Seg and Brie rode without stopping.

They weren’t that far behind, and they didn’t rest, so they actually managed to pass the soldiers they were following.

In fact, they had no idea what they were looking for.

They would have missed it completely had Rell not noticed them.

They were moving quickly when a girl jumped in front of them.

They weren’t able to pull to a stop, but they managed to jump over her without harming her.

“Yah! Yah! Yaaah!”

They turned towards the direction the girl had came from and watched in surprise as more people, two boys and another girl emerged a moment later.

The first boy said “You alright Paella?”

The girl, Paella, said “Yes! I’m fine, but there are people!”

The three newcomers turned with surprise towards Seg and Brie.

The boy who had spoken to Paella spoke.

“Who are you, and what is your business here?”

He seemed to be the leader of the party.

“We heard that a large number of monsters were sighted in this area, and were looking for them.” said Seg.

The leader’s eyes narrowed.

“This is our territory, and nobody else is allowed to hunt here.”

“We… won’t be hunting.”

“I can’t tell you, but it won’t hurt the mob population, I can promise.”

“What then? Do you plan on helping them? You wouldn’t be traitors?”

The boy and the girl behind him gripped their swords.

Brie had gotten mad, and started yelling.

“It’s none of your business whether we want to help them or not! You can either tell us where to find them or get out of our way right now!”

Rell smiled.

“Scint.”

The pair behind him sheathed their weapons.

Seg and Brie looked at them confused.

“Looks like we can trust you.” said the leader. “My name’s Rell, by the way.”

He indicated the two behind him.

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“Aesh. Aurora.”

“What are you talking about?!” asked Brie.

Rell smiled.

“And Dali.”

All of a sudden another boy ran into the clearing at full speed.

He stopped so suddenly and casually it was almost frightening in its own way.

“Who are these two Rell?” he asked.

His voice contained nothing but curiosity.

He was not even the slightest bit worried about their sudden appearance.

“You see,” Rell replied, “they are traitors to humanity, come to join with the monsters who lurk in these woods.”

“Oh. That’s interesting.”

“We are not traitors to humanity!” said Seg loudly.

“Oh. That’s interesting.”

Dali’s voice conveyed a sense of sudden boredom with the topic.

“Anyway,” Dali said, “There’s an army coming to destroy the monsters. It looks like the kingdom decided to take some action against the mobs.”

“What?!” yelled Seg. “We have to get to the monsters!”

Dali looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because,” Seg said, a note of desperation in his voice, “they aren’t really from the kingdom! It’s a trick!”

Brie looked at him with a stare that left no doubt as to what she was feeling.

He had regretted saying it immediately afterwards.

“I mean- um- that is”

“Well then!” Dali interrupted him, “We should probably go destroy that army!”

“What?!”

“After all,” he continued, “It seems like they’re the bad guys.”

He turned to Seg and Brie.

“Do you want to come?”

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