While my brain was about to overload, Hypocrite and Leopard finished eating. Leopard changed back into his animal form and we decided to leave. I tried not to think about it anymore, by distracting myself with the scenery.
Tree
Tree
Spy
Tree
...eh? Wait what? I think we just passed someone. Was that one of the scouts Hypocrite was talking about?
The longer we continued, the more people I spotted. Leopard and Hypocrite noticed them too.
"Slow down a little. Prioritize stealth over speed." Hypocrite advises Leopard and with that, our travel distance decreases.
Although we were being more careful, we were eventually spotted by a group of scouts. We didn't see them until we were too close to back off, because they were in our blind spot. Before we could change directions, we were surrounded.
One of the people in assassin garbs pipes up," You think that's that famous beastkin from that Northern Territory?"
The scout he was talking to answers with,"Might be..." He asks us,"Do you have any affiliation with the giant wall that appeared?"
Hypocrite puts on an incredibly convincing confused face,"What wall?"
"Don't act stupid. Tell what you know and we'll let you be on your merry way." The scout declares.
With an innocent voice, Hypocrite says,"Eh?? But I really don't know what you're talking about? I'm from a small village south of here and I was out hunting wild game. I really have no idea what you're talking about?" If I didn't know the truth, I'd totally believe him.
"Oh...and that?" The scout points at Leopard.
"My pet?" Hypocrite tilts his head innocently. Leopard snorts in annoyance but doesn't say anything that will give away his identity. Oh! And I've been hiding behind Hypocrite's palm the whole time.
"I see...then sorry for scaring you." It looks like he believed the story. The scouts back off and we comfortably walk away. Once we're out of sight Leopard starts sprinting. Before we make it out of the scout's sound range, I hear one of them saying, "I didn't know there was a village over here?" It looks like our story won't protect us for long, it's better to get out of here as fast as possible.