Chapter 32: Emotions and monsters ( XII )

In the dark hours of the night, the villagers, after hearing of their Lord's heroic actions, began to doubt his survival. Women prayed, children worried, and a few brave men stepped out of their homes, ready to face whatever adversary lay beyond the village border.At this moment, more than four hundred men could be seen marching towards the south entrance.

"Do you think Lord Rowan's okay?" someone whispered.

"What kind of monster did he face? That shriek… it didn't sound like an easy fight," another added.

"We pray Lord Rowan is still alive! I don't mind laying down my life for his as long as our village gets to see him in the morning. He is the only one that can save us and take us towards greater heights."

They all discussed among themselves, sharing the same thoughts filled with worries, doubts, and a tiny spark of hope.

Roland, Bryce, Bruce, Josh, and Oliver—the five captains—marched gallantly in front of their soldiers as they got closer to the border. They all kept praying for Rowan's safety.

Meanwhile, beyond the border, Rowan could be seen strolling toward the village with a big smirk on his face.

'I wonder what meal Riela prepared for me today. Though, I'd like to eat her before eating… hehe,' he thought with so much joy and calmness, a deep contrast to his village's current condition.

As he got closer to the border of his village, he began hearing loud footsteps, sounding like the marching of a thousand soldiers towards a battlefield.

'What is happening??' Rowan's heart skipped a beat as he began to panic. 'Don't tell me Glenwood is already attacking my village!! But that can't be, I would have gotten a notification that something like that is taking place!'

Rowan looked in the direction of the village, there was no one in sight. He could only see the farms and the big trees that made up the southern part of Winterseed.

His worries increased by the second.

He brought out the swords from his inventory and began sprinting towards the village at top speed, unafraid of the heavy footsteps heading his way.

As he sprinted towards the village, his eyes kept scanning the surroundings in search of danger, but there was none.

The area was serene and peaceful, only the footsteps altered the calm environment.

---

However, unaware of their Lord's arrival, the soldiers kept discussing as they marched even faster towards the border.

At the moment, they were just a few meters away from leaving the territory of Winterseed. Their faces held grim expressions, their hearts prayed for the safety of themselves and their Lord, their hands clenched their weapons intensely.

The five captains marching in front finally made it past the border. Roland and Bryce signaled the soldiers to a quiet halt. Bryce had a frown on his face.

"If Lord Rowan is still fighting the monster, there should be noise coming from that direction, but I can't hear anything right now—not even a shriek from the monster," he said.

The others agreed.

"What could this mean? Please, let it not be what I think it is!"

"Is Lord Rowan dead?"

"No, it can't be!!"

The soldiers reacted one after the other after hearing Bryce's words, while the other captains frowned.

"Keep your voices down, everyone! Do you want to draw the attention of the monster towards the village?" Bryce reprimanded the young soldiers immediately.

The noise they were generating at this moment could wake the monster if it was anywhere nearby, leading to many unplanned casualties.

"We should march forward! No matter what the fate of our beloved Lord is, we must not cower behind in the village!" Bryce announced again, and they began marching again.

However, before they could move ahead further, someone in the group spotted a dark figure speeding towards them—the figure sprinting towards them had the same structure as a human being. However, its speed and the way it ran made it difficult to categorize it as a human being. It must be a monster!!

"Something is running towards us!!" he alerted with a shaky voice.

His voice immediately triggered the soldiers. They stared ahead, and with the very dim light from the moon, they were able to make out a figure running towards them at a speed they hadn't witnessed before.

The young soldiers panicked immediately, some of them even started praying loudly to their ancestors to grant them protection.

The captains, who had experienced battles in the past, were also perplexed. What monster could run at such inhumane speed?

"A humanoid monster! This is more dangerous than we already expected! Everyone, prepare your weapons and get ready to attack on my signal." Roland quickly drew his sword and stood in front of the soldiers, observing the approaching 'monster.'

The soldiers did the same.

At that moment, everyone had their weapons ready.

Roland observed their expressions for a few seconds, lifted his sword, and dropped it down swiftly. "Attack!!!"

Following his words, the soldiers let out a collective battle cry and began sprinting towards the 'monster.'

The sound of their feet as they ran towards the monster echoed across the area.

The moon hung in the sky and graced them with its dim glow.

The air around them was thick with tension and all their pent-up emotions.

Nevertheless, as they stormed their enemy, they noticed something really strange.

"Why is it not moving anymore?" one soldier asked his colleague as they ran together.

"I don't know, maybe it is afraid of our numbers," his colleague replied uncertainly.

"The ancestors are indeed gracing us tonight. The monster has been weakened by the mysterious powers of our valiant forefathers!!"

As the soldiers discussed, the captains became even more confused. Bryce and Roland frowned deeply. What was the meaning of this? Why would the monster suddenly stop? Is it preparing a powerful magical attack to blast them out of the battlefield or maybe activating its inner magic to gain an upper hand? Whatever the case, it remained a mystery to them.

"Wait… Did that monster just facepalm itself?" someone suddenly voiced out.

It was a sight that shocked everyone.

A monster facepalming? How rare was that sight? Is this some sort of new breed of monster with the same brain as humans?

---

All of Rowan's pent-up anger, worries, and panic died down when the soldiers came into sight and their stats appeared before him—they were none other than his very own soldiers!

He facepalmed and let out a loud sigh before proceeding to speak in a loud voice.

"Everyone, it is me!! Where the hell are you all running towards like that?" he let out with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

Following his voice, the soldiers halted at once, their collective reactions spread across the air.

[One of your soldiers faints from shock.]

[One hundred soldiers sighed in relief.]

[One hundred soldiers collapsed in relief.]

[Two hundred soldiers praised the gods for their protection.] Searᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

[Your soldiers wear smiles on their faces.]

[Two of your soldiers grit their teeth.]

[Two of your soldiers curse their luck that you are alive.]

[Two of your soldiers stomp the ground in annoyance and curse the monsters for not killing you.]

Seeing the last three prompts, a tired expression appeared on Rowan's face.

"There are two of them now? How troublesome. I couldn't even catch the first one, and now they have multiplied. This is going to be a difficult task," he muttered.

He used his inspection skill to check all the soldiers his eyes could meet at this moment, but there were no changes. They were all the same, no one looked too out of place or had a status that sold them out.

This made Rowan even more confused as it seems his suspects have a pretty tricky ability to camouflage their emotions and fool everyone, including his system.

Rowan could only let out a sigh and forget about them.

After all, he already had an active plan in place, ready for the war that is to come. Even if the number of spies multiplies, his plans would still prevail!

Wearing a smile, he strolled to meet his soldiers and calmed their hearts.

As they walked back to the village, Rowan began giving details about his accomplishments after they left.

His 'cool tales' of defeating a giant Ratax monster with flashy sword moves and impressive movements made the younger soldiers admire him even more.

The captains smiled with pride as they listened to their young Lord.

On the other hand, Rowan farmed a large chunk of evolution points.

[480 soldiers are inspired.]

[+5000 evolution points.]

[100x Rewards activated | 500,000 evolution points have been added.]

[Your captains are proud of your accomplishments.]