"You've seen it yet?"
"No... Ah, I found it! Over here, Star!"
As they entered the woods, it beca a lot harder to identify the blood drops on the forest floor. One reason was that as more ti passed, the bloodstains started turning black, making it harder to identify within the dark forest and the dark-colored forest floor.
"If only my nose were even remotely useful right now..."
Rabbits should have a strong sense of hearing and sll, but Cassy is currently having trouble with her nose.
After moving to her new lodging, she ended up missetting the air conditioning unit and setting it too cold. She didn't realize it at first until the second day took a toll on her.
Due to that, she caught a slight cold, not to the point of having a runny nose, but was still ssing up her sense of sll greatly!
"It's fine; things happen," Aster whispered while gently patting her back. "Don't bla yourself for sothing that was beyond your control."
However, if Kali was there, she would definitely say, "Adventurers should take care of their health first and foremost!" calling her stupid again and again for catching a cold.
Although they were having a harder ti looking for bloodstains, they were already quite deep into the forest.
Luckily, the goblins around were already hunted down, making it a safe passage for the two. If not for that, then they would already be tired as hell and delayed by several hours!
It had been roughly 3 hours since they began tracking the kidnappers, and the two were already too deep into the forest, making them wonder just how deep it could go.
*Twitch!*
Suddenly, Cassy's ears flicked, straightening up in attention. Aster, who was slightly behind her, noticed this and held his breath, trying to get as quiet as possible.
"... Found them!" She exclaid with a joyful smile. "Over there!"
"Alright! From here on, we'll be moving as quietly as possible. Hide your presence to the limit."
Without the need to look for the bloodstains anymore, the two of them quickened their pace, hiding behind the shrubs and thickets while avoiding stepping on dried branches and leaves.
As they ca close to their destination, Cassy raised her hand as a signal, warning Aster to keep his voice down.
Then, after moving forward a few more dozen ters, a small camp entered the two's sights. Just from a casual glance, they could already count over 20 hoodlums carrying scary-looking weapons with them.
"...!"
Aster looked around and quickly found a tall pole in the middle of the camp. Kali, along with a few more captives—close to half a dozen—were tied to it.
But what surprised him more was that she had two large wounds on her body. One around her shoulder, still dripping fresh blood until now, and another around her stomach, coloring her gray shirt a dark red hue, close to black.
"K...!"
Cassy let out a soft voice before placing her hand over her lips as if to silence herself.
However, her gaze was wavering as tears started to appear on their corners. She was feeling a mix of worry, concern, and pain from seeing their party mber's sorry state!
Just as Cassy acted as if about to dash forward, Aster placed a hand over her shoulder before shaking his head.
If they revealed their position right now, they would simply beco captives like the rest. First, they need to think of a plan to save Kali without getting caught, preferably including saving everyone else.
After Aster studied the structure of their camp, he motioned to Cassy to move back, leaving the periter of the enemy's camp.
About a hundred ters away, they stopped and hid behind a tree before talking in hushed voices.
"Star! Why did you stop ?" Cassy raised her voice, but not to the point of shouting. "If I get close to them, then I can heal Kali and let her escape!"
"True, that could be possible." Aster nodded. "But doing that would an you and Kali would just switch places. Worse, you can just end up adding to the ones tied up over there, leaving alone and unable to help."
"That is...!"
Cassy tried to counter, but as if she had regained her cool, she slowly quieted down.
"Of course, I'm not saying we should abandon Kali." He continued with a grin. "I have a plan, and you would be at the center of it all. Are you willing to do it?"
"..."
Cassy thought for a mont before nodding her head with a serious face. "Alright. Tell about it."
"Great resolve," Aster praised. "First..."
Aster drew the layout of the enemy's camp over the ground, explaining the key points of his plan. However, the more he told Cassy, the more her face turned pale.
"Wouldn't that place all the risk on yourself?!" She asked, now more worried about Aster than Kali. "There's no way I would agree to this!"
"Right, you won't... but this is the only valid choice we have." He explained. "And the more we delay, the higher the risk is for and for you too."
They didn't have ti. Although there's a possibility of the enemy numbers decreasing later, the possibility of them increasing or moving toward their own "exit," leading to probably their main base, was a lot higher.
"But..." Cassy seed to be unconvinced, worried about Aster's safety.
However, at the sa ti, she realizes that delaying the matter would make it riskier for either or both of them.
"Alright," Cassy responded while wiping away the tears from her eyes. "But promise you won't try to push yourself!"
"I won't. It's not like I want to die." Aster grinned. "Rather, I can't die until I reach the 1000th floor of this dungeon!"
With the two of them on the sa page, they quickly moved to their designated positions and prepared. Aster went to the opposite corner of the camp, staying low and waiting for the ti they agreed upon to co.
Three more minutes until their operation starts!
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