Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

From his observation, he soon found out that this clearance was not something natural and was created by felling the trees. As if ascertaining that his thoughts were correct, he could see some distinct wide claw marks at the trunks of some trees.

The marks were heavy and gouged deep within the trunk, one could even determine a little bit about the strength of the entity through this. These marks were by no means left behind by Mountain Bears, who are at the lower hierarchy of the food chain.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Simon who was a Dungeon Master and had spent most of his time exploring the dangerous lands of the Ghastly Winding Forest, was the most experienced guy out of all of the people present here when it comes to monsters.

"This place has not been deserted, the inhabitants of this place should soon be coming back. If we camp out here, it would be no different than inviting trouble and causing unnecessary casualties".

Simon said lazily, his tone was sluggish making one believe that he did not pay much attention to whatever he was saying.

His words that contrasted with the arguments that Bignosio had put forward, instantly generated fierce commotion within the crowd present around the table.

Alvara who was still holding the fur, looked at the familiar young face and inquired "What do you mean by those words?".

Simon shrugged his shoulders and said indifferently "I mean what I said, this place has not been deserted. The area we are currently in is the lair of the monsters. I believe that when the inhabitants of this place come back, they wouldn't look at us favourably".

CHATTER… a commotion erupted within the crowd after they heard those confident words.

Alvara who was standing beside Cynthia, discussed something with her, they glanced at Simon and were just about to ask the latter if he could clarify himself, a loud voice erupted from someone from amidst the adventurers.

The laughter contained a mocking tone and the person had difficulty holding it in. The man who had just laughed out loud, was none other than the big-nosed man.

"Hahaha, did you guys hear that? Its been a while since I had such a good laugh… haha. Everyone let's not just believe the random words that he had just spouted without any basis".

"You there… you shouldn't intervene in something you have limited knowledge of. This place was the hunting ground of one or two Mountain Bears but it has been deserted since a long time ago or else there would be quite a strong scent lingering".

Bignosio rubbed his nose arrogantly after putting his piece.

Simon narrowed his eyes, a cold and dark glint flashed in the depth of his eyes after being dismissed like that. The man had been repeatedly looking down on him and had been repeatedly trying to shut him down at every chance he got.

Simon was starting to get a little annoyed by this conceited fellow who had some low self-esteem issues.

<br/>When everybody was starting to believe that those were some baseless words spoken by some newbie, the provisional adventurer stated once again.

"You cannot smell their strong scent, because it has been scattered by rain recently".

The provisional adventurer then pointed at the fur in the guard commander's hand and inquired "Do you feel some moisture on that fur in your hands?".

His question immediately startled everyone and they hurriedly shifted their eyes on Alvara.

The guard commander wore a solemn look as she carefully investigated the fur in her hands and nodded her head not long after.

GASP… her answer immediately made the surrounding people widen their eyes and they couldn't help but glance at the young man once again.

"Mountain bears are not the only monsters that have greyish brown fur, the Battle Bears that are a tier above them in the food chain, also have greyish brown on their bodies. Unlike the mountain bears, they are not migratory and only leave their lairs when the prey around has been lessened".

"Strictly speaking, they are quite territorial and aggressive when somebody approaches their territory. If you look around the place carefully, you can see that this clearance in the forest that we are currently using as our campsite, was not naturally made. The trees around here show signs of being clawed and roughed by the monsters quite a bit".

Simon explained sighing internally. He was not bluffing, he had already seen through the identity of this monster that he had fought with many times during his exploration inside the Ghastly Winding Forest.

The power behind that attack that could even chop these huge trees was not something a monster on the level of Mountain Bear could achieve. However, if it was a Battle Bear, it was not unthinkable.

These monsters that had even given him who was a Demon Baron at that stage, a hard time was much stronger than a Mountain Bear.

While the Battle Bear was strong, one or two of these monsters would have been no threat to their group, but looking at the signs all around, it was clear to him that their numbers were not small.

Especially during the night if they camped out here, they risked the chance of getting attacked midnight and incurring quite a heavy casualty. Simon was not a saint, the only reason he was helping them was because he needed them to navigate a way to the capital.

At this moment, the commotion within the crowd gathered near the table became even more loud and intense. After the evidences and arguments provided by the black robed young adventurer, everybody was forced to redouble their thoughts about camping here.

The arguments and the facts that he had provided, were so strong that they had to withdraw their condescending looks and view the provisional adventurer with a new light.

There was no one among the adventurers who was able to refute his arguments and just when it seemed that everybody was about to believe his words, Bignosio who wore an ugly expression on his face spoke out.

"Everybody it appears that all of us has forgotten one thing. No matter how convincing a story he has cooked up, at the end he is just a newbie adventurer with limited to no experience. How is it possible for him to have such knowledge at such age?"

"I implore everyone to not get distracted by his words. The darkness of the night has already spread all over, if we move from here, there is no guarantee that we would find another place like this to camp. Who knows we might even meet some monsters if we travel at night".

After speaking all that he needed, he glanced at Simon and flashed him a disdainful smile. His attitude seemed to say that he has the weakness of the young man in his grasp.

These words from Bignosio immediately woke everybody out from their contemplation. They felt that he was right, it was known to everybody that Simon was just a provisional adventurer and from his looks, he did not appear to be more than twenty years old.

Their feeling of being convinced immediately dispersed with such a notion. Many of them even thought that the young man had just cooked up a story just to impress others. Some felt sorry for him thinking that the young man was just too scared in his first adventure.

An increasing number of people started agreeing with Bignosio. Seeing that no one was taking his words seriously, Simon stopped talking and nonchalantly excused himself from the discussion.

Nobody tried to stop him since most of them thought that there was no point in including a novice adventurer's opinion when making important decisions.

While most people agreed with Bignosio, there were still some people who had a sceptical look on their faces. Those individuals were none other than Cynthia, Alvara and the adventurer Chuck who had not spoken even once during this whole meeting.

"Although I cannot fully eliminate out the possibility that this place may be the territory of the Battle Bears, I think it would best for us to remain vigilant and increase the number of people who are performing the guard duty tonight".

Chuck said, his voice had a rare tone of authority in it.

The moment his voice rang out, all the adventurer leaders became quiet and listened to his input. No matter how his reputation had fallen during this past month, his valour that had once shaken Mountmend and the nearby cities, was still strong till this day.

Though most of them could see that his words inadvertently sided with that young provisional adventurer, nobody dared slight him. That was especially so for Bignosio who still being reluctant, was nodding his head.

Cynthia, her aid and the guard leaders fell into an intense discussion and after a while, decided to take the risk and camp here for the night.

Although it cannot be said that they sided with experienced adventurer, it was also true that they might not find a better place than their current one this late at night.

The words that Simon had said was still present in their mind and thus the Mistress of the Blue Moon Merchant guild decided to increase the number of night guards.

Cynthia who was done commanding her people, looked at the distant back of the black-robed young man, her cat-like eyes that tugged at one's heart and sanity, was at this moment curiously staring at him.

Meanwhile, in two different corners, Bignosio and the butler named Jeeves silently narrowed their eyes, a dark and solemn look flashed deep within them.

Simon who was unaware that he had involuntarily attracted the attention of three different people, was quietly standing beside a tree not far from the camp place.