"Mn… We should be able to get to the settlement by tomorrow." I muttered while glancing at the makeshift map that the scouts have created.

With the information we have obtained, if we avoid the monsters roaming around, we should be able to reach within a single day.

But if we decide to fight, it could attract more monsters and with a caravan like ours, that would be a bad choice since not everyone could fight.

'We're not exactly a small group anymore so we can't move around easily.' I thought to myself with a frown.

Looking at the number of monsters around, I don't think combat is avoidable but it was a bit strange.

They have small territories but never fought amongst themselves.

It was almost like they were 'protecting' something. No… protecting wouldn't work since they are clearly hostile towards what they're 'protecting'. All of the monsters would be glaring towards that direction with hostility.

'Maybe the settlement isn't the best idea. From what I can tell, the monsters are clearly intelligent like Nitha so they would know how to launch an organised attack. If we go, there's no doubt that the settlement would be destroyed soon so we'll just be wasting our time.' I thought to myself while patting Nitha's head.

"Let's go back now, I've gotten the information I wanted." I said as Nitha nodded and turned back.

Letting out a small cry, she informed the Dreadhowlers to make their way back.

Glancing at the monsters surrounding where the settlement would be, I couldn't help but sigh.

'We'll have to look for a new place. Making settlements in this new age is risky without a Queen to deter the monsters. For outlanders like us, the best choice would probably be deep underground. But if we do that, we'll have to worry about monsters like worms that can sense us with ease. We'll be in their home territory.'

Scratching my heal, I sighed in frustration since the safest option was to keep travelling.

Feeling a pat on my head, I glanced up and saw that it was Nitha's arm that was comforting me.

"I didn't say anything and you're patting my head like that. Are you sensitive to emotions or something?" I asked with a laugh.

Letting out a small growl, Nitha did a roll as I held on for dear life.

"I'll take that as a yes then. You know you can get the same effect by just nodding your head right? There's no need to almost throw me to my death."

Shaking her head, Nitha did another roll before letting out another growl.

Rolling my eyes, I wondered about how I should break this news to the rest of the caravan.

###

"We can't give up on the settlement. Our rations are running out and resources are low. Even if the settlement is surrounded by monsters, we have monsters of our own. We can just fight it out with them. Plus, if we send some messengers to the settlement, I'm sure we can come to an agreement in clearing out the monsters." One of the adventurers spoke up after I gave them a rundown of the situation.

"That's true but we're stationary if we go to the settlement. We don't have proper defences and doing so would be exposing us to a lot more danger. After the first wave of monsters, who knows if more powerful ones will arrive. Plus, monsters are more intelligent than you expect. The monsters surrounding the settlement haven't attacked yet since they probably understand that attacking now would mean their death. For all we know, they could be buying time to get more powerful reinforcements." I replied, trying to get him to understand the situation.

"But there's no guarantee right?" Another spoke up as people started to argue amongst themselves.

I tried to calm them down but they didn't seem like they'll stop anytime soon. Few wanted to go to the settlement while others suggested that they should leave. Eventually, the small conference broke apart and they each returned to their tents.

"Ha….." Sighing heavily, I sat on a log in front of the fire with a frown.

"Nitha, I don't think this caravan will last long. A lot of them are still too arrogant with how much power humans have. They're not used to being at the bottom of the food chain." I sighed.

Slivering towards me, Nitha wrapped around me as thought it was trying to hug me and nudged my face with her's.

"Thanks." I smiled while patting her head.

Thinking about what I should do, I believe that this caravan will probably be better to just split up early. Those that want to go to the settlement can go since they will break the group up eventually. If that happened during combat, things would be dangerous.

'I don't mind taking the weaker ones but travel will be hard. Hopefully we can trade for a few resources.' I thought to myself.

Organising the people that wanted to go to the settlement into a group of their own in my head, I realised that two of them used the Dreadhowlers and another used the Rock Drake.

If they left, it would mean we'll only have Nitha and a single Dreadhowler.

This would make scouting and carrying equipment much harder since I don't believe they'll be as kind as to give up the monsters that we have 'tamed'.

If anything, combat might break out if we were to be forceful.

"You might have to be careful Nitha. For all I know, they might kidnap you away when they leave for the settlement." I chuckled as NItha only waved her tentacles in a shrugging manner.

Smiling softly, I pat her head. Noticing a presence approaching us, I glanced back and saw that it was my friend.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked with a smile.

"Not in the mood. The caravan will probably break up soon with the last meeting." He said as he sat down near me and glanced at Nitha before looking at the fire.

"Mn. What's your opinion on this? You didn't say anything during the meeting." I asked.

"I'm not sure. Both sides have their reasons and it's understandable. Quite a few of us here wants a guaranteed home but doing so could open us to an attack that will just wipe out everything. On the other hand, continuing to travel could mean that we'll die on the road thanks to a lack of rations."

"You're not wrong." I agreed since food was a serious problem for us. A lot of the monsters here are high levelled so killing them for food was difficult without suffering great losses.

"If you are to going to continue with travelling, do you have a proper destination in mind? We don't know if there is another settlement like this nearby. We can't keep wandering around aimlessly. We've just been travelling east all this time and some of them are even fainting from exhaustion. This settlement could become something more if we just worked on it." He asked while clenching his fists.

"Asher, you've been talking to your pet more than you do with humans. What's going on? You've assigned half of our food to these monsters hence why everyone has been more hungry than ever and you're more concerned with how they are compared to everyone else."

Hearing this question, I glanced up at him and saw that he was staring at me with serious eyes.

"First of all, she's not a pet. She's a companion that has been helping us and second, she's called Nitha. Nothing is going on, it's just that I can't understand them when there is such a serious flaw. Holding ourselves in one place without proper defences is asking for death. The monsters have already gotten their eyes on the settlement. Once whatever they're waiting for arrives, everything will be over." I replied I seriousness.

"Plus, I'm more concerned with the monsters since they play a key part to our scouting don't you understand? How many fights have we avoided since we spotted their ambush from the skies?" I asked as my friend gritted his teeth and stood up.

"Rest early." He said before leaving.

Sighing softly, I turned to NItha who seemed a little down.

"Don't worry about it Nitha. He's just a little stressed." I patted her head as I closed my eyes.

I knew that my friend probably wanted to continue to travel but without a clear destination, it was a risky choice.

'I think the group will split tomorrow. I'll go around asking those that wanted to continue travelling for now and see what they think. The caravan will definitely shrink.' I thought.

Staying with Nitha for a little while, I went to sleep.

However, I didn't expect what I'll see when I woke up.

Those that wanted to go to the settlement had taken everything and left us with nothing.

Only Nitha was left along with 4 others.

Standing in the empty campsite that only had a few tents, I clenched my fist and sighed.

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