Yuki and Nana both frowned. They did not expect this to happen. Yuki looked at Nana, and Nana looked at Yuki the both nodded, turned, and bolted towards Maiko. They were not stupid enough to sit around with a rank five demonic beast. Before Maiko could even ask what was going on, she was grabbed by both arms and hauled off into the forest with Yuki pulling them along.

“Yuki, you can stop! It’s not following us!” Nana shouted. She had been keeping a close eye on the snake, and it did not leave the cave entrance at all.

Yuki came to a stop, and poor Maiko was finally allowed to catch her breath. Scratching her head, Yuki looked toward where they had just come from and let out a sigh. “Let’s head to the meet up point and wait for Fatty. We need to make up some kind of plan. We already got the scales we need, so now all that is left is the eggs.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Nana nodded and turned to walk away when Maiko called out to them. 

“Umm…. How are we supposed to get the eggs if the rank five horned snake is blocking the entrance?” Maiko did not understand how they were going to be able to get around the snake itself.

“That will be the hard part, but I think when Fatty gets back, it will be me who goes in while Nana and Fatty try to keep it busy. It’s not exactly a perfect plan, but it is as good as it will get in this situation. The worse outcome is that I go in, and there are more horned snakes inside. If that is the case, I will have no choice but to turn around and retreat. Maiko, we will be counting on you to try to help cover our backs. Although, if we could find another demonic beast close to rank five, we might be able to force the two to fight one another, but I highly doubt that.” Yuki was just going by the books she read in her past life. 

She had read stories where the main character would be solo almost all the time and end up always getting the good loot. Of course, she was hoping for the same thing, but this was reality for her. This was not a story. In order for them to deal with a demonic beast so much stronger than them, they would need to try to keep it busy. 

And since the horned snake was unwilling to keep chasing them, then they could use this to their advantage. By making use of this pulling and running scheme, they could keep the horned snake busy while Yuki went inside and grabbed an egg or two. Yuki was also the best person for the task of grabbing the egg since she could easily run in with her speed and store a few eggs away in her space and get out without carrying anything. It would make it a smooth snatch and grab situation as long as the rank five demonic beast only chased and returned as it did before.

The three girls quickly arrived at the meeting point. Luckily they did not need to wait long before Fatty showed up with many cuts and scraps all over his body. Maiko was the first to rush over to him and begin tending to his wounds. Seeing this, Yuki and Nana couldn’t help but smile. It seemed that spring was blooming between those two.

“I swear! I never thought that bastard would chase me like that. I ended up running into a pack of rank two armored buffalo, and those damn things were brutal! They attacked the rank three horned snake without a second thought. I ended up needing to run for my life so I would not get caught up in that fight.” Fatty sat on the ground. He was gasping for air. He was really tired!

“Rest up and let Maiko take care of you. We have to work out a new plan to get the eggs. We got scales, so do not worry about that, but to get into the cave where there should be eggs, we will need to snatch and grab.” Yuki announced. The first part of her sentence made Fatty blush slightly. Maiko averted her eyes while she continued to treat the wounds on Fatty’s arms. Some were quite deep, which meant he had run through many thickets just to escape.

“Cough…. Ahem…. So, why are we changing tactics?” Fatty asked. He had gone the long way around and almost got lost, so he had no idea what was going on.

“The horned snake is a rank five demonic beast. Even if all four of us fought it, there is no way of knowing if we can kill it. More than likely, one of us will be seriously hurt. But…. This horned snake will chase you for a little way before stopping and returning so….” Yuki began to explain her plans. Fatty listened carefully and waited for her to finish explaining before saying anything.

    “I get the idea for the plan but…. What if someone gets hurt? Then what?” Fatty asked. He was not doubting Yukis or Nana’s abilities but in a what if scenario.

“If they can be pulled out, then Maiko will pull them out. If not then…. Well…. I would not leave.” Or more, she would not leave if Nana was the on in trouble. While she found Maiko and Fatty to be good friends, she would save her family first. She knew this was not a good way of thinking, but she could not help it. Those closest to her came first.