When Ed woke up to take Sigma's turn, the sun was already rising, and then he questioned him as to why he didn't wake up… even though he was supposed to have woken up by himself if he had to. Eventually, the others woke up and then heard the truth.
"Someone was spying on us at night? Are you certain?" Ed asked.
"I am, I felt that something was weird, and I felt the same thing when Rose was spying on me," Sigma explained. "She is pretty good at that kind of thing, right? Meanwhile, the other guy wasn't that good, and he must have left some footsteps behind."
The group went to check things since Sigma didn't feel anything at that moment, and soon they found some small traces of footsteps on the snow… they were certain it belonged to a human. They were lucky since it didn't snow that much.
"I guess Lucius' daughter's group has some scouts watching their back," Sabrina rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "It isn't like there are other paths to other regions, so I guess it would make sense that they would have scouts…"
"If that is the case, they know that we are approaching and might cause some problems for us," Ed said and then scratched the back of his head. "Well, not like we can do anything about it. I don't think that Lucius raised and trained cowards, so maybe they won't do anything against us."
Sigma felt that Ed was putting way too much trust in someone he had only met for two days. While Lucius helped him, Sigma couldn't think much of the old man. So, he would rather prepare for the worst in order not to be caught off guard.
The group began to move again, and they occasionally had to fight, so their pace was pretty good. After leveling up once, Sigma increased his strength, and since Archery and Power Shot leveled a few times, he was finally able to kill the giant penguins in just a single ten-second charged shot.
While they moved, Sigma kept his eyes on traces of people walking around. Occasionally, he found some traces, but around noon, it started to snow heavily, and then he lost all traces of footsteps in the snow. Sigma also expected that those people would leave him alone because of the weather. Still, just when they were about to stop at camp, Sigma noticed that the atmosphere was a bit weird ahead. Eclair also looked a bit tense…
"They are nearby…" Sigma declared. "We might as well press onward instead of letting them surprise us while we are eating."
Ed considered his point and then nodded, they won't be able to relax and rest while knowing that anyway, so they decided to keep moving. Eventually, Sigma told everyone to stop in an area with many snow-covered trees. It had been a while since they had any encounter, so he assumed that the Martial artists that left Cielia were all ahead.
"Show yourselves. We know that you are ahead," Sigma declared.
It didn't take long for numerous people to leave the shade of the trees nearby and show themselves. Sigma easily could count three hundred people there… it was quite a large number of people to keep under control in such an area. Everyone looked pretty tough, and when Sigma checked their status, they were all above level sixty. They sure trained hard.
Eventually, the group opened a path for a single woman in her late teens to get close. She was a bit short, but she certainly had a certain aura around her, and she also fits the description that Lucius told. Moreover, she had quite the glare and looked quite pissed.
Lucy - Lv 95
HP: 1250/1250
MP: 450/450
SP: 1265/1265
Strength: 125
Speed: 110
Magic: 25
Endurance: 125
Dexterity: 125
Resistance: 65
Status Points: 00
Skills: Vital Aura Lv 60, Fire Armor Lv 40, Cold Armor Lv 40, Wind Armor Lv 50, Stamina Manipulation Lv 103
Spells:
Passive: Martial Arts Lv 77, Meditation Lv 33, Pain Resistance Lv 81, Wind Resistance Lv 67, Cold Resistance Lv 67,
Skill Points: 00
Although she wasn't as strong as her father, Lucy sure was strong for her age. Maybe it was to be expected after staying outside fighting monsters and demons in this area for years.
"Who the hell are you?" Lucy asked while roaring. "This area is closed to strangers. Turn around and move."
"Excuse me, ma'am," Ed said and then got down from his horse. "I am an emissary from Rose, the leader of Geolia city. I would like to discuss some matters with you."
"Hahaha, you are being quite respectful to a kid," Sigma said after laughing, which was rare.
Ed gulped, and Sabrina pinched Sigma's both of his sides since it wasn't time to pick a fight while saying such a thing. It didn't take long for everyone to get their eyes on Sigma, and it felt quite threatening to feel their murderous gaze, but Sigma also felt refreshed.
"I apologize for my friend's rudeness…" Ed said and then sighed. "But please, we need to discuss some important matters."
"We have nothing to discuss, and I won't repeat it… turn around and leave," Lucy declared.
Ed didn't know how to react to those words, it would be fine if she didn't want to listen to his goal after talking with him for a while, but even that was a bit too much. He didn't expect that everyone would be so pissed there. Fortunately, all of them were completely loyal to Lucy, so they didn't try anything and just stayed silent.
"This is a waste of time," Sigma said and then jumped from the horse and then gave his bow to Sabrina. "I know how you all want to solve this, so let's do it."
Sigma pointed his right hand to Lucy and then signaled her to come and fight him.