48 Intentions

With Emilia and Eliza following close behind, Linnaeus led the group back to where Krone was sitting with his back to a tree. He had his eyes closed at first but, after they entered the clearing, he opened them to give Emilia a brief once over.

Feeling troubled by Krone's scrutinizing gaze, Emilia's ears angled backward as she naturally moved into a position with her balance evenly distributed between both feet. She could see his Status and knew that he was a lot stronger than her, despite having only a fraction of her speed.

Seeing Emilia's reaction, Krone gave a small nod before rising to his feet and plainly stating, "I'm Krone, the Vanguard."

Emilia didn't immediately relax but, knowing she would be in the same Party as Krone, she took a deep breath before saying in a subdued tone, "I'm Emilia...a Huntress of the Vanargandr tribe. I will help scout and protect the backline..."

Since gender and race were shown in the Status, Krone wasn't surprised by the fact that Emilia was a member of the Vanargandr tribe. He had been a little surprised at first but, during the period he sat waiting, he had more than enough time to resume his usual demeanor.

With simple introductions out of the way, Linnaeus stepped up to say, "We'll return to the den Eliza and I have been using. For now, Eliza and Emilia will stay in the back while you protect them. I'll be leading the way forward and scouting ahead a few hundred meters. With Emilia's tracking ability and the Party function, you shouldn't have any problems following the path I map out."

Eliza wasn't too fond of Linnaeus' setup and wanted to nominate Emilia for the position of Scout but, according to their original agreement, this wouldn't be proper. She didn't want to cause any rifts in the nascent Party so, before returning to the den, Eliza decided to keep her opinion to herself.

Without any dissension, Linnaeus disappeared into the underbrush and, after a few seconds, even Emilia's sensitive ears weren't able to pick up on him. If not for the Party function allowing them to roughly sense each other, it would be very difficult to track Linnaeus through the forested terrain.

With this in mind, Emilia turned to Eliza with an awkward smile on her face as she said, "He is pretty good. I still don't understand how he was made the Party Leader though...?"

As a member of a nomadic tribe, Emilia lacked knowledge regarding the Eight Heavenly Families. To her, Eliza was just a powerful woman and, due to growing up in a matriarchal tribe, she had trouble understanding why Linnaeus was in charge.

Eliza was annoyed by Emilia's words so, without beating around the bush, she stated, "If you were to speak about your leaders back in your tribe, how would people react? Don't say senseless things that will sow discord in the Party. Having more power does not automatically guarantee a person has the necessary leadership qualities to lead a Party successfully."

Emilia frowned in response to Eliza's words but, as she didn't have any way to refute them, she opted to remain silent as she followed after Krone. Since the latter made an incredible amount of noise as he tore ambled through the forest, it was very easy to ascertain his location...

---

Though it was only a short period of time, Linnaeus enjoyed the relative quiet as he stealthily made his way through the forest. While he didn't mind Eliza's behavior that much, it was still troubling as, even when he was with Saht, they rarely spoke.

With the addition of Emilia, Linnaeus knew things were going to become lively in the future. It was impossible to know if this was a good or a bad thing but, as conflict and drama were something any Party would face, he needed to be mentally prepared to deal with it.

Truth be told, Linnaeus still didn't trust Eliza and, while he allowed her to get away with invading his personal space, this was primarily due to the fact that she was much stronger than him. Since she also supported his position as Party Leader, he needed to be more tolerant of her actions.

Eliza was extremely important for his future plans and, with her connection to his sister, Linnaeus was unable to easily distance himself from her. If she began to scheme and turn against him, the odds of ever finding someone to replace her were negligible at best. Thus, for the time being, he would allow Eliza to dote on him like a little brother as, until he became stronger, he needed the support of those more powerful than himself.

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After reaching a small clearing that was only 500m from the location of his den, Linnaeus took a seat on a moss-covered rock to wait for the others to catch up. He had chosen a route where the chances of encountering an enemy were slim so, after a few minutes, Krone's figure could be seen tearing his way through a dense shrub.

While Eliza and Emilia would cause a few troubles, Linnaeus knew that this mountain of a man would be the most troublesome element in their Party. It was very apparent that Krone didn't respect him and, if not for the presence of Eliza, there was little he could do to keep the man in line.

Despite this, Linnaeus believed that Krone could eventually be won over and, if he managed to win the man's respect, recruiting new members would be a lot easier. After all, while Eliza would be able to support his position as Party Leader, being a member of the Evendoom family all but guaranteed that people would seek trouble with them in an effort to obtain her.

Status and authority were the most powerful control factors in the entire world so, if they had the chance, there would be no end to the number of despotic individuals who would want to bring Eliza to ruin. She may not be an indisputable beauty but, as a daughter of the Evendoom family, she was a trophy that few would be willing to pass up...

Upon reaching Linnaeus' location, Krone just gave him a curt nod before leaning against a tree at the side. Linnaeus returned this nod and, for another minute or so, the two teens waited in silence as Eliza and Emilia caught up with them.

Emilia was a little confused after reaching the clearing but, knowing what Linnaeus had in mind, Eliza moved to sit on the same moss-covered stone. This was an action that emphasized her support and, while Emilia was originally intending to speak out, she ultimately decided to hold her tongue.

Using the calm and confident tone he believed was necessary for a Party Leader, Linnaeus looked between Krone and Emilia as he explained, "I may be lacking in experience but I have learned a lot from my short time climbing the Tower. I have seen powerful people put themselves into situations that could easily lead to their deaths for no better reason than their own arrogance. Until we reach a point where we can call ourselves the strongest, we should never underestimate the ingenuity and persistence of our opponents..."

Seeing that everyone was listening quietly, Linnaeus gave another small nod before adding, "I know how far some people will go when it comes to casing a potential target. With this in mind, I refuse to tolerate complacency when it comes to securing our place of rest. For the rest of the afternoon, I will be teaching you how to case an area and set basic traps before we return to our den. Unless you are forced to retreat during an emergency, you should never, under any circumstances, simply return to your place of rest without checking the area..."

While Krone and Emilia may have offered a few words of dissent under normal circumstances, they were well aware of the fact that Linnaeus had tracked them both without their notice. Just imagining a person knowing what they were doing for more than a month was an unnerving thought so, while he may be an exception to the rule, they could not refute that others may put in just as much effort.

After showing the duo a map of the area, this one drawn by Eliza, Linnaeus led the group around the periphery of the den in a slow and methodical manner. Fortunately, as a Huntress, Emilia was better at setting and disarming traps than Linnaeus so, while he had a lot to teach her about casing an area, she was able to correct some of his mistakes along the way.

At first, Emilia was afraid to speak out but Linnaeus quickly put an end to this, stating how senseless it was to remain silent if you knew someone else was making a mistake. He did not pretend to be a perfect Party Leader and, so long as she did not countermand his orders, he encouraged both her and Krone to express their opinions.

Krone's reaction to this was to simply cross his arms but, as if she had been given free rein, Emilia began asking a ton of questions and, whenever she felt he was doing something wrong, she would not hesitate to correct him. Since Linnaeus was always eager to better himself, he listened closely to everything Emilia said, just as he had done when Eliza and Ryuuna were teaching him new things.

As a result of exchanging guidance and pointers along the way, it was late afternoon by the time the Party finally reached the den. Before entering, however, Linnaeus showed them all the entry points and how to determine whether or not someone had entered while they were aways. This ended up being a pertinent lesson as, while they were away, a six-meter long snake-like monster had made the den it's home.

After dealing with the intruder, the group finally made their way inside the den which, since the time Eliza moved in, had become more spacious. There were now three main chambers, one for storage and two for resting. Linnaeus had hollowed out an area prior to recruiting Eliza and, while she didn't use it the previous night, he intended to have her and Emilia share the chamber in the interim.

Due to his size, Krone wasn't able to move comfortably within the tunnels leading into the den but he never complained. Instead, once everyone was getting settled in, he began preparing food for the entire group after Linnaeus showed him the make-shift stove he had painstakingly developed over his month of isolation.

With LV28 [Cooking], Krone was inarguably the best chef amongst the group and, with Linnaeus and Eliza providing extra ingredients, such as salt, honey, and some herbal spices, he was able to whip up a surprisingly delicious meal. While it wasn't even close to the best thing Eliza had ever eaten, it was a blessing to be able to eat such high-quality food in a small den underground.

Linnaeus was also grateful for the meal but, more than anyone else, Emilia was the most enthused about having something palatable to devour. She ended up eating more than the three of them combined and, if not for providing the meat and helping to season it, this would have caused more than a few issues.

It wasn't until after Emilia devoured nearly her body weight in meat that Eliza cleared up Linnaeus' confusion by explaining the quirks of the Vanargandr tribe. If not for the low light of the den, she would have been able to see him pale slightly but, after learning she didn't actually need to eat as much as she did, he was able to relax a bit. Still, he would need to take Emilia's appetite into account in the future as, while supplies were plentiful on this floor, they may enter a wasteland without any resources on higher floors...