Having successfully managed to move past the giant ant nest without anything more than a few scares along the way, the group of adventurers all let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that they had just made it through the most dangerous part of the journey. All that was left for them to do now was search for medicinal herbs and other precious resources that could be sold to the Adventures Guild when they returned from the expedition.
As for having to pass through the territory of the giant ants again when they had to return... None of them worried too much about it, as they had already planned to just rush straight through the place when the time came. After all, they didn’t have to remain in the forest that was now behind them when returning from the Thousand Spire Mountain Range and they all felt more than confident in being able to outrun the giant ants. Especially when considering they had prepared different things to ensure they could run away when the time came.
"Everyone, we will create a bit more distance between us and the giant ant colony before setting up camp for the night. Tomorrow morning, we will be starting our search for different medicinal herbs, like the Spire Root Mushroom, that is native to the Thousand Spire Mountain Range.
Of course, remember to keep an eye out for any other things that might be of value to bring back. After all, though the Thousand Spire Mountain Range is well known for its unique medicinal herbs, there are plenty of other valuable things hidden within the depths of the Thousand Spire Mountain Range." Smiling with a hint of relief on his face as he said this, the leader of the group of adventurers slowly motioned towards a valley located between a small mountain neighboring the giant ant nest and a much larger mountain. Making it clear that this was where they were going to set up camp for the night.
Although he might have wanted to create some more distance between himself and the giant any colony, he also understood that there simply wasn’t enough time to do so before it got dark.
Different from the forest bordering the Thousand Spire Mountain Range, the mountain range itself was far deadlier and not somewhere they could just carelessly wander about like the forest.
Even if the group was composed mostly of B Rank Adventurers with the leader himself having reached the A Rank, there were some deadly monsters within the mountain range itself that this group of adventurers didn’t dare to face head on.
One such monster being a unique mountain ape that normally hunted at night. Known as a plague best avoided by anyone exploring the Thousand Spire Mountain Range. Not because of how powerful it was, but more so because of how difficult it was to deal with. Even posing a problem to some weaker S Rank Adventurers with its annoying abilities that could easily end the life of weaker adventurers caught off guard.
The only real way that the Adventurers Guild had found to avoid this annoying mountain ape was to not move around at night, as it only seemed to target people or monsters wandering around at night and never attacked anyone sleeping no matter how weak they were.
Strange as this behavior was, it did give those exploring the Thousand Spire Mountain Range a simple and easy way to avoid running into it that didn’t interfere much with their exploration of the mountain range as most tended to sleep during the night. Only a few who were searching for special herbs that only appeared at night would risk an encounter with the unique mountain ape... And this little group of adventurers was not searching for that kind of special herb.
Valuable as those special herbs might be compared to normal herbs, they were simply not worth the risk in their eyes, as they preferred not having to take on too much risk when they could just as easily earn several times their normal income by searching during the day.
Even with a guide like Thomas around who could potentially aid them in dealing with the annoying mountain ape, it wasn’t worth the risk.
In a way, it was also because of this risk adverse nature that this group didn’t plan to get anywhere near the true core of the Thousand Spire Mountain Range and instead just planned on lingering somewhere between the outer edge and the core of the mountain range while searching for medicinal herbs. Avoiding both the powerful monsters at the edge and core of the mountain range at the same time.
"Huh? Is that... Charles?!"
However, just as the group began their trudge towards the valley where they planned on setting up camp for the night, one of the adventurers suddenly noticed someone in the distance as he called out in a surprised voice. Causing the rest of the group to freeze on the spot as they all looked in the direction that the owner of the surprised voice was pointing. Not taking long to spot another group of people in the distance heading towards the valley that they were also moving towards.
Charles, the man that had been called out was rather easy to make out compared to everyone else in that group as he walked in the front with a confident look on his face along with an exquisitely designed leather armor and a face that was far more handsome than the average rough adventurer.
"It really is that arrogant noble brat..." Quietly muttering this just loud enough for everyone to hear, the leader couldn’t help cursing their luck. Understanding full well that this was the worst possible situation, as even being chased away by the giant ants was preferable to running into some noble brat in a place like the Thousand Spire Mountain Range. Especially one that was rather notorious for being arrogant and difficult to deal with.
Even if he was barely a B Rank Adventurer, the leader understood that there was no way that the family behind this annoying little brat would allow him to enter such a dangerous place without any protectors around... And indeed, after looking at the people following the young noble, he spotted two familiar knights that he knew were stronger than normal A Rank Adventurers. Even someone skilled like himself who could be considered a senior A Rank Adventurer would struggle to face those two knights.
Worse yet, the group led by Charles had already spotted them and were clearly signaling for them to meet up in the valley.
"This damned luck..." Cursing silently to himself as he saw this, the leader understood from experience that nothing good could come from encountering some arrogant noble brat in such a dangerous place. From past experience and what he heard from other adventurers who had encountered similar situations, the most likely outcome was that the little noble brat wanted to use them for cheap labor, something he wanted to avoid considering that their goal in coming to the mountain range in the first place was to make it big and earn enough for them take a few years to relax.
But turning around wasn’t an option either, as he knew for certain that Charles recognized him as a rather famous local adventurer... And if he didn’t know him, his two knights certainly would, as they were former A Rank Adventurers themselves before they retired and became knights. A job he himself had considered taking when he got older because of how well it paid. Only, he certainly would choose somewhere different to become a knight.
"Brothers... Do we run for it and pretend we didn’t see anything...?"
"That is a good idea! They are still quite some distance away and won’t know if we run fast enough!"
"..."
However, as the leader considered his option, the conversation of his companions echoed out beside him. Making it clear that these little companions of his had seemingly already made up their mind and wanted to make a run for it.
Honestly, he couldn’t really fault them, as he himself also wanted to just turn around and move in another direction, but-
"Good, let’s get going!"
"Haha, you don’t have to say that twice! I’m out of here!"
"Hehe, that noble brat won’t even see us leaving!"
Open his mouth, about to scold them as the senior and ensuring they didn’t do something stupid, the leader was ultimately too late, as his little group of friends decided to move on their own.
"..."
In the end, he could only stare blankly for a few seconds before finally reacting to chase after them.
However, he didn’t scold them but instead decided to follow them. Knowing that he wasn’t exactly the boss of this group and wouldn’t be able to convince everyone once they had set their mind on something... And honestly, he had already planned to leave this place after returning from this expedition. So, offending a local noble lord wasn’t something he was too much against.
As long as he left enough, it wouldn’t affect him, as there was no way the local noble lord would bother chasing after him across borders for ignoring his son...