"How about it?"

After a while, Natalia asked as she saw the old hunter standing up thoughtfully.

The old hunter frowned and looked up at her. "About fifteen people..." He hesitated, as if he was unsure. After a pause, he added with a serious look in his eyes, "I can't be sure either, but I'm sure there are at least fifteen people. This group of people deliberately covered up and destroyed a lot of the traces they left behind, so I can't tell them completely."

Hearing this, Natalia put her hand on the sword at her waist and fell into deep thought, "Basically no one comes here, and these people who passed by before seemed to be on guard against something and covered up and destroyed the traces left behind. These people..." Honasan frowned and said behind her. It seems that these people who passed by before wanted to cover up their whereabouts and didn't want other people to find out. It can be basically confirmed that the other party is not a good person. At least if they meet them, it will definitely not be a good thing.

Seeing that the old hunter had finished observing the traces on the ground and gave his analysis, everyone gradually moved closer to look at Natalia who was in deep thought. All the hired people were waiting for her choice and decision.

There was silence for a while. Natalia suddenly raised her head and looked seriously at the people around her, finally looking at the old hunter.

"Can you tell their identities or purpose?"

The old hunter sighed and said helplessly: "It's hard to tell much from the footprints alone. The most we can tell from the size of the footprints is that the people in this group are mostly men."

Although he has been a hunter for most of his life and is very skilled in distinguishing traces and tracking and has his own unique experience and techniques, but when there are only footprints, even the most skilled hunter cannot obtain other information.

Livia folded his arms and watched quietly, he didn't care. If he continued to move forward and carry out the mission, it was already in his plan. If he returned, he had received the money anyway, it was a deposit and it would not be taken back.

No matter what, he didn't lose anything, so it doesn't matter.

“Sir, we…” Honasan took a step forward, lowered his head and wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.

Natalia understood what he wanted to say, but...

That herb only matures on the day winter arrives. If it is not preserved in a special way, it will wither and fall off the next day.

"The mission continues. Everyone be careful and try to avoid those people!"

Natalia made her decision and said it firmly.

Everyone looked calm. They had all seen blood and lived on the edge of a knife. How could they back down because of such a small matter? As long as there was enough benefit, they would risk their lives. The benefit Natalia gave was enough. Even if everyone divided it equally, each person could get 2,500 Farrons. This was not a small amount and was enough for them to fight for their lives.

The team began to move forward, but their positions were slightly changed. The trio's leader Jeffrey and Caius, who were holding shields and maces, led the way, followed by three guards. Honasan and Livia were on the left and right, Natalia, the old hunter, and the archer Anders were in the middle, and finally the double-blade man Pierre and the 'butcher' Paros were the rear guard.

After walking some distance deeper into the forest, they saw several dense footprints on the road, which forced their team to change direction several times, trying to avoid those unknown people.

Walking slowly, Jeffrey, who was walking in front, suddenly half-crouched down, raised the round shield in his left hand, and shouted, "Roar!"

A leopard covered in camouflage patterns jumped out from the bushes next to him and pounced on Jeffrey, but was blocked by the round shield he raised. Jeffrey half-crouched and suddenly jumped forward, and thrust his shield towards the camouflage leopard that was about to fall to the ground, hitting its neck and body, and pushing it towards Caius next to him.

At this time, Caius stepped forward quickly, and the knight's sword that had been unsheathed and held tightly in his hand was quickly thrust out, and a silver light flashed in the air.

Phew!

The sword tip pierced directly into the eye socket of the camouflaged leopard, which had been pushed open but had not yet fallen to the ground, and went out from the back of the head.

Plop…

The camouflaged leopard's body trembled violently and then collapsed to the ground. Everyone else looked over here calmly, and when they saw that the problem had been solved, they turned their eyes away and continued to be alert to their surroundings.

They reacted quickly. Although it was the first time they cooperated, they cooperated very well. Livia, who was responsible for the right wing alone, looked at the sudden situation in front of him and thought secretly that although the leaders of the trio, Jeffrey and Caius, were ordinary humans, he did not underestimate them at all. Although there were many ways for him to deal with this, the simplest one was to use the Igni Sign to force the two to retreat, but everything changed rapidly in the battle, and if he was careless and was attacked by them, he would not be in good condition.

but……

Livia's gaze shifted to the leopard with the sword piercing its head. This was the first time he had seen a leopard covered in camouflage. He had never expected that there was such a species in the world.

Swish~ Caius pulled the knight's sword out of the eye socket of the camouflage leopard. With his left hand, he took out a strip of cloth from his waist and wiped the sword with it, wiping the blood off the sword.

"This is a forest leopard. Its fur is still intact. The fur alone can be sold for at least five to ten farongs."

As they paused to kill the leopard, the team had gathered together. The old hunter looked at the lifeless leopard on the ground and spoke with some emotion in his tone, as if he had also hunted this creature called the forest leopard before.

"You divide up what you kill, be quick."

Natalia glanced back and said expressionlessly.

Jeffrey nodded and looked at Caius, suggesting, "I'll skin and sell the goods, and we'll split the profits 70% and 30%?"

At the same time, he reached out and called Pierre, the double-bladed man guarding the rear of the team. Caius shook his head and said, "It's too much trouble. According to the old hunter, this thing can be sold for five to ten farongs. Give me three farongs, and the rest is up to you."

What he meant was that he only wanted three Farrons, and it was up to you to sell as much as you could and make as much money as you could make from the rest.

Jefferson thought for a moment and took out three small silver coins from his arms and handed them over. At this time, Pierre was already squatting in front of the body of the forest leopard. He pulled out a skinning knife from somewhere and began to dissect it. It seemed that he was in charge of this aspect of their team.

Caius took the money and put it in his pocket, then turned around and went on the lookout again.

The guards took advantage of the pause to start looking for herbs nearby.

Pierre's skinning technique seemed very skillful. With just a few cuts, he made incisions at all the major joints, peeled it sideways, and cut it down, joining several incisions at one point. He then made circular cuts along the incisions and cuts, while gently peeling the skin off with his hands. Soon the skin on the forest leopard's body and limbs was peeled off, leaving only the head.