Deep within the forest lay a small lake formed by pooled water, pressed against the towering cliffs of the Red Dragon Mountain Range.
A natural habitat.
Ordinarily, birds, beasts, and monsters should have occupied this place in the dead of night.
Yet at this moment, more than a dozen tents stood densely packed within a few dozen meters. Their tarps were badly worn, while the ropes on the ground tangled around rusted tent stakes. They formed a semicircle around several small wooden cabins. Torches had been planted throughout the camp, flooding it with light. The grass had been trampled bare, exposing patches of yellowish-brown earth beneath the firelight.
Humans had driven away the birds, beasts, and monsters, claiming this habitat for themselves.
More than thirty figures stood around the bonfire in silence, watching the sole frail man seated before them.
Beneath his foot was a heavily bearded, powerfully built man nearly twice the delicate-looking man's size. Yet his head had been forcibly ground into the mud beneath that foot, and he appeared to have already fainted.
"How many times have I told you? I didn't gather you here merely to rob passersby. We're here for that thousand-gold-coin bounty! Why does someone always have to stir up trouble behind my back? Sneaking off to contact the north to trade slaves? Is that what Night Lion told you to do?"
The frail man had a somewhat effeminate face. He narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze across the crowd. Every face around him belonged to a bandit, yet not one of them dared meet his eyes.
After a long silence, everyone turned in unison toward a bald man standing closest to the frail man. Seeing this, he took a deep breath and spoke after carefully choosing his words.
"Boss Spotted Leopard, everyone