After the introductions were done I am made to lead at the front.

We check room by room but not once the adventurers seem excited about anything, they agree that the fine clothes in the bedroom are indeed valuable enough to take with, and some books in the library pick the interest of Marina, but all in all, they look pretty defeated at the end of the search.

They have me carry the stuff back to their camp. I feel like I’m being treated as a pack animal, and also as part of the loot.

Their camp is nothing more than a campfire lined with stones and a wagon with a few horses tied to it.

When I enter the camp the horses seem a bit scared of me, but I don’t care, I never liked horses even as a human, and now as a fox, I’m pretty sure that with a bit of cardio I’d be able to keep up with them if need be.

I drop the loot in the wagon and one of the adventurers beckons to me to come to the fire which they were lighting up, I barely had noticed that it was getting late, it is about sunset right now and the three adventurers invite me to have a serious talk around the fire while their food cooks.

Lionel tells me in a very serious tone:

I perk my ears at the proposition, but then I look at the other two adventurers to make sure they were on board with it, and well… they didn't look like they hated it. Marina seems fine with it, excited even… hopefully she doesn’t plan to study me or something like that; while Evan doesn't seem to like the prospect and looks a bit dejected so I say sounding a bit dejected myself:

Stolen story; please report.

Lionel nods and says:

Marina nods profusely like a child and says

I sigh internally… She indeed wants to study me… Well, as long as she doesn’t try to dissect me I might be able to do some studying of magic of my own with her.

Evan huffed and said:

Well… that was an issue of trust, nothing that can’t be improved with time, all in all, these people don’t seem so bad, I would like to ask Dento what he thinks about all this, but he hasn’t been around since the adventurers showed up, so I am left to my own devices for now.

Lionel breaks my thought process and says:

I didn’t plan to stay there anyways after what they told me, even if I didn't go with them… though I wonder if the shrine fort that they call my den will still be standing when I’m ready to come back, I enjoy that place.