Unexpected Words

Afterward, in order to completely eradicate the Blood Sucking Vine, Shien and the others followed Vivian into the scorched ground blackened by fire magic and dug out every Blood Sucking Vine root from the soil.

Unlike the main body, the roots of the Blood Sucking Vine could not move. They were much like the roots of ordinary plants and would not wrap around people. They merely absorbed blood that seeped into the earth, scattered seeds, and allowed the Blood Sucking Vine to multiply. Since they were not buried very deep, Shien and the others used their weapons as tools and quickly dug them all out.

Then, under Vivian's instructions, the group gathered all the Blood Sucking Vine roots together. Merika cast fire magic once more and burned every root away, finally bringing the job to a smooth conclusion.

"After this, the guild should send someone to verify it. Let's head to the next commission site—the Mangal Mountain Range."

Under Vivian's direction, the group set off once again.

This time, the journey went completely without incident.

If there was anything worth mentioning, it was that, with Shien deliberately keeping his distance, perhaps because his presence was less noticeable, the carriage cabin was finally no longer deathly silent.

After the work just now, Merika's nervousness seemed to have eased. She became much more talkative, which meant that Tier and Lumya could no longer remain silent the whole time either. They spoke from time to time, finally lightening the atmosphere somewhat.

Naturally, Shien was not included in that.

Ignoring the interactions among the three girls, Shien simply stared out the window, his mind occupied entirely by magic.

Under such circumstances, the carriage reached the Mangal Mountain Range before evening arrived.

"All right, we're here."

Vivian stopped the carriage at the foot of the mountains. While calling Shien and the others out of the cabin, she gave the horse pulling the carriage some water and salt.

After getting out of the carriage, Shien looked up and saw a continuous stretch of mountains.

That was the Mangal Mountain Range.

"Though we don't need to go deep inside, the sun is about to set. Entering the Mangal Mountain Range at this hour would obviously be inappropriate. Let's camp at the foot of the mountains."

That was Vivian's plan.

"Camp?"

Shien looked over.

"That's right." Vivian looked at Shien and patiently explained, "Nighttime is when most of the more dangerous monsters are active. On top of that, visibility in the mountains is extremely poor at night. It's best not to go adventuring then, as that will avoid most accidents."

Shien fell silent at once.

Because he remembered how he had spent each and every night during those ten days in the Forest of monsters.

"That's right, camping is good. Camping is the best. I love camping!"

By the time he came back to his senses, Shien had already declared that with absolute conviction.

"???"

Seeing Shien's attitude suddenly change, Vivian was instead filled with question marks.

At that moment, Tier and the others got out of the carriage as well.

"We're camping, Sister Vivian?"

Lumya asked weakly, glancing at Shien as a timid look surfaced on her face.

"There should be an inn near the foot of the mountains. Can't we stay there instead?"

Merika voiced the same thought, likewise glancing at Shien as the nervousness from before returned to her eyes.

As for Tier, she did not say a single word. She merely lifted her face slightly, and the eyes beneath her hood seemed to glance at Shien as well.

"???"

This time, it was Shien's turn to be filled with question marks.

Of course, when these question marks appeared, it proved that the problem was not with him, but with them.

What was with all of them glancing this way the moment they heard they were camping?

Were they afraid of being attacked at night?

Shien immediately prepared to fire back with that remark.

However, Vivian seemed to notice the problem too and hurriedly spoke up to stop him.

"The nearest inn would take us until midnight to reach even by carriage. Then tomorrow morning, we would have to travel back here again, wasting quite a bit of time. If we miss the Magic Power Source's activation, we'll have to waste another day. Considering that, we should just camp here."

As soon as she finished speaking, Vivian took the luggage down from the carriage's cargo rack and handed several black curtain-like sheets to Tier and the others.

"You three go set up the tents first. I'll feed the horse. All right?"

Vivian gave Tier and the others no chance to refuse.

"Vivian."

Tier spoke up, her voice carrying a rare trace of reproach, as though she were dissatisfied with Vivian's decision.

Yet Vivian looked straight at Tier.

"I think you understand, don't you?" Vivian said to Tier with an unusually serious expression. "He hasn't done anything wrong."

Tier was immediately left speechless.

It was not just Tier. Even Lumya and Merika had nothing to say.

The three girls looked at Shien again, but they were no longer as rude as before. There was even a trace of apology in Lumya's eyes.

Then, carrying the sheets, the three silently walked aside to set up the tents.

Incidentally, those sheets were actually Magic Items. As long as magic power was poured into them, they would automatically expand like something heated and turn into tents.

Therefore, there was no problem even if Shien, the only man, did not help with setting up the tents.

Shien watched Tier and the other two leave, then turned to Vivian.

"Sorry for making you uncomfortable." Vivian immediately said apologetically. "In the past, there were several times when male adventurers arranged by the Adventurer's Guild joined our party as well, and among them, there were people who, while we were camping..."

Hearing that, Shien roughly understood what had happened.

"No wonder they're so wary of me."

Shien muttered.

"I'm truly sorry." Vivian apologized again, then sighed and said quietly, "Though it isn't our intention, in many respects, we receive an excessive amount of attention from men and male adventurers. Since we're adventurers too, there are some unavoidable troubles that we simply cannot escape."

"That's why I formed this party, gathering female adventurers who might encounter similar troubles in one way or another. I hoped it would at least discourage some people from harboring improper thoughts."

Vivian was being extremely frank, even telling him all that.

"It's not like I can't understand." Shien shrugged. "But letting me join this party anyway—aren't you and the guild being a little too careless?"

"Perhaps." Vivian did not deny it, but she smiled. "However, we naturally considered all the drawbacks before making this decision. The fact that we still did so proves that you have that kind of value."

"Value?" Shien finally looked at Vivian, jokingly saying, "What value could I possibly have? Could I be a Hero or something?"

"A Hero?" Vivian froze for a moment, then laughed in disbelief. "If you were a Hero, we'd have an even bigger headache."

Those words made Shien freeze as well.

"Why?" Shien asked in surprise. "Don't you want to see a Hero appear and defeat the Demon King?"

Vivian was stunned again and again by those words.

Then...

"Wasn't the Demon King defeated long ago?"

As those words rang out, the air fell silent.

Shien's expression completely froze. His pupils suddenly contracted, and he could no longer conceal his astonishment.