Red had been just about to comment on the matter when he saw Reinhart look over in their direction.

"Get down!" Narcha aggressively whispered to him and pulled him down.

The boy didn't resist and, the next moment, the two of them were lying prone behind a bush. He couldn't discern what the men were talking about, but there was no pause in their conversation. They kept walking south and soon enough were out of his hearing range.

At that point, Narcha got up, and Red followed suit. The woman had a frown on her face.

"Is Gustav making deals with the bandits?" The boy got straight to the point.

"Seems to be the case," Narcha confirmed. "But there's something weird about it."

"What do you mean?"

"Gustav is the biggest merchant in the town, and his business was affected the most by the bandits." she explained. "I can't see a reason as to why he would take the risk to work with them."

"Maybe his subordinates betrayed him." the boy suggested.

"I doubt the bandits could offer more money than Gustav." the woman shook her head.

"Then do you want to follow them?"

"...No." at that point, Narcha's frown deepened.

"Are you scared of them?" Red curiously asked.

"Who said I'm scared?!" the woman snapped back. "But Gustav's people aren't as easy to deal with as bandits. Not to mention, that Reinhart guy is no slouch. I saw him fight with Domeron in the past."

"Really?" he was genuinely surprised. "Who won?"

"They didn't get to settle the fight before the guards interrupted," Narcha shook her head. "But the fact that he was able to keep up with Domeron means he isn't much weaker than me."

Red felt the woman was downplaying Reinhart's strength. From what he understood from Domeron, the man felt confident in defeating Narcha. If Reinhart could keep up with him, then that meant the warrior might be even more powerful than her.

"He looked in our direction." Red pointed out. "Do you think he noticed us?"

"If he did, why would they just keep walking?" Narcha was skeptical. "Either way, we should get out of here just to be safe."

The boy agreed with her assessment. Although, during the whole process, he also noted a curious fact. His new sense didn't seem to pick up on the bandits. Red assumed this was likely due to a distance limit on this power.

These men back then were over a hundred meters away, which meant his detecting limit was likely within that range. The boy wouldn't complain, though - that was already a large area. However, he did regret missing this opportunity to test the power on more people.

Gradually, the two of them put some distance between themselves and that area. Suddenly, something dawned on Red.

"Why do you think they were heading in that direction?" the boy pointed out. It was clear Gustav's subordinates and the bandits were heading towards the dead part of the forest.

"Who knows?" Narcha shrugged. "Maybe they were also hunting for the zombie."

"It didn't look like they were preparing for a fight."

"What do you want me to say, kid?" the woman grumbled. "Unless we follow or question them directly, there's no way we will know."

Red knew she was right, but this matter still concerned him.

"What if they meet up with the other bandits and turn around to chase us?" he asked.

"Bah, don't be so pessimistic, kid!" Narcha complained. "We don't even know if the bandits are chasing-"

Suddenly, a fair distance behind them, loud voices started to echo in the forest. It seemed they were headed in their direction. Narcha froze and turned to look at Red with an angry look on her face.

"I'm never traveling with you again!" she yelled at him before increasing her pace.

The boy didn't know what he had done wrong, but he followed behind her in silence.

...

The duo changed directions multiple times through the forest over the next couple of hours to lose the bandits. However, no matter how many times they tried it, the bandits reappeared on their trail soon after from other directions. This told Red they had more than one group chasing them, and they had a good grasp on their position and route.

"How the fuck did they find us again so quickly?" Narcha grumbled to herself.

This was also something that concerned the boy. These bandits were coming from different parts of the forest far away from where they had come from. Red just couldn't understand how the information about him and Narcha could have spread so far so quickly.

"Can they communicate over long distances?" he suggested.

"They're bandits, for fuck's sake!" the woman was in a bad mood. "There's no way they could get their hands on items like..."

She trailed off, and Red could imagine where her mind was heading.

"It's that Gustav bastard!" she yelled in anger. "Only he could afford communication talismans in this town!"

"Why would he spend so much money to equip bandits?" Red still seemed skeptical at the idea.

"You make a good point," Narcha nodded. "But other than communication talismans, I don't see how the whole fucking bandit army could be chasing us so soon. And Gustav's the only one who can afford that in this region."

"Maybe there's another explanation." Red suggested. However, he had no idea as to what it might be.

"Maybe, but it doesn't matter." she replied through gritted teeth. "They might have been informed, we are still one step ahead of them. As long as we can keep our pace, we can..."

The woman trailed off as voices started to be heard ahead of them. They were coming from multiple directions too. Narcha turned around and gave Red an angry look.

"Did I do something?" the boy asked in confusion.

"Gah!" she yelled in frustration. "Let's try to go around them, quick!"

Under her instructions, Red began to lead the way through the trees. However, they were able to hear more bandits approaching their location from behind. It became apparent soon enough, though, that sneaking around them would be impossible.

"How the fuck can they pinpoint our location?" Narcha grumbled in frustration.

Indeed, this whole situation seemed strange. The forest was enormous, and it seemed unlikely the bandits could surround them this perfectly. It was almost as if they somehow knew exactly where the duo was. The situation was quickly slipping out of their control.

"What do you wanna do?" Red asked.

"...We try to sneak past them." Narcha replied after some hesitation. "If it doesn't work, we can only fight our way through. Either way, we can't get surrounded."

This was a simple plan, but it was the only one they could come up with on the spot. Night was soon approaching, and perhaps that would increase their chances of sneaking past the bandits. Just as the two of them were about to head out, though, Red felt something.

His new power, which he had decided to call crimson-sense for now, detected a strong fluctuation enter their vicinity. It wasn't as strong as Narcha's, but it was still powerful enough to make the boy alarmed. The woman didn't seem to have noticed anything.

"Someone's approaching." Red warned her.

"What?" the woman stared at him in shock. Thankfully, though, she didn't dispute his claim. "Where?"

The boy cautiously pointed to the south behind them, where he could feel the fluctuation. Narcha squinted her eyes and looked between the trees.

"I don't see anything." she spoke, but she didn't lower her guard.

"They stopped moving." Red pointed out. "They might have noticed you looking at them."

His crimson sense couldn't point out exactly how far someone was from him, but the youth could tell whether they were approaching or not by the increase in the intensity of the fluctuation.

"How the fuck can you tell that..." Narcha looked surprised at the boy's claims.

Of course, Red would have preferred to keep his new ability hidden, but he couldn't afford to do that with their life on the line.

"I just know." the boy explained.

"You..." Narcha looked annoyed, but she still nodded. "Get your bow ready. I'm not gonna have someone tail us while we escape."

"You might alert the other bandits." Red warned her.

"According to you, they might already know where we are, so what's the point?" she grumbled. "Just get ready and watch my back."

Although the woman didn't say what she was going to do, Red had a good idea. He picked up the bow and nocked an arrow in preparation. Narcha waited until the boy was ready before snapping into action.

In one swift motion, the woman shot into a sprint and immediately unsheathed her saber at the same time. She charged in the direction Red had pointed out at an incredible speed. But all of a sudden, an arrow shot out at her.

"Shit!" Narcha cursed out loud before stumbling out of the way to find cover.

The projectile, however, didn't even seem to be aimed at her. It merely struck the ground ahead of her harmlessly. The woman was confused for a second before peeking over to examine the arrow.

"Motherfucker." Narcha complained before walking out from cover carelessly.

Red was alarmed at her reckless actions, but her following words surprised him.

"Rog, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" she still had the sense not to yell.

In the direction Red had sensed the fluctuation, a hunter with unkempt clothing and a scraggly beard appeared in clear view. Sure enough, it was Rog in the flesh. The man looked at the two of them with a frown.

"How did you know I was here?" he looked dismayed.

"Is that what you're concerned about?" Narcha complained. "You fucking shot at me."

"I had to stop you before you alarmed the bandits." Rog explained. He then turned around to stare at Red. "Was it you who found me out, kid?"

The boy hesitated for a second but eventually nodded in confirmation.

"I was found out by a kid..." the hunter seemed in low spirits. "I'm not qualified to be a hunter anymore."

"Hey, you motherfucker!" Narcha seemed frustrated at being ignored. "How did you even find us?"

"I picked out your trail the day after you left." Rog explained. "Eiwin wanted to follow it, but I told her you guys would always be a step ahead of us anyways. Yesterday, we luckily came across a lot of bandit movement and decided to follow it. Sure enough, it led us right to you..."

Just as Narcha had pointed out, Eiwin really did come looking for them, and Rog proved to be as skilled as Red had expected. However, there was something that confused the boy in his statement.

"I see- Wait, did you say yesterday?" The woman looked confused.

"Yeah, that's what I said." Rog replied. "The bandits were all on high alert, and we thought there was a good chance you guys were behind it."

Narcha put on a thoughtful expression.

"We shouldn't talk here." Red pointed out. Even at this moment, bandits were still approaching their location.

"Oh, right!" the hunter perked up as if he had remembered something. "I forgot to tell you, but I had to shoot one of them to sneak through."

"You... What?!" Narcha froze.

"Yeah, I mean, it was that or getting noticed..." the hunter shrugged. "Either way, they'll probably notice it at any-"

The voices of the bandits suddenly intensified. It was clear they had noticed something was wrong.

"You fucking..." the woman gritted her teeth and stared daggers at Rog. "ARRGH! Let's just go!"

Red couldn't agree with her more.