Ugh… I'm not looking forward to the nightwatch." [Raon]
"It's alright. We'll reach the capital in about a week. Give or take." [Wilharrow]
We could only sigh.
"A week…" [Raon]
I slapped him on the back.
"Man up. You're a noble are you not? You can't back down against something so easy." [Solace]
Raon grumbled.
"It's settled. We'll depart right now." [Wilharrow]
We took a very roundabout way. The first environment we entered was a forest since it was easy to tell where we were going due to finding a river. On the map, we just needed to go downstream for a while.
"Watch out." [Wilharrow]
He pointed at something in the water, which I realized was some kind of eel.
"It's an Orivas." [Wilharrow]
It was black and slick. It was also kind of cute with its stupid looking face.
"Is it edible?" [Solace]
"If you can handle poison that can kill a drake, sure." [Wilharrow]
"Yikes." [Solace]
I wasn't about to test it. We continued on for a while, taking short breaks and drinking water from the river. Of course my allies weren't very educated on germs, so I taught them about boiling the water before drinking it.
"So… You're telling me there are tiny creatures living in the water that can be harmful to us?" [Raon]
"It sounds similar to a theory I've heard in class." [Fina]
"You can ask Master later to confirm." [Solace]
I'm pretty sure he got it from my memory as well.
"The more you know, huh?" [Wilharrow]
We also caught fish that Fina deemed fit to eat to preserve our rations. I mean, we did stock up quite a bit in my |Item Box|, but it doesn't hurt to be careful.
"I didn't know you knew so much about… fish." [Solace]
"I learned it as a pastime." [Fina]
"Really? My pastime was horseback riding." [Raon]
"That makes me jealous. All I was allowed to do was read the teachings in the Holy Temple. Rarely, I was allowed to check out legends." [Wilharrow]
That was kind of sad to hear. Bro had no childhood.
"That's not something I'd call a pasti-" [Raon]
"Over here! There are suspicious individuals!" [???]
Wilharrow sighed.
"They're so persistent." [Wilharrow]
This wasn't the first time we were randomly attacked. I think the Black Dragon Order predicted we'd go through monster territory so we'd run into a few of their scouts once in a while. Only three days had passed and we already encountered twelve scouting parties.
"I'll deal with them. Everyone else, pack up so we can leave when I'm done." [Wilharrow]
"Got it." [Solace]
This became a routine. We'd get found, fight, then loot their bodies before moving on. By the way, we originally didn't loot them, it was just me. They just started to pick up my habits from gaming.
"Free stuff, am I right?" [Solace]
"My noble dignity…" [Raon]
"Don't give me that "But I'm a noble" act. You were pretty happy when you took that one guy's boots." [Solace]
"They were Soloi Elevens! Do you know how rare they are? They're limited edition!" [Raon]
I don't even know what to say to that. They're just shoes. It's crazy to think that he stole the shoes right off some guy's feet.
"Hey, I think I've found something pretty interesting." [Wilharrow]
At this point, we were still looting.
"What'd you find?" [Solace]
"A map and a request." [Wilharrow]
"Don't tell me you want to complete it on behalf of these guys?" [Raon]
Wilharrow waved a finger side to side.
"It's not the request. It's what they were doing." [Wilharrow]
He showed us a papyrus scroll that had an image of some kind of lizard on it.
"Dragon subjugation?!" [Fina]
"Are you insane?!" [Raon]
"Oh, come on. We're heroes! We should do something hero-like!" [Wilharrow]
That was true.
"It's a dragon though. We'll die." [Raon]
Also probably true.
"Please guys? I really REALLY want to leave some legends or something." [Wilharrow]
Fina and Raon seemed to be having trouble making a decision.
"...What kind?" [Raon]
"Huh?" [Wilharrow]
"What kind of dragon?" [Raon]
Wilharrow checked the request.
"Green dragon." [Wilharrow]
Raon exchanged glances with Fina.
"It's… doable. I guess. What do you think, Fina?" [Raon]
"It's a species that lacks intelligence. The only problem is how many horns it has." [Fina]
"Horns? What's that supposed to mean?" [Solace]
"You can tell how old a dragon is by the number of horns on its head. It also tells us how strong it is. The more horns, the stronger and older." [Fina]
Turns out that there was a dragon strength system too. Pretty neat.
"I'm willing to fight it if it has two or less horns." [Raon]
"I agree." [Fina]
I was all for it for the |Experience| so I didn't disagree.
"Leon?" [Wilharrow]
"Can I eat it?" [Leon]
"What if I say yes?" [Wilharrow]
"Agreed." [Leon]
"Yes! Thank you! You guys won't regret this!" [Wilharrow]
I've never seen this guy so excited.
"Then let's go! Time to become dragon slayers!" [Wilharrow]