The following day started rather uneventfully. Everyone began packing everything back up, and the trip continued as planned. Due to the dragon’s presence, the lack of monsters in the region was understandable. Besides that, the sheer strength of the group created a natural deterrent for any monster that would even consider attacking them. It was one of the few advantages of being a part of such a large, powerful group when traveling.

“The air feels nice,” said Fay, her gaze looking out of the carriage into the nearby forest. “Arren always felt so hostile, even in groups like this. One minute you’re relaxing and the next you have a large number of Sonic Birds launching the most devastating first strike you could see. Birds that can move faster than most eyes can see. Most wouldn’t survive it.”

Nobina began imagining such a fast, deadly strike, shivering as she imagined how horrible it could be.

“Did that happen to you Fay?” asked Nobina.

“Three times actually,” she replied, giving a slight stretch. “The first time it happened, half the party died. The second time, only Fardo died, and the last time… half the party died.”

“Are they that deadly?” asked Lila, her focus fully on Fay.

“Oh yeah,” responded Fay. “They say that Sonic Birds are one of the deadliest hunters of the sky, hunting the energy that only powerful living beings have. Under a certain strength they completely ignore you.”

“Did they attack you, Fay?” asked Nobina, a worried expression forming on her face.

“Fortunately, all three attacks were when I was weaker. By the time I got strong enough that they would target me, they had finally been hunted down by the S-rank Adventurer Ardune, the best hunter in Arren. Some people complained about the elimination of a whole species, but considering how so many S-ranks and A-ranks were killed by these birds, it was understandable they were quickly dealt with. The yearlong terror they had was far too much.”

Nobina heard stories of how deadly Arren was, but considering Fay had been there, this made Nobina wonder how and why everything there was so deadly. If such birds ever went to Lumira, they would likely cause unspeakable damage. Then again, they only target a certain strength of people for their energy.

“I have plenty of Arren stories, but probably not the best to talk about right now,” smiled Fay. “Some of them are… rather messy.”

“Aw…” sighed Lila, who was far more interested in the stories than Nobina was.

Thinking about the dangers Fay faced made Nobina feel sad for not being there to support her. However, she had no doubt she wasn’t even a fraction of the power needed to help Fay out in a meaningful way combat-wise.

Morning turned to afternoon. The afternoon turned to night. Once again, the night was upon the group, who rested up for the last leg of the trip to the Town of Wistern.

“Let’s talk strategy,” said Mimiki, gathering the group. “Wistern should be mostly evacuated at this point. The only people remaining would likely be the town guard there to ensure that Mayor Duven is still safe, as well as those electing to stay should the town not actually be attacked.”

“It’s surprising anyone would elect to say,” said Cain, shaking his head.

“Some people show bravery rather than fear power,” laughed Marve.

Nia didn’t say a word, but Nobina could feel she would be shaking her head.

“I can understand why they’d stay,” said Fay. “It’s not easy to just abandon everything you have, even if the risk is your life. To some, what they have in Wistern might be worth the world to them.”

Nobina and Lila made a nod. Nobina could believe people would stay behind for that reason. However, part of her wondered if there was any nefarious reason people would stay, especially with a weaker adventurer and guard presence.

“I applaud them for staying,” smiled Lila. “They can witness us taking out a dragon first-hand.”

Fay couldn’t help but sigh and shake her head.

“I’m… highly doubtful anyone will try to follow us once we begin the hunt,” said Fay.

“Anyways,” said Mimiki, gathering everyone’s attention again. “Once we get to Wistern, we’ll establish a base in one of the buildings that the scouting adventurers are using. From there, we will join them in locating and then eliminating the dragon itself. However, in the worst case that Wistern is destroyed, we will need to be prepared to go at it alone or retreat should the situation seem far worse than we thought.”

None of them wanted to even think about the possibility of Wistern being burned to the ground, but it was hard to say it wasn’t possible with a dragon being involved.

The rest of the talk was mainly focused on the logistics of everything. The food supply in particular was the main topic of discussion due to the fact that the group brought only enough for a week of hunting. Should it go longer, the plan was to speak with the mayor about obtaining more food as well. Other than food, the other focus was on the actual route the group planned to take.

Most of the pre-planned routes were under the assumption that the whole scout team would be eliminated, but this was the worst-case scenario. The most likely scenario was that most of the scouts were still alive, and they would help them plan out the actual route.

“Any questions?” asked Mimiki, looking at the faces of everyone in the group.

“It should be a great hunt,” laughed Lila, looking excited to get another chance to fight.

“The firepower we have should be sufficient,” said Helios, his attention partly on the group and the other part on Nobina’s book.”

“You know you should really pay more attention to these meetings,” said Fay to Helios.

Helios looked at Fay, seeing a bit of ice in her stare.

“Perhaps you are right,” said Helios, closing Nobina’s book. “It’s rather irresponsible of me to not give this my full attention.”

Fay nodded, relaxing a bit and removing her cold gaze.

“So,” said Fay to Mimiki. “Are there any potential problems we might run into speaking with the people remaining there?”

“I don’t think so, but I don’t have strong knowledge of nobility,” replied Mimiki. “Helios?”

Helios gave it some thought before nodding.

“Any nobility without a spine is long gone. Anyone remaining is someone more likely to work with us to stop the dragon.”

Everyone gave a nod, agreeing with his assessment.

“Well let’s head to bed for the day,” said Mimiki, dismissing the group.

Once everyone was in bed, Nobina found herself feeling nervous about the next day. It would be their first step towards hunting the dragon. Part of her felt relieved thanks to Fay, Lila, and Mimiki being there to support her. However, another part of her felt nervous, remembering the fight against the troll-wolf.

The adrenaline during that had her heart racing the whole time. She played a part with her special items from the Gaze, and the result was that Mimiki, and the rest of her party were saved. It should have boosted her confidence, yet she felt as if it was a reminder of how deadly something like a troll-wolf was. If it was a dragon, would she be safe unless she was miles away?

From what she could recall in the books she read; the dragon could very well have a widespread attack that none of her allies could protect her from. Even with some of her special items, she didn’t know if a dragon’s attack was too much.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Nervous?” asked Fay, drawing Nobina’s attention.

“Yeah,” she replied, noticing her breathing was a bit heavy. “I should be fine during the hunt, right?”

“Of course,” said Fay with absolute confidence. “I will put your protection over everything else. You’ll be absolutely safe.”

Nobina gave a nod.

“So, you’d pick me over… never mind,” said Nobina, realizing she was going to ask a stupid question.

“Yes,” said Fay, giving a gentle smile.

Turning to Fay, Nobina could see it in her eyes. Fay valued her over everyone else.

“Sorry I even though to ask,” chuckled Nobina, closing her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” smiled Fay as she closed her eyes. “I rather you ask and get reassurance than just drown in doubt.”

Hearing those words gave Nobina the comfort she needed to finally fall back asleep.

Soon, daybreak came around, and the group continued the trip. Once again, nothing eventful happened, and the group reached Wistern without any issues.

Looking at the city from the outside, Nobina could tell Wistern was pretty much a ghost town. The lack of people there was evident, with only a few guards in sight. When they saw Nobina’s group, the first guards headed over to the first carriage to stop them.

“Halt,” they called. “By order of Mayor Duven, the town is to fully evacuate due to the danger of the dragon.”

“It’s alright,” said Mimiki, pulling out a letter she had. “We are a part of a dragon-hunting group organized by the Navira Adventuring Guild.”

Handing over the letter, the guard gave it a quick read before nodding.

“Follow me. I will lead you to the mayor’s estate.”

The group followed the guard through the empty streets, keeping their eyes observant of the true extent of the evacuation order. Most of them were feeling relieved since the town looked in one piece. It meant the dragon was either gone or had little interest in the town and was ignoring it.

“It’s quite a relief to see more assistance from Navira,” said the guard. “Ever since all those scouts failed to return, we lost any sense of knowledge regarding our surroundings.”

“What,” said Mimiki, dread on her face. “What do you mean the scouts haven’t returned?”

The guard, realizing what he said, shook his head.

“It’s best that the mayor tells you the full situation,” responded the guard.

None of them wanted to say anything, but there was now a major wrench in their plans. Without the information or assistance of the scouts, hunting the dragon was now comparable to finding a needle in a haystack. There was a lot of ground to cover, and the dragon was far more agile than the group was.

It didn’t take long before they reached the mayor’s estate. Looking at it, Nobina could instantly tell why the mayor himself was staying behind. All around the large central stone building was exotic plant life and statues that seemed to be made of high-quality material. By all accounts, this place was significantly more valuable than the wealth of some minor nobles.

At the entrance, the two guards spoke with the escorting guard before opening the gates. They continued to make their way into the estate before arriving at the central building. It was a large, two-story building made out of a mixture of stone and what seemed to be a bit of marble. Nobina was surprised by that, considering that even Lord Kasanta’s building didn’t have nearly as much marble on full display.

“Please wait here,” said the escorting guard, leaving the group to chat a bit before meeting Mayor Duven.

“How much you think this all cost?” asked Mimiki, shocked by what she was seeing.

“Maybe comparable to a small castle,” said Fay, her eyes evaluating everything in sight.

“I’d guess less than that,” replied Helios. “While a lot of this material is fancy, I recall Mayor Duven is someone who seeks value and likely got everything cheaper than market price.”

They all continued to chat about the cost for a few minutes before catching sight of people exiting the building. Behind the escorting guard were two maids, followed by a man who looked dressed up on every part of his body. His clothes had all sorts of colors, but the main thing catching their eye was the jewelry he was wearing. There was so much of it that it felt as if he was likely wearing thirty pounds of metal and jewelry.

“Welcome,” laughed the man in jewelry. “My name is Mayor Duven. I’m glad to finally have reinforcements from the guild.”

“Hello there,” responded Nobina, being the first to step out of the carriage with Fay’s help. “I’m…”

Duven turned his attention to Helios, giving a great smile.

“Ah! Master Helios! Your reputation is quite known. I take it that you’re leading this group,” he smiled.

“That… would be inaccurate,” said Helios. “I’m merely a member recruited by her.”

Helios motioned towards Nobina, who couldn’t help but feel a bit odd with the spotlight on her. However, she quickly became confused as she saw Duven’s facial expression change.

“Surely you jest,” laughed Duven. “None of these… other adventurers… can likely hold a candle to you! Like that frail girl!”

Duven casually pointing at Nobina surprised her, but not as much as Fay.

“How dare you,” said Fay, taking a single motion to reach Duven with her sword.

Everyone else froze, including Duven, sweating profusely as he sensed death only a few words away.

“Ah… So sorry,” said Duven, trying to keep it together. “I… Yes. Please go ahead and all introduce yourselves.”

The rest of them began introducing themselves, with Nobina being the last person to speak. Once she was done, Duven gave a nod.

“It’s good to have so many qualified people here,” smiled Duven, trying his best to relax as his gaze failed to completely leave Fay. “Now, let’s speak inside, shall we?”

As Duven and his maids went into the estate, Fay shook her head as she sheathed her sword.

“The nerve of him to straight up insult you,” said Fay, still angry from what Duven said.

“It’s fine Fay,” said Nobina, feeling overwhelmed by their first impression. “I’m really frail as he said, so…”

“It’s no excuse,” she replied back. “Whether your frail or not, insulting a party that’s here to help you is horrible etiquette. If he wants to not feel my wrath, he’d best remember it.”

Fay immediately entered into the estate, with the rest of them following. Nobina was the last to enter, with Mimiki next to her.

“Fay really is intense,” said Mimiki. “She very well was ready to kill Duven there.”

“I sometimes worry about how protective she is,” replied Nobina. “Let’s just hope we get some good explanation for the disappearance of the scouts.”

The group all entered the main building, being led into a side meeting room. Sitting on the end of a long rectangular table, Duven smiled as he finally began to relax. The rest of the group filled up the remaining seats, with Nobina sitting on the opposing end. It was only for a second, but Nobina and Fay both caught Duven visibly flinching a bit when she saw Nobina sit down on the opposite side of him.

“Now then,” said Duven. “Let me give you a status report on the situation. Currently, the dragon has not been sighted. The good news is that the last report of the scouts was about the massive fire that the dragon caused being put out. As a result, they began their next goal of creating a scout wall to keep watch for the dragon. They were supposed to report back on the progress of the scouting two days ago, but none of them returned.”

“That’s hard to believe,” said Mimiki. “I believe there were seven scouts sent out. For all of them to disappear is unlikely unless they were all targeted.”

The room went quiet as soon as Mimiki finished speaking. Tension was building as the idea of the scouts being directly targeted was now forming.

“Impossible,” said Helios. “Most of them were C and B ranks. It would take someone strong to target them. Not only that, but what reason would there be to have so many scouts eliminated unless you were fearing being discovered.”

“A marvelous conclusion Master Helios,” nodded Duven. “I suspect that someone might be working with this rogue dragon, but it’s extremely hard to prove such a thing. Thus, we must assume the dragon itself might have played a role.”

Fay gave a nod.

“I can’t put it past the dragon to have done such a thing,” said Fay. “Dragons are extremely smart creatures. If one was worried about being caught, taking out those keeping watch of it would be a smart idea.”

“I don’t get it,” said Lila. “Does it really make sense for a dragon to cover its tracks? Why did the dragon even attack in the first place?”

“That’s the question we need answer to,” said Mimiki. “Part of this hunt was to ascertain the dragon’s goal, and we are still in step one. Without the scouts, it’ll be hard to hunt this dragon as well.”

“Will your group be focusing on guarding the town then?” asked Duven. “After all, we are probably the only thing of interest left for the dragon.”

“I can’t say that for certain,” said Fay. “The fact the town is still here means the dragon has no interest in it. Not only that, but the dragon or some entity aligned with the dragon eliminated the scouts. All of this means we must find the dragon at all costs.”

“Then… I wish you all the best,” replied Duven. “The scout building is on the north side of town. That guard can escort you there and help you out. If you need anything, feel free to ask. Else, I wish you good luck.”

With that done, the group gave a few more questions to the mayor, mainly regarding the remaining townsfolk and potentially getting more food.

“Hm… I can get you another week of food supplies, but we aren’t producing much at the moment. Anymore and we’d need to evacuate even sooner,” sighed Duven.

“I know this stuff is valuable, but perhaps the time to evacuate is now. If the dragon attacks, its all over, isn’t it?” asked Nobina.

Duven shook his head.

“I can’t agree with you on that front,” he replied. “My duty is to protect the people of this town and so long as the nobles stay, I stay.”

Nobina could tell that that wasn’t the only reason, but she had no appetite to dig further for information.

“As for the nobles… Well… I honestly don’t know why they are staying. I asked them but all their reasons seem strange.”

“Strange how?” asked Helios.

“Well… One says that he fears dying during the journey. He’s quite old and can’t really move around. Another says he invested everything in his home and if it was destroyed, he rather die with it. A bit respectable I guess, but… questionable. The last noble refuses to speak to me and shut himself in his estate. I can’t force them to speak to me either, so I just ignored them.”

“That’s… very odd,” said Fay. “Do you think the last noble has an ulterior motive for being here?”

“Can’t say,” replied Duven. “All I know is unless I’m certain he and the other two nobles leave at least, I’m stuck here protecting them from danger.”

Lila gave a laugh, shaking her head.

“If the dragon wants this town razed, it will raze it and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Thanks for the optimistic words,” said Duven, showing a bit of annoyance at Lila’s remark. “Now is there anything else I can help you with?”

“That is all,” said Mimiki, standing first. Everyone else followed suit, all leaving the room until it was just Duven and his two maids. Once he was certain they were gone, he slammed one of his fists into the table.

“Damn all of them,” he said. “They are going to complicate things. No matter. Despite Master Helios being here and that… insane woman, they can’t hold a candle to a dragon with allies.