17 The Inspection Commander Got Los

The Cloud Forest is a vast expanse of woods in the outer skirts of Nephele mountains. It was a well-known shortcut to Araceli City of the Amaranthian territory, though people seldom use it. This is because the place gets awfully foggy after sunset. Making it almost impossible to travel at night time. Despite this, it is still one of the safest route for travelers given the fact that it is in the outer range of the mountains and wild beast were scarce. Bandit sightings were also rare in the area.

It takes about three days to go through Cloud forest on carriage, counting along the stops along the way.

Chalice and her fief inspection squad has currently set camp after their second day of journey. With the direction of Luke, they stopped riding an hour after sunset so that they had time to set up their tents, look for water, and hunt some food. The fog would make it difficult to do all these, after all.

As self-proclaimed Fief Inspection Commander, Chalice was busy lounging about near the fire. Her trusted Second-in-Command, Luke, was putting up the tents with Levi. While the other two, Rye and Ward fetched water and looked for food.

Ah, such is the life of those at the top.

Feeling a bit stuffy and bored, Chalice decided to walk around their camp for a bit. The fog has not descended yet, and she was confident that she'd know her way back. Besides it has been a long time since she had done some parkour and tested her survival skills. It would be a real disappointment to let this chance go. The organization had once left her for half a year in a forest like this for training. Somehow, she missed those carefree times.

On her walk, Chalice saw a lot of medicinal herbs and grasses. She was familiar with these because she always used them to treat her wounds back when she was training. This was a beneficial similarity of this world to her previous one.

Chalice was too engrossed in picking up herbs and jumping around treetops that she did not realize she had already strayed far away from their camp. She only became aware of this when the fog has started to slowly creep out in the surroundings.

"Sh*t! I was too careless. Luke's gonna kill me." She cursed.

Her survival instincts kicked in. Chalice had nearly forgotten this kind of thrill. She first settled herself unto a thick branch of a huge fir tree and calmed herself down before deciding what to do. Though the fir tree was safe and sturdy, it wasn't very practical to spend the night there. Chalice needed to find a more proper shelter before the fogs thickened further.

It was a good thing Chalice had insisted on wearing trousers and a dress shirt that day. Being trapped in a foggy forest in a delicate gown was the epitome of inconvenience. Her outfit now, on the contrary has enabled her to easily leap from tree after tree.

---

"Luke! Calm the f*ck down! Panicking at this time won't do any good."

Levi scolded the man who had almost trashed the tents that they worked so hard to put up. Luke was a far cry from his usual gentle and composed self, thanks to their do-gooder of a lady who had just had to vanish into thin air.

No one expected Lady Chalice to wander around. Though Levi always had a hunch that she would do so, he chose to believe that the Lady would have enough sense of danger and self-preservation to restrain her curiosity and stay put.

But alas! How wrong of them to think that way. They had underestimated the guts that the princess have. All the time that they were busy setting up camp, the lady took her sweet time to get lost. The fog had already settled in their area when they realized her absence.

Luke slumped down. Worry and anger evident in his handsome face. The light from the fire intensified the sombre mood he was exuding.

"The princess is smart, Luke. Let's believe in her. Her cunning mind will keep her safe. Besides, we're still at the outskirts. She can't possibly get into the inner regions within just a few hours."

Levi comforted him. Although, he himself was skeptical of his own words. They have no choice. The fog had already encompassed the place and there was almost zero visibility. They could only helplessly wait for the morning and hope that the princess was able to keep herself safe.

"I'm going to look for her. You three, continue to ride for the mine tomorrow. I'll meet you there the soonest I find the princess."

Before Levi could even protest, Luke had already disappeared into the fog. He could only sigh and concede. Not that he had a choice. The rest of their group can only settle to look for her while on the road. He stared at the place where Luke disappeared. He clenched his fists. He was her knight. Levi should have kept his attention locked onto her despite other matters. Now he feels utterly useless.

"My lady Chalice, what kind of fief inspection commander are you? Leaving your squad behind. You have driven Luke crazy now. That guy is surely blaming himself even more that I do."

Levi murmured while glumly stoking the fire, venting his frustrations. He also wanted to go out there. But he knew he would only hold Luke back.

---

Meanwhile, a figure silently leaped through the trees despite the fog. A certain urgency and disguised panic evident in the figure's face. There was no trace its usual gentleness,only a severe expression was shown. Even his icy blue eyes had become frozen and sharp, they had turned unforgiving at the faint light of the stars.

"I'll make sure to tie you up at my waist the moment I find you, woman."

Luke swore, his hoarse and worried voice fading along the mist.