After a few minutes of traveling, Kantuta asked in an annoyed tone, "Where are we going, anyway?"
Yuchauzh glanced at her and answered, "Same place I said I was going. We're going to Orestone City."
Kantuta immediately halted, an angry expression on her face. "Hold on, stop everything! Who put you in charge?"
Yuchauzh turned around and narrowed his eyes, "Who says that I shouldn't be? I'm easily the most level-headed one here, not to mention the strongest."
Kantuta set the money bag down and crossed her arms, saying, "That's quite the bold assumption coming from you. And besides," she pointed at herself proudly, "What's brute strength compared to sophisticated intelligence?"
Yuchauzh smirked, "You call yourself intelligent? If you're so smart, why'd you go for so long lugging that huge sack around without finding a better way to carry it?"
Kantuta's eyes widened a bit before she recomposed herself and retorted, "I may be smart, but I can't just magically make things easier to transport, or at least not yet! And even then, if you had even a smidgen of sense and honor, you would've offered to carry my bag for me!"
Yuchauzh returned, "I *would've* done that if I didn't know what would happen next. If I offered to help you, chances are that you would've just rudely pushed me away, as your behavior has clearly shown." He grinned and leaned forward, "A meathead like me wouldn't have come to that conclusion, right?"
Kantuta looked down at the orc, her eyes filled with contempt, "Why, you little…"
As his friends were having their dispute, Siquioce spoke up, "Can I say something?"
Kantuta glared at him, "What do you want?"
Siquioce cleared his throat, "Since you two can't decide who should be in charge, why don't I be the leader?"
Kantuta's face became more relaxed, and she cocked her head to the side, "You want to lead us? No offense, but what makes you think that you're leader material?"
Siquioce looked up at the sky and drummed his fingers, "Uh, well…I'm pretty reasonable, I think. I was the one who recruited Yuchauzh, you know? Not to mention that I'm the son of royalty…"
Yuchauzh's jaw dropped, "Are you serious?! You're a prince?!"
Siquioce chuckled softly, "Uh, technically yes, but I'm not as important as you'd expect. My father, Chief Kaqiss, is only the leader of a small settlement, not some big kingdom like what you're probably thinking about." He looked down at his feet, his head fin flattening in the process, "I'm also his youngest son, so I probably don't know much about leadership…" He shook his head and looked up, "But still! Considering where I came from and how I am, wouldn't I make a good leader?"
Yuchauzh held his chin and closed his eyes for a few seconds before nodding and replying, "Y'know, you make a good point." He smiled at his ally, "Sure, you can be in charge!"
Kantuta looked at Yuchauzh with disbelief, "That's all the reasoning you need? Do you not know what the word 'suspicion' means?" She slapped her staff against her palm, looking down at it with a thoughtful expression, "Then again… I don't see much of a problem with this. You may not be completely qualified, Siquioce, but you're not exactly unqualified, either." She looked up, "So…I guess I'll give you a chance."
Siquioce smiled, his superior dorsal fin flared up in excitement, "Great! Thank you very much. I promise, I'll do my best to make good decisions for us all.
Kantuta smiled softly, saying, "We'll have to see about that." She unfurled the map, "So, oh great leader, where do you think we should go?" With a disapproving look on her face, she pointed at a spot just below the center of the map that was surrounded by tiny gears, "Should we listen to that Yuchauzh?" She raised her eyebrows and pointed a bit to the left, where a site represented by gems was located, "Or should we go over here to the Ancient Quarry, where I—I mean, we can find some useful treasure?"
Siquioce inspected the map and his two choices before concluding, "Why not both?" he pointed at a location near the corner of the map that was surrounded by symbols representing grass, "We can start here at whatever this place is called…" he traced a line connecting that spot with the Ancient Quarry, Orestone City, and a significant-looking landmark, "and if we take this path, we'll be able to go to where you both wanted to go AND end up at one of the Paradises!"
Kantuta frowned a bit, "I see your point, but…" she pointed at the previously unnamed starting point, "You want us to start at Gib's Valley? I mean, just look at the place, it's all greenery! Doesn't that sound at least a little bit boring?"
Yuchauzh interjected, "Didn't we agree for him to be in charge? If he says we're goin' to Gib's Valley, we're goin' to Gib's Valley."
Kantuta objected, "But I…" after a pause, she shook her head, "Never mind. We'll head there first." Smiling to herself, she said under her breath, "At least we'll be going where I wanted to go first…"
Siquioce nodded, "Okay, now that that's settled…" he pointed to the west with moderate gusto, "this way to Gib's Valley!" With that, Siquioce and the others set off, although the Samanian was travelling at a significantly slower speed than his cohorts.