The convoy began their journey towards the mining camp some 20 hours travel by horse.

There were 35 adventurers from the four troupes who were the main force, the 15-man strong Sommalier troupe led the convoy followed by the six-man Noted Troupe, the muscle of the group, and the seven-woman Taro troupe who each guarded the flanks and at the rear are the six members of Silver Spoon. Both troupes were to provide support during operations.

5 officers alongside Richter would lead the operation, bringing with them their retinue of 15 guards and 20 workers, ten of whom were slaves and all were underaged. Though the guards are armed, they are tasked with protecting the merchants and dealing with any other problems that the adventurers are not contracted to deal with. They also have the added duty of ensuring that the contracts are adhered to.

Meanwhile, the duchess had her knight with his retinue of four squires representing her camp at the campaign. Their mission was to act as observers and oversee the progress, as well as act as her representatives if necessary. Thus they were given the right to make some decisions for this particular operation. The knight carried with him a golden stamp that gave him some authority over legal matters.

The large convoy of 81 attracted many onlookers during the trip, but considering that their target this time are monsters there was no need to be secretive or discreet about their actions. That said, they were careful not to leak any information.

Inside the carriage, Isaiah was alone with Senzuki though this time she was taking a nap right beside him, her head having fallen for his shoulders with the points of her ears being rather close to Isaiah's nose. He tried to adjust himself just a bit so that his nose could brush on those fluffy ears but just as he was about to achieve his goal they twitched and Senzuki yawned,

"Good afternoon..." She yawned once more and turned at Isaiah, "I hope I was not drooling, and forgive me for sleeping on you."

"Its... It's fine, I would have done the same if I was in your place anyway."

"Oh, then I shall have to bathe regularly... Anyway, what were you trying to do back then?"

"Do what exactly?"

"You were trying to smell me or something?"

"No... No that was not..."

"Oho, then why was your nose inching closer to my hair?"

"I..."

"Hmm? As far as I am aware that is, well, strange."

"I uh..."

"Just because I went on a date with you and you are already doing this... Ara, ara such desparation."

"No... Like."

Senzuki lips crept a mischievous smile, "Then tell me why would a man be so intent on smelling a woman's hair?"

"It was your ears..." Isaiah quickly admitted he did not want to leave a bad impression on Senzuki, "I was just trying to feel your ears."

"My ears?"

"Yeah."

"With your nose?"

"Yeah, it's hard to explain."

Senzuki held her ears and played with them, "Here I thought you would go for my breast but my ears? Ahh, are you perhaps one of those guys with weird fetishes?"

"No... I don't have weird stuff, I am normal... I just like your, ears. They are fluffy and all."

"Fluffy? You mean soft."

"Yes, soft and fluffy." Isaiah swallowed his saliva, he had just dug himself into a much bigger hole, he wanted to avoid being labeled as creepy but now he was beyond saving, "I just wanna know how that feels, you know."

"..."

"..."

'I should have just said her breast since that sounds more normal.'

The two stared at each other, Senzuki in particular wasn't sure how to respond. She had wanted to tease Isaiah as she caught him red-handed but now she was in a scenario she never thought would occur.

'My ears?' She wondered, even amongst her kind their ears hold no special meaning or purpose, thus she did find it weird that Isaiah was more attracted to her ears than her breast or butt which was the natural thing for men, this wasn't the first time either as she had noticed Isaiah giving her ears and tail a hard stare, 'Soft...' She then held her tail and brushed it, looking up she saw Isaiah's eyes stare at her tail as well. A smile crept on her face as she found another vector for teasing him,

"Say, would you like to touch them?"

"Huh... Like... Uhm..."

"Ara, I thought you wanted to touch them yet now that I am offering them to you, you back out?"

"Are you really real?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Well, I'd rather that you touch them now rather than you mustering up the courage to do something inappropriate to me later down the line."

"I... I won't cross that line, I apologize if I was being too creepy."

"Oh no no, I don't mind that at all as it is great that you think of me that way, plus I find it funny. That said I don't mind you touching my ears now, that way you would know how they feel and be done with it."

"Look as I said, I don't."

"Will you touch my ears now?"

"I..."

"You will touch my ears, now."

"I..." Isaiah lost his will as he nodded silently, "Let me touch them please."

"That's the spirit."

"Well, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead."

Senzuki lowered her head as Isaiah slowly reached out for her ears, then with his shaking fingers he slowly combed her hair, trapping the canal of her ears in between his fingers. Here Isaiah was in bliss, he felt a floating sensation as he took in the warmth and soft feeling of her fluffy ears.

'God this is epic...'

Isaiah rubbed the tip of her ear causing Senzuki to flinch waking Isaiah up from his stupor, "Oh, excuse me."

"It's fine..."

"I am done, anyway."

"Huh, that's all?"

"Hu... You want more?" Isaiah quickly went on the offensive to tease Senzuki but she rebuffed it.

"I was just being thoughtful of you..." She then smiled and with a cute voice asked, "Nee, how was it?"

"Well, I like it, it was warm and soft and cuddly"

"Ooh... Then, would you like to try my tail next?"

"Tail..." Isaiah tilted his head to the left and right before nodding, "If you don't mind."

"Sure... Ahaha, you're a strange one." Senzuki then presented her tail to Isaiah who quickly buried his nails onto it, "Ohhh." She creaked in surprise, "Now now, my tail isn't running away any time soon."

"My..." Isaiah could not believe what he was feeling, this warmth and softness was nothing compared to the ear, Isaiah murmured as he buried himself deeper and deeper, "This is bliss..."

"You're like a boy in this..." Senzuki began combing his head, "But there are times when adults go seek the comforts of childhood, I am glad you find it with my tail, as weird as it may be."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Isaiah meanwhile wanted to stand up, but for some reason, his body refused to obey his commands instead it continued to lay face-first on her tail, his arms now disappearing into all her fur. Isaiah tried and tried but it was of no use as he slowly succumbed to the strong urge to sleep and rest, the warmth and comfort of her tail evoking a sense of safety and security within him. If it was a trap, he'd be long dead.

Senzuki wondered why he was no longer moving and looking down she noticed him fast asleep, a sigh escaped her lips as she patted his head one last time.

"Have a good rest, we have a long journey ahead."

...

Isaiah woke up to the sound of horses neighing as the group arrived at the camp sight, he found himself drooling on a very soft pillow. He wiped his mouth before stretching himself, the sleep was so refreshing that he felt as if he could move about the whole day without being tired.

"How do you feel?"

A voice woke him up from his stupor and he looked around,

"Oh, Senzuki-san." It was here that he realized, it was not a pillow, "Oh."

"I only said you could touch them, not turn them into your pillow." She then brushed her tail, "You even drooled on them, poor me, now my marriage prospects have gone down."

"I uh... I..." Isaiah swallowed his saliva as he coughed, "How long were you waiting?"

"Roughly four hours."

"Oh, it doesn't sound good. I will make it up to you."

"It's alright, I did sleep on your shoulders, but if you insist, I would like you to treat me to a meal." She then tilted her head left and right, "A meal that you make."

"Yeah, I will cook for us, maybe even today."

"Ohh. I look forward to it." She then dusted herself before standing up, "Come let us go out, the campsite is now being set."

Isaiah was expecting the sun to have set but found the cold breeze and the blue starry skies above. Tall mountain ranges far away from them while rows of trees as far as the eye could see. The base camp was situated at the foot of an incline, with two roads, one leading to the mine's entrance and one leading to the highways connecting the small outpost. To their left was steep rocky terrain while to their right was the plains and swamps.

Seven buildings composed the original mining camp, two long warehouses 15x10 meters in size, three wooden towers about three stories tall, and two smaller structures of differing size and shape. That said, all three towers were nothing more than their wooden stumps, both long houses had entire sections missing from the structure while the smaller houses had signs of hasty fortifications around them.

The merchants claimed all seven of the buildings and had repaired one of the barracks into the headquarters. The building had a huge hole in its sides where one could see Richter in a meeting with the troupe's leaders. Meanwhile, the adventurers were relegated to sleeping outside the tents, each provided a spot for them to rest and protect. Sommo and his troupe were relegated to frontline duty, being the closest to the cave, while Taro and Silver Spoon were both given the flanks to protect. Noted was given the rear, which was originally for Silver Spoon but after making a fuss was given to them instead.

Opposite the road that leads to the highway, one must climb a short incline to reach the entrance of the mine. There were multiple railcars lined up on a beaten rail, some were missing parts, and others looked like they had been hit by something huge. Up the path towards the entrance, blast marks, sword scratches, and left-over metallic pieces of weapons and armor lay strewn about around the area, being collected by the servants. There were dozens of footprints, belonging to man and beast, that were strewn about making the scene of an intense struggle. However, one curious thing to notice was the lack of gore, not an ounce of blood nor a single flesh.

It was clean of humans.

This put everyone on edge,

"Agh, man-eating monsters..."

"Do rhinos eat people?"

"Not really?"

"Then there is all this plant life."

"Eyy, don't tell me we are facing rogue elves again."

"They do have mana..."

"..." Sommo swallowed his saliva, "Just because it has mana doesn't mean it's the elves, maybe a treant or something?"

"Treant, in the mountains?"

"Then please explain why there are no human bodies. Elves don't eat humans, treants do."

"..." Sommo remained quiet as he had no answer, then his eyes turned around and found a certain someone.

"Looks like our prince has to go rest... That fucker just trying to run away from camp duties."

Sommo was watching them from afar full of envy Jair had some stomach issues and decided to retreat to his tent early, suspiciously enough all five of his girlfriends were also gone. It was no surprise what they were doing, their moaning loud and clear all the way from the entrance.

"Hey man, knock it off, you know nothing you can do will stop them." Hannibal arrived and patted him on the shoulder,

"But... But, but..."

"Is the brothels of Northrope not good enough for you?"

"This bastard..." Sommo shrugged him off as he left, "Just because you have a cute girlfriend that you could fuck all day and all night doesn't give you the right to trample on my dreams."

"Hey..." Hannibal flexed his muscles, "What I lack in strength, I make up for in charm."

"Bastard, slimy bastard you are." His eyes then wandered off to where the Taro troupe was making camp, "Ohh... Fancy I can visit them at night?"

"Yeah you can, but you might not leave alive."

"Right... I bet Lea has the hots on me."

"Perchance."

"Perchance my ass."

"Hey, I am being optimistic to my brother here."

Sommo shook his head as his eyes turned over towards the large barracks located right beside them, it had a massive hole in its wall as wood splinters and crushed stone lay about, "You know, whoever did this must have on hell of a head, this aint easy feat."

"Well, rhinos are known for charging and what-not."

"I doubt this is rhinos, I mean, have you seen them charge? Sure they are powerful but like, not this powerful. Plus look at all these plants, what rhino has mastery over plant life?"

"Mutated ones maybe, there is the treant you kept mentioning?"

"If it is then it's well above our paygrade." He then began examining the ruins, "Whatever caused all this is above our paygrade, we need to talk to Richter."

"I-I also agree." Hannibal knocked on the wooden walls only for them to crumble like sand, "Ohh..."

"I did hear that something else was around." Lea, having spotted them earlier, approached them "They did say they'll pay well for whatever that is." She then turned to the two, "Hope you boys don't cry when 'IT' comes."

"Ahahaha, by the time you realize it, your pants will be dropped and you in my bed."

Lea chuckled as she shook her head, "Dream on punk."

"What do you think that something else would be?" Hannibal asked,

"A much bigger rhino, or maybe even an ogre? No one knows, but the thing is we are here to find that out." Lea replied,

"Like a bunch of canaries." Sommo spat on the ground

"Well-paid canaries." Lea corrected him, "Let's just hope it's no dragon, or anything similar to dragon. I heard rumors of one being spotted close by."

"If it is we'll all be dead." Sommo then wiped his hands in his pockets as his eyes ventured off into the kitchen where three people were laughing and chuckling along while making dinner, "By the way, who is cooking, some lively people out there?"

"Oh, that's Isaiah and Senzuki."

"Your guys? The new one too."

"Yeah... That booger Isaiah knows how to cook?" Lea asked,

"Beats me, but if he is in the kitchen then he must know some."

"Hoo, you found one really good recruit huh." Lea then turned to Sommo, "I mean he did beat both you and Jair rather quickly, and he can cook too, that's one hell of a diamond you found."

"Dudes a monster that's for sure," Sommo replied,

"You don't hate him?" Lea asked,

"I do feel embarrassed, but, like I said I'd rather have him than that bastard with his five women over there. At least Isaiah's more reasonable, I think..."

"Well, more importantly, how did you get someone like him to join you guys? I reckon he'd find his place on a gold-ranked troupe rather easily, but you guys, what sort of sorcery did you do?" Lea wondered,

"Well, let's just say we got really lucky."

"I don't believe in luck, tell the truth now." Sommo squinted his eyes,

"Well... We met him on our way and managed to convince him to stay, largely because of Senzuki, they both met after I saw him at Koln it seems."

"Senzuki did? How... No wait," Sommo shook his head as he knew that there was only one way a girl could convince a guy like Isaiah to join a small team like Hannibal's, "Senzuki likes him?"

"Maybe, but definitely the other way around."

"He likes Senzuki?" Sommo exclaimed

"It seems so."

"H-how?" Sommo being a good friend of Hannibal knew about Senzuki and Fei and thus was shocked to find someone who could tolerate them. "Is he from the east?"

"Not sure, especially since he knows magic and is extremely strong."

"Huh."

"So yeah, it does make me wonder, I mean, I did know that they both met but they never talked or anything. Senzuki ran away the moment he saw Isaiah but they both saw each other. But now, he seems to like her a lot, and well, Senzuki seems to like him as well." Hannibal shrugged his shoulders, "So he joined us."

"That... That doesn't even make more sense then." He shook his head,

"Hold on a minute. Can't a man like a woman or something?" Lea asked as she turned to Sommo with a scrutinous eye,

"Oh, that's not the issue here madam, more like the woman and the man should not like each other in a way."

"Wha? This is why you don't have a girlfriend, you don't know anything about women."

"She's a kitsune."

"A kitsune? Wait, what is her name again?"

"Senzuki."

"Ohh... A beastwoman I see. Huh, that makes no sense then."

"I was worried at first with both Fei and Senzuki, but now I don't have any issues with him around."

"But him, huh, he must be an easterner for that to happen," Lea suggested,

"Or maybe he met one before and had a good time?" Sommo added,

"Possibly, I am not sure of his past and we never spoke about it anyway, though with his last name in mind, he must be a northerner close to the Tundra valley."

"Last name? Dudes a noble?"

"Dragovitch... Ring any bells?"

"I can't say..." Lea replied after a lengthy thought, turning to Sommo, who also responded in kind,

"Me neither. But it does sound like northerner nobility alright, somewhere like the Maglev empire and its many onion-shaped neighbors."

"If that is the case wouldn't he hate the kitsunes even more? I mean Maglev and its neighbors got banged up when the wolfkind attacked them a few years ago. She may be a Kitsune but a wolf and a fox aren't that far off..."

"You are making sense..." Hannibal lowered his head to think, "That... What do you guys think?"

"She might be in danger." Lea suggested, "You think he's out here to kill her?"

"That might be-"

"I doubt that." Hannibal interrupted Sommo, "I've known Senzuki for a long time so I doubt she'd willingly put herself in the maw of a lion. For all we know his feelings might be genuine and pure."

"Still... With his powers, if ever things go south I might not be able to stop him, man."

"Yeah, he sure was strong, very powerful with that magic of his."

"I am sure Senzuki has something that protects her, otherwise why would she risk everything?" Hannibal then wiped his hands as beyond the kitchen started announcing dinner, "Looks like it's dinner."

They went to the tent where Isaiah, Senzuki, and two others were preparing food. There were several dishes laid in the table but one took center stage, it was a golden brown stick that had a white sauce poured all over it.

"What is this?"

"A french fry," Senzuki replied,

"A french fry?"

"Sliced potato that is fried."

"Huh, interesting..." Sommo scanned the fry with scrutinous eyes as Lea ate it in one go before she started eating more up in quick succession

"Ohh... It's salty, but the flavor and texture make it hard to not eat more..."

Sommo decided to eat as well and had the same response as Lea.

"My... This is simply addicting. What is this?"

"Potatoes," Isaiah replied,

"Potatoes? Just potatoes?"

"I added salt, but yeah, just potatoes."

"How..."

"Secret." Isaiah chuckled as he poured a garlic-mayo sauce which he had made with eggs, vinegar, and water and diced garlic. "Now this should make it even better."

"Oh wow... It is, like, the sourness and saltiness is just perfect."

"Thank you, thank you. Let's dig in shall we?"