The two of them walked for about an hour until she finally saw the flower crown, but sadly, they could not claim it as it was near the big cave where there was a possibility that a beast was nesting inside.

"Della, wait, don't go near it. There may be a beast inside. Let's go back. We can just make another one. Sorry, but we can't do anything about it." As a precaution, Ramy said

Della had a disappointed look on her face and responded hesitantly, "Y-yes."

Ramy could take the sad look on her face. She let out a big sigh and said, "Wait here, I'll get it for you." Patting Della's head gently

"No, what if there is really a beast inside?" she said, worriedly.

"Are you quick on your feet?"

"I don't know."

"It's fine, I'll carry you to flee if you're not fast enough." Ramy said, reassuring her and walking slowly and silently near the cave. Della was grasping her hand tightly, worriedly looking at Ramy's back.

When Ramy got near the flower crown and picked it up, a creepy sound came out of the cave and she froze. She looked inside, but nothing was there. She walked back and, hurriedly, the two of them walked far away. On their way back to the flower field, Della saw some berries by the side of the river and told Ramy about it. They approach with caution as Ramy assures them that there is no danger, and they gladly pick the berries one by one, realizing that they have nothing to carry with them.

Ramy thought of a plan. She would put the berries inside her pocket, and Della would spread her skirt a little to put the berries in and carry them. After that, they walked back to the flower field and put the berries inside the basket, and as it was almost dawn, they happily headed back to the inn.

As they walk back, from a distance, an ominous shadow looks and observes their movement. Gladly, the shadow didn't make a move but just stood still until they got out of the flower field and peacefully went back into the forest with a grin.

*Village inn*

"Were back, mom? Dad?"

"Ramy, you two came back rather early." Balder was in a panic.

"What are you two doing?" Ramy said, putting the basket on the counter table.

"Nothing.... Where is the Della?"

"Della headed upstairs. Is Sir Roswald still not back?" She responded by wearing the apron around her waist.

"I think he will be back in two days. Didn't I already tell you that?"

"True? I guess I forgot."

"Alright,"

Ramy opened the inn restaurant, but for a long time, not a single customer came by. She let out a sigh and spaced out. When suddenly the two men in gray and blue cloaks came down, she was alarmed as she thought that they would harm her. But it was not what she expected. The two men walked past her and headed out without saying anything. She let out a sigh of relief and again spaced out. Then someone came in. She smiled brightly and welcomed the person, but sadly, it was not a customer but a delivery man who comes once a week to deliver some products to the inn. She was disappointed and called her father with a glum voice. Her father laughed and teased her. She got angry and was about to hit him, but she held back as the delivery man was watching them and walked out.

*Forest of Danbell*

The forest was devoured by silence. The insects' voices creeped around us. The darkness covered the path and only torches could be seen. Together, the four of them walked far into the forest and separated halfway. Eyes were fixed on the four men as they walked in silence down a different path. The shadow grins happily, as if it has found its toy to play with. Every movement was seen and every step was heard. All they did was wait. The owl made a sound that startled the two, and one screamed in fear. The shadow laughed happily that its location was almost seen.

"Hey, move over, stop clinging on to me." Geld was enraged.

"B-but I'm scared." Morse replied in a shivering voice as he clung to Geld's shoulder.

"Why did you even come with us, when you're this scared of the sound of bushes?"

"Come on, help me here, will you? I'm not a hunter like you guys." Morse said, trembling at the thought.

"I'll leave you here if you're that scared. You're slowing me down."

"How can you say that? Where are the many years we spent lacking? "

"It's not lacking if you're a woman, but sadly, you're a man."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm a man."

"Let's hurry and go. We need to meet up with the others."

Both of them continued walking in the dark with no torches at hand. Morse was still clinging to his shoulder and wouldn't let go no matter how he shook him off. The two of them walk continuously as Geld has a frustrated look on his face. They stopped in the middle and looked at the tree surrounding them and noticed the mark Morse had made on the ground as he was weeping in fear. Geld thought it was strange that they came back the way they came, then he noticed the strangeness in the air. They walked and returned to the beginning, and it was only then that Geld realized they were walking in circles and that they might be experiencing an illusion caused by their surroundings.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why did we stop walking?"

"Haven't you noticed it yet?"

"Notice what?"

"That mark."

"What about that mark?"

"It's the mark you made when you were weeping on the ground."

"What?"

"You really, you really are slowing me down."

While the two of them were bickering, a fog surrounded them and hindered their sight. They called out to each other, but the voices they heard were not from each other but the shadows' voices, leading them to separate from each other. The fog dispersed and the two of them were in different places from each other. Through telepathy, Geld tried to contact Morse through telepathy, but there was no response. Then he contacted Roswald. It passed through, but he couldn't respond back as he and his companion were in a perilous situation. The telepathy got cut off, and Geld was troubled about what he would do. He thought for a long while and finally decided that he would first find Morse, as he didn't know what happened to him.

At that time, Morse was shivering in fear while walking along the forest path leading to a river with a waterfall on the side. He rested by the tree and felt hungry, so he tried to catch some fish in the river. At first he couldn't catch anything, so he cut a tree branch to make a spear out of it to catch a fish. It was hard at first, but on his fifth try, he finally caught two fish, but their size was too small to feast on. He sighed in hunger as he lit the firewood he gathered to cook the fish he caught. He rested after that when suddenly the bushes in front of him passed through the river bustle, as if something was running hurriedly towards him.

He was in a panic. He didn't know what to expect. The thing was coming nearer and nearer. He screamed in terror. What came out of the bushes was Geld, who was so worn out that his appearance was like that of a murderer. When Morse passed out on the ground, Geld didn't notice him yet and just washed off the blood on his hands in the river. He finished washing and, as he looked up, he saw Morse and shouted, "You bastard, where were you?!"

He was slapping Morse's face, intending to wake him up, but failed. He scratches his head as he finds him bothersome. Roswald and Amelia suddenly appeared at the top of the waterfall, and in front of them was a beast-like bear fighting them. He noticed them above, with their backs in front of him, and he shouted, "Roswald! Amelia! Down here!"

Amelia looked down and pointed to a path. Geld couldn't hear them talking from above, as the waterfall was a little noisy. Roswald looks down with a serious face, grabs the waist of Amelia and jumps down the side of the waterfall. Geld was shocked that they almost collided with each other. Thankfully, he invaded in time, carrying Morse's body on his shoulder.

"Say something before you jump!" Geld shouted, angrily pointing at the two, but was ignored.

"Glad that the two of you are here. What happened to that man on your shoulder?" Amelia stated

"I don't know. When I saw him, he was already knocked out on the ground. What happened to you two?"

"As you can see, we were chased by a group of beasts. While we were walking, suddenly a fog covered us and led us to the beast's lair that got us in this situation." Amelia explained, with a bothersome look on her face.

"Why didn't you just kill them?" Geld asked, and Amelia was annoyed for an unknown reason.

"There were many of them." Roswald stated.

"Ah, I see. So that's what happened." Geld responded, and Amelia nodded in annoyance.

The three of them sat in silence as the beast like bear retreated and didn't chase any further. After a while, Morse regained consciousness, and as he opened his eyes, what he saw was the worn out appearance of Geld, which made him scream again in terror. He was slapped by Geld and regained his senses, and just like a fool, he laughed in an embarrassing way, apologized, and stayed silent, hovering in the corner to reflect on his action.

"What is this?" Geld asks.

"Clearly a fish...Hey, the man over there, can I have this fish?" Amelia said.

"What? No, that's mine. It was really hard to catch even one." Morse responded.

Amelia stared at him while slowly grabbing the cooked fish and eating it in such a hurry that Morse couldn't retaliate. She was about to grab the other one when Morse snatched it away, claiming, "This is mine." She ate it in one bite so it wouldn't be taken by her.

Amelia clicked her tongue and said, "Pathetic. If you behave this way, no woman would like you."

"There's no need to worry. I'm plenty popular with women. Not like you, who are not yet mature in any other aspect."

"What did you say?!" Amelia said this angrily, with fire in her eyes and a pout on her lips.

Roswald suddenly stood up from the ground and said, "Let's get moving. It's almost sunrise."

The four of them continued investigating further into the forest, meeting many monsters and beasts and defeating them on their way. As they progressed, they came across a strange, large lake. It was oddly quiet and without any species in sight. They approached it with caution, slowly walking towards it, and suddenly a person came out of the water, and the four of them hid behind the trees and bushes.

They observe in silence, without making any noise or movement. Following the other person, another two or three people emerge from the water, and strangely, the three people are not wet; their clothes and bodies were dry as if they had not emerged from the water. The three started conversing. The four of them couldn't hear any of their words, but simply cut words.

They signaled each other by simply staring at each other, but Morse didn't understand any of it and just read the mood. Roswald walks slowly towards the three men to hear their conversation, but unfortunately, they finish, and two of the men dive back into the water, leaving the other. They again signaled to each other and began moving, following the man from behind to capture him off guard.

Morse was left behind as he was slow. He kept running and couldn't keep up, so he gave up and rested on the side, hiding himself, waiting for them to come back. Roswald moves faster, surpassing the man, and hides on top of the tree, waiting for the man to pass. 

Amelia used her alchemy to create a trap to slow the man from running, and Geld chased him closely, noticing that the man was moving faster and attacking him but evading. Roswald, who's above, saw the man nearing the tree where he hid himself and jumped off on top of the man, and the man passed out, then was tied with a rope to immobilize him.

To be continue….