The group continued to move through the rest of the forest.
From the erratic path, sometimes stopping to look for the right direction, some leaned their ears against the trees, some tried to lick the ground.
The little princess who saw their behavior was also quite dumbfounded.
While following the leader, they continued until they reached a path like the one through the forest.
There was not enough lighting along the short journey, only the night moon followed them as they walked along the path.
The only sounds were the chirping of owls and the hooting of crickets both near and far.
Occasionally a fire fairy or two would appear for a moment and then leave.
"You. Like. Fairies?"
Perhaps because of the previous incident, the leader started asking about them once again.
In a confused state, the little princess answered that.
While being carried, she turned half of her body towards the front where the leader was.
"Eh? Us? Etto we also just met a fairy for the first time..."
It was actually not the first time the barbarians had seen fairies.
But seeing a mass of fairies enveloped throughout the scene was quite a rare moment.
"Fairies. Fearful. Rare. Appear."
The leader stopped next to the tree and glanced at them.
The others also stopped, probably waiting for the princess's answer.
"Umm maybe because we're cute girls? Hehe." said the princess playfully.
With a frown in the leader's eyes, he finally conveyed their current destination.
"Right away. Meet. Chief."
"Oh is sir not the leader?"
"I am. Different. Chief. Waiting."
'Looks like he's not the real leader... I wonder what the real leader looks like...'
As known, this group alone had exerted so much pressure and intimidation on the armed forces before.
It would not be an exaggeration to imagine that their original leader was even more sinister.
But reality and assumptions are sometimes reversed, especially in this case.
From a distance, there were small sparks like a small camp surrounded by trees and a night atmosphere.
As they got closer, they could see from the shadows the figure of the leader in question.
"Forbidden. Speak." before they entered the area, the spokesperson this time warned the princess.
The princess nodded repeatedly while zipping up her mouth for silence.
The sound of their arrival was heard in front of their leader.
A little scared of this existence but they still did it with confidence.
"Chief. We. Back." the spokesperson nervously greeted and reported to the leader.
He sat down on a worn piece of wood, around which fallen leaves had dried.
The unexpected figure by the small fireplace looked younger than he should have been.
He was young in stature, with thick grayish long hair, full and muscular like a typical barbarian, quite different from his clothes which were mostly blue animal cloth.
Beside him a large axe lay with a chain at the end of the handle somehow connected to his waist.
A fairly cynical and slightly frowning gaze was directed at the group.
But instantly turned into a figure that was quite unpredictable.
"Yo! Where have you been! I told you to hurry up and you just arrived this late at night, you stupid!"
The leader jumped up while greeting back and scolding them for not obeying his orders enough.
After all, they were delayed for some reason but how could their leader possibly try to understand that.
"Chief. Guest." in a fairly awake tone, the spokesperson expressed the reason they were quite late.
"Huh? Guess? Guess what you damn fool!"
Their impatient leader immediately stepped forward and shook the spokesperson's body violently back and forth like a puppet.
"Not. Gu...ess. Guest. Guest." the spokesperson was slightly shaken and dizzy as he reiterated his point.
Instantly their leader released the poor man who was already dizzy.
*thud* the man fell to the ground groaning and his sizable buttocks raised.
"Oh, guest? Why did you just say that! Where? Where!"
Their leader hurriedly shook his head here and there to find out the whereabouts of the guest.
With a slightly raised eyebrow he found the guest in question, the princess who was still in someone arms and gave a small wave while smiling at him, and a maid who was still weakly being dragged along.
"Oh there you are, come here let's sit together!"
Quite deftly, the leader and his subordinates then began to sit together around the fireplace that was already available.
"Where's your catch! Don't tell me you didn't get it at all!?"
"We did. Bring. Deer." said the spokesperson who was left behind and still slumped in place.
"Thank goodness. So where is it?"
One of them then brought a dead deer. That's right, just one.
The leader they thought there would be more among them.
But no one else stepped up to bring the rest.
Their leader was quite dumbfounded and then started jumping up and letting out his frustration.
"You bastards! I knew this would happen you little fools!"
Allegedly there was a hitch in their hunt, eventually not enough or even any other prey was found.
The spokesperson finally got up and began to join their leader and began to explain why this was happening.
"Many. Problems. Chief. Animals. Fear. Group. Stranger."
Their leader who had been complaining began to stare at the fire that was slowly eroding the wooden branches into ashes.
"Haaah... What can we do..."
"Sorry. We are." said the spokesperson while also looking down quite sorry for this.
"Someone bring our big pot. We'll cook soup this time!"
Cheerfully, everyone cheered at their leader's decision.
Slowly, some of them brought a large pot and began to set up to cook on the campfire.
Some of them started skinning and cutting the venison of their prey.
Meanwhile, two girls had been left sitting on a log across from the leader.
The leader with a knife and a piece of wood in his hand began to ask the two hostages with a slightly frightening smile.
"So who are you girls?"
The princess who couldn't stand it also returned to trembling in fear while hugging the maid who was still looking sluggish.
"A-anu... we're actually from the kingdom of Luminara... and we were attacked... the rest..."
The princess once again recalled the incident not long ago, feeling sad but trying to stay strong by wiping her eyes and nose.
She again looked firmly into the eyes of her leader.
The leader himself only glanced briefly then threw his toy wood into the fireplace.
"Relax, you're safe here." the leader said as he stretched his arms and body.
"What's wrong with that maid of yours?"
"It's... the head maid said she's been this way for some reason for a several period before..."
"Hmm... oh I see. Yo, are you guys done there?"
The leader got up and approached the cooking pot. He tasted the soup but felt something was missing.
"Hmmm... did you put in all the ingredients?"
The subordinates nodded together trying to be honest about the casual question.
"How come there are missing... oh yeah, I remember now. I heard from old people... that a princess tastes good..."
While glancing back at the princess, implying his teasing intentions to the little princess.
The princess who was getting scared, hearing those words. She began to feel a chill down her spine.
She had heard stories of good and evil about the mountain settlers or barbarians, but it seemed like a new story was about to take shape.
With a wicked smile the leader, like lightning, lunged towards the little princess.
Reflexively, the princess closed her eyes waiting for what would happen.
But in fact what came was a gentle pat to her head.
Surprised, the princess slowly opened her eyes to look up.
"I told you, you're safe here. Yo, bring two bowls over here and eat to your heart's content."
After receiving the warm soup given to the princess. She looked back at the barbarian group.
They looked happy, scrambling for soup into their respective bowls. Some were pushing, some were shoveling the soup with their bare hands and ended up being shocked by the heat, some were trying to blow into the fireplace.
They looked casual and enjoyed moments like this.
The princess looked down at her soup and remembered the same thing when she was in the kingdom.
Sometimes she would sneak into the soldiers' cafeteria to eat together. Sometimes she was scolded by knights or the queen herself to return to the dining hall in the castle.
All of that was now only a fond memory in her heart.
"Father, mother... Sister... Everyone..." she softly spoke with tears in her eyes.
The princess ate the soup with relish for the first time, joining in a different kind of peace.