CH 59

After giving the officials a lot of work, they went straight to Lebilton Village. 

As it was located near the Elbash Forest, the atmosphere was quite different from other villages.

Boys with bows on their backs guarded the high walls and watchtowers that surrounded the village.

There were also young men standing with spears along with knights and soldiers from the Count. 

The spirit was quite good, perhaps because they had been training for a long time.

“We’re greeting Dame Addis!”

“Let’s show courtesy to the 2nd Prince first.”

“The greeting is late because I didn’t recognize it. Please forgive my rudeness.”

The chief and villagers who approached Falden knelt and bowed their heads as the knights and soldiers bowed in front of him.

“You may raise.”

They stood up at his gesture, but no one raised their head easily.

It’s hard even if the lord comes, but it’s the prince. The weight of power was bound to be too heavy for commoners.

Falden passed through them, who were like hardened statues, and looked inside the village. Serdel followed him naturally. 

‘The housewarming party is quite strong.’

Since they were in a dangerous area, the housing material was different from the houses in other villages.

“Chief. Empty the houses close to the entrance, and let the children, women, and the elderly stay as far away as possible.”

As if he had figured out the structure of the village, Falden immediately issued an order.

“And I think it would be better to pay attention to the barrier by setting up a double wooden fence. Raise the height higher than it is now. It’s better to have the walls secured and to shoot powerfully from the watchtower.”

The local residents moved right away.

Dozens of houses close to the entrance were emptied in about an hour, and the young men went with the knights to cut trees to prepare a wall.

“You guys, start working on the barrier as soon as the tree’s are ready. Apply reinforcement magic to the barrier, and put a barrier around it to prevent a single ant from breaking in.”

The wizards who received the order moved one by one.

They created dozens of black guardians using the magic circles they had prepared in advance to get the job done quickly.

“Hiik!”

The villagers, who had never seen magic up close, were surprised when the black guards moved like smoke.

The black guardians became workers and worked hard. 

Thanks to this, they were able to shorten the time it took to cut enough trees down.

They were also very helpful when working on the barriers.

The villagers burst into exclamations as they watched the wizards with awe.

Falden split the 1000 men up, 700 were to be stationed in the village, and 300 would be split into five teams of 60 men each that would begin exploring as the day got darker.

The time they had to end exploring was in a month. By then the official subjugation team will arrive in the village.

Before that, they had to figure out as much as they could.

“The first expedition will be carried out first, led by Dame Addis, and is scheduled at dawn.” 

After two days of contact with Addis about the direction of the movement, Damon took charge of the second expedition which departed immediately. 

“The third is me, the fourth is the Duke of Blendard, the fifth is Sir Redan—” 

Falden’s eyes were on Serdel.

He frowned for a while. 

“Together with Young Lady Serdel.”

The captains of each team exchanged position and other information from time to time.

“Let’s make sure that the direction of movement does not overlap. In addition, location information is provided not only to the leader of each team—” 

As he beckoned, two old men in white robes approached.

“Let these two know too. They will make a map of the forest with the information they collected.”

He even brought in two scholars who had a history of participating in empire cartography for this job.

Those who retired a long time ago as they had gotten older.

Fortunately, it wasn’t compulsory, and the two old men showed great enthusiasm throughout the trip.

“Thank you so much for bringing this old man who no one has ever been looking for to a place like this, Your Highness!”

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am for giving me such a great opportunity, as I have only a few days left to live. I will dedicate myself to completing the map of Elbash Forest, which has been veiled for so long!”

“Although we’re old, we can still work!”

“Trust me! Cough! I’m so passionate that I don’t fall behind young people, cough!!”

The two scholars clenched their fists at the same time.

‘They look like they’re going to die soon. Will it be okay—?’

They each took a potion out of their arms, drank it, and sat in a chair prepared by the chief, exhaling. 

“Thank you, young man.”

“When I was young, I was fine even though I traveled all over the world, but now my joints are all achey.”

The young village chief saw the old men and looked at the rest of the expedition group. 

‘—It’ll be okay, right?’

Hm, the old men drank potions and threw them away as well. Addis approached her because she was staring at them for no reason.

“Serdel.”

Standing in front of Serdel, Addis gently put her hand on Serdel’s head.

Unknowingly, Serdel’s eyes turned upwards.

“I hope you’re safe. I don’t believe in God, but if it’s true that he really exists—”

Addis closed her eyes.

“May His blessings shine on the path you are going to take.”

She sincerely hoped so.

With a short prayer, she kissed Serdel’s forehead.

Feelings of worry, fear, and anxiety mixed under a shallow shiver.

“Redan, that guy. He’s hot-tempered, but he’s good at judging the situation. If he says absolutely not to do something, I’d like you to think deeply before moving on. And— I ask you to take good care of him because he’s a very unstable man.”

Redan was also a younger brother to Addis.

She tries not to show it, but she must be very worried about him as well. 

Moreover, from her tone, she seemed to know the deep wounds he had.

“Yes, I understand. Sister, too—”

Serdel hesitated for a moment, then handed her a handkerchief. She embroidered it herself—.

“The fat sparrow is very cute.”

“It’s a hawk.” Serdel muttered. 

“Yeah. It’s great that the hawk is so brave and skillful. Thank you.”

She spread out the handkerchief and tied it around her wrist.

“I will be safe too.”

Serdel nodded. 

Serdel, who had prayed for her inwardly, hesitated for a moment, then raised her tiptoe and kissed Addis’ forehead. 

May she be safe.

Serdel sincerely hoped.

And late at night.

The full-scale expedition began.

It was Addis who took the most dangerous first step as planned.

*****

A few days have passed since then.

Damon, Falden, and Belters began exploring in the predetermined fixed order.

All that’s left is Redan and Serdel.

Serdel saw the people gathered around her. 

There were those who came from the County, to those who were taken out of the castle, and even some servants left behind by Falden. 

18 knights, 10 squire, 26 soldiers, 1 wizard, Blenn, Siri, and Terra.

There were a total of 60 people, including her and Redan.

She was a little afraid when she thought that the lives of many people would depend on her own judgment.

She swallowed her saliva in worry.

“As soon as the dawn rises, we will also depart. Everyone, don’t slow down even for a moment.”

“Yes!”

“Blenn, Siri, and Terra shouldn’t be separated from Serdel.”

The three people nodded at Redan’s order.

“Serdel. You must never be a nuisance to them. Be careful with your actions.”

Redan, whose tone had completely changed, showed charisma that surpassed Addis.

“And I’ll protect you, so don’t be nervous.”

Redan grabbed her hand tightly.

How long has it been?

As the dawn began, everyone, including Serdel, took a step into the unknown forest where monsters were. 

The adventure began.

In the original story, Falden met the opportunity exactly ten days after the expedition. 

‘Maybe I will gain power at a similar time in the past.’

However, for the second round, the exploration schedule itself was delayed. It was impossible to predict what kind of variables might occur. 

‘I don’t think he found it yet when I see the location information that was shared through the communication channels at dawn.’

It takes 4 days to receive the power of Radun. If Falden had found him, contact would have been cut off for a while, or a subordinate would have taken his place. 

‘Damn it.’

Only the last scene she saw in her foresight dream came to mind like a nightmare.

‘You can’t come all the way here and take it away. I must take it with my own strength.’