Chapter 124: 124. Moonless Night (1/2)

After traveling through the Sentro region for almost the entire day, the party finally decided to set up camp for the night. This trip was originally supposed to take only a single day with the help of the magic carriage but thanks to the frost salamanders fiasco, the group had decided to be extra careful the remainder of the trip.

With their minds made up, they had decided to take several detours so they could avoid as many monsters as could in the high-risk areas, which was actually a bummer for Tyler as the trip had suddenly become a whole less interesting.

Although the group planned on sleeping inside the carriage due to the insanely cold weather at night. They still had to set up a perimeter around a campfire that they would then use in making their dinner.

Aine and Anne had cast a combination of the detect spell and the alarm spell over a 20-meter radius but the group had also set up a physical alarm system as a precaution against unknown elements. They had brought out four metal poles from their storage box and set them up around the camp.

The poles went into four points around the campsite, and then thin, blackened silk-like threads that looked like spider threads were tied around the poles, forming a perimeter. They then tied a knot in one of the threads and pulled it over to the side of the carriage, where they attached a small magic bell to it.

This was their alarm system and the bell would not make any actual noise when rang as it would immediately force anyone under its influence awake and into a forced state of alertness.

Tyler had offered to help out with setting up the campsite as it interested him but the party had not agreed to his proposal saying something along the lines of: 'This was their duties as the Hunters amongst them.'

He was indeed just a merchant on this trip so he could not overstep his bounds. Nadine seemed to please that the group was showing him respect or something but Tyler just felt bored again as he watched the group busily go about their duties.

He decided not to get in their way anymore and since standing there was kinda stupid, he told the group that he would be going to take a look around and scout their surroundings, and of course, Nadine had insisted and tagged along.

While Larut had wanted to discourage him about taking on such a dangerous job. He couldn't imagine there was any creature in this place that would be a threat to this cloaked man and with him scouting their surroundings, they would have nothing to fear this night.

The group had decided to set up camp at the base of two steep hills as a precaution against being surrounded by monsters at any given time so only two paths were leading in and out of the camp.

Tyler thought about where he should go for a moment before he quickly decided to head to the top of one of these hills so he would get a better view of their current location. While he could easily scale up the 9-meter tall hill, he opted not to and went around slowly as Nadine followed quietly behind.

Tyler didn't feel comfortable in any type of awkward silence so he decided to spark a conversation, perhaps get to know this young beastgirl better as the only thing he knew about her was what was written in her file.

”Say, Nadine.”

”Yes my Lord.”

...Sigh...” what do you think of this Hunter party.”

Nadine was quiet for some time, making Tyler feel like he had asked the wrong question. Thinking about it now she didn't seem to have taken an interest in the party at all and had barely spoken to any of them. Hell, Dohel was practically the only one she had spoken to and that was in disdain.

”I haven't met any other Hunting parties so I don't have a frame of reference to compare them with but from what I have observed. They are nothing but a group of weaklings that have lost touch with reality and probably have slight delusions of grandeur. Their party is also badly constructed and they seem to rarely make rational decisions. They are also quite stupid seeing as they have constantly failed to notice your greatness and show you the respect you deserve.”

Tyler was just about to think of something else to ask Nadine when he heard her sudden reply which took him by surprise as he hadn't expected it to be so detailed. It seems she hadn't just been ignoring the group but had also been observing them, but her conclusions seems a bit too harsh for some reason.

'What the hell does she mean by respect I deserve. What would be the point of a new name and a hood if I go around looking for people to show me respect.'

Feeling a little overwhelmed, Tyler momentarily couldn't think of any way to respond to Nadine. He wanted to scratch his head but held himself back as he said the first thing that came to mind.

”I-Is that so.”

”I'm sorry if I said something out of line.”

”Huh! no... it's fine, I don't want you to feel like you can't speak your mind around me so please don't mind it.”

”Thank you, sir.”

”Don't worry about it. Hmmm... It is one thing to observe and also another to get along with the people you're traveling with. I noticed you haven't even spoken to any of the girls, do you not like them or something?”

”Hmm... I don't have an opinion on them. I'll do my best to get along with them if that's what Lord Ty wishes.”

”That was not what I asked you.”

Nadine lowered her head slightly at Tyler's sudden change of tone. She thought about the question for a moment before opening her mouth again to speak:

”I've met several demons when I was younger. The settlement was still in captain Cronoff's region at the time and most of them would usually discriminate against us demi-humans. Even lesser demons like them were no exception, actually, they were usually the worst.”

”They would visit our settlement most of the time and harass us. Some even assaulted women and children and although the captain did not tolerate such things, there wasn't much he could do as most of the neighboring regions had been keeping an eye on him, looking for any excuse or opportunity to attack. That meant they would usually get away with it and some would even do it again as there were no laws that protected demi-humans nor deter anyone from trying to take advantage of us.”

”If we were ever to retaliate, the other regions would bring their forces into captain Cronoff's region and try to subjugate us while also attempting to take over his region from him. I was quite young at the time so I don't really know the details but the captain still lost his region after he help us move into the Darknar region.”

Tyler hadn't expected his simple question to spark such an intense memory and as he turned his head around to look at her face. He instantly regretted why he had brought up such a topic in the first place.

Her eyes seem to have swollen a little and although she seems to be holding herself back. Tyler could feel the intense emotions that were swelling up inside of her.

He had no idea what he should do to defuse this situation and he could not simply just dismiss it but, what exactly could he say to prevent this girl from crying in front of him.

However, before Tyler could even think anymore about her. Nadine suddenly clenched her fist and raised her head with a smile. Her clear as the night sky.

”I still don't remember most of what happened back then but for some reason, I still can't stand lesser demons and I don't think they are worth any more than the magots in this world.”