Chapter 92 The Melancholy of Anne Georgia (1/2)

After defeating a few Giant Skeletons, the group slowed down even more.

During the briefing, Rhode had warned them that they were rushing against time and had to hurry up, so everyone assumed that they would be running all over the place defeating enemy after enemy then moving on to the next.

But that wasn't the case.

The whole group moved as slow as a turtle. Whenever they took three steps forward, they would take two steps back. It was painfully slow — even slower than taking a casual jog in the forest. But when encountering an enemy, Rhode would suddenly speed up and kill them as fast as lightning, roughly finishing the fight within thirty seconds before quickly hiding and repeat the process on the next enemy once more.

To be honest, these kinds of guerrilla tactics weren't well-received by some in the group — it could even be said to be downright embarrassing.

”Hmph.”

The half-elf snorted in disdain when she saw Rhode stop abruptly and proceeded to sneak around like a criminal.

”Just look at that man creeping around. That's so not impressive. Leader is obviously much more honorable than him.”

”Anne thinks that you're full of nonsense.”

Of course, Anne had a differing opinion.

”If not because of Anne's leader, with your inadequate abilities, it would be impossible for you to defeat these Giant Skeletons.

”Hmph. It's not like I would've followed this stupid plan to come here in the first place.”

The half-elf couldn't care less about Anne's retort.

”If our leader was in charge of the group, we would've gotten out of here already.”

”Since you think of it that way, you don't have to follow Anne and the rest.”

Anne's lips curled, her eyes cold.

”You only know how to flap your lips. If you guys had the ability to escape by yourselves, your leader wouldn't have chosen to follow my leader's command.”

”Don't joke around. Our leader is only following him because you guys heeded our distress call. We aren't ungrateful brats.”

The half-elf turned around in a huff, refusing to speak any more. She stared at the dark, eerie valley which brought an unknown chill to her but even so, she refused to look at the person beside her.

”Hmph...”

Anne didn't want to stop though. She glared at the half-elf and took a deep breath.

”So for the sake of pride, you will even abandon your life. Such foolishness. You really deserved to be trapped here.”

”You!!!”

That string of words somehow caused the half-elf to snap. She couldn't keep her calm any longer and glared angrily at Anne. Anne, however, also didn't back down and returned the favor.

Anne still maintained a smile on her face, but the half-elf thought it was terrifying. She felt her face turn cold as though the one staring at her wasn't a human but a dangerous beast instead.

Suddenly, the face before her warped into a shape of a ferocious monster with razor-sharp fangs. The half-elf immediately grabbed her dagger out of instinct, but luckily her rationality told her that it wasn't smart to make a move at this time.

”What are you guys doing!”

Marlene's voice broke the tense atmosphere. She stopped walking and turned towards the two girls behind her.

In some ways, Marlene acted as the mercenary group's vice-leader. She would take care of matters that Rhode couldn't afford to waste time on. While Lize and Old Walker were also senior members of the group, one of them didn't dare to take charge and the other just didn't have the patience to manage the group.

Since Marlene saw the hostile atmosphere between the two girls behind her, she certainly couldn't sit idly.

Marlene shifted her gaze to the mercenaries next to them who appeared as though nothing had happened. Indeed, it was the right decision for them not to poke their noses into places that they didn't belong as both groups ultimately walked a different path.

”Sister Marlene, she...”

”We are in a dangerous situation right now.”

Marlene interrupted Anne. While she wasn't exactly close to Anne, she could somewhat figure out Anne's peculiar train of thought.

Usually, when normal people interact, it is because they have something in common or their personality matches with one another. Even if they can't get along, at least they will choose to maintain a reasonably passive relationship. Marlene is a good example. Even if the man in front of her is as ugly as a pig, if he were her friend or relative, she would still display a polite smile. That was how 'mature' people conversed with one another.

Anne, however, was totally different. She didn't care whether her actions would bring her any benefit or not. She simply chose her friends based on instinct... like an animal. To put it cutely, like a puppy, it would wag its tail at a person it fancied even if he or she didn't give it any food. On the flip side, it would bark at the people it disliked even if it were the owner who fed it every day.

What a headache...

This was the reason why Marlene didn't bother to persuade the both of them to stop quarreling because it was pointless. Besides, she was more concerned about other more important things right now...

”Whether you guys like it or not, we've already come this far and there's no turning back. We have to keep moving forward, so I hope both of you can focus on the task at hand.”

Without saying anything else, Marlene turned her head to the front and continued walking. The displeasure on the half-elf's face was evident, but she still chose to keep silent as she was dealing with a Mage. In this continent, Mages were a dangerous group of people that shouldn't be provoked. Rather than to put herself at unnecessary risk, it was better for her to shut up.

Rhode didn't notice the small dispute. Right now, he was busy hiding behind a boulder as he studied the area before him with a gloomy expression.

They had already spent five hours clearing the Giant Skeletons one by one and the sky was still dark. There was no difference between day and night along the borders between the Country of Darkness and Light as the whole region was mostly in perpetual darkness. But that wasn't why Rhode frowned.

Right now, there were two Giant Skeletons left in the valley who were fairly close to each other.

Previously, Rhode could successfully lure the Giant Skeletons one at the time because they were far apart, but these two were different. Like gatekeepers, one stood on the left and one on the right with their backs facing one another. Although the two Giant Skeletons still did wander off a little from their positions, they still weren't far apart enough for Rhode to employ the same tactic as before.

This was difficult.

Even though the group was fairly well-versed in fighting Giant Skeletons by now, facing two at the same time was a different scenario altogether.