"So this is the forest inside the barrier, and it's night?" asked Evan in amazement. Meanwhile he was observing the surroundings.
"Yes, time runs differently inside the barrier, we don't know by how much precisely. So we keep track of three days from the outside," explained Logar.
"In my family it is said that such an ordeal even lasted for months, I dare not imagine how long that would be inside the barrier."
"Over the generations, the village families have grown soft!" said Aaron in his usual icy tone.
"In the golden days of the village, such incidents would never have happened."
Logar could only sigh at Aaron's words, while Evan listened in amazement to the two heads of families.
"My father told me something about this, it seems that once upon a time the power of the village was no less than that of the capital" one could sense the respect in the young captain's words.
"However, no one is aware of the events that occurred that led to its decline," Logar lamented.
"I take it the Elder knows something about this?" asked Evan suspiciously.
"The Elder knows many things, but many of them seem to be unsuitable for us commoners," framed Aaron. There was sarcasm in his words, to the point where Logar's eyebrows furrowed.
The two exchanged an unfriendly glance, but ignored each other soon after.
"You guys never seem to get along, I've always wondered what the reason is?"
Given the opportunity, Evan didn't fail to ask.
"He stole my woman," Aaron mocked. It was unclear who he was really mocking, Logar or himself, his eyes concealing murderous intent.
"That's... not quite like that," Logar said hesitantly.
"And you know what's even more absurd?" Aaron interjected again.
"No, what?" asked Evan in amazement.
"Ah! He had the woman stolen himself, don't you find that ironic!?"
Aaron's eyes didn't reflect his ironic tone at all, the hidden murderous intent growing more intense.
"Aaron!" exclaimed Logar.
"What? Isn't that what happened!?" the man asked irreverently.
"Are you really going to discuss this here?!" ranted Logar. Murderous intent began to seep out of his body.
Looking at the two, who seemed to be on the warpath, Evan stepped in between the two of them and said, "Gentlemen, I understand the reason for your differences, but how about we postpone the discussion to a better time?"
"There is nothing to discuss Commander, I apologise for my behaviour" Aaron was the first to regain control and continued.
Under the gaze of Logar, who watched him walk away without a word. But inside, a sea of emotions churning like a storm betrayed his unflappable expression.
"Head of the Bran family, shall we continue?" asked Evan after observing Logar for a few moments.
He didn't know what had really happened between the two. He had heard a few rumours about it, of a woman at court causing a scandal. But the higher-ups kept all information hidden in the shadows.
Evan suspected that the woman was connected to Logar's fight with Aaron, but decided not to say anything. The moment didn't allow it, he decided however, to look into the matter further once he returned to the capital.
"Commander?"
Just before leaving though, Evan heard a familiar voice.
"Encar!"
His most trusted man appeared before him as if from nowhere.
"Commander, what are you doing here?" asked Encar in amazement.
"I was just wondering where to find you" Evan smiled at the man, he didn't seem surprised.
His great talents, added to his powers, allowed Encar to be a perfect scout. Thanks to him, Evan was able to extricate himself from many disadvantageous positions. Over time, he became a key member of his team.
"Intruders?"
Evan reported the reason for his arrival, while Encar began to report.
"It seems the enemy is looking for something..." after he finished explaining, Evan drew a conclusion.
"The question is what."
Encar nodded, an instant later he had an intuition.
"What if it's them...?" he whispered to himself.
"Any idea?" asked Evan.
"A hunch, nothing more," sighed Encar.
"Commander, something tells me it's that boy and his puppy..." he continued, explaining the entire incident he witnessed.
"One would expect nothing less from the Elder's star pupil."
There was a strange light in Evan's eyes as he spoke, his curiosity about Rada growing even more.
"Good work Encar, however we are in full emergency, we don't know what the enemy's real objectives are, we must act with caution" being the good commander that he was, he didn't fail to praise his subordinate.
"You honour me commander" Encar rubbed his nose in embarrassment.
"Take a squad of men and seek out the other participants" Evan ordered.
"Take the leaders of the Baum family and Bran with you as well."
"What about the boy and the pup?" asked the underling.
"I'll take care of that personally," said the captain in a confident tone.
"Eheh received, I'm leaving immediately!" Giggling, Encar immediately vanished into thin air.
Evan looked in the direction of where Rada and Kiba were with a look full of anticipation.
"Well Rada, let's see what you're made of," he immediately vanished into the darkness of the forest.
In the meantime, panic broke out in the entire forest.
A giant wolf with a handsome, icy, wild-looking man on his back made the entire local fauna hell.
"Wh-what the hell is going on!?"
The poor participants unaware of what was happening found themselves caught up in the general madness.
"No one said anything about this!"
Some of them ran for cover trying to avoid the impending crisis.
Others, however, found themselves in the middle of the chaotic moment and were injured.
"Ahah! Here we go! I can smell the human, even if it's barely perceptible!"
The general frenzy was caused by Scarn's excitement. The two brothers were traversing the entire forest heedless of what was going on around them. Sowing panic and death, both among humans and forest creatures.
"More presences have joined the forest, they must be the men of the village, some of them don't look too bad. Let's hurry, set this place on fire!"
With his icy tone, Alseif was already calculating the strategy to follow.
"You didn't need to tell me that! And especially don't give me orders! AWOOOOO!"
Scarn's irrepressible frenzy descended into the forest.