Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Facing Your Troubling Concerns

When morning arrived, the party resumed their journey to Mount Havenero. After almost half a day, they finally reached the foot of the volcano.

There were a lot of tents and stalls erected in the entryway to the path leading up to Mount Havenero itself. There were some adventurers walking around while several merchants manned the different stalls that sold food and other provisions.

This was all possible since Mount Havenero had been dormant for a very long time. There were no visible and imminent signs that the volcano was ever going to erupt.

"Wow, it's like there's a small town here."

Brittanya was wide-eyed when they walked through the somewhat bustling area.

"I heard that a caravan of merchants set up this sort of resting place for adventurers a few weeks back. When the monster in Mount Havenero had made waves in the rumor mill, a lot of adventurers flocked here. Well, not everyone had to go through Equasulle to get here, but it was the easiest way."

Alecsia talked while she was the one ahead of everyone else.

"Is that why you were in Equasulle in the first place?"

Leonze looked toward Alecsia.

"Yes. But this is my first time actually reaching this place…"

Alecsia hung her head and looked at the ground.

"I'm hungry… Let's… eat first…"

Kryllo was walking behind the party.

"I agree! Let's go there!"

Brittanya pointed at a stall that had makeshift tables and chairs made of wooden crates in front of it.

"Fine. But we need to learn more about this monster. I haven't even heard what it is. Do you know anything about it, Alecsia?"

Jaegar stared at Alecsia.

"No, not really. That information hasn't reached us yet back at Equasulle. But if there are this many adventurers here, then they must know something about it by now."

Alecsia shook her head and then looked back at Jaegar.

---

The party then decided to sit down on one of the available seats. There was an old male merchant who sold some sort of grilled meat nearby. They decided to buy some food and drinks from that merchant. It was Brittanya and Jaegar who stood up and went to the merchant to talk to him directly about their orders.

Once they gave him their orders, Jaegar decided to start gathering information.

"So, how long have you been here in this area?"

Jaegar talked to the merchant while looking around.

"Hmm… I'd say about a month or so. Business has been good, so we've stayed here."

The merchant didn't look up at Jaegar as he was busy grilling some meats.

"How come?"

"Well, adventurers have been coming from all sorts of places. Though, I thought more would come from Equasulle, which is the nearest town from here. So far, only a few have made it from there. But the repeat business is what makes up our living, so it's been fine."

The merchant smiled a bit as he talked.

"What do you mean by repeat business?"

Brittanya then looked at the merchant.

"Oh. It's because those who dared to go up there always come back injured or with some other misfortune. They couldn't leave this place instantly even if they wanted to, so they buy from us over and over again."

The merchant then chuckled to himself.

"Speaking of going up there. What exactly is up there?"

Jaegar glanced sideways at the merchant.

"Are you planning to go up there?"

The merchant momentarily looked up at Jaegar but then concentrated again on his grilling shortly afterwards.

"Yeah. That's why we're here."

Jaegar kept his gaze at the old man. The merchant then let out a sigh and leaned closer to Jaegar while cupping his hand near his mouth. The merchant spoke in a low voice.

"No one really has clearly seen it. They say they get injured even before seeing it face to face. The rumor around here is that there's a large black dragon inside. But between you and me, I think that's just horse crap. Someone must have spread it either to prevent more adventurers going up there and taking the bounty, or they're just too ashamed to have lost to some random monster."

As the old man was talking, Brittanya suddenly tensed up. The merchant kept looking around as he whispered to Jaegar.

"My guess is that this group who went up recently was the one who spread this stupid rumor. There were several mages with them. It was a weird bunch, I tell you."

When the old man finished talking, Brittanya was visibly shaken as she blankly stared at air. Jaegar noticed it and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Jaegar looked at Brittanya beside him. She then seemed to snap out of it. She quickly looked back at Jaegar and smiled at him.

"Y-yeah. Let's go back to the others. I'm sure Kryllo will go berserk if we don't give him food soon."

Brittanya forced a laugh as she took the grilled meat that was already on a tray. Jaegar followed his gaze on Brittanya as she walked away.

---

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Once Jaegar came back to the table and sat down, he relayed to the others the information he got from the merchant. He was met with a collective gasp from the group.

"A d-dragon? Are you kidding me?! This time, there's really nothing we can do about this!"

Leonze slammed the wooden crate table with both of his hands as he got up from his seat.

"Quiet down. It's not like it's confirmed or anything."

Jaegar glared at Leonze.

"But we're still going up there, aren't we?!"

Leonze then pointed at Jaegar.

"Of course, we are. You wanted to join us that badly, so you better not be complaining now."

Jaegar then flashed a smirk as he continued to stare at Leonze.

"Ugh. I'm REALLY starting to regret that decision."

Leonze sat back down and crossed his arms as he looked away.

"Knowing you, you'd still go up there even if it really is a dragon."

Alecsia shook her head.

"Brittanya… Are you… not hungry…? I'll take… that meat… if you… won't eat…"

Kryllo pointed at the meat that was sitting on the plate in front of Brittanya. She was silent the whole time while looking down at her lap.

"Are you okay, Brittanya? You've been looking forward to eating, but you haven't touched your food."

Alecsia looked at Brittanya, who was sitting beside her. Brittanya then looked up and turned her head toward Alecsia.

"Oh. Did you want my grilled meat?"

Brittanya tilted her head as she stared back at Alecsia.

"No… That was… me…"

Kryllo then slowly raised his hand.

"What? You already have your own! You can't have this!"

Brittanya quickly grabbed the skewered grilled meat in front of her and bit a chunk off of it.

"Was that your way of making her eat?"

Leonze glanced sideways at Kryllo, who was sitting beside him.

"No… I really… wanted… the meat…"

Kryllo longingly looked at the meat Brittanya was devouring.

---

After the party finished eating, they started their ascent of Mount Havenero. There were no other parties or adventurers on the upward path.

They had walked for a while when they heard some screaming along with other loud noises. The party looked at each other and then rushed toward the commotion. They then reached a wide area full of large rocks that seemed to have fallen from above. There was also a huge opening that seemed to lead inside the volcano.

There were some people lying down on the ground near the opening. There were also some who were leaning on the large rocks. Most of the people there were wounded and bloodied, with some covered in bandages.

There were only a handful of healers there and they couldn't tend to everyone at once. Most of the wounded wore mage hats and had some sort of staff or wand with them.

"What the heck happened here? Is this the group with mages in their party?"

Leonze looked around at the injured adventurers.

"More importantly, what are those noises coming from inside that cave?"

Alecsia pointed at the cave entrance in front of them.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go inside."

Jaegar started to walk toward the entrance. The others followed suit, except for Brittanya. She was staring at the mages who were lying down on the ground. She also had her fists clenched at her side.

Suddenly, someone nearby called out to her.

"B-brittanya… Is that you…?"

A male mage was leaning on a rock. He had his arm on an improvised sling. His face was covered with blood dripping from the top of his head.

The others heard this and turned around to look at Brittanya. Meanwhile, she just stared at the person who called out to her. Brittanya's face was visibly shocked, while her body trembled.

"U-um… You're… uh…"

Brittanya couldn't move from her spot. She also couldn’t remove her gaze from the man.

"What are you… doing here…? You heard that the monster… was a dragon, right? You can't use magic, so how are you going to hurt it, huh?!"

The male mage furrowed his eyebrows as he yelled at Brittanya.

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