“Well, that’s enough about me. Shall we head out?”

The Hero nodded and then led us towards the unknown. You know, despite seeing him do this all the time, it still amazes me that he can just do this.

Strangely, he led us with a noticeably faster pace than usual, so I guess we are in a bit of a rush? It’s quite odd, though, considering we are traveling through rough and unfamiliar terrain. Regardless, we were making decent progress.

On the way, we didn’t have to properly fight anything, as Hansen’s summons were able to deal with the random snakes and stuff, while Rapunzel was able to handle the, hyena? The wolf-like thing that showed up. It’s one of the local equivalents to the wolf. Of which there are a few, oddly enough.

And did I mention snakes? Because those are scarily common here, as are the various small mammals and lizards that they primarily eat. There are almost no birds here, though, unlike in Trimune. The relative silence that causes is actually quite unnerving, as now the only sound, other than ourselves, is the wind flowing through the grass.

But yeah, snakes. Just randomly hanging out in the grass, waiting for us to step on them. I’ve already had to heal Gregory from one such bite, so I know that this is going to be a constant annoyance.

Regardless, we were able to arrive at the next town fairly peacefully around the time the sun was going down. Which, really surprised me, as I thought we’d be stranded in the middle of the grassy sea. This definitely beats having to keep watch, especially on our first day traveling again.

Still, we are going to have to experience that eventually, even if I’m really not looking forward to it…

______

After resting in the town, we once again started traveling. Oddly, we continued with the new, brisk traveling pace, so I guess that's just how it will be now?

Hmm, going at a faster pace will reduce the amount of time we spend wandering around in the savanna, so I guess I can’t complain too much. Even if it’s a bit tiring.

Sadly, even our brisk pace won’t be enough for us to reach the next town before nightfall, so we’ll have to camp out in the wilderness.

Haa. I’m really nervous about that. Like, it’s already been an hour since we’d been informed of that, yet I’m still just as nervous now as I was then.

Mmm, why won’t just ignoring my problem make it go away! What to do, what, to, do... Arg! I need something to distract me before my nerves start causing problems.

Ah! I know! I’ll just ask one of my (sadly many) questions!

“You know, I’ve been wondering, why are parties the size that they are?”

…

Huh, I didn’t think it was that odd of a question, all things considered. Yet everyone was staring at me like I was questioning my position again. Except for the Hero who looks amused, of course, but he doesn’t count.

“Eli, are you serious?” Melly eventually asked.

“Yeah, why? Is it that strange that I don’t know?” I ask in worry.

"Well, no, I just thought that, out of all of us, you’d be the one to know why.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, considering the tradition started because of the first Hero.”

“Is that so? Hmm, oh yeah! He did always travel primarily in groups of six. But, as far as I’m aware, he never tried to make that standard.” I recalled.

“Huh? I thought he did?” Melly questioned.

“I mean, that’s exactly the sort of thing I would have learned about if so. The Inquisition was never one to let any prestige escape them, after all, especially with something so grand.”

“It wasn’t the first Hero,” Hansen confirmed. “While many of their ideas are still being used, they always gave them out as suggestions. The party size just happened to become more and more popular until it effectively became tradition. That should also be why Elizabeth didn't know about it; there was no specific event that to record.”

“Yeah, that would explain it. Thank you, Hansen.” I bowed. “So we are in such a small party because of tradition.”

“Eh, not entirely. It’s why there’s specifically six of us, but parties have basically always been a similar size.” Melly sighed. “Though, this time, not knowing why is pretty common, as it’s not something advertised. I only recently learned why myself.”

“So there’s another reason?”

“Correct,” Rapunzel confirmed. “Quite simply, humanity is too weak to do anything different.”

“We are too weak?” I mean, I know that humans aren’t a particularly powerful species, even at our peak, but that’s why we make parties, right? However, I don’t think that’s quite what she means.

“Yes, even when we ignore our lacking strength on an individual scale, humanity, as a whole, is extremely weak. What most people don’t realize is that even if we united every single high-level human we have and formed a unified army, they would be slaughtered well before we could reach the new demon lord.”

“But how? Even several dragons uniting couldn’t face that! And that’s ignoring how unlikely it is that they would actually work together in the first place!” I doubted. The top predators are almost exclusively loners, after all.

“Correct, they usually are. The problem is that even such fiercely independent beasts understand the threat of such an army, not to mention the demons that would, very reluctantly, put away their pride to deal with us. Such a force would be well beyond what humanity can face.”

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

“Even then, how many would actually be willing to work together?”

“Enough.” She declared. “While most would still just ignore us, as long as we left them alone, there are so, so many more high-tier beasts than there are high-level humans that we would be overrun against even just a fraction of them. The only reason why humans could even build a civilization in the first place is two-fold: First, like with all other creatures in nature, there’s a sort of balance that stops most creatures from being over-hunted, though that’s an entire field of study that I won’t expand on for now.”

“Yeah, it’s surprising how complicated even simple-seeming things are.” I sighed. The more we learn, the more we realize how little we actually know.

“It really is.” She agreed. “Second, most beasts only hunt and kill because they are hungry or feel threatened. They also understand that hunting other predators tends to result in injuries even at the best of times, so they try to avoid such confrontations unless they are desperate. Or we just happened to enter its territory.” She shrugged.

“That also tends to be the main reason monsters attack us; we got too close, so they felt threatened.” She continued, “And, unlike our controlled way of using mana, monsters use it instinctively, causing them to just enhance anything that happens to be in use, whether it’s their limbs, senses, or, in the situation when they fight humans, their fight or flight response, hence why they tend to battle to the death. Especially with stronger monsters, their excessive amount of mana makes it almost impossible for their mana to stop affecting their desire to fight.”

“Ah, I remember learning about that. The fact that humans use our mana differently than monsters is usually believed to be a gift from the Gods as they pitied the weak yet intelligent humans.” And there are supposedly other Gods that created the demons by giving some humans a different blessing, hence why we look so similar. “That’s also why monsters are so hostile to us; our unique mana signature reacts strangely with the way they perceive us, which is why they only get so hostile towards humans.”

“Yes. And, since multiple signatures stack with each other, in addition to your signature increasing the stronger you get, a large, powerful force would be like a beacon, attracting and provoking immense amounts of monsters. That’s why we need to travel in a small group. If we don’t, we will just be swarmed once we enter proper monster territory.”

“Something I believe you may find interesting is that humans happen to release a sizable burst of signature when they perish, hence why monsters tend to be attracted to battlefields that haven’t been properly cleared beforehand,” Greg added.

“That’s also why our territories tend to be quite safe. Cities attract most of the stronger monsters in the area, causing them to be wiped out before they could cause any major problems.”

“I see.” I nod in understanding. “Thank you.”

“It was our pleasure.” Greg accepted. “Feel free to ask us any other questions that you may acquire.”

‘Will do.”

Well, that was more informative than I thought it would be. I’m still kind of sad that I didn’t already know this, but at least it makes sense that I wouldn’t this time. Still, I am the Saintess; someone should have told me about this, right? Why didn’t they?

…Maybe everyone just presumed I already knew? Annoyingly, that could be it.

Though, when you take into account how I didn’t, and still don’t in a sense, understand what it means to be the saintess, you’d think people would be tripping over themselves to make sure I knew this stuff.

Eh, whatever, I’m sure everything will be fine. Life can be surprisingly simple, after all. Besides, I’m sure the Hero would say something if it really mattered.

Well, enough of that. My question actually accomplished its task fairly effectively, so that’s all that really matters.

“Alright everyone, we will be setting up camp here.” The Hero announces as soon as I finish that thought. So, as usual, the Hero timed everything perfectly…

Whatever, at least said timing was beneficial.

Now, how, exactly, are we going to camp here? And why here, specifically? Like, it’s no different from everywhere else we’ve been, just more grass.

Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long to get my answer, as Greg soon said, “Please do not enter this area until I have finished.”

He then started casting a spell that... was he flattening the grass? He is! Well then, that explains how this is, in fact, a camp, at least. Even if it creates even more questions…

Like, did they talk about this beforehand, or did Greg just decide to do this on his own? So, wanting answers, I, stupidly, looked to the Hero. Who just winked, because of course he did…

Whatever, it’s not like it makes a difference with the Hero here. All things are according to plan, even accidents.

Anyway, as I was thinking that, Greg finished creating an area for us to set up our tents, so that’s what we did next. Now we just have to set up the watch, and haa, I am not looking forward to that.

“The mud slugs offered to help with the watch.” Hansen suddenly offers.

Well, that changes things. Like, even if they only watch when together, that could allow us to cycle a rest day or something.

“Good, please have everyone pair up, summon to human, with Zarewthem and Rapunzel specifically paired.” The Hero commanded.

…or we could do that.

Yeah, that’s probably a better plan; it’s not like I’m particularly useful on my own, after all. And, with how he specifically paired Zarewthem and Rapunzel, the mud slugs should have some sort of perception or scouting ability.

More importantly, though, I’m looking forward to interacting with the slugs again!

Yeah, being immediately given the first watch was annoying, but that wasn’t enough to extinguish my enthusiasm!

Still, while I am really excited to share my cleansing spell, work comes first. “So, how are we going to do this?” I asked my slug companion of the night.

“I will spread out some mud to detect any threats and build a mud wall as a barrier to physically stop them from getting too close.” Man, it’s odd hearing just one of them talk.

“Cool, will that damage the grass though?” I questioned.

“Not at all. It is the opposite; my mud is very healthy for plants.” They denied.

“Oh, that’s good.” I approved. I felt a little bit bad about the damage we’ve already caused, so I’m glad this didn’t lead to even more. “Oh, speaking of healthy, my robes taught me a cleansing spell.”

“Ooh, the Gods made something similar? What’s it like? How is it!?” How cute!

“Pretty good, all things considered; it even removes impurities!”

“Ooooh.” They hesitated. “So, how... how does it compare?”

I paused, thinking about how I wanted to answer, before noticing how excited they were, so I just told them straight. “While it can remove impurities, it pales in comparison to even your basic mud bath.”

They wiggled excitedly at that, which was super cute. “Being even comparable to the Gods is amazing! And while it’s obviously only possible because of the sheer versatility of your robes, it’s still the greatest of honor.”

“True.” I agreed.

“So… Could, could I see the spell?”

“Of course.” I agree, both using the spell and showing them my notes.

“Interesting. Very different from how we do it.”

“Oh, would you mind showing me the differences? I’m trying to simplify the spell.”

“Of course. It will just take a while.”

“Conveniently, it seems we’ll have plenty of time available to us for the next while.”

“So we do,” they agreed with a laugh.