Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

All the other adventurers nodded their heads at those words, everybody was doing their best to smoothen their relationship so that when the time comes, they could rely on each other and strengthen their powers even further. After all, they could only do so much with their power and that is why they needed different classes working together to overcome any obstacles.

It was precisely because they knew the strategy of strength in numbers, that they were able to become veteran adventurers. 

These people saw no need to bother with some adventurers that have been newly appointed. This journey was going to be fairly a risky one, if they couldn't make a group before the time for them to act came, their life would be in jeopardy.

It was an obvious choice for them to ally themselves with already established adventurers with some exploits to speak off rather than minding the words of some newbie who did not know what's best for him.

Additionally, the casual black clothes of the young man told these experienced adventurers that he was just a poor beginner who couldn't even afford to buy a set of armour for himself.

"Hehe, you are rather unpopular despite your looks" Adalinda who seated beside him gloatingly remarked. She was getting bored a few moments ago but now she had a fun time seeing Simon being roasted and looked down upon by these bunch of unaware adventurers.

"Leave them be" he indifferently said not bothering to mix his words. There was no reason for them to mix with a bunch of adventurers when their goals were different.

Unlike these people who had acted in groups ever since they became adventurers, Simon was used to acting alone. He had no one to depend on inside the extremely dangerous Ghastly Winding Forest and could only rely on himself.

During many occasions, he had narrowly brushed past death and stood victorious. He had an unshakable confidence in himself and knew that no matter what happens, he could always rely on his powers and body that he had built over the time.

The words of Simon, naturally didn't go unheard by these adventurers seated at the closed space of this wagon. They couldn't help but click their tongues at this annoyance of a guy who had too much attitude even though he was just a novice.

While there were those that found him a bother, there was also those who couldn't help laugh at his stupidity. They clearly knew how crucial a time it was for them to form groups now so that later on they could rely on each other should any contingency occur.

The manner of Simon pushing everybody aside, was seen as something stupid, after all, the client herself had said that the travel would be laden with risk.

The way these adventurers looked at Simon, was as if he was already a dead man.

Chuck shook his head and sighed when he observed that all of the adventurers seemed to look down on the black-robed young man. With his eyes, how was it possible for him to not see the inner thoughts of these few people, with just a glance, he immediately knew what they were thinking. <br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

However, Chuck knew better than to underestimate the fellow who was recommended for this mission by none other than that old man from the adventurer's guild.

Additionally, that unknown skill of his that was able to block all prying attempts of [Analysis] and the mysterious commotion of all the people getting knocked unconscious back at the adventurer's guild told Chuck that the young man was anything but simple.

Leaving aside all those, just the fact that the old man had recommended the two for this task spoke volumes of highly he viewed them.

Since the adventurers were aware of the unusualness surrounding the black robed young man, he couldn't blame them for looking down on him.

He quietly walked towards the row where the two were seating and quietly placed himself on the row opposite them. His two companions also followed his lead and crowded around the two.

Naturally, this action of Chuck who was a renowned adventurer around these parts, didn't go unnoticed by them. Many of them frowned over this act and some couldn't help but become curious about the identity of the two adventurers they thought were newbies.

However, when they related Chuck's action as him taking care of the newbies and winning over them to recruit in his guild, these adventurers came to terms with themselves.

Bignosio, who had formed quite a big group of more than seven people, glared at Simon in irritation. Initially, he thought that recounting the tale of his exploits will win over many adventurers and even possibly allow him to group up with Chuck's team, but who would have thought that Chuck wouldn't even spare their group a glance and tag along with someone random adventurers who he saw was unnecessary for this mission.

Bignosio was an adventurer above level 290 and had rather some feats accumulated under his name. Discounting Chuck and his team, he was the highest level adventurer on this wagon.

His self-esteem took a hit when the highest level team did not even look at him.

"Tch… you are after all, a failure who couldn't even save his party members to return back alive from the expedition inside the Ghastly Winding Forest. Don't think just because you are the highest level adventurer around here, you still hold the same prestige as before".

"The era of your guild is long gone and if not for the main guild still supporting you and the mayor of the city taking pity, currently with your little remaining numbers, you wouldn't even have the rights to call yourselves a guild".

Bignosio cursed the man internally in his heart and his ugly face made. Only after cursing the man internally, did he finally feel good. He no longer bothered with other's actions and decided to focus on the members of his group which included adventurers who had mostly come over after being awed by his strength and exploits.

The ill intent behind the gaze of the man, naturally couldn't go unnoticed by Simon who was a Demon Noble in the first place and very sensitive to negative emotions.

His calm brows arced a little when he felt that lingering gaze over him, although he felt a little surprised that he had already incurred someone's ire, but other than that he did not look fazed at all.

Of course, if that man chose to seek trouble and shorten his life span, Simon would gladly help him with that.

"Haha, don't mind that fellow, he is after all one of the most dazzling adventurers currently in the city. It is normal to see other people who might become their competition cautiously" Chuck seemed to also feel the gaze of that big-nosed man and explained. Being a human, he wasn't aware of the smear of ill intent within that gaze.

Simon simply nodded at those words of Chuck before asking in a somewhat uninterested voice "Shouldn't you be making a group too, after all, this was all your idea?".

The adventurer seemed somewhat startled, he revealed a bitter smile as his gaze drifted over the scenery outside.

"I have thought over it and decided not to form a group. It's not that I have absolute confidence in the strength of my group or anything it's just that I'm not ready to take that kind of burden, their lives that they will entrust with me, I'm not ready to shoulder it once again".

His words were deep and melancholic; there was even a faint pain and helplessness within it. His two teammates also showed similar reactions and chose not to say any words at this moment.

Simon's eyes twitched after unintentionally poking at the still fresh wounds of the man once again.

Chuck seemed to realise that he had made the atmosphere a little gloomy and hence he loudly thumped his hands on his thighs and changed the topic.

"That's right, you don't seem to be wearing any armour or some sort, is your class a mage then?" Chuck inquired after looking at the casual black outfit of the young man.

"Something like that" Simon replied neither agreeing nor denying with his words.

Seeing that the young man did not plan on revealing his position, Chuck did not press further. However, it was easy for him to guess from Simon's casual clothes that he was a mage.

When he glanced over at Adalinda who was quietly taking a nap… his thought process stopped there. He couldn't even begin to guess the class of this little girl who seemed to be giving off a bizarre feeling.

Two days passed by quickly and the night of the following day, they finally crossed the intersection between the two cities and neared the borders of the vast forest region.

After they cross the borders, they would be outside the territory of Duke Redcrest who governed the entire north-western region of the Kingdom of Ellesmere. From there, they would have to travel through the vast forest region that lay between the territories of two baronies.

                                                                  ****

The time was of night and the three moons hung at the night sky illuminating the area with their beautiful luminance. At the edges of the wildlands, just before entering the vast forest, the convoy of wagons stopped near a brook to take a break.

Roars of wild monsters could be heard intermittently along with the crackling sounds of the fire burning. At this moment, the convoy was setting up camps and preparing dinner for the night. Fish and meats were being grilled atop a big fireplace before being distributed to every member of this convoy.