Harry arrived at the side of the carriage and knocked on the door.
It opened a second later and inside Harry could see Jackson Steel and his butler.
"We have found some trouble with your highness. I would like to request your cooperation." Harry said as he bowed his head.
Jackson seated in the Carriage, said nothing for a while.
Complete silence.
"What has happened this time?" Jackson asked Harry slowly, breaking the silence.
"About half of our members are suspected to have been infected by something, we don't know what it is yet but they are definitely infected and we suspect that by the rate the infection is spreading, by tomorrow most of us if not all would become like them," Harry said as respectfully as he could in this dire situation.
"Their mana patterns have changed completely, closely resembling those of a monster. Just kill them all." Jackson said coldly.
Harry startled raised his head immediately to look at Jackson.
"Does that mean your Highness knew from the very beginning?" Harry asked, his surprise clearly showing by the tone of his voice.
Jackson just nodded his head as he said.
"I thought I wouldn't need to tell you considering, the young kid in your party seemed to have noticed Weltist just as fast as I did."
"I see, I'm just hoping that you could help us if something were to go wrong your Highness, though it is very disrespectful of us to ask you this, we don't really have much of a choice," Harry said as he bowed at his waist.
Jackson stood there in thought for a moment and then said.
"I'll help you but only if you really are about to die," Jackson said as he motioned with his head towards his butler, who nodded and closed the carriage door.
Harry stood there still bowing for a few more seconds and then straightened up.
'Any other noble would have refused, even if he won't help us unless we really are about to die, it's still much better than what any other would have done. Those damned nobles and their pride.' Harry thought as he turned around and walked towards the front of the carriage once more.
Turning towards the driver, he ordered him to start the trek one more.
and then loudly said to all the mercenaries, or what was left of them anyway, and the infected.
"We are starting our journey once more, get into positions and start marching."
Everyone nodded as they got into position and the carriage started moving forwards.
Leroy stood on the side of the carriage, it would be much less inconspicuous if he was walking alongside the road and went to talk to the others than if he was seated with the driver and had to get up, every time he wanted to talk with someone.
'Even like this, I'll most definitely be noticed but the good thing is that I wasn't that friendly with any of the ones who have shown irregularities, so I wouldn't talk to them normally either.' Leroy thought as we walked alongside the carriage.
At this moment the forest seemed a lot scarier than when they had arrived.
'It feels like iv been in here for ages but it's only been a few days since the journey started. Why does danger always have to follow me' Leroy sighed as he thought of his luck, it was as if fate had a grudge against him.
It was currently still early in the morning, barely seven am when Leroy started to get closer to Ordio.
When he was close enough, Leroy raised his hand and said out loud.
"Hey Ordio, thanks for helping me get my head back in place the other day."
Ordio just showed a smile and replied.
"It's all right, we are all comrades here, and helping you be in better shape is the same as me increasing my own safety."
Finally, Leroy was right next to him when he whispered, Harry's plan.
"I see, I'll tell Jakins and Henry so that you don't attract too much attention, you did a good job faking the reason for what you came to me. If they have enhanced senses though then they could have heard everything we just talked about couldn't they?" Ordio asked back, also whispering as he looked around at the men Leroy had pointed out.
They seemed to be minding their own business, leisurely walking through the forest while they checked for any changes in the surroundings.
"Seems like we got lucky," Ordio whispered back with a relieved smile.
Leroy's face however had frozen, as he nodded almost mechanically.
"I'll go back to my position for now," Leroy said as he walked back.
Ordio just nodded as he continued to stay where he was, he had to wait a bit before going towards Henry and Jakins, so as to not raise suspicions.
As Leroy walked back he was deep in thought.
'They know something, no it's definitive at this point. They are trying to make the others believe that the plan is still a secret by acting as though they didn't react when we talked but I know... just looking at them like Ordio did would cause them to notice you not to mention talking but they didn't react.'
Leroy thought as his left hand started twitching.
Looking down at his hand that had started shaking faintly Leroy thought back to the last time it had done so.
It was during his mission in the slums, where he could die anytime and anywhere and nothing he did made him feel safe.
Sighing, he forcefully clasped his arm with his other hand to stop it shaking, freeing it a few seconds later when it had done so.
'I've got no time for this, it doesn't matter even if they know the plan. We just need to crush them as efficiently as possible.' Leroy thought as he finally returned to his position.
The carriage continued its trek down the dirt road in the middle of the Harrowing Mists Forest.
A few hours passed as Leroy and Ordio went around and managed to tell everyone about the plan that Harry had orchestrated.
It was now almost Noon.
The sun was just about to rise to its highest point in the sky, illuminating the world in its shine and covering it in heat.
The light however was quite dim as the forest was filled with towering trees and foliage was all around.
Rather than a Forest, Leroy thought it would be better to name it a Jungle at this point.
As the minutes passed and the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, the time had finally come.
It was high Noon.