With the Lucerna on her hand, Evelyn went to her designated horse and mounted it.
The way she skillfully handled the horse suggested that it was not her first time riding one. That sight brought another surprise to the soldiers and servants who knew Evelyn as the sickly Leonardo daughter.
But not to Bryce and Hannah.
Seeing his daughter was nicely settled on her mount, Bryce went over to Evelyn.
"My party will be heading east while yours to the west. We'll split up at the square ahead." said Bryce.
"It will be dark soon, father. You need to stop by the next town you reached or it'll be nightfall while you're on the road."
"Don't worry. My knights and I know our way around the road. We'll be able to ride till morning." replied the baron. "It's you who I'm worried about since the village next to Stonewall is quite a distance from here. It'll be sundown by the time you reached halfway point."
Evelyn raised the Lucerna to her father.
"That won't be a problem, father. You just make sure to take care of yourself over there and return safely."
"You, too, my daughter. Return safely to us."
"BOTH of you need to return safely." interrupted Hannah while reaching for her loved ones.
The sight of this scene brought another reminiscence to Evelyn.
Princess Mariana was on her horse in front of a fortress gate, preparing to depart for battle alongside her knights.
She was adorned with a silver crown, a black armor with golden carvings, white cape, and a glimmering broadsword and shield strapped on her back.
Riding beside her was a man with a golden crown. Adorned with silver armor, red fur cape, and a magnificent sword on his waist.
"Take care of yourself out there, general." said the man with the golden crown.
"Same goes to you, Your Majesty. Mortalia will suffer if she loses her leader."
"But the whole world will suffer if she loses you… And, of course, this brother of yours will be the one hurting the most."
Princess Mariana sighed.
"Don't worry, brother. I will make sure the two of us survive this battle. Empress Lianne and young Prince Reuben won't lose their emperor today."
Evelyn remembered those moments as she and Bryce and the knights of Leonardo departed from the estate.
"GIDDYUP!"
The band of Leonardo knights exited the estate's gate and galloped with their horses through the cobbled streets of Guardia.
As soon as they reached the town square, six members parted from the parade. They were Bryce's party.
Evelyn looked back toward east where her father was heading.
"(May Einsof be with you, father!)"
Evelyn and her knights then made their way west.
They set themselves onto a dirt road that leads them to their village destination.
They rode hard and fast through the plains and hills they passed on.
Just like Bryce said, the sun had gone down while Evelyn's party was still on the road.
Seeing their surrounding had darkened, Evelyn raised Lucerna to the air and casted a spell.
[Holy Arts, Firefly Lanterns]
The magic staff glowed with bright light and that bright light dispersed into hundreds of tiny light orbs. Those light orbs flew around Evelyn and the knights, illuminating their path and the surroundings.
With a clear and visible path ahead, Evelyn and her knights proceeded with their journey.
They all reached their destination a few of hours later.
Evelyn and the knights arrived at a village on a hill which overlooked the Stonewall town in the distance.
They set up camp around the village with the help of the rest of the villagers whom dared to stay so close to a demon-infested town.
In the village, Evelyn heard the news that Hannah had arranged for the Stonewall refugees to evacuate elsewhere, farther from there. Which was why no residents of Stonewall was in that village, except for the town chief who stayed to help out with informing the layout of the town to the Leonardo army.
"Lady Evelyn Leonardo, I'm Mr. Gavin. Stonewall's town chief!" introduced the man.
"I'm sorry we had to be acquainted in this manner, Mr. Gavin. But I have a few things to confirm with you. Would you follow me with my knights to the camp to help us with our strategy?"
"Of course, my lady!"
Evelyn and the town chief alongside some other knights then huddled in one of the camp's tent to discuss the extermination quest.
Meanwhile, the villagers were looking at the presence of the soldiers and the current predicament with great anxiety.
"DEMONS! DEMONS ARE EVERYWHERE THESE DAYS!" said an innkeeper.
"You're right. I've been living here since I was a child and never did we have demons in these corner of the province." said a middle-aged seamstress.
"This is ridiculous!" said an 80-year-old blacksmith. "My great-grandfather moved our family all the way from the Taman Principality to Mortalia Empire because he thought Mortalia was the safest place on the continent. Now I can see that's not true anymore."
"Didn't your great-grandfather heard about how Mortalia lost its former capital, Havensground, to the demons around 700 years ago? Why did he still think our empire is the safest place on the continent?" asked a pig farmer.
"That should show you how dangerous the rest of the continent was if my great-grandfather still thought Mortalia is the safest country in the world despite knowing Havensground had fallen to the demons." said the old blacksmith.
"I don't really care about what your great-grandfather thought, old man. I just want those gargoyles to be gone so people would come this way again and my inn can continue running." said the innkeeper.
"Do you think these 20 knights will be able to defeat all those gargoyles? The town chief said there're at least 20 of those demons." asked the seamstress.
"If worse comes to worst, they all will be fodder to the gargoyles." said the pig farmer. "They could satisfy the demons until real reinforcement gets here."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a poor girl, that Leonardo lady." said the old blacksmith. "She still has so much to live for and now she's just going to be another prey to the demons."
"Indeed. I heard she was bedridden all this time. But now..." said the seamstress.
The villagers sighed and thought of the same thing.
"(I wonder what possessed her to do a dangerous quest like this.)"