Chapter 71 - Trap

Zaos watched the smoke clouds with his arms crossed. He didn't like what he was seeing, so he couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows. One didn't have to be a genius to know that they were supposed to be villages where the smoke clouds were coming from. That was why the villagers hid themselves again… and that was why Elius left Zaos and his squad behind and went to check one hour ago.

"I am going to check the situation there, all of you are forbidden from leaving the village," Elius said.

It was annoying to know that something was happening, and Zaos couldn't do anything. While he didn't want to fight any life-death battles, for the time being, he wasn't stupid enough to wait that fate itself will attend his wishes.

"Do you see anything from up there, squad leader?"

"… No," Zaos replied.

Zaos couldn't help but sigh while looking at his squad members. They were afraid of climbing the ladder that would lead them to the top of the watchtower. So, Zaos was the only one who could keep an eye on things. Still, there was only so much he could see. In that situation, Zaos had to use his squad to increase his field of vision, but he didn't want to risk splitting his barely trained forces.

After a while, Zaos noticed that his behaviour was making his squad members look worried. They also had a good idea of what was happening in those villages, so it was no wonder that they were nervous. Zaos felt that he wasn't suited to be a leader, it was a pain to worry about others that ostracized him for the last three weeks, but he had to do so since he was the squad leader. His actions on the battlefield could decrease the morale of his troops. Zaos just realized that.

"You guys need to relax," Zaos said. "We were selected to work here because the chances of something happening were small to begin with. Besides, the soldiers who are stationed in the other locations probably have decades of experience of fighting bandits or invaders, they won't go down that easily."

"But, the fire…"

"Yeah, something is burning, so what of it?" Zaos asked. "The fire is probably just a trick to make people like us and the villagers worry about the possibility of an attack. If that isn't the case, then the attackers are just stupid, after all, their actions made us notice of their existence."

The members of Zaos's squad looked at each other while they were thinking about that. It made sense, but they couldn't relax yet. They decided to join the army for the honor, for the duty, and for the money. Still, they didn't expect that they would contemplate the possibility of a fight so soon. Some training would probably make them relax, but Zaos couldn't let them drop their guards, not to mention, any noise that they make will masquerade the approach of unexpected visitors… in the end, even Zaos thought that a fight would happen. Fortunately, nothing happened during that day. However, Elius didn't return.

That night, Zaos gave the order for half of the squad members to sleep and while the other half would stay awake throughout the night with him and guard the village. However, even at the top of the watchtower, Zaos could tell that no one was sleeping. The others who were outside were resting with their backs against the walls of the building, but they couldn't relax either.

Around midnight, Zaos somehow noticed a shadow leaving the forest on the northern side of the village. He immediately picked his bow and nocked an arrow, but then he noticed he couldn't just fire it. In the blink of an eye, Zaos cast Holy Light and fired in the shadow's direction… his spell revealed Elius's figure, who attacked the sphere, but that didn't do anything.

"That can't be destroyed, sir," Zaos said when he climbed down the watchtower. "My apologies for… surprising you."

Zaos's squad members showed a look of relief when they saw their instructor. Although he went to check the villages that probably were attacked, he wasn't completely unscathed. That was a sign that he didn't have to fight. So, they imagined that everything had just been a misunderstanding, but…

"Wake up all the villagers, we are going to escort them to the military base," Elius said. "Don't scare them, do so in a calm manner. You… come with me."

Zaos frowned when he heard that. His teammates also showed some expressions of disbelief… there was only one reason why they would have to abandon the village… the place was going to be targeted.

"… Divide yourselves and then knock on the doors," Zaos said. "Say to everyone that they don't need to bring anything aside from their clothes with them. Reunite them at the southern entrance of the village."

Since Elius was a man who couldn't tell details while he gave his orders, Zaos had to say that. Although they didn't interact that much, Zaos had already realized that his squad could only move properly when they heard certain things in detail. The reason was their fear of making mistakes, so once they are told what they shouldn't do and how they should do, things could proceed fairly well. When his squad began to move, Zaos followed Elius in the direction in which he came from.

"Since you can use magic, you are going to offer me some support," Elius said. "Which type of offensive magic can you actually use that might kill an enemy?"

Zaos opened his eyes widely when he heard that. It looked like the enemies were closer than he thought… Still, he soon calmed down when he understood that he wouldn't get close to the enemies.

"I can fire the spells Fire Sword, Water Sword, Earth Sword, and Wind Sword," Zaos replied.

Elius frowned when he heard that. Still, he showed a surprising smile on his face while he looked toward the direction he came from.