"What should we do, young miss?" Fred asked Lumilia with a concerned tone.
"I-" Lumilia hesitated to answer him and when she was about to reply Souta interrupted her.
"Donât worry, the person whoâs capable of doing this wouldnât have an interest in a mere Mystical Light Cherry," Souta said. He clearly knew that those powerful people wouldnât get an interest in a fruit that will not give them any benefits. For them, the benefits they will receive from Mystical Light Cherry was close to none. They wouldnât even feel the increase in their strength even if they consumed a dozen of it.
"What if we met those people?" Jusmin interjected. What she was worried the most was Lumiliaâs safety.
"If we somehow met them, then donât do anything that will get in their nerves. We should just leave them and do nothing." Souta said. As long as they donât offend those people then they would be safe.
He could see from this scene that these people didnât die without fighting. These people and monsters all died with one strike on their necks. Although they died with one strike, Souta could see that thereâs proof of other skill that was launched. Trees were burned and shattered ice was on the ground.
In other words, these people attacked first before they died with one strike.
"As long as we donât attack them then weâre good," Souta added.
"O-Okay..." Lumilia nodded then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, a determination could be seen flashing in her eyes.
Souta turned his attention to Bryan. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Donât do anything. Just keep quiet for a while."
"I know." Bryan nodded at him.
"Ignore those bodies. We will go now." Souta said to them.
...
The group walked for half an hour before they arrived in the part where the Mystical Light Cherry ripened.
"Weâre here in the rumored part of the forest where the Mystical Light Cherry ripened," Souta said to the group. "Here in this place, thereâs a chance that people who are after the Mystical Light Cherry will only attack us once we got the cherry in our hands."
"Okay, Iâm itching to fight someone," Bryan said with a smirk on his face.
"Bryan, donât start attacking people. We will see first if they are enemies or not." Souta said to Bryan sternly.
"Yeah, if you want to help young miss then do that." Jusmin backed up Souta.
"I know." Bryan smiled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.
"Cl.u.s.ter, stay beside Jusmin. Donât wander around." Souta said to Cl.u.s.ter.
"Mn... Donât worry about me..." Cl.u.s.ter said in a low voice. She gripped the hem of her clothes while looking at Souta straight in the eyes.
"Good." Souta smiled when he saw her eyes. It seems that he doesnât need to worry about her.
Boom!
A loud booming sound echoed in the whole area and it was followed by a huge explosion.
Souta, Yuko, Lumilia, Bryan, Fred, and Jusmin looked up. They saw a huge mushroom of smoke rose up in the air.
"As expected some people are already fighting for the cherry," Souta muttered.
From the looks of it, the battle already started and it looks like its been a while since it started. Thereâs also a possibility that some people got the Mystical Light Cherry.
"Letâs hurry!" Souta said before he started to run towards the direction of the explosion.
Yuko followed him without hesitation.
"Okay." Bryan nodded and he also ran towards Souta.
Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin looked at each other before they followed behind Souta.
...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A man wearing a full plate armor was breathing heavily. His armor had a lot of dent and cracks in it.
He slowly raised his arm and wiped the blood on his mouth. He took a deep breath and said, "Theyâre quite strong, master."
"I know. Iâm having a hard time too, so can you please shut up and focus on killing them." A young man with long black hair said with an annoyed expression.
He was a young noble from Melosa Country and in front of him were his knights. The one they were fighting were the Wood Eater Apes.
The Wood Eater Apes was one meter in height. Although, they werenât that tall their power was something else. Their level was between 20 and 39. It means that these apes already evolved twice.
The Wood Eater Apes live in a pack and they were rarely seen alone. Even when they were hunting, they were still forming a group. Even if their prey was weaker than them.
These Wood Eater Apes were the ones that were guarding the Mystical Light Cherry. To get the cherry the humans and demis needed to defeat the apes and the leader of the pack.
The leader of the pack was a powerful ape that already formed its own monster orb. It means that the leader was level 40 and above.
"Young master, they are too strong." The man in full plate armor said.
"Shut up! Just go and take the fruit!" The young man shouted.
"I understand, young master." The man in full plate armor nodded and raised his sword in the air. He shouted, "Letâs go, guys!"
...
Souta and the rest hid in the bushes. They observed the fight between these knights and apes.
Souta was quite shocked when he found that the one whoâs guarding the Mystical Light Cherry was a monster that formed its monster orb.
The Earth Crawler Ape was the leader of the pack of the Wood Eater Ape. The Earth Crawler Ape was a three-meter tall ape with brown fur. Its arm was large and muscles were bulging.
"What should we do, Souta?" Fred asked Souta. He knew that he could count on Souta in this kind of situation. He saw before that Souta had confidence in getting the Mystical Light Cherry, so he will bet on it. He knew that his young miss wouldnât ask Souta for advice even when they were classmates.
"We will wait here for a while. Let them fight each other." Souta said in a low voice. He then turned his head and looked at Bryan.
"I know." Before Souta could even say anything, Bryan already answered him.
"Itâs good that you understand it." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression.
They watched how the knights fought the powerful Wood Eater Apes. The apes have an advantage in terms of physical abilities but the knightsâ skill was better than apes. Also, their teamwork clearly surpasses the apes and it led the knights to defeat a lot of apes.
But thereâs a problem. The numbers of the ape were greater than the knights. Souta could guess that the knights would lose their strength and would die soon. Also, the Earth Crawler Ape wasnât even moving.
After a few minutes of fighting, another group of knights appeared in the scene. It seems that these two groups knew each other so both of them decided to cooperate and kill the apes first.
While they were watching the knights fought the apes, Souta heard several footsteps behind him.
"Hmm...?" He quickly stood up and looked behind. He saw a group of adventurers coming at this direction.
Souta looked at Lumilia then back at the adventurers. The distance between them wasnât that large, so itâs impossible to run. The clash between them was inevitable.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Fred, come here. The rest stay away." Souta picked the most rational one among the group to come with him.
Fred didnât answer him immediately. Instead, he looked at Lumilia first and when he saw her nod, he stood up.
Souta looked at Bryan and said, "Bryan, donât do anything." He then looked at Lumilia. "Class rep, Iâll leave them to you."
"Okay." Lumilia nodded at him.
...
The adventurers stopped five meters away from Souta and Fred.
The adventurers looked at Souta and Fred up and down. They could see that Souta was an adventurer like them but Fred was different. Fred was a butler of a noble house and they could see it in his outfit.
After they finished assessing Souta and Fred, they looked behind them. They saw three girls, one boy, and a bear. They determined that Cl.u.s.ter was a noble from the way the girls were protecting her.
"Why are you here?" Fred opened his mouth and asked the adventurers. Before the adventurers arrive here, Souta said that he will be the one that will talk with the adventurers.
"Hmm... I will ask you the same question why are you here." A man with a huge build stepped forward.
While Fred and the adventurers were talking to each other, Souta was observing them from top to bottom. Their weapon, height, build, clothes, and feet.
According to what he saw, these people werenât the ones who killed the monsters and nobles back there. Their weapons wouldnât leave the same mark like those people.
"Really, Iâm getting too worried about the people who killed those people and monsters," Souta muttered with a grin on his face. He then slowly raised a thumbs up in the air. He said, "Itâs okay! We can go all out now!"