"They are above us every one, be careful of the sky," Lydia shouted alarming others about the incoming danger.

"Dammit, everyone ready your bows but don't shoot until I give you the order," Everyone formed a circle around Nikol protecting him from the monsters that were attacking them.

Alva stayed close to him as much as she can. They weren't too surprised by this attack because these monsters that are attacking them are not even that powerful but their ability to fly and attack with a speed that is incomparable to goblins and boars was dangerous for anyone.

"Shoot now, they are coming close, don't miss," Right after she gave her orders, all the girls started to draw their bows and shoot all the bat-like creatures.

"Yes, it's working, don't stop keep shooting when they start to come close with their speed, they won't be able to change their trajectory," Nikol was impressed with her observation skills. Until she pointed it out he didn't realise that they were charging at him straight without any hesitation.

It took them a few minutes to deal with all these flying creatures. Even though the attack was serious, lucky for them most of them were unharmed by this attack.

"Lydia, do you know what kind of monsters they are?" Alva asked showing a dead body of a monster.

"No idea, I think they must be quite low ranked, high-rank monsters won't group up like this," Nobody in the group had no idea about these new types of monsters.

Since most of the time, they won't enter other areas unless for something important, they never even thought about hunting in the forbidden area. Now seeing these new monsters Lydia thought it was a bad idea to hunt only in a certain place.

"Nikol, do you think these monsters are edible?" He showed a face full of disgust upon hearing Lydia's question.

"Don't ask me, you know I hate monster meat, if you guys want you can eat but I will stick with vegetables and dried meat we brought from the tribe," Everyone couldn't help but chuckle hearing his words.

All of them relaxed for a minute thinking that all the monsters were dead. Suddenly the bush near them started to shake violently alarming everyone.

"Everyone, something is coming," Nikol shouted to which everyone responded by unsheathing their swords and weapons.

*Gulp

Everyone was curious and scared by this unknown sound until they heard the cry of a woman in the bushes.

"Ahhhhh~ leave me alone, don't eat me, I don't taste good," She came running in the direction of Nikol and others.

Everyone's eyes bulged seen the girl in front of them.

"Nym!" Alva shouted in surprise but it quickly turned into anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Her tone changed into a more aggressive one seeing her coming out of a bush.

"Help me! Something is crawling on my back," Hearing her words, Nikol took a look only to see a small insect running around her neck.

He quickly took it since it can be poisonous and searched for any bite marks, luckily she didn't have any otherwise it would have been a way more serious issue for everyone.

*Sigh

Nym sighed after she felt Nikol's hand touching her neck and removing that insect. It didn't even take a few minutes for her to realise her situation as she looked at Alva and Lydia who had a frown on their faces.

"Nym, you were supposed to be in the tribe, what are you doing here?" Hearing Lydia's question she started to sweat profusely.

"I-i am," Her voice was shaking as she suddenly looked at Nikol asking for help.

Nikol noticed this but unexpectedly he also looked at her with narrowed eyes. Having no hopes for his help she decided to talk.

"I was trying to find some herbs and I got lost," Seeing she won't get any help from anyone this time, she quickly lied.

"But you're not allowed to enter this part of the forest, Nym why did you follow us? Didn't Usha explain to you why you shouldn't be here?" Lydia's words were like knives to her heart.

"I- I wanted to," Realising no one accepted her words, she knew there was no point in lying anymore.

Alva stayed silent the whole time listening to her words with anger and frustration.

"Stupid bitch! We told you why you shouldn't come with us and you just lied to all of us," Alva exploded at last seeing her trying to lie.

Nikol interfered before things went too far and tried to help Nym. He didn't want this trip to end after coming this far just because of one mistake.

"Alva, calm down we can't fight here, let's just build our camp near the river and discuss about this," Alva looked at Nikol hearing his words.

"Monsters might come here because of all these corpses," Everyone agreed with his words so they asked Nym to follow them as they cleaned up all the monsters and collected some important parts.

It took them a few hours to build up a camp but by the time they finished it, the sun had already gone down and was hidden between the mountains.

Inside Lydia's tent, everyone was looking at Nym with questioning eyes expecting answers from her.

"So you escaped from a back gate without letting Usha know about this and came here following us just because you wanted to collect some herbs,"

It was obvious how wrong what she did was. Since they are already too far away from the tribe they couldn't even send her back without reducing their force.

"I can help you, I have my healing magic and herbs to help," She showed her bag which had different kinds of plants.

"That's not the problem here, chief must be panicking and she will definitely send a group to search for you," Nikol said making her face go all sour.

"You won't get away with this, I'm pretty sure mother must be pissed off by this now, she would probably ban you from stepping out of your room for at least one or two years," Alva calmed down a little after Nikol talked with her so right now she didn't want to be pissed off by this and ruin their journey.

"I really want to find this herb that's why I came here," Alva and Emily both didn't feel good hearing her words since they knew what she was talking about.

*Sighhistorical

"Lydia can we send a letter to Usha telling her that Nym is with us and she doesn't have to worry," Nikol asked but he was interrupted by Nym.

"You don't have to, I left a letter telling her about the blessings stones I left for them and why I left," Everyone thought she was an irresponsible girl for doing this but after seeing how ready she was, most of them couldn't help but feel bad about her.

"Whatever then, you're not allowed to go anywhere alone and these two girls will always protect you," Lydia said while pointing at two girls who had rather good weapons and bodies.

"Nym what's this plant you want to risk even your life?" Curious, Nikol questioned.

"Yeah, we can help you to find it if you know what it looks like or smells like," Emily also agreed with his words.

"I don't know what it looks like but I heard it gives a sweet smell and is a predatory plant which eats small monsters," Everyone nodded at her words while most of the warrior girls left the tent to make food or collect firewood.

Nikol had a question about how she knew about it then he remembered all the books she had.

"Nym you won't have it easy this time, I'm pretty sure Usha and Eva both must be pissed by your actions," Lydia warned her which brought a wry smile to her face.

"If I can find this plant, I don't really care even if I have to go through harsh punishment, it's for my mother," Everyone saw her desire to accomplish this task.

Lydia just laughed while slowly caressing her head.

"I hope your mom gets better, she was a good friend of mine, everyone now go and eat your dinner," Alva and Emily both left after dragging Nym with them.

"Nikol stay here for a minute," When Nikol tried to go back Lydia whispered without making a loud noise.

"What is it, Lydia?" Confused about why she asked him to stay Nikol looked at her with a questioning look.

"You can stay in my tent tonight? I'm pretty sure girls will try to sneak into your bed," She had a serious tone in her voice but Nikol couldn't help but notice a small sly smile on her face.

"Is that bad?"

"We don't know when we will get attacked by a monster or dark elves so it's good to protect our stamina for a big fight," Nikol couldn't help but agree with her words as what she said made sense to him.

"Then I will stay here, Nym can take my tent since she doesn't have a tent to sleep in," Agreeing with Lydia's words, Nikol tried to leave the tent but he couldn't help but think Lydia was planning something because she had a smile on her face whole time.

"Interesting, let's see what she's up to," Nikol thought before going back to take a bath. He saw some girls peeping at him through bushes but he just ignored them as he allowed them to masturbate looking at him.

Everyone ate preserved food they brought before going to sleep early since they had to wake up early. Three girls promised to stay awake and guard since it was their duty so Lydia and Nikol went to their tent under the dissatisfied look of Emily and Alva.