……

So after a night, the adventurers' plan of action was formulated.

The date after dawn turns the page from the last day of the snowmelt moon to the first day of the budding moon. The Budding Moon is the third month of the year in Castaño, representing the cold of the temperate regions of the continent as the end of winter completely subsides, everything recovers, and new shoots sprout.

Located a little north of the eastern plains of Okazawa, the morning in this forest is like the adventure stories told by many tavern poets to their listeners, when you use your weapon to sweep away the weeds at your feet, the crystal dew will still not noticeably wet your boots, and the air inhaled into your nose will bring a fresh and slightly cool dampness, so that you can gradually shake off the fatigue of the morning, and always keep an eye out for what will be waiting to be discovered behind the trees in front of you.

The five members of the Thorn Squad led the way with the old thief Gloriden, Urs and Stonefist on the left and right, and Thea and the Raven in the middle of the group, and the rear formation in the middle of the group, weaving through the forest at a constant speed.

After last night's deliberations, Carlos, Sawyer, and Ekarila agreed with Urs's opinion, leaving all the men of the Orichalcum, Shaving, and Hummingbird in the Logging Village to "guard the house", while Urs led his team to find the Shadow Druid's cult stronghold in the forest, and brought back the Druids' intelligence information as appropriate, or simply exterminate those evil Druids first, and then return to the village to organize a bandit gang to attack the Sawtooth camp in the northern part of the forest.

Urs knew that the Shadow Druids led by Danar Beareye were located in the eastern woods of the Spotted Axe Forest, and their overall strength was not too strong, and an adventure team with an average level of about 15 could deal with it smoothly as long as the team members cooperated properly, and the only thing to pay attention to was that when the number of people in the team was not large enough, it was best not to rush in through the main entrance of the stronghold of the Druid Order, but should follow a slightly farther path to the back of the opponent.

The defenses behind it are always weaker. The Shadow Druids of the Spotted Axe Forest have used a natural cave in the eastern part of the forest as their permanent base, but they are unaware that the cave has an unknown "back door", and a secret tunnel in the back door of the stronghold can help the team led by young people avoid most of the druid enemies and monsters they should have faced, and directly decapitate Danar Beareye in a shortcut way.

According to the game experience of the previous life and the strategy log compiled by the players, Urs planned it this way.

As for confirming the direction in the huge forest, Thea, who wears the "Merella's Talisman", has mastered the apprentice druid magic with 0 rings through a pseudo-part-time method, and there happens to be a trainee magic called "North Pointing Technique" in the druid's 0-ring magic list, which can let the character who performs this magic know which direction is north, so as not to get lost during the journey.

Thea has become familiar with this change in herself in recent days. Merella's amulet seemed to pour out another harmony of nature to her every night when she prayed to the god of justice before going to bed, but the feeling was not particularly obvious, visible like fog, but it was hazy.

The silver-haired, wolf-eared girl didn't quite know why she, as a priest, could perceive the harmony of the natural realm, but she was glad that her new magic would help the team.

Glorydon concentrated on his dagger in his hand, fulfilling his duties as a scout for the team. In his reconnaissance work, he was accustomed to holding a sharp weapon in his hand instead of the crossbow he was best at wielding, and he restrained his curiosity from asking questions about the rhetoric that Urs had been talking about in the hall of the Lumbervillage Association last night.

The ultimate goal of the old thief's collaboration with the young man was to seek revenge on the shadow dragon in the depths of the ruins of Russ Canyon, so he was mentally prepared to approach an Imperial slave knight before joining Urs's team.

In contrast to Gloriden's mental activity, the Raven has no idea who Urs is or how rational he is in his team's planning.

Miss Drow's dark purple eyes glanced to the side under the brim of her hood. The light of daylight was a bit harsh to her as a dark elf, but she knew that the light on the surface was a gift she had to adapt to, if she didn't plan to return to her eerie and dark homeland after being far from the dark realm.

She looked sideways at the young man not far away, and said coldly in a hoarse voice, "You are a good man, Mr. Captain. ”

"That doesn't sound like a compliment to me." Urs gripped the hilt of the Cursed Blade and slung the black greatsword to his shoulder, and the corner of his eye slanted over to her, "Are you sarcastic about my decision?" Since I asked others to stay in a village that was at least superficially safe, I led the team myself? ”

"Don't be too sensitive, I didn't ask you that."

"And what do you want to say to me?"

"It's nothing, it's just that I think the logic of your surface people is interesting. In the underworld, kindness equals cowardice, and favors can't afford even a goblin slave, and altruistic thinking serves no other purpose than to bring destruction to you. ”

"So you're on the surface." The young man half-guessed, "Because your values don't match those of your brothers and sisters in the underworld?" ”

"Hehe......"

Miss Poet smiled scornfully.

Then, without answering what Urs asked her, she cut the subject bluntly, and continued to walk as the team moved.

Seeing that she no longer intended to talk to herself, the young man also turned his gaze back and continued to watch for possible anomalies from around the group.

The forest was quiet, with birdsong in the treetops and the faint sound of streams in the distance as clear as the footsteps of the soles of people's leather boots running over the weeds and soil, but beneath the peaceful surface was the possibility of monsters. Even if there are no monsters, the predators in the forest will hunt at irregular times, and adventurers who break into a forest should maintain this basic vigilance.

In this way, a few minutes passed without incident.

"Raven, I actually heard what you and Urs said just now." In the middle of the night, the wolf-eared priest girl, who was walking in the middle of the line with Miss Drow Poet, suddenly turned her head to look at the former beside her with the kindness in her eyes, "You said that the favor of the dark region is of no value......

"I said 'Favor' is something like that in the Underworld, you can't even afford a goblin slave."

"Okay, but the overall meaning doesn't make much difference, right?"

"You can understand it this way." Raven didn't like boredom, so she responded to Thea's accosting, just to pass the time before the battle.

"In that case, is it true that the virtue of reverence for goodness does not work at all in the underworld?" Xia blinked and couldn't help but ask her, "I... In fact, I have heard in the past few days that the few aliens of the dark elves do not believe in the spider goddess, but follow another dark girl who guides them to goodness, and has been trying to find an opportunity to return to the surface, hoping that one day they will be able to bask in the warmth and light of the sun again. ”

"So you think I'm like a follower of the Dark Maiden?"

"After all, my detection of evil is not effective against you, is it?"

"Poof......

"Miss Raven?"

"You're like a white dove, Thea." The crow sneered, looking at the amber eyes of the wolf-eared girl, and the corners of her mouth hooked playfully, "It's a little silly, but it's pretty cute." ”

"Huh?" Thea was stunned, her fluffy wolf ears fluttering slightly on the silver hair on top of her head.

She thought that the way others looked at her would always think of werewolves, consciously or unconsciously.

Dove...... Strange metaphor.

"That's... What does Urs look like in your eyes? The girl blinked again, and suddenly pointed curiously to the young man whom had spoken a few minutes earlier with Miss Poet.

“…… Fierce dogs. ”

Or mad dogs. She wanted to say the latter, but she felt that Thea seemed to be interesting to young people, so she changed her words temporarily.

"That's... What about Fist of Stone? ”

"A golem with a brain."

"Gloridon?"

"An old dog who hasn't lost his teeth yet."

"Yourself?"

"Outliers of the crow."

"Ahem—I'm talking about two beautiful young ladies, and the sound of you singing like a bird distracts the old dog." The old thief stood at the front of the line and coughed twice, then turned his head to look at them with a wry smile, "Especially the crow with a venomous tongue, maybe he should be quiet, so that the old dog, whose teeth have not yet been lost, can turn his attention back to his sense of smell?" ”