He had to admit, Horako's timing was rather delicate.
A little earlier, Xia Nan and the others had still been in the woods nearby collecting honey;
A little later, they might already have finished dinner.
For him to arrive right when the group had just brought the Anvil Honey hive back to camp, before they had even had time to deal with it... it was hard not to suspect that he had known their movements in advance and deliberately picked this exact moment.
But considering that Solding had left the camp alone at the time, and aside from Margaret and Xia Nan, he had not mentioned anything related to the "Anvil Honey hive" to any other member of the caravan, with the Perception abilities of the strongest Adventurers in their group, there was also no possibility that anyone had followed or spied on them.
So in all likelihood, it really was just a coincidence.
At the very least, Xia Nan did not notice anything strange in the man's expression or demeanor.
"Good evening, my young friends!"
"On a night deep in the wilderness, if one only has starlight for company, it would be far too dull!"
Horako walked at the very front of the group, and before he had even entered their small camp, he was already calling out to them from afar with a smile.
After seven days together, this wealthy merchant who spent money freely had proven to be quite considerate and magnanimous in his everyday conduct, unlike the first impression he had given, which was that of a noble treating a merchant caravan's long journey like some extravagant and domineering outing.
Never mind Xia Nan and the other Adventurers specially hired by the caravan—even the few menial workers assigned to serve the caravan members had never been