The Galatria banner depicted two gold griffons standing on their hind legs with a grey wolf charging between them. The background color of the banner historically was white, yet years of use turned this pure color into a hue similar to the one of the wolf, making it hard for outsiders to even see this key element of the flag.
This flag once belonged to an ancient northern kingdom. Yet, as was often the case with many nations and states throughout recent years, it was now reduced to just the callsign for a band of mercenaries who, by a vast majority, had nothing to do with that ancient kingdom.
And now, instead of decoring the highest tower in some castle far to the north, it flicked on the air above the main tent of Leynel's banner camp.
The camp itself was neatly organized on a plan of two concentric circles, all spreading around the commander's tent. The inner area housed the officers and the majority of the supplies while the outer ring of smaller tens was where soldiers slept.
And it was in the tent in the very middle of the camp where one could hear a group of voices coming from.
"It makes me feel like we are running in circles," Leynel muttered while staring down at the simple map spread on the dried-out ground.
He sat at the opposite end of the tent's entrance in what was the safest spot of the entire construction. The map was right before him while his officers surrounded it from all other directions.
"The kinetic part of investigation revealed that someone warned the village," Backtrian, Leynel's second in command, reported. "Although the villagers were led to believe they were all getting drafted, the process didn't follow any of the kingdom regulations."
Bactrian brought out a small, green stone before placing it right where the Gleenwood village was depicted on the map. Yet, as one could notice with just a single look at the map, it was only one of the many green stones decorating the painting.
"And while we may say a lot of bad stuff about locals, not heeding their traditions..." Leynel shook his head. "It's not one of those things."
Vista kingdom was one of the only few that managed to survive through times of trouble in recent years. And as it was the case with all those that did, they had to either be too poor to attract the interest of the migrating hordes or too well-organized to fall victim to their invasion.
'They are definitely not poor and for how stupid some of their laws are, they certainly do work well in tandem with each other,' Leynel thought, rubbing his chin as he stared down at the map.
"I know I said this many times over, but there has to be another will at work here," he muttered. "They ignored the cities and focused only on the villages small enough not to house any in-house officials," the officer said before raising his eyes from the map to his officers. "But we didn't find them here."
Leynel spoke his last sentence in a completely neutral, nearly casual tone.
Yet, within the tent, the meaning behind those words made them gravely important.
Because according to the officers sitting within the tent right now, Gleenwood village was the last possible hideout where whoever was responsible for this chaos could be hiding.
After all, there were no roads leading further down west, towards the capital. Not with the massive ridge that cut right through the landscape only a few miles in that direction.
"I'm not going to punish you, guys," Leynel finally revealed as he released a deep sigh. "Coming here proved they were here as well, after all," he then said while stretching his back.
The officer then reached out with his hand to the side. And as he hung his hand in the air, the nearest subordinate of his threw himself to pour the leader a cup before passing it right to Leynel's fingers.
"I'm not going to punish you guys, but it appears that my theory was correct," he then said, taking a hefty sip from the mug before wiping his mouth with the backside of his hand and throwing his men an intense glare.
Leynel's voice never broke its casual tone. Yet, now that he voiced out his decision, the atmosphere within the tent turned grim.
"So the forest it is," someone muttered in half-voice.
"Yes," Leynel muttered, finishing up the cup only to raise his hand, ready to shatter it against the ground in the timely tradition of sealing the unfavorable orders.
"Sir Leynel, a report!" A voice came from the outside, right as Leynel was about to release the cup from his fingers. Unwilling to startle a poor messenger, the officer then held on to the cup before placing it down on the floor. "Come on it."
"Sir!" one of the scouts entered the tent. He then placed his right-hand flat over his heart before lightly nodding his head. "We concluded the soft phase of the investigation!"
"Speak!"
"We found the area that fit the story of that drifter," the scout reported with a single breath. "In general it spans over a huge distance. We found the traces of the explosion as deep into the forests as we dared to pry."
"That's reasonable. I wouldn't make you scout deeper than necessary, go on," Leynel spoke, calming the scout down.
"The effects of the explosion could be seen pretty far... but the marks over here," the scout pushed forward and kneeled by the map only to point his finger at a corner of the gleenwood village, "they were on an entirely different level."
"Speak clearer!" Bactrian spoke up, chastising the scout. "What do you mean by that?"
"Sir..." the scout gave Bactrian an eye only to stand up and take a step back. "There were leaves knocked off the trees in the forest. Most of the grass was also heavily swaying away from the source," he explained. "But on that mark?"
The scout shook his head.
"Out there, the grass blades were broken, and the thickets were stripped bare of their leaves. The ground itself was harder as if something pressed all the water out of it."
"So Leon... that drifter's story checks out?" Leynel asked.
"Sir, that's not for me to judge," the scout reported back as honestly as he could, despite how rude it would appear in the ears of the officers of a much more formalized unit.
"Fine, you might leave now," Leynel then said, lowering his eyes over at the map as his hand started to rub his chin once again.
'That guy's hut was the closest one to the event, wasn't it?' Leynel thought, squinting his eyes as suspicion arose in his eyes. 'But his story... it did check out,' he thought, closing his eyes.
"Sir!" the voice of the scout reached everyone within the tent right as the man managed to leave. "It's that guy!" the man added only to push his head and peek inside. "He came to the camp!
"Speak of the devil and he doth appear," Leynel muttered in response only to raise his face and look at the scout. "Bring him here."