Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 159 - 20 Last Meeting Before Departure_2

"Is that really something you can do?" Dora’s mouth hung open in disbelief as she watched Catherine’s actions, feeling like the perfect image she had of her senior in her mind had just shattered completely.

"The body’s instinctual function will not cease even during sleep, like breathing," Pannis added bullshittingly, "And this is her second instinct."

"I think you’re in for it," came Vivian’s ominous voice from downstairs, "I’ll be telling big sister all about it later."

"My mistake, please don’t do that," Pannis admitted quickly.

"Eh, why am I outside the room?" Catherine stood still for a moment before slowly waking up, she looked around cluelessly and nodded at Dora, "Oh, you’re all here. I’ll be right back."

"Huh, why am I holding gold coins?" Catherine was about to go back into her room and change when she realized she was holding two gold coins. She looked confused and scratched her head, but quickly stashed the coins into her purse with resolution, "It doesn’t matter, anything in my hand is definitely mine. Yes, it must be so."

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"Let me introduce everyone." At the main floor of the residence, everyone was finally present. Dora clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention, "These four are members of Nellie’s adventure team and they’ve been brought here as temporary aid. They’ll be fighting alongside us for a while, I hope we can all get along."

"These are the individuals I was talking about earlier. They’re all of Silver Rank. Originally, there were meant to be forty of them, but due to yesterday’s incident, three of them were killed and we are left with thirty-seven. I won’t introduce everyone since there’s so many of them. They’ve been divided into four squads. These are the team leaders." Dora showcased a plain-looking woman in her thirties, "Meet Illusion Fox, the team leader of the first squad. Illusion Foxes are somewhat rare magical beasts in the forest. They aren’t particularly strong but are very smart and cunning. They can even set traps to capture prey or protect themselves, just like us humans. The most dangerous thing about them is their race-based talent to create miniature illusions, allowing them to attack their prey unconsciously."

"The team leader of the second squad," Dora pointed at a wiry middle-aged man, "Red Scorpion, a mage who is skilled in the use of various toxic potions."

"The leader of the third squad." Dora pointed to the third person, a stout dwarf with a beard that drooped down to his belly. His thick beard made it hard to determine his age, "Pickaxe, a powerful shield warrior."

"Finally, the leader of the fourth squad." Dora gestured at the fourth leader, "Cheetah, the fastest person in the whole mercenary team."

"Here’s my plan; we form a team of four, along with us just makes five of us in total. We will be at the center, and these four teams will arrange themselves a hundred meters behind us, in a fan-shaped formation. They will scan every suspicious location as extensively as possible." Dora said, "The guide I hired will join us tomorrow before we depart. He is the best hunter in this area and is very familiar with most of the hidden areas of the forest. With him leading us, those thieves won’t be able to escape from our search."

"So that’s it for my strategy." Dora concluded her presentation, "But since none of us have actually ventured into the depths of the forest, we don’t have a practical understanding of what it’s like inside. Any suggestions?"

The three young girls looked at each other and then turned their gaze to Pannis. Catherine said, "Pannis, none of us have experience with large groups going into the heart of the forest, but you do. What do you think?"

"Alright then." Pannis replied with a slightly reluctant expression, "Actually, if we’re talking about searching, having a large group go in isn’t necessarily a good idea."

Dora paused before asking, "Why not?"

"As I’ve mentioned before," Pannis explained, "when traveling through a forest, one has to abide by the rules that the magical beasts of the forest follow. They don’t know that we are humans. We are seen as a small race of creatures encroaching on their territory. If we all stick together, it’s not too big of an issue since we have four Gold Rank among us, and most magical beasts wouldn’t dare attack us as long as we don’t stay within their territory for too long. However, if we disperse like you suggested, it could get complicated. To a group consisting only of Silver Rank, even during magical beast invasion periods, they would still constantly be under attack from magical beasts. These continuous attacks from a large throng of magical beasts would alert the thieving band early about our movements, causing them to stick to the shadows even more."

"That makes sense." Dora said after her plan was criticized, but she didn’t show any frustration and asked quite humbly, "How about if we all stick together?"

"That’s pointless though." Pannis shook his head, "If we’re going to stick together, there’s no need to have so many people. After all, we’re just looking for clues. Once we find them, we can call for reinforcements from outside."

"Are you saying we need to reduce our numbers?" asked Dora.

"Yes, my suggestion is to trim down the count." Pannis said, "Just the five of us, plus, pick four more. Including the guide, that’s a total of ten people. That’s enough."

Dora looked to Catherine with an uncertain expression, Catherine nodded and said, "He’s the expert. I suggest you take his advice."

It took some time before Dora reluctantly agreed, "We’ll go by your plan for now. But who should we pick to go in? The four team leaders? They are the strongest four among the crew."

"Not them, we don’t need the strongest ones." Pannis said, pointing out four individuals, "I’d suggest that we take these four."

"Illusion Fox, Earth Rat, Shadow Wolf and Night Owl?" Dora asked in confusion, "I don’t understand, you don’t know the members of my team that well. Why would you pick these four? Isn’t that a bit hasty?"

"I didn’t pick them randomly." Pannis explained, "Ever since they came in, I’ve been observing them. These four have displayed several subtle habits that suggest they have ample experience in wilderness survival. I don’t mean experience with team-based wilderness survival, but survival in harsh environments with very few people, or even alone. I’m correct, aren’t I, Miss Illusion Fox?"

"You’re correct." Illusion Fox and the others all looked at each other, not noticing any particular habits among themselves that would give away their experience, "But I’m not aware of anything special about us."

"It’s all in the details." Pannis replied with a smirk, he looked at Dora and said, "So, you see, it’s not a hasty decision at all."

Dora turned her gaze between Pannis and Catherine, she bit her lip, took a deep breath and agreed,"Fine, we’ll go by your plan then. But according to rules, if we fail due to your decision, your adventure team need to compensate us twofold."

"No problem." Catherine agreed immediately, without any hint of hesitation, even though she was someone who would instinctively run out just to catch hitting gold coins even in her sleep, "I trust Pannis’ experience. It’s decided then, we leave tomorrow."