"Oh, my lord." Joken walked down the stairs in front of Cadin, still standing near the doorway. The stairway stood in the middle with a large table covered with papers and maps standing behind it.
"We have learned a few things from the iron camp. I have another plan in mind that may provide a supply of iron, and this time, without having to trade. We already give enough orders for our quota."
"What is it?" Joken asked, curious and intrigued.
"We learned how they get their resource. From underground, thus, we shall imitate them. Draft a letter stating our proposal, despite the increasing autonomy i managed to give us, we should not step further than expected."
'Even with that demon's influence, it is best to not anger them with petty problems like this.'
Cadin placed his hands on the table, observing the large map on it.
"Order the horses to prepare, but this time not for a battle, an expedition, as for any free soldiers that we may have, order them to scour unexplored areas of the forest for any possible resources we could use. Bring a map as well."
"Yes my lord." Joken began writing down on an empty piece of paper, the ink of the quill quickly drying out on the paper.
In a few seconds, he rolled the paper and ran out, to head back to the leaders and horse camp.
The map showed the nearby forest at the bottom of it and the 5 camps all lined up from left to right of it with the main camp in the middle, pathways were drawn, connecting each one to one another and more heading into the forest. The top of the map though was empty, only green and grass.
"A cave could be a start, we could maybe order some pickaxes from the iron camp. Hopefully i can teach these people how to work in the camps. Should not be so hard, and should also help my standing as their leader. If push comes to shove though i would need to consult with them for help."
"Indeed you do." Cadin looked up. On the opposite end of the table was the demon staring at Cadin with it's arms behind it's back.
"Don't mind me intruding into your new camp of operations outside the village. I like what you did with the place, repurposing it after the attack."
"Is there anything in particular you wish to say?" Cadin asked, staring straight at the demon.
"Ah, straight to the point. Well, all i may tell you is that a few escaped my corruptive grasp. I do not know where they went. But all i can say now is something awaits you. Farther from the fields. And maybe threats far worse than what you have witnessed in your weeks here. Best of luck Cadin." The demon disappeared immediately after finishing, not waiting for a response as the black cloud rapidly dissipated.
'Something far worse hm?"
An hour passed and Cadin finished observing the map. The door opened to Joken wwaalking inside with his armor and weapons ready.
"My lord, i have dispatched any free soldiers to the forest, sent the messages which have returned with approvals, and have the hoorses ready for you."
"Excellent. Bring some empty maps to note down our locations." Cadin started heading out of the house, bringing a spare map for himself with Joken following just behind.
Together they made their way through their new camp, people continued working and fletchers finished their quota of arrows and bows for the army while the rest continued living with little change.
Outside of the opened gate were the cavalrymen, all armored, ready, and in formation just in front. The sun above was in full vision, shining down on the soldiers and giving great light to the land around them.
Cadin united his horse's lead, jumping on top of it with Joken hopping on his own. The two slowly trotted in front of the men, their spears at the ready, swords sheathed, and a bow with quiver on their back.
Cadin looked beyond at the open field of grass.
"My lord, how sure are you that we may find anything? As far as we could see from the tower, there is nothing but fields."
Cadin turned to Joken with a smile, "Then we shall go farther than the observable land of the tower."
"Men, we shall not kill. But perform an expedition. To explore the land beyond what our eyes can see from here. With this, we put our hopes in that we find a land, camp, or resources that we may use for our own. If this is a success, we shall grow more prosperous. Prepare men, the expedition shall last until dawn comes."
With nothing else to say, Cadin sped off forward, past the camp and towards the open land. Behind him Joken and the rest followed behind.
The wind was warm and strong as their clothes continued fluttering in the wind, soldiers held their spears upright, resting. The field continued on seemingly infinitely, going up and down hills along with long open flatlands of grass with no signs of anything other than the same green grass.
Joken scribbled down on an empty map while they sped off, seeing nothing but the hills and grassy fields.
As they continued, the silhouette of something in the distance appeared to Cadin.
'That better be something.' With a rush of joy upon seeing something of interest, Cadin tugged his horse to move faster. The rest behind him following, trying to keep up with him.
The silhouette became bigger and bigger, with more just like it slowly appearing beside it. Soon, reaching close enough, the outlines in front of Cadin became clear. A forest.
The group stopped in front of the forest. Tall trees stood with large branches, their leaves dancing in the wind with nothing else.
"Joken, note this place down." Joken started drawing on another empty map. Cadin continued looking at the forest, with little to no gaps of light shining on the ground below the trees.
'The forest seems more old, or more dense than the forest before. This should be interesting.'