LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 21. Who Preys on Whom?
"So, maybe one of you two, you idiots, can tell me the reason why all the adventurers I met on the way to the Adventurer's Guild were laughing at our team, calling us the 'Damp Rabbits'? What the hell could you have done in the two hours I left you alone to go to the blacksmith?" asked their team leader to the two men drowning their sorrows in drinks, after he returned to the tavern, half an hour after meeting with them and introducing them to the new member of their team, even though his initial plan was to invite Ophelia to dinner and start putting his plans into action to conquer the woman who stole his heart the very moment he laid eyes on her.
"Hicc, what rabbit? I've had enough roast... bring another carafe of wine," said the giant man, who didn't even remember who was in front of him.
"It's too hot here. Let's go to the smithy....", said his other comrade, who couldn't even remember where he was.
Seeing that his colleagues were no longer capable of answering his questions, Mason, their leader, had no choice but to take them one by one to the rooms they had rented at a nearby inn, as he couldn't risk leaving them unsupervised until he found out what had happened.
'Damn it. In moments like these, I wonder why I continue to team up with these losers. Not only have they made no progress whatsoever lately, and there's no chance they'll become Rank B adventurers in the near future, but they also fail to grasp how important a good reputation is for advancing in this profession. Well, it's true that in the city where we started our adventurer careers and stayed for almost 10 years, I wasn't exactly the best person either, but after we moved to this town, I made sure that no one would doubt my character and that everyone would treat me with respect. Unfortunately, this state couldn't be sustained for more than half a year because of these two idiots. Anyway, it's a relief that Ophelia wasn't influenced by this situation and didn't change her mind about joining my team. Maybe she's already falling for my charm? Well, I guess I'm on the right track... It would be great if in the future I could add another two or three beauties of the same caliber to my team and get rid of those two nuisances who are slowing down my path to greatness...', Mason thought as he headed to his room to sleep, exhausted after the many emotions he had felt that day.
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Mason, who couldn't sleep peacefully the entire night, trying to guess what had happened that evening and forming various plans for the future, woke up his comrades at the crack of dawn and called them into his room, eager to learn about the events that had transpired.
Although the two didn't want to relive the humiliating moment they had experienced, they had no choice and began to tell their team leader what had happened, leaving out no detail so that he could make the best decision for the future.
"So, you're telling me that you wet yourselves in the middle of the Adventurer's Guild, in front of everyone, after a girl glared at you and told you to disappear? How is that even possible? What kind of men are you two?", Mason asked them, finding it hard to believe how incompetent his colleagues were.
"Mason, you don't understand what happened. That bitch must have used some kind of mental attack or something similar. We can't let things remain like this! You have to help us get revenge!", replied the skinny man dressed in magician's robes.
Although Mason was also angry at the young woman who had caused his team to lose their reputation, the fact that he knew almost nothing about her identity and his desire not to create a bad impression of himself to Ophelia, who had just joined his team, led him to refrain from making any hasty decisions to get revenge as quickly as possible, as he had often done in their former location.
After pondering for about 5 minutes and obtaining some additional information from the two, Mason decided to go to the Adventurer's Guild to accept the mission for which his team members had clashed with Kara, because this mission had been sent by the city's leader, and its completion could help them regain their prestige. Additionally, by accepting the mission, his team would have a chance to cross paths with the young woman who had caused them trouble and, since it was likely that she would have another conflict with his colleagues and might attack them again, Mason could intervene to teach her a lesson without looking like he's the bad guy.
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After a restful sleep in the most luxurious inn in the city, where a room cost 2 gold coins per night, Kara headed towards the northeastern exit of the city to see if any caravans would be leaving for the capital that day. Although initially, she had wanted to finish this mission as quickly as possible, the furious glares of the two adventurers as they looked at her when she left the building that housed the Adventurer's Guild made her change her plans, because she wanted to ensure she had the chance to meet them in a location with fewer witnesses, to show them the consequences for daring to provoke her.
'They got lucky yesterday because I still don't want to draw too much attention until I gather more information about the power dynamics in this kingdom, and I managed to control myself from taking their lives at that moment. Besides, it's quite satisfying to let them live for a while after enduring such humiliation, just so they can feel what it's like to be the laughingstock. Unlike beasts, for whom death is the greatest concern, there are more efficient methods than death for making humans pay for their disrespect...', Kara thought as she headed towards the city's exit.
Learning that a caravan was set to depart around noon, Kara decided to spend a couple of hours heading to the area with high-quality shops to purchase a few items, and then, with only an hour left until the caravan's departure, she left the city and traveled about 30 kilometers along the route the caravan was expected to take to prepare a decoy that could divert the attention of the group of adventurers the two she intended to eliminate were part of, assuming they would accept the mission and accompany the caravan to see if the beasts appeared.
'While it's possible they won't accept this mission, my intuition tells me they won't pass up the chance for revenge knowing I'll be alone in the wilderness searching for dangerous beasts. What better situation to make someone disappear? Plus, with at least three people in their team and numerical superiority, they might consider they'd have more success in a search mission than a lone person...', Kara pondered as she broke some trees along the roadside to create the illusion of a confrontation between several dangerous beasts.
Having completed her task in less than 10 minutes and with at least 3 hours until the caravan's arrival, Kara decided to explore the area for clues about the beasts that had attacked caravans. Unfortunately, she wasn't very successful, as she only found some human bones that were at least 2 weeks old.
Upon returning to the spot she had set up specifically to attract the adventurers' team, Kara sat on a fallen tree trunk and began eating a piece of raw meat she had obtained from a deer she had hunted on her way back, and she thought about how her plan relied on too few concrete details, wondering if it would have been better to simply follow the two and attack them when they were in a sparsely populated area.
'Well, sometimes it's more amusing to rely on uncertain elements when crafting a plan, as long as you have nothing to lose. If the plan succeeds, the satisfaction is akin to winning a bet. Plus, I'm on vacation now. I shouldn't take things too seriously...'
Kara didn't have to wait much longer to see if the bet she had placed was a winner, as after 10 minutes, the caravan heading toward the capital arrived, and at a distance of 100 meters behind it, there was a team of adventurers consisting of 4 members, including her targets.
'It seems I have a talent for human hunting. Otherwise... Huh, how come those two losers are on a team with such a beauty? No, that's an understatement. She's not just beautiful....she's truly a goddess of beauty! I don't think I've ever seen a more seductive woman before. Well, maybe Klaus's mother is comparable in terms of beauty, but this young woman possesses an instinctual sensuality, her movements reminding me of a tigress in heat...', thought Kara, after observing the team of four adventurers and noticing Ophelia, who was on her first mission with her new team.
If Kara had been the same as she was two years ago, she might have hesitated to carry out her plan in order not to create a bad impression in front of a woman she was genuinely attracted to and she might have taken advantage of this encounter to get in her good graces and get to know her better. However, Kara was no longer the same, as after living surrounded by wild beasts for so long, some of their habits had influenced her to some extent. Yes, in the wild, there's no need for all sorts of tricks to win the heart of a female, because there, the strongest one who can defeat all other contenders has a chance to win favor. And that was Kara's attitude at that moment when she looked at the young woman who had managed to capture her attention and was heading towards her surrounded by three men. Although Kara had teased the receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild, making her believe she was interested in her, the fact that she would have beaten up the woman's fiancé wasn't just a joke, as she would have done so if she wanted to win her over. Yes, Kara didn't intend to pretend in front of the person she was attracted to; she didn't plan to appear less dangerous than she actually was. She would behave exactly as her predator instinct dictated, painting her path to the desired person's heart with the blood of the other contenders.
