Chapter 48: Chapter 46: Talks

Janis pushed back the hood of her robe, letting it fall to her shoulders and giving herself a better view of the forest around her in its dim light. It had started drizzling a few minutes ago, but the clouds seemed to have given up already and dried up.

She was wearing much better clothing than the last time she’d been here, of course. Her mage’s robe and its hood would not only protect her from even heavy rain and biting wind, but it was also made of superior quality materials and embroidered with skill, if sparingly. She looked like a real mage in the service of their local lord. Just another token of Lady Kiara’s generosity, who barely seemed to give it any thought.

Janis glanced at her, only to see the older girl turned to look toward the fort, in the direction they came from. There was a faint frown on her face. After a second, it smoothed out and she returned her gaze to the trees ahead of them.

Janis suppressed a sigh and resisted the urge to look back as well. She was not sure that everything was entirely put in order there, either. But for now, they were here on another important task.

At least, she thought it was important. Janis wasn’t entirely sure why both Kiara and her father, the marquis himself, had seemed to give such weight to her words. She’d felt guilty for telling her lady about Regina and her people, she still did. But it was the sort of information his soldiers needed if they were to go into the forest and might happen into a situation they were not prepared for. Perhaps that was the reason. With another group in play, even if they were small - for now - the situation in the Great Forest had changed significantly. Even more so if the new faction was of a strange race, with unknown capabilities.

In any case, Kiara had been upset to discover that things had gone off-course right from the beginning. While the marquis had sent word to the forces stationed at the forest’s border, mostly to Forest’s Watch, it had been too late to reach the first squads sent into the forest. Janis didn’t know how that could happen, but she supposed the marquis and his commanders might have sent their first orders right after the conversation with Derrek Zephyr, and he had perhaps hesitated before deciding how to handle this matter.

She also knew he wasn’t happy about Kiara heading here herself, although Janis hadn’t been privy to that conversation. She could hardly blame him. Although he had also sent along fighters strong enough to protect his heir from just about anyone they might encounter here.

Janis glanced at the men out of the corner of her eyes. She didn’t have a high enough level to see the level of any of them. She knew that at least three of them had passed their second Class Evolution, though, and she suspected that at least one was close to his third one.

Still, she suspected that Lady Kiara was simply taking the chance to get out, away from her father’s oversight and control, so to speak. She seemed a little too excited to be here. Janis hadn’t said anything, though. She wasn’t in a position to judge anyone for putting themselves into danger unnecessarily, after all.

“We’re going to be there soon, right?” Kiara asked.

Janis looked at her, then, as she saw that none of the others was about to answer, she shrugged slightly. “I assume so, Milady. We’ve already covered a relatively large distance.”

They were moving much more quickly than they would normally be able to, thanks to one of their companions’ Class Skill. They also knew approximately where the squad they followed had gone.

None of them spoke after that, and they continued traveling in silence. It only took about ten minutes before the knights leading the group slowed down. Janis looked around, trying to see what had changed. She realized that they had not encountered any monsters in a while, especially not any of the ones above level 10 or so. In addition, it seemed like the forest might be lightening.

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“There should be a clearing ahead on the banks of a lake,” one of the men, a Sir Willard, said.

Another one raised their hand and seemed to be using a Skill of some kind. A spectral sparrow flew out of it and into the forest, moving at high speed. About a minute later, it returned, alighting on the man’s hand and then disappearing.

“There is a village of sorts ahead,” the knight said, bowing his head respectfully to Kiara. “We appear to have found our goal.”

She nodded. “Let us go, then.”

After a few seconds of preparation, they continued. The guards had drawn more tightly around them and were holding their shields and weapons at the ready. Two of them were holding their lances out so the white cloth tied to them flapped in the soft wind a bit.

It didn’t take long for the party to reach the edge of the forest. Janis hesitated for a moment, taking in the sight. They kept walking, allowing her to make out more details.

There was only a cluster of simple houses, although she had not seen ones built in quite that style before. She also saw what appeared to be the beginnings of a ditch and palisade wall curving around some corner of it. The fortification was clearly unfinished, although someone had dug out the ditch wider than the palisade atop the mound of earth that must have come from it. The whole thing was not placed directly around the houses, but farther out, leaving a lot of space. Clearly, the builders intended to accommodate future growth within the settlement. There was also a firepit placed in a central location, made in a style Janis didn’t recognize, with stones forming a circle around its edge. It was currently lit, but the fire was burning low.

The small village only captured her attention for a moment, though, and she focused on its inhabitants. She thought she recognized a few of them at first, before Janis realized that some of them looked almost alike. They seemed to come in several groups, but all of them were like the ‘drones’ she had met before. They wore simple attire of monster furs and rough cloth, with extra holes to accommodate their additional pair of arms. They’d assembled at the edge of the settlement, and stood with regular spaces between them, like a formation, most of them holding weapons.

The second thing that caught her eyes were three elves standing off to the side, as if making it clear that they were not part of the group. Janis had only seen elves rarely, but their identity was obvious. They were armed and seemed prepared for trouble.

Janis almost felt Kiara’s hesitation and sent her what she hoped was an encouraging smile. She heard the young lady take a deep breath, before she composed herself, her face becoming a mask of calm. Slowly and carefully, the group made their way towards the demihumans and stopped before them.

Janis’ eyes were drawn towards the woman in the middle, the only one who seemed old enough to be called such, although, naturally, she did not appear to have aged very much since their last encounter.

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