The Slave: Pride

"Ugh, lazy. Do not want. I want to sleep again. "

After saying that, he went back to sleeping on the carpet near me.

"Geez, if it weren't for your duty as a warrior. I probably won't be willing to let you join this group. "

"Never mind, Mafalda. Just let Lawless sleep. This was still much better than letting him beat up some adventurers. "

"If that's what Mr. Severo wants, then I can't refuse. "

"Thanks very much. "

Then, two men approached me.

"Sir Severo, I have brought you a list of the formations and skills that all the adventurers who are on our expedition have. "

"Oh, thank you, Maestra. I will gladly accept. "

The other man was talking about something else.

"I have a report about chaos nearby, Mr. Severo?."

"What mess is that, Lavey?."

"I'm still not sure about this, but I'll report it anyway. Hundreds of groups of goblins and other monsters had just attacked the west side of the Straumfest forest a few days ago. "

This is a little suspicious to me.

"So, what are they attacking. Supposedly, they weren't stupid enough to attack their fellow monsters for no apparent reason. "

"I don't know the reason; I wanted to send a survey to that place. However, because our group is already exhausted. I intend to do it tomorrow. "

"I see; thanks for the information, Lavey. Mafalda, can you confirm the situation there? "

"I will do, Mr. Severo. "

A few moments later, Mafalda cast long-range reconnaissance magic.

I walked towards her; then, I tapped her shoulder to get the same look as Mafalda felt.

In just a few moments, my sight moved so far through the dark Straumfrest forest. It didn't take long; I could see a mist covering the entire west side. I can't see anything beyond this dense fog.

"Mafalda, explain to me what happened. "

"As you can see, this place is covered by a thick fog; even for me breaking through this fog seems so difficult. "

"This means that there is indeed something strange about this place; it seems that what Lavey said is true. "

But, how come I just found out there is somewhere there. Humans should not inhabit this forest.

"Master Severo, I also saw traces of goblin footprints; it seems that they just attacked the place. "

"If that's the case, tomorrow we have to move. "

"yes, sir. "

After that, Mafalda stopped her reconnaissance magic.

"All of you, tomorrow we will move to the point Lavey said. Perhaps, there will be skirmishes that we will face. "

"Okay, sir. "

Everyone just agreed with what I said.

"We have to save as many people as possible. "

"We will help Hero Severo to save everyone, tell all those things to all the members. "

Mafalda seemed to understand what I wanted. She is indeed a competent girl.

"good. "

After that, they all immediately left to deliver my message.

"I think I should attack them alone. "

"Master Severo can't do that; we still don't know the enemy's strength moreover, if you look at the traces that I see. There were quite several powerful monsters. "

"hey-hey Mafalda, why are you underestimating me. Taking out monsters like them would be an easy job. "

"I know about it, but still, only Master Severo has the power to defeat them all, but we don't know if there are only monsters. if there is a holy being, this will be a nightmare for us. "

"I don't seem to have thought about it that far. But, if you wait until tomorrow. It's possible that some of them died. "

In that case, there's no point in me bearing the title of hero.

"I realize what you want to do, but still, my limited view of going inside is evidence that something is not right about the place. At the very least, I'm sure some goblin shamans are moving along to hide the area. "

"This is getting complicated; it seems I'm going to be in trouble. "

"Hence, it would be much wiser for us to attack tomorrow. At least, our group is strong enough to enter the SSS dungeon we are aiming for. "

"Okay, I should rest so I can wake up in the morning. Goodbye Mafalda. "

"Good evening, Master Severo. "

***

After packing all our luggage, it's time for us to move to leave this place.

As usual, I followed Lenora from behind because only she knew a way to escape our current position.

Right now, the two of us were walking towards the lower floor.

I have seen old man Malter cleaning some glasses.

"Old Malter, we're leaving. "

"You can still spend another night here. "

"I want to do it, but you already know the answer yourself. "

They both stared at each other for some time.

"It seems your hunch is always correct; wait a minute. "

"what for ?."

Then, old man Malter took the basket full of food.

"Take this; at least this is all I can give you."

"You are indeed a good man, old Malter, Maiko. Help me put it in the bag. "

"yes. "

As I separated several types of food, I looked at the innkeeper.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Malter. "

"Think of it as a bonus; even so, in the future, you have to be careful, young lady. "

"against what?. "

"Of course, all things, I consider your luck big enough to meet Lenora. However, in the future, Lenora alone will find it difficult to always protect you. "

"Yes, I will try my best not to be a burden to her. "

Mr. Malter then smiled at me.

"It seems like Lenora didn't save the wrong person. "

From a distance, Lenora began to speak to Mr. Malter.

"Hey, old man, are you trying to scare Maiko? "

"Of course, I have to tell this lady to get used to that annoying attitude of yours. "

"Maiko is my client, don't make my reputation in front of her bad, please."

"Even though she looks good to you, lady, but remember that Lenora is an adventurer."

"Old man Malter. "

Within moments, the two of them had already clashed blows.

"Looks like your skills haven't dulled old Malter yet. "

"Don't say that Lenora, I can lose if you are serious about doing it. "

"fine. "

Finally, they drew their respective punches.

"It seems you are still the Lenora I know. "

Was this some kind of farewell to the two of them? Whatever it was, I didn't see Lenora's movements before.

"Maiko, you have to trust me. Forget what old man Malter said. "

"Uh, yeah. "

"Have you included all the gifts of old man Malter?."

"Yeah, it'll be over soon. "

"I'll help. "

In the end, Lenora helped with my work instead.

In just a few moments, we were finally ready to go again.

This time, Mr. Malter spoke to Lenora.

"Choose the second route; at least the chances of you meeting them will be minimal. "

"I did plan to go through there, but still some of their scouts might be there. "

"Use a swindler, as usual; everything will be fine. "

"You're right; thanks for everything Old Malter. We go first. "

Then I bowed my head to old Malter.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Malter, for all the help. "

"Be careful on the road, young lady; just trust Lenora. She will take you where you want. "

When I looked at him, his face looked happy. It seemed like his previous words were meant to tease Lenora only.

"Yeah, I'll go first. "

After that, I followed Lenora from behind.

When I met her, she seemed to be waiting for me for a while.

"Maiko, it seems that this time we have to find another way. "

"Yeah, I'll just go with it. "

"Okay, let's go. "

In the end, we didn't have a chance to stay in this village any longer because there were Archana troops here.

***

The situation turned to the pursuit of Archana's troops; in the depths of the forest, both sides were still attacking each other.

"How is the condition of the attacking troops? Have they captured the enemy?."

"The enemy still wants to defend and continues to attack. "

One of the messengers from the front line said so.

"If it continues like this, it will take longer. I don't care; just bring one survivor. If they still fight, just kill them all."

"Okay, we'll catch one of them soon. "

One of the troops returned to the front line.

"At this rate, we will return empty-handed. "

"Looks like you're having a hard time. "

"Zorf? why are you here? "

He shouldn't be near me.

"My job is done; I've killed all those who tried to escape. "

When I looked at his greatsword, the weapons were already soaked in their blood.

"You killed them all? "

"Yes, without exception. With that, my work is done. "

"Tch, you should have caught one of them. "

"Eh, but why didn't you give me an order before? "

"It seems that solid bandits are what my troops are after, so we still haven't caught them. "

"Then let me join you. I'm tired of facing weak enemy Derfen. "

"If you insist, just help my troops to catch them. At least don't kill them all. "

"Okay, okay, I'll try to restrain myself. Then I'll go first. "