(10 minutes earlier, when Henryk was talking to Felicia)
While his companions were keeping their slaves busy, he decided to speak with Brina alone, as they had an important matter to discuss.
When they had moved a safe distance away, confident that no one would overhear, Brina calmly sat down on a large boulder.
Kael was silent for a moment, unsure what to say. Brina beat him to it.
"You feel it too, don't you?" she asked, looking at him with her beautiful, dark eyes.
"Yeah... I feel it too. That's probably what that werewolf was trying to warn us about."
"We were stupid to kill him. We could have at least captured him and gotten the information." Brina shook her head in disappointment at her and Kael's stupidity.
"I bet you have a better sense of how dangerous the creature watching us is," the hunter leader stated, crossing his arms.
"All I know is that this creature has a powerful source of mana. It conceals its presence. I'm honestly impressed that you sensed it without being a mage."
"Let's skip the unnecessary compliments, Brina," the swordsman said, his lips twisting. "Can you tell where this thing is that's watching us?"
"Unfortunately not?" Brina replied, crossing her legs and looking at the cave ceiling. "I can tell it's one creature, but I feel like it's everywhere and has surrounded us."
"*Sigh* Okay, let me ask another way: What chance do we have against this thing?"
"I have no idea." The sorceress shrugged. "I've never felt such intense mana in anyone. Let's hope it's some stupid creature that has no idea how to use mana."
Kael pondered for a moment. The only sensible solution to this situation would be to leave the mana nest as quickly as possible.
Hoping not to provoke the monster that was hiding somewhere, watching them, waiting for the right moment to attack,
The adventurer knew he couldn't endanger his companions. He could use the slaves as human shields, but he knew that in the long run, such a plan wouldn't work.
Unlike Brina, he didn't feel as strongly about the threat as she did. But he trusted the sorceress's judgment, as she had saved him with her advice more than once in the past.
"Alright. We have to get out of here. We have to tell the others..." Just as Kael was about to move forward to his other companions, Brina suddenly stopped him by grabbing his wrist. "What's the matter?..."
When he looked at her, he saw that the purple-haired sorceress wasn't looking him directly in the eye, but to the side, avoiding his gaze.
"I know you're in charge here, but I was wondering if there was any point in continuing this?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?" the swordsman asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.
"It's just... When we get out of here, I thought it was time to take early retirement as an adventurer."
"What..."
"I know you love doing this, but let's be honest: The guys are tired of wandering around these caves. Gill has a younger brother, remember? The last time he got drunk, he told me he hit him because he was drunk. It's all because of the stress of fighting monsters."
"..." Kael remained silent, his face grim, unsure of what to say.
"And Markus and Gared have families too. We're only C-Rank hunters, Kael. Plus, we're one of the weaker teams, and let's be honest: We're not getting any stronger."
The silver-haired man looked away from Brina. He knew deep down that she was right. He'd already guessed that this raid on the mana nest was likely their last as a team. He honestly didn't believe they'd managed to achieve C-Rank in the guild. After all, there were people in the kingdom who were far more powerful than them, yet held the same rank. He understood he wouldn't get any further, and all he could do was accept it like a man.
He looked at the slaves. He saw the brown-haired youth talking to the Demi-Human woman, pretending to work hard.
"You know what, Brina? I was thinking that when we leave here, maybe you'd be so kind as to agree to go to dinner with me. I promise I'll buy you your favorite grape wine." He encouraged her with a smile.
The sorceress's face flushed slightly and she giggled softly.
"With pleasure," she replied with a kind smile, offering Kael her hand so that, like the gentleman he considered himself, he could help her up from the boulder she was sitting on.
As Kael and Brina walked toward the others, they noticed that the three slaves had begun to laugh. This didn't faze Kael, but he had to maintain his commanding image as leader in front of the other hunters.
"Alright, enough of this stupid laughter. Pack your bags. We're leaving."
As they watched the slaves pack, placing their backpacks on top of their backpacks, Kael, the other hunters, kept an eye on them, and didn't surprise them.
"Relax, boss. Everything will be fine." Gill sealed with a nasty smile, slapping Kael on the official's shoulder. "Those stupid slaves won't get away with anything while I'm here!"
"They're not the ones I'm worried about right now," the silver-haired swordsman muttered to himself. "We'd better get going. I don't want to be in this filthy place anymore. Let's go see the sun."
With these words everyone moved forward in the movement from which they had come.
A dozen or so meters behind them, a humanoid creature with red eyes and sharp fangs was hiding in the darkness, watching them with a terrifying smile.