While it took some time, Cecelia's proposal soon proved it was the right one.
Since their group needed to conserve the remaining mana in their handguns, they needed to focus more on stealthily avoiding detection and less on killing.
With Delsie's ability to notify them ahead of time, they were able to hide themselves as the patrols harmlessly flew past their positions.
Utilizing this window of opportunity, Cecelia would try to quickly record the readings from the flying creatures before recording them on her tablet.
Like this, their group kept doing this for several more hours as the sun began to dip past the horizon.
Just as the sky turned crimson red, Cecelia looked up from her tablet and turned to Lyn.
They were currently crouching amongst the jungle's foliage, hiding from a passing patrol that had just passed by their location.
"I think I've done it!" She excitedly whispered.
Since the Tristings could still be in earshot, she didn't want to take any chances.
A small smile formed on Lyn's face.
"Have you estimated the nest's location?"
Cecelia nodded her head and pointed at the tablet screen.
On the map, a large red circle marked an area not too far from their current location.
"Based on what we gathered, this is the most probable location for their hive."
Lyn studied the map for several moments before turning to Cecelia.
"How confident are you?"
"I'm nearly certain."
"...Alright."
Lyn turned to Delsie, who was hiding a little further away from the two of them.
Meeting Lyn's gaze, Delsie paused momentarily before closing her eyes.
Focusing entirely on her hearing, she could accurately pinpoint the earlier Tristings' location by the buzz of their wings.
After listening for a few seconds, her eyes fluttered open again.
"We're in the clear."
As everyone pulled themselves out of their respective hiding spots, Lyn called them all over to look at the smart tablet.
Surprised by the announcement, they looked at Cecelia with curiosity and expectation.
An expectation that the Princess wouldn't fail to deliver upon.
Stepping back, Lyn let Cecelia present her findings to Blaine and the four captains.
After pointing out the supposed location of the monster nest, she directed their attention to a section of jungle shortly east of their location.
"If we head through here, we should be able to harmlessly circle around the nest. All the while reaching closer to our destination."
Ginny let out a sigh as she saw the red circle and how close they were to it at the moment.
If they hadn't figured out its location as quickly as they did, they would have most likely stumbled right into it.
Luckily, that scenario was avoided.
As she looked at the Princess with appreciation, she heard Lorie's voice ring out from beside her.
"It's getting late, so travelling in the dark will be dangerous. But staying here, this close to the nest is also risky. Should we keep going or call it a night?"
Surprisingly, the one she was asking wasn't Lyn, but instead Cecelia.
While Lyn was the ultimate decider behind any decision, Cecelia had already proved that the others could trust her insight and intellect.
Even if they didn't see the nest with their own two eyes to verify the Princess's words, after throwing a cursory glance at the multitude of equations and data tests Cecelia had done, Lorie couldn't help but believe her.
Cecelia looked down at her data before letting out a short sigh.
"It's better we leave right away. Since we're quite close to the hive, there probably aren't many other creatures living here. There is no way that the Tristings would allow them to. As the Tristings don't possess the ability to see in the dark, travelling at night with night vision goggles would be extremely favourable for us."
Looks of exhaustion formed on the faces of the group members.
Not only did they need to trek endlessly throughout the day, but they also needed to hide countless times to avoid detection by the bee-like monsters.
And now it wasn't just the day… They had to do the same for the night as well.
Their only solace was the brief moments of sitting motionlessly, waiting for patrolling drones to pass by them.
But none of them refuted Cecelia's words.
It was their discipline as soldiers.
Not only that, but her words were perfectly logical as well.
After removing their goggles from their backpacks, the group decided to wait half an hour for the sun to fully set, using it as a temporary reprieve to prepare for the long road ahead.
Not too long after, the sun finally dipped beyond the horizon, signalling the start of their long march.
***
After several hours of non-stop walking, Cecelia's deductions were starting to prove their accuracy.
Not only had they altogether avoided any large hives of bee-like monsters, but the surrounding patrols of Tristings drones had gotten evidently less stringent.
While the night played a part in this, as the Tristings were ill-suited for night-time combat, the decrease in patrol numbers was too stark to be solely due to this.
The patrol groups had gone down from groups of 5-6, with one or two Rank 2s mixed in to just groups of 2-3 Rank 1s.
It didn't look like they were too far away from the boundary of their territory, either.
…Meaning that there was a high chance they would encounter other monstrosities soon.
Realizing this, Lyn raised a hand, signalling them to stop.
"We'll stop to rest."
Ginny almost failed to suppress an excited squeal.
Having been exhausted after carrying her heavy backpack for hours, she was just about ready to pass out.
In fact, everyone shared her sentiment… Except for Rick, of course, who had mixed emotions.
After all… He would need to exert himself to make them all a suitable shelter.
Feeling a multitude of expectant gazes land on him, Rick let out a sigh as he resigned himself.
"...Just give a moment."