It was noon when Thirteen arrived at his destination.
Just as he expected, it didn't take long for Blacky to swim from the Second Island to the First Island.
Vassago, who had also accompanied him on his trip, flew ahead of him to observe the Wanderers, as well as the Unicorn from the sky.
He knew that his Master would want a detailed report of the current situation, so he did his job properly.
By the time Blacky touched down on the shore, Vassago was already there to greet them while perched on a coconut tree.
"Master, the Unicorn is currently inside the Pyramid with his… pets," Vassago said.
"Good," Thirteen replied. "Let's visit the first team of Wanderers first."
Vassago nodded and once again took off in the air.
Thirteen on the other hand, told Blacky to rest for a while and follow his scent once he had properly rested.
Since Vassago was with him, he didn't have to worry about running into strong monsters in the surroundings.
They had landed near the territory of the Wanderers, so it didn't take a long time for Thirteen to find their camp.
'Vassago was right. All of them are boys.' Thirteen mused. 'The Unicorn took all the girls.'
From his perspective, this was the Unicorn being merciful to the Wanderers. Since it tolerated the boys in its territory, that meant that he would allow them to do whatever they wanted on the first island.
But, of course, the Unicorn not hurting the boys was still unconfirmed.
There might have been a one-sided agreement from both sides since the Wanderers didn't dare to offend such a powerful monster.
'If the Unicorn doesn't plan to hurt the Wanderers then I don't need to bring them to the second island,' Thirteen thought. 'Having Wanderers here to keep watch on what is happening in the Island is also a good thing.'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})With these thoughts in his head, Thirteen made his way to the First Camp.
The first one to make contact wasn't him, but the Wanderers who were out on a hunting mission.
When they saw a boy that they hadn't seen before, all of them ran in his direction, and asked him if he was a Wanderer.
"Yes, I am a Wanderer," Thirteen replied. "I just arrived here on this island."
"Then, why do you have the black snake on your neck?" one of the teenage boys asked. "Isn't it poisonous?"
"It is very poisonous," Thirteen replied. "I saved it from being eaten by a hawk, so it has taken a liking to me."
Tiona, who was coiled up on her Master's neck, nodded her head, as if telling everyone that her Master was telling the truth.
Of course, this was a lie. But sometimes, lying was just as important as telling the truth.
"Well, it's a good thing that you stumbled to our camp first," the teenage boy commented. "If you went to the wrong place, you'd be dead by now."
The three other teenagers nodded their heads in agreement to their leader's words.
"For the time being, why don't you accompany us first?" the teenage boy proposed. "My name is Raon, by the way."
Raon was taller than most boys his age, and he also had a lean and toned body.
Clearly, he was someone who had trained on how to fight before he was spirited away to Solterra.
"Okay, I'll come with you because all of you look strong," Thirteen replied.
Raon rubbed his nose, and the smile on his face widened. The three other teenagers who were part of his hunting team also had a good first impression of the boy.
"This guy here with the glasses is Tom," Raon said as he pointed at his friend. "The skinny boy is Finn, and this is the smartest person in our group. He goes by the name Joe."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})After introducing his teammates, Thirteen introduced himself as Zion.
He didn't add his surname because he didn't want to deal with the aftermath of having the same name as one of the Ten Prestigious Families.
Before following Raon's team, Thirteen whistled and told Vassago to pass his message to Blacky.
For the time being, the Nightmare Black Hound would hide its presence, while doing its best to stay as close to his Master as possible.
After successfully hunting a Rank 1 Boar, Raon, and his team, made sure to bleed out the monster before carrying it back to their base.
Thirteen didn't do anything and simply watched them hunt the monster as a team, which was, to his surprise, a very impressive feat.
Clearly, the four teenagers truly understood how to work as a team, so it didn't take them a long time to bring down the Rank 1 with their Bronze-Ranked Weapons.
Half an hour later, they finally arrived at their destination.
All in all, the Wanderers on the first camp consisted of only eighteen individuals, including Raon's team.
Along the way, Raon told him that there had been more of them in the past. But many had died due to the monsters inhabiting the First Island.
After skinning the Boar, the teenagers worked together to roast it over their campfire.
There was a spirit of unity, and it confirmed Thirteen's guess that Raon was the leader of this group of Wanderers.
After all of them ate together, the other Wanderers introduced themselves one by one, allowing Thirteen to know all of their names.
Just like earlier, he introduced himself as Zion, without mentioning his surname.
Then, after thinking that the time was right, he asked an "innocent question" which made everyone's face turn solemn.
"Are there only boys here?" Thirteen asked.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})A profound silence descended on the camp, and only the crackling of the campfire could be heard.
Finally, a few minutes later, Raon broke the silence and answered Thirteen's question.
"Do you remember what I told you earlier?" Raon asked.
"The thing about I'm lucky because I found you guys first?" Thirteen answered.
"Yes," Raon nodded. "If you wandered to the southern part of this island, you might be dead by now."
Thirteen, who showed a look of confusion in his face, made Raon and the other boys sigh in their hearts.
"Listen, the southern part of the island is off limits," Raon stated. "There is a monster there that can easily crush you like an insect."
"What kind of Monster?"
"… A Unicorn."
Raon's face darkened as if he clenched his fists tightly.
"A monster that goes by the name Vega," Raon said in a cold tone. "It came to us one day, and threatened to kill all of us if we didn't agree to its condition."
The other teenage boys, who were listening, couldn't help but look down on the ground, feeling helpless as they remembered that fateful day.
"It said that it would allow us to live, and stay here in the Island if all the girls were to serve and live with it," Raon stated. "My sister, and the rest of the girls, agreed to his condition so that we would be spared from death.
"Fortunately, it allows my sister to visit us once a week to inform us that all of them are safe and sound. According to her, all of them were being treated well, and they didn't have to worry about food, or any other necessities ever again."
Thirteen found his words to be exactly what he had thought that the Unicorn would do.
The girls serving it wasn't necessarily a bad thing because they would be protected by it. Also, they wouldn't need to worry about having to hunt for food because the Unicorn would do it for them.
"My mission is to enter the Gate of the Moonlight," Thirteen said after Raon had finally regained his calm. "Do all of you have the same mission?"
"Yes," Raon nodded. "That is the mission we have."
"Then, do you have any idea on where this Gate of the Moonlight is?" Thirteen inquired.
Raon frowned, and reluctantly gave an answer.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think the place where the Unicorn lives has a clue about the gate," Raon answered. "In fact, this is what my sister told me, so she is doing her best to investigate the interior of the cave.
"The Unicorn doesn't mind the girls exploring its home. According to my sister, there are several writings etched within the inner chambers of the pyramid. Unfortunately, she didn't know what kind of language that is, and how to decipher it."
Thirteen smiled internally after hearing Raon's words.
He had already guessed that the clue to find the Gate of the Moonlight was indeed inside the Pyramid.
Now that his suspicion was confirmed, he would need to think of a way to infiltrate the Pyramid, without alerting the Unicorn, and make sure that he would be able to see those writings for himself.
As someone who could understand any form of language in the world, he believed that he would be able to read it properly.
After thinking for a while, he could only think of one method on how to get what he needed without endangering anyone's life.
Thirteen looked at the Black Snake, who was nudging his cheek with her head.
Tiona hissed as if understanding what her Master was thinking.
Thirteen nodded to confirm Tiona's question, which made the Black Snake very happy.
Right now, the only one who could safely enter the Pyramid was none other than Tiona.
Even if she was discovered by the Unicorn, Vega, it would not dare to kill her because killing her would get it killed as well.
A Rank 8 Sovereign had reached its Rank because it was smart, and strong enough to understand the opponents that it could and couldn't fight.
Although Tiona was just a Rank 1 Monster, the Celestial who treated her kind as his Sacred Beasts, would not allow anyone to kill her with impunity.
