This village was a size smaller than Flint Village, with probably only a few dozen households. However, it was also surrounded by a wooden wall made of logs—or rather, in a world teeming with monsters, every village was like this.

When the caravan arrived at the village square, a few residents could be seen standing at their doorsteps.

Most of them were lumberjacks.

They were all dressed in their sturdiest clothes, clutching logging axes as if ready for a fight at a moment’s notice.

Just then, a slender woman in a green Cloak walked toward the caravan, with the village chief of Silverpine Village by her side.

"Where are the heroes from Dragon’s Fang Castle? I heard they were in this caravan!" the village chief shouted at the disorderly caravan, his voice drowning out everyone else’s chatter.

His shout instantly silenced the village square.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

Most of the people here had heard the rumors about Dragon’s Fang Castle, but no one had ever seen these so-called heroes.

"That’s me."

On the carriage, Colin braced himself and raised his hand.

Everyone turned to look.

Wasn’t that just a young lad in a Chain Armor Shirt? Was this really the man who could hold off dozens of Jackal Wolfmen?

The Adventurers immediately began to murmur among themselves, most of them looking somewhat disappointed.

After all, while this so-called hero’s gear wasn’t bad, it was far too shabby compared to the "hero" they had imagined.

Thousand Masts City had no shortage of "heroes" manufactured by the nobles, and it seemed this guy was probably another one of them. Of course, that was understandable. Taverns always needed some inspiring news.

Feeling the stares, Colin sighed to himself.

’No matter what anyone else thinks, it’s better for everyone if I just keep a low profile.’

Bob turned his head and stared at him in astonishment.

The words "Holy shit, man, what have you been up to these past two days?" were practically bursting from his wide eyes.

Colin gave him a helpless shrug.

The other two men in Leather Armor immediately regarded him with a visible sense of distance. The noble’s son had an even more complicated expression, his emotions unreadable.

"Name?" the woman said, stepping forward.

Her voice was a bit high-pitched, and though she had only spoken a single word, it sounded as pleasant as a song.

"Colin and Kase."

"That’s them. Follow me," the woman said with a nod.

"Alright, ma’am."

"Ma’am?" The woman frowned at him.

’Women always like to be addressed as if they’re younger.’

Realizing this, Colin quickly corrected himself, "Oh, alright, miss."

"By the Father of Oaks, it’s sir! Sir!" the misunderstood man complained. "How many times do I have to say it? Damned human society."

Colin was at a loss for words and could only follow the man with Kase in tow.

They arrived at the largest building in the village, the chief’s residence. A multi-purpose room that served as a barn, bedroom, and kitchen had been mostly cleared out. On the large table in the chief’s home lay a simple map of the area around Silverpine Village.

Three very different-looking individuals stood beside the table.

One was a short person in Leather Armor who was about the height and size of a child. Another was a heavily bearded man in a robe. The last was a tall, burly man with a thick beard wearing a Plate Armor Chest Guard.

The man who had led them here pulled back his hood, revealing a pair of long, pointed ears.

’An Elf, as I expected. No wonder,’ Colin thought to himself.

’And that short one must be a Halfling. I’ve heard their race loves peace and is skilled at cooking, but I don’t know if that’s true.’

He scanned the four people in the room again.

He thought, ’If I were to judge by the standards of games from my past life, this is what a proper Adventurer party should look like.’

The Elf leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed. "So these are the heroes of Dragon’s Fang Castle. I certainly didn’t expect one to be a short-lived Half-Orc."

"And I didn’t expect to run into one of you grass-eating pointy-ears out here either," Kase shot back, uncharacteristically vicious.

Colin glanced back at him.

The Half-Orc’s expression was incredibly foul.

"I know there’s a bit of friction between your races, but you are residents of Thousand Masts City, the most open city in the Northern Lands." The man dressed as a Mage spread his hands. "Can we please focus on the enemy for now?"

"A Divine War is hardly a ’bit of friction’," the Elf muttered, but he fell silent nonetheless.

Kase snorted like a horse but said nothing more.

"So, this must be the Orc native from the Land of the Far North. I see your Common Language is quite fluent, so communication shouldn’t be an issue?"

"No problem, but I’m usually the one who does more of the talking," Colin said.

"Mr. Helder mentioned that while your equipment isn’t the best, you have extensive combat experience. So, I’d like to ask if you have any particular experience when it comes to dealing with Druids?"

"I’m a Totem Warrior from my tribe. I used to operate alongside those Druids for a long time," Kase said.

The Mage took out a pen and paper, motioning for him to continue.

"They’re skilled at transforming into animals and fighting with Frost Magic. Polar bears, white wolves, eagles, that sort of thing. Conjuring ice blades or ice spikes out of thin air is their specialty."

"What about Healing Magic?"

"Rarely, if at all."

"Hmm... sounds like an offensively oriented Druidic Society," the Mage murmured. "The tricky part is not letting them escape. Right, we’ll need to prepare [Detect Magic] to deal with their transformations..."

"So how many opponents do we have this time?"

"Five of them, all just rookies who can only use Tier Two Divine Skills," the Mage said. "But there’s also a large group of Blights. Otherwise, we wouldn’t need so many people."

As a rookie who could only use Tier One Magic himself, Colin silently nodded.

’At least this squad seems reliable. I just hope they’re not as strange as that noble’s son from earlier.’

"Oh, right. This is a monster-hunting guide a friend of mine gave me. You all can take a look," Colin said, taking out the item Donkexes had given him and placing it on the table.

Besides wanting to contribute to the team, he also wanted to see how much of the Dwarves’ intelligence was true. It wasn’t that he was suspicious, just that he wanted to confirm it. After all, getting bad intel was all too common in this day and age.

The strategy meeting didn’t end until it was completely dark outside.

The group had more or less familiarized themselves with the monster data and would discuss their plan of attack tomorrow. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

After chatting for a bit, Colin realized that even the members of this Gray Squad were unfamiliar with the monsters from the north. A lot of their misinformation had to be corrected using the intel from the Dwarves and Kase’s own knowledge.

This ragtag feeling gave him a bad premonition.

After the meeting, Colin led Kase toward the tavern room assigned to the Adventurers.

As heroes of Dragon’s Fang Castle, the two of them didn’t have to worry about standing watch, which was a nice little perk.

’On another note, the Dwarves’ intel really is quite reliable. At least, the Mage couldn’t find any faults with it. It looks like they’ll be a dependable source of information in the future.’

When they entered the room, they found their uneaten dinners on the nightstand. Bob was lying on his bed and waved lazily. "After following you guys around for a bit, I guess I’m part of the hero’s team now, huh?"