"Caretaker Wan, may I?"
"Mmm---!? If sir Baron wishes to accompany me, then who am I to reject the offer? But I do not think this is the right action to execute in our current situation, leaving the young master and misses all alone!?"
"Do not be worried, caretaker Wan---. I presume you already know most about lady July, moreover, I can vouch for, and while I do not know all that well lady Nicole, she will protect her mistress and the two little kids as well. Additionally, I myself want to see, what had been the cause of the early commotion. And if there is something that you might not be able to deal with, what will I say to little Rowen and Adam, if anything might happen to you."
"I understand, sir's worry, but---."
"In that case, caretaker Wan, do not resist."
“Hmmm—?!! Very well!”
Though after his reply, old Wan was not given any time for any rebuttal, sensing that his body was being covered by a layer of tangible energy, as he was forced to leave the ground under his feet, that he was running on, and he begin to float in the air.
It was the doing of sir Baron that had grabbed the old man, as they both left the ground, and begin to fly mere meters above the sea of trees.
Yet, the first stop come rather quickly, as not long after they had left, sir Baron floated above the top side of the nearest hill, from where one could see the large black spot left by the battle.
“Sir Baron?”
“Caretaker Wan, can you see something!”
Though, to his words, old Wan took a closer look at the hill, more precisely near a bush where some signs of someone having walked over the grass, as it was still noticeable.
“Someone had most definitely been here, but If it was the woman I can not say with certainty.”
“I had sensed something here, but I was not sure. Still, to hide so well from me, this can only be explained if that bastard prince is involved.”
“I am afraid, it is so. Anyhow, let us continue, and return to the young master’s side as soon as possible.”
While taking another glance, sir Baron took off once again moving northwards, at an even faster speed. However, he did not see the hidden sideglance, that the old man had given to the bush close to where the signs of stepped grass were, as something had felt oddly familiar.
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[They are gone, both senior wan and that uncle sir Baron. the direction they were going is the one from where the snakes had arrived.] --- “Thak you from the bath.”
“Uuu—, you are welcome.”
“Agrrr—, many tanks---, fellow July.”
But as both the boar and Levis were done, the woman July gave an awkward smile to the boy, and a nod to the boar, as she moved to stay behind her miss, that was clinging to Rowen's arm, as he was in a conversation with miss Adel.
“I see, so you have reached rank 6, this will give you a better chance to earn your credit in the academy, but if you still want to go with the military course, you need stronger subordinates, otherwise you will not be able to do any considerable achievements. Or, are you going to wait, until the "great" Levis will reach your rank?”
“Sister Adel!”
“Lady Adel does not mince her words, but that is exactly what I am going to do. As it is, as it is. Given my slow progression, I can not do much, but in the next few years, before I graduate and reach the Immortal stage, I will give my own shot to win as many group battles as I can.”
“I said it as a joke, but you really are serious about waiting. Well, you too are just as big and staunch of a headache, as she herself is.”
But at Rowen’s future plans and prospects, the young lady Adel, could only rub her temples, as she seemed to understand why Luise, and he, might actually be a fated pair.
----------------------------------------
“Sorry, but are these, all the horses that you have found?”
“Yes, a total of thirty horses. Are you searching for anyone in particular?”
However, as Rowen and miss Adel were having a discussion, Levis had directly overpassed them, and moved, to where the ten men dressed in casual clothing, were maintaining the dozens of the runaway horses. As he immediately questioned one of the men, to see if they had missed a horse or not, because the one that carried his items, was currently missing from the present pack.
“Yes---, though I do not see it.”
“Well---, the ones you can see, are all that we had seen and captured, there was non-other that had escaped us. So. I do not know what to say to you.”
“I understand, thank you.” — [Fuck---!!! Grampas statutes! Hubert's horse is not here--, shit, shit, shit! I should have gone with the other guards to search for them—. Now, all I can hope, is that they will find the horse---, no---.]
However, as Levis received a negative answer, he began to curse in his mind, while looking towards the other side of the field to the road that lead west, only to become more and more pensive about the idea to run into the said direction, and search for the four legend animal himself. Although from the corner of his eye, the boar became his focal point, as he knew that the boar was far faster and stronger than himself if he wanted to go after his items, right now.
[Stop panicking. It is not the end of the world.]
But hearing Urger's words, a massive irritation, and anger grew inside him all of a sudden. However, as he took a large breath of air, he began to calm down, as he knew that getting angry would not resolve anything. Instead, he could be more effective if he were to actually do something about his situation, as he began to approach the boar that was using the weak light of the sun to dry himself, though his own clothes were moderately drenched, as they did not allow the water to be retained for too long. But once again he passed over the group, to reach for the boar that was close to the open area.
“Boar, come with me, we got somewhere to go and something to do!”
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“We—do?”
“Yes, let us go now.”
“Agrrr—!?”
Without any warning, Levis jumped on the beast's back, stunning the boar for a moment.
“But—agrrr—, boar needs to watch over other humans—, until friend returns.”
“No need to worry, nothing bad will happen, and we will not go far.”
"---."
“Agrrr—alright—, boar will help—cub Levis. To where?”
----------------------------------------
“It seems, that this is the place we were searching for.”
“Mhmm—.”
However, as Levis was coercing the boar to go with him, after not announcing to anyone that he was to take the road west, old Wan and sir Baron were finely arriving at the place, that had been the first commotion, they had sensed before the battle.
"This is undoubtedly, the source of the battle that we had sensed."
Though, as the two of them looked, all that they could see was a place that was rather flat as an area, as there were only trees to be seen, akin to a large carpet of yellow-green color, but alas that was not the case, as patches of many trees had been destroyed here and there, giving an overall impression of a ruined product.
But as the two of them advanced in their observations, they could see that certain trees had been eighter burned, ruptured, cut, as puddles of water were all over the place, or certain trees submerge almost entirely into the ground, more than they should normally be.
And yet the most damaging of evidence was the presence of seven large cubes like cells, made out of larger and dark metal cylinders, that had been ripped apart, from which the snakes had most likely escaped. Though, it did not end there, as between the trees, large pieces of wood could be seen, which most definitely did not belong to any tree, as the curved and smooth finish, did not belong to something grown naturally, but man-made, as the pieces were almost obviously part of a flying ship, that had been damaged.
“Caretaker Wan?”
“First we should land, so we can observe it.”
But as he was addressed, old Wan, remembered sir Baron, to land on the ground, as they were still mid-air above the trees.
“I am sorry to make you, do all of this again, but my skills as a scout for details are still lacking, even with my over two hundred years of life.”
“There is no need for sir, to excuse himself, to an old man like myself. As sir’s skills are quite high. Moreover, the fact that sir had brought me by flight, means we can end our assignment faster. Now for the situation here, just a moment and I will—.”
While ending his words, the old man fell into a deep silence, as he began to examine the remains of the battles that had occurred, as well as the cubes-like prisons, and of the large wooden pieces of the ship.
Yet, it was after a while that the two of them stopped walking, as old Wan stopped before the largest piece of the ship, which was at least three times his height and wide, in all directions.
“About eight to ten cultivators, I can not be sure of the exact number. From what I can see, they are all from the five typical elements, as for their stage and rank—.”
“All Immortals, between rank 4 and rank 7? The fluctuations that I had sensed, were rather weak, as I was coming towards you.”
“That is what I was thinking as well. As for the pieces of the ship and the cages. The ship had been damaged from the inside, as the cells, and their openings, appeared to have been opened forcefully, probably in a hurry. Most likely to create a bigger confusion. Which leads me to believe, that one side had been numerically disadvantaged—.”
“Anything else you can see?”
"---."
“It is not what I can see, as it is what I can not see.”
“Can not see?”
“No corpse of any dead cultivator, or, of any of the serpents.”
“Hmmm—, they must have concentrated on fighting each other so that the released snakes did not affect their battles whatsoever. Moreover, the ones to had captured the maddened beast were probably thinking of recapturing them again, as they would have not run away. But your fight had actually attracted them instead. As to why there is no corps of any cultivators, it is most certainly because they had run, once they had felt the fluctuation coming from the attacks of your assailant King, not too far from here.”
“Sir is most probably correct, as this old man has the same view of the succession of events that had occurred in this place.”
“Then, does that mean we are done?”
“For most of the part.”
However with old Wan's words came a more dark and somber inclination, as sir Baron had his eyebrow raise for a beat, as he knew that they had suffered many casualties. Nevertheless, this matter could easily get out of hand, and the simple fact that a flying ship was involved, made it evident that the power behind the ones involved, had to be at the very least at the King stage, most certainly from a big organization or a noble family.
“I do not desire to go and fight, whoever noble is behind this incident. So I recommend, caretaker Wan to quell its ire, for this is a more suitable time to leave to the Kingdom to resolve this matter.”
“Sir Baron not need be worried, as a sole moment of anger, will not cloud my judgment or my understanding of my own situation.”
“Very well, in that case, we shall return then. As I can discern movement that is fast approaching the location of where the kids are waiting, and--- eh? Where are they moving to!”
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“Tsk—, where are they!?”
“Agrrr—, cub Levis!?”
But meanwhile, old Wan and sir Baron were intending on returning, and Levis and the boar were moving westward, on the road that he had already trodden once.
“They should not have gone so far, right? Or did they go into the forest? No, the forest is too dense even for the horses to venture in, they should have continued on the road—.”
“Cub Levis!!?”
“Boar—, continue, and go faster, soon we should see the guards and maybe the missing horses.”
However, in his mumbling, Levis did not even register the boar's words.
“Levis!!!?”
“What? What happened!”
As it was after the third call, that Levis finely came to himself and heard the call from the best below him.
“My friend—, send boar a warning—, strong humans are coming our way—agrrr---, they are coming in our direction.”
“Strong humans!” — [Urger?]
[Can you sense them?]
[No. Who is coming? Hmmm— wait, the guards. Rowen's emergency call or whatnot---. They sure came fast.]
[Eyes up, kid!]
[What? They are already here---!!?]
But looking up, Levis was nearly left mouth agape, but the urge and shock to have his jaw dropped again were lessened, than the first time he had seen sir Baron. However this time, because of the open line of the sky, made by the road, he could see further into the distance. Yet that was the case, which made him more incredulous as it was not just one, but six men coming towards his location.
“Ahh!!!” — [Flying cultivators and not just one. Guards and I do not know the others.]
However, in no time, the cultivators were right above him, floating, as they looked at him, and at the big boar underneath. As for the six men, three were clad in a similar fashion as Rowen and almost full protective armor whit blue clothes underneath and in between the joints, as for the other three, they had a similar type of armor, although they seemed of a more formidable make, and far more consumed as tough having one through many real battles, but the old aged moss green was the color, which was the greatest differentiator from the guards, as they gave them a far stringent and suffocating presence.
“Sorry, but who might you be, child? And may I know, if the beast beneath you, belongs to you or?”
“Agrrr—! Boar belongs to none, less to this cub here!”
Though as one of the blue cultivators addresses Levis to identify himself, and the boar, at the mention of a word that meant he was owned, the beast became furious as he immediately snapped at them.
“Eh!? You can speak! A beast King—, no, rank 9 Immortal---! Wait, are you---?!”
“I am sorry, but may you be, the partner steed of sir Baron, Dabo?”
Although, having taken control of the situation, the boar was immediately identified by one of the men in green.
“Agrrr—! You have— good eyes, human---. But I am not a horse—, and no steed. I allow only my friend to stay on my back.”
“I am very sorry, if I may have offended you. But, may I know, if sir Baron is the cause of the commotion that we had sensed?”
“Agrrr—, yes and no. Go and speak with him. He will tell you, of what has happened.”
“If that is the case, we will proceed.”
“Wait!”
However, as the group of six was about to leave, Levis that had yet to speak, stopped them just as they were about to move again. Though, in doing so, the slight pressure that they had released, came out from them, and fell for a moment on both the boar and boy, giving Levis a better understanding of their relative prowess.
“What is it, child?”
“Have you seen any horses on your way here?”
“Hmmm---. Not too far from here, there are several guards, who are making their way in tow with a dozen and so horses.”
“They have caught them, good. Thank you.” — [Hopefully, Hubert's horse is with them.]
With a nod from the man in blue, the group proceeded towards the battlefield, as Levis and the boar, continue to walk in the direction from where the guards and the horses, would sooner or later arrive.