Chase

The Wind Fox moved swiftly, running along the ridge for a while before crossing the ridge and disappearing from sight.

Sabrina and Moira originally planned to flank from the other side, but the Wind Fox did not flee in their direction. Seeing that the Wind Fox had run away, Sabrina led Moira out from behind the boulder.

The six companions walked up the mountain ridge, discussing the shortcomings of their hunt for the Wind Fox.

Their horses were still tethered at the campsite and couldn't be left for too long, otherwise, if they were found by other carnivorous Hunter, that would be the most troublesome thing.

To keep her body hydrated, Miss Tiffany would splash herself with water every two hours.

Moira suddenly stopped in her tracks. She twitched her pointed ears, and Sabrina noticed a hint of confusion on her face. She asked, "What's wrong, Moira?"

"I heard elves talking over there," Moira said nervously, pointing in the direction the wind was blowing.

It was her first time joining Adventure Group, and she was terrified of making a mistake.

Woods and Roy exchanged a glance. They walked at the front and didn't hear the elves talking.

Roy took a step forward, but Woods grabbed his hand.

Woods reached out in the direction Moira pointed.

Woods lowered his waist so low that his entire body was hidden in the grass, his movements like a cheetah lurking in the grass.

Standing amidst the overgrown weeds, all I could see was the weeds swaying gently...

Woods crept forward to scout ahead, then quickly retreated through the bushes, his face looking rather grim as he emerged.

"Woods, what did you find up ahead?" Roy asked.

"There's a group of suspicious- Half-Elf at the edge of the woods ahead. They're with a few elven children and don't look like residents of Rampart Town," Woods said.

"Take me to see." Roy decided to go ahead and check it out himself.

Woods led Roy forward, Woods a path through the tall grass.

The wasteland was quite far, and the two walked until they were close to the woods before stopping. Woods turned to Roy and made a gentle gesture.

The two then lay down in the grass. Woods carefully parted the grass and, through the gaps in the weeds, Roy saw a group of Half-Elf lighting a fire at the edge of the forest. Sure enough, in addition to a few adults, there were also a few Half-Elf children in the group. They sat quietly under a big tree, and there was no sign of them smiling.

It seems the youngest elf girl still has tears in the corners of her eyes...

They weren't bound by ropes, and the Half-Elf treated the children fairly gently.

Judging from their attire, these Half-Elf -Half-Elf should all be elven hunters. Their leather armor was probably sewn by themselves, with wide stitches and rough workmanship. They carried swords and short bows on their backs, and had a bunch of messy bags hanging from their waists. Two of the elven hunters even carried animal traps on their backs.

Roy observed for a while, then he and Woods returned.

"Could we have run into Slave Traders?" Woods frowned and asked Roy in a low voice.

Roy was also a bit unsure. Based on Woods ' description, he initially thought that the Half-Elf might be a group of Slave Traders, but after going to check it out, he felt that it didn't seem like it.

"It's hard to say, those elf children didn't seem to be coerced," Roy said.

Woods hesitated for a moment, then asked Roy, "So what do we do now?"

The entire Adventure Group gathered around, all staring at Roy.

"Let's abandon our trip to the Pagisto Plateau for now. We'll follow them and see what they're up to," Roy said decisively. "If they're Slave Traders, we'll try to rescue the children. If we can confirm they're not Slave Traders, then it's not too late to go to the Pagisto Plateau later..."

There were only six people in the Adventure Group, so naturally no one objected to Roy's decision.

Woods and Miss Tiffany, in particular, hated Slave Traders to the core.

"Okay, then it's settled."

As the leader of the Adventure Group, Roy's confidence was greatly boosted by the support of all the members.

He stepped forward and said to everyone, "I'll go keep an eye on them first. You all go back to camp and rest. We may have to take turns keeping watch until we find out their intentions."

Klayr sheathed her skinning knife and said to Roy, "Let me and Woods go first! Woods and I will learn some jungle reconnaissance techniques."

Roy glanced at Woods.

"I happen to be familiar with the situation there. Klayr and I will go over and keep an eye on them first, and then we'll switch shifts tomorrow morning," Woods readily agreed.

This guy is always hardworking and easygoing, but there's one thing you can't cross: he's a Half-Elf with an overwhelming sense of justice.

For example, right now... If Roy hadn't said there were some suspicious things about those Half-Elf, Woods would probably have already stormed up their camp and turned it upside down...

Miss Tiffany couldn't help but warn Klayr, "Klayr, don't be careless this time. If you encounter Slave Traders and accidentally reveal your whereabouts, those Slave Traders are all ruthless..."

Miss Tiffany was imprisoned on the Sea Wolf for nearly twenty days, during which far more Naga Sea Clan died than those imprisoned in the Bottom Cabin.

Klayr adjusted her weapons and equipment, stood next to Woods, and said, "I'll be careful."

Roy led the rest of the Adventure Group back to the temporary camp, only to find Kaka waiting for them.

Roy was startled, thinking something had happened and Kaka had come to Roy for help.

"Kaka, what brings you here?" Roy asked nervously.

Kaka stood up from the tree root, wiped his hands, and grinned at Roy, saying, "After Little Eugene and I transported the supplies up the mountain, we came to find you. Roy, I'm planning to go to the Pagisto Plateau with you."

Roy, of course, welcomed this.

"Ah, would you like to join our Adventure Group?" Roy was about to confirm again, because Kaka's joining might mean that the secret of the elf Beast Tamer hidden in the southern part of the Griffon Bulwark Mountain Range could no longer be kept.

In fact, this was no secret to the Silver Pegasus Legion's military.

The ordinary elves, however, are not quite aware of these things...

"Yes, I don't know... is it okay?" Kaka asked shyly.

Roy extended his hand to Kaka and said:

"Welcome to our Adventure Group. However, we can't help you register as a member of the Adventurers Guild for the time being. We'll have to wait until after this adventure is over. If you're interested, I'll take you to join the Adventurers Guild then."

Kaka nodded repeatedly, looking rather silly.

He was already very happy to be able to Roy Roy's Adventure Group.

Roy then introduced Kaka to the other members of the Adventure Group: Sabrina, Moira, and Miss Tiffany.

Upon hearing Roy say that Kaka was an Beast Tamer, Miss Tiffany cast a curious glance at Kaka.

Roy said to Kaka, "However, we can't go directly to the Pagisto Plateau for the time being because we've encountered something..."

Then Roy told Kaka about the group of Half-Elf they had found in the vicinity.

Kaka frowned repeatedly after hearing this.

"You suspect they are a group of Slave Traders?" Kaka asked Roy in a low voice.

Roy shook his head slightly. He also felt that something was amiss, and said, "It's just a suspicion for now. Woods and Klayr are still monitoring them over there."

"I'm better at surveillance and tracking, so let me handle it."

Kaka thumped his chest loudly.

Being able to monitor these Half-Elf from high above would be ideal, and Roy immediately nodded in agreement.

Kaka found out the current location of the Half-Elf, then walked to a clearing in the forest and whistled loudly at the sky.

Not long after, a griffin swooped down from the clouds, looking like a falling meteorite. As it approached the ground, it suddenly spread its wings, creating a powerful gust of air, and hovered steadily in mid-air.

Kaka quickly signaled the griffin to fly lower, then nimbly jumped onto its back, grabbed a rein extending from the griffin's head, and as the griffin spread its wings, Kaka, riding on its back, suddenly soared into the sky...

After it got completely dark, Kaka, who had been hiding in the sky monitoring the ground, rode his griffin back to the camp.

The griffin couldn't stay in the camp because the ordinary warhorses there would immediately go weak at the sight of it, some even collapsing onto the grass...

Back at the camp, Roy asked Kaka, who had returned, "So? Do you think they're Slave Traders?"

"It doesn't seem like it. I think they were very attentive to those Half-Elf children..." Kaka said frankly.

There wasn't a campfire lit at the campsite that night. Roy sat in front of his tent, chatting with Kaka in the darkness...

"I have the same feeling. Tomorrow morning, Kaka, you continue to monitor from the air. You don't need to fly around all the time, just fly up and check on things periodically," Roy instructed Kaka.

That night, Kaka also set up a simple tent in the camp, right next to Roy's tent.

He really wanted to have a good talk with Roy, but Roy went to bed early, and he could even hear Roy snoring from inside his tent...

That night, Sabrina and Moira were on night duty.

The next morning, Roy took Miss Tiffany to monitor the Half-Elf and replaced Woods and Klayr.

Kaka once again rode the griffin into the sky...

To Roy's surprise, the group of Half-Elf headed towards Rampart Town, with the Half-Elf children following silently in the procession.

Lacking tracking skills, Roy and Miss Tiffany were afraid of being discovered, so they dared not get too close...

Fortunately, Kaka was monitoring from the air, so even if we lost track of them, we could quickly find the right direction.

In the afternoon, Roy and Miss Tiffany simply withdrew from the front. Since Kaka was watching from the air, the Adventure Group only needed to follow far behind.

"Do you think they're going to Rampart Town?"

Roy took out a map and drew the route of the Half-Elf team on it. Sure enough, they were heading towards Rampart Town.

Klayr and Woods sat to the side, and they largely agreed with Roy's point of view.

"Probably. Maybe they'll settle in Rampart Town," Woods said.

Sabrina and Miss Tiffany objected, believing they would never go to Rampart Town.

The Adventure Group hid under the shade of a grove of trees, each riding a horse, so they weren't worried about the Half-Elf getting too far to catch up...

At that moment, Woods rode a griffin down from the sky.

He didn't let the griffin get close, and ran over by himself, saying to everyone, "... over there, another group of Half-Elf is coming, they're all riding Pagisto Plateau argali, there are about seven elves, and it looks like they're chasing after them."

"... The Pagisto Plateau argali sheep, you mean those elves came down from the Pagisto Plateau?" Roy asked.

"They're pretty much like the elves from the plateau," Kaka nodded and said.

"A group of Half-Elf also live on the Pagisto Plateau?" Roy couldn't help but ask again.

"Of course, although there are no large-scale settlements, there are some scattered small villages." Kaka answered, his eyes still showing a hint of doubt, as if to say, 'How could you not know?'

"I thought that on the Pattington Plane, the elves' territory was only the area around Padesto City. Now it seems that not only have you occupied a large area of jungle south of the Griffon Bulwark Mountain Range, but there are also Half-Elf living on the Pagisto Plateau ..." Roy felt as if he had discovered a new continent.

"That's how it is!" Kaka said matter-of-factly.

Klayr seized the opportunity to ask, "What do you think those elves want from chasing us down from the plateau?"

"I think they're chasing that elf team ahead..." Woods guessed.

"Kaka, could you do this one more time and keep an eye on those two teams to see what they're up to?" Roy said to Kaka.

"Okay, I'll go keep an eye on them right away..."

Kaka readily agreed. After a short rest, he rode the griffin back into the sky.

It was already evening when Kaka sent back another message. This time, Kaka reported that the group of Half-Elf riding highland argali had caught up with the group of Half-Elf in front and had recently engaged in a battle with them.

The Half-Elf that caught up from behind were all well-equipped and ruthless; in their first encounter, they killed two adult Half-Elf...

Fortunately, with the cover of the woods, the Half-Elf managed to escape with the child.

"Which side should we help?" Klayr asked Roy excitedly.