'- No, that they are men is not the problem. I'm so used to such looks that I just end up overlooking them, but for my female friends, it must be different... I'm guessing here, but I'm sure something happened to them to have such a low tolerance for men that look at them with eyes full of lust.'
But if indeed the Three Annoying Beauties attacked every man they came across, then they would have enemies everywhere. No. It's just that the men in this place don't even hide their gazes and stare openly at them from head to toe.
Such stares would make anyone uncomfortable. It was simply that Alessia is so used to the gaze of her evil master that her tolerance is higher than the norm.
'-Since neither Zia nor Irina stopped her, it is expected that Miria is representing them. I should have realized it before...'
For a moment, silence reigned, but the next moment, the teams were not silent, as the arrogance of these women was sky high. They must be put in their place!
"Ha! You mean to tell us that four women got all that loot? Hahaha!"
"Knight Hernan, the mission unveiled the monster to exterminate. It's very likely that these women got the loot in advance from other sources."
"Everyone knows the difficulty of the teriar monster! It takes a minimum of six members to defeat 15 of them! And they're not even a known team!"
No one wanted to be left out, and they delivered their own arguments, hoping that Hernan would prove them right and punish Alessia's group for cheating the authority in wartime.
Of course, Alessia's group can resolve this peacefully if they are willing to gain the men's favor...
'- Haa... If it were that easy to get the loot, then we wouldn't have this problem with the monster. Any dog or cat could drive them to extinction, and this mission wouldn't be necessary... Haa, but 22 really is an exaggerated number...'
Knight Hernan let the teams keep talking in order to make time that way to find the solution that would benefit his own career as a Knight.
'- Beauty is a crime if you don't possess the strength to protect it, huh? If these women weren't so beautiful, then the situation would be very different... Well, that being the case, I will use this to get more information.'
"Silence, everyone!" Hernan shouted.
Everyone was silent, awaiting the Knight's judgment.
"It's not easy to get the Black Blood loot, but that doesn't mean it's too difficult either. If team 12 is not able to prove their origin, then they will face the consequences of deceiving the Castemira kingdom."
The other teams grinned evilly, while Alessia's group was shocked at the knight's lack of dignity.
"What! That mission was only put out there three days ago. With that amount of time, it's impossible to obtain loot from outside sources!" Zia shouted.
"Besides, no one knew that you would be evaluating our word through the loot. It's unheard of to think that we could anticipate that." With a calm look, Irina argued.
Miria couldn't stand to see how the situation was going awry due to the pressure of these stupid men, so she shouted...
"You are making things difficult for us just because you want to raise your achievements as a Knight!"
Hernan: "!!!!"
'- Did she see right through me?!!' He swallowed saliva. 'Or was it just a coincidence?'
Of course, it was just a coincidence.
'- Something strange is going on here... Because my identity hasn't been recorded anywhere, I can assess the situation objectively and say that... This knight knows the truth and that he is planning something against us!' Alessia looked with narrowed eyes at the Knight Hernan and managed to come up with part of the truth.
"Cof Cof!"
Hernan coughed, ostensibly to keep everyone quiet, but in reality he did it to hide the fact that Miria's making his true plans known caught him quite off guard.
"Calm down. There is a way to prove the truth-..."
"Sir Knight, get to the point."
Alessia interrupted his words without a second thought. She doesn't want the Knight to fan the flames any further with his words.
"All right, then... The teriar pack has a leader. If you can defeat it, not only will we all apologize to you, but the bounty of everyone present will belong to you."
"What?!"
"Hey! Don't speak for us!!!!"
"Don't abuse your authority!"
Hernan looked very angry at all the teams. Just his look was enough to send a shiver down the spine of everyone present.
"I remember everyone who spoke against team 12. If this team turns out to have the truth on their side, then you will be the criminals. Do you understand what I mean?"
"!!!"
'- Influencing the decision-making of an authority is also a crime. They reap what they sow!' Miria smiled evilly.
While all men repent for thinking with their lower bodies, Alessia's group seriously discussed the next steps to take.
"I'm sure there is an easier solution to this. That knight is smarter than he looks." Alessia said.
"I think so too." Irina nodded and said, "His change of attitude seemed very professional, siding with them for a second and then being a fair judge. That was very strange."
Zia is still feeling a bit angry, so she didn't give her opinion to avoid her feelings playing tricks on her. But Miria is the one who has the most emotions about it. Being a woman who speaks her mind, she couldn't hold the feelings inside her.
"I'm sorry," she said with infinite guilt. "If I hadn't provoked them, we wouldn't be in this situation. It's just that I couldn't stand how they talked behind our backs. I have a good ear, and they all had a different comment for each of us… The last straw was when they looked at us like prey, ready to devour... I just wanted them to understand that if they messed with us, they would be the ones who would suffe…"
'- Showing arrogance to avoid unnecessary fights. Although the method is not the best, she acted with our welfare in mind. I knew that pure smile wasn't faked.'
While Alessia slowly begins to discover Miria, the others understand from the beginning why she had that attitude.
With a smile, they stopped her. Her apologies are unnecessary.
"Don't worry, we are in the same boat. If you were to blame, then so are we for not stopping you." Zia caressed Miria's cheek.
"Zia..."
If it were up to Miria, she would jump like a teriar to attack Zia. But she stopped because people were watching.
With their calmness back, they managed to discuss without their emotions being mixed. Sometime later, they concluded.
"What is your decision?" asked Hernan.
"We'll do it," Irina answered.
"The leader is not just any monster; it will be similar to a floor boss in both strength and size."
Hernan's sentence gave all the other teams goosebumps. But still, Irina's gaze didn't change.
"We know that, and we are confident that we can defeat it."
"Well, that's what I would expect from the team that managed to defeat 22 teriar resulting unscathed." He nodded with a smile and said, "I'll give you all the information I have about it, so you'll be prepared."
'- I knew it all along. That was his goal.' Irina and Alessia had a similar thought.
As the 11 teams prepared to camp at the site, the conversation between Alessia and Hernan's group went on for several minutes.
Once they had quenched their thirst for knowledge, the knight walked away from them, wishing them luck.
'- We don't need your luck!' They all had similar thoughts.
Only then did Zia remove a camping tent from its storage ring, and they all helped to set it up. When they finished, they went inside and ate the food stored in the ring while chatting peacefully.
They assigned shifts to stand guard among themselves and took turns guarding the entrance so that everyone could sleep peacefully.
Until it was 4 a.m.
"Wake up, it's time."
"Mn~"
"Ahh~"
At Zia's call, they all woke up and yawned. This scene is so captivating that, if Emir were on the spot, he would probably need to refrain from doing something perverted.
"The leader of the pack doesn't need to hunt to get food. So, the only way to call it... Is with prey that only it can defeat."
Irina raised her hand. And suddenly, a piece of exquisite fur, very soft to the touch, appeared in her hand. It has a captivating scent that will surely attract the pack leader.
To avoid trouble, she quickly put it back into her storage ring and then looked at the others.
"You all remember your roles, right?"
"Yes"
"Great, then let's get going. No matter what the leader does, we'll have the advantage."
With their weapons ready, Alessia's group moved away from the camp and walked north. They managed to walk despite the darkness due to the vast, practically flat meadow with no obstacles in between.
An hour later, they stopped.
In front of them, the meadow ceased to exist; there were only cracks and destruction on the ground.
"This is the place; there is no doubt about it... Prepare yourselves."
After removing the fur from her inventory, Irina left it in the center of the ground.
At that very moment, a roar was heard in the distance.
"GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR!"