Chapter 47
“Noah, you’re up.”
Lyle’s quiet voice woke me.
All I could see was the faint glow of the dying campfire.
At the center of the camp, the packhorses and donkeys slept huddled together, snorting softly.
“Anything out of the ordinary?”
“Nothing. Just the wind and a fox yelping.”
Lyle fed another log to the dwindling fire, then lay down.
I climbed up the wagon wheel and settled atop one of the crates.
The clearing lay beneath the moonlight, eerily silent.
Three figures stood atop the wagons.
They were sentries from the other parties, posted at regular intervals.
I sharpened my senses and spread my mana thinly.
The outlines of whatever it touched appeared in my mind.
Inside the perimeter.
Tethered horses. Merchants fast asleep.
And the still presence of the sentries.
—And a figure moving around the perimeter.
I narrowed my eyes and peered into the darkness.
The person who emerged from behind a wagon was—Glen.
“Hey, keeping a good watch. Anything wrong?”
His voice was low and quiet.
“No, nothing out of the ordinary.”
I answered softly.
“Good. This is the toughest stretch of the night, so stay sharp.”
With that, Glen moved on to the next sentry, his footsteps silent.
I kept watching him until his back disappeared into the darkness.
Once Glen was out of sight, I turned my gaze to the forest beyond the clearing.
It was an inky darkness, untouched even by moonlight.
The only things brushing against the mana I’d spread thinly were small animals.
Every so often, the only sound was a dry pop from some distant campfire.
The moon, which had been hanging over the crown of a tall tree, had shifted by about four fist-widths before I knew it.
It was almost time to switch shifts.
I gently shook Kai’s shoulder.
“Mm... Ah, is it that time already...?”
Kai sat up sluggishly, voice thick with sleep.
Perhaps Kai wasn’t fully awake yet; their gaze remained fixed blearily on the campfire’s dying embers.
“Nothing unusual. It’s almost too quiet.”
After a brief handoff, Kai gave a small nod and lightly slapped their face to shake off their drowsiness.
“Got it...”
After making sure Kai had climbed onto the wagon bed, I went back to sleep.
Light filtering through my eyelids and a distant murmur rolling in like waves slowly drew me back to consciousness.
“Good morning. The soup will be ready soon.”
Elena was already awake, stirring a pot in front of the campfire.
The small flames crackled, and an appetizing smell rose with the steam from the pot swaying above them.
I sat up and rolled my shoulders.
The side of my back that wasn’t facing the fire felt especially cold.
“It’s cold.”
Elena chuckled at my involuntary remark.
“Of course it is. It’s coldest just before dawn.”
As she spoke, she briskly stirred the soup with a wooden spoon and tasted it.
She narrowed her eyes as if considering it for a moment, then gave a little nod.
Kai, having finished the watch, climbed down from the wagon.
“It’s morning.”
I shook Lyle, who was still asleep, to wake him.
“...A little longer.”
Lyle grimaced and rolled over.
“Get up soon, or we’ll leave you behind.”
At Elena’s words, Lyle sprang upright.
“Huh...!?”
His sleepy expression sharpened in an instant.
He immediately looked around in every direction.
The driver leading the horses, merchants cooking, and Elena ladling out soup.
Only after checking all that did he finally let out a small breath.
“...What, we haven’t left yet?”
Relief showed on his face as his shoulders relaxed.
“We really will be leaving soon, so let’s eat.”
Lyle took the soup Elena held out and drank a mouthful.
“...That hit the spot.”
He murmured, and Kai gave a small laugh.
After our quick meal, we each got ready to leave.
We tightened the straps on our leather armor, checked our weapons, and shouldered our packs.
Before long, calls to depart began ringing out throughout the caravan.
The horses were hitched, the wheels creaked, and the halted line slowly began to move as if coming back to life.
We took our place at the rear and joined the procession.
The road had become a gentle descent, as if yesterday’s rugged climb had never happened.
The packed earth was dry, and the wheels rolled smoothly.
The caravan stretched out like a single living creature, moving at an easy rhythm.
The drivers’ calls sounded relaxed, a clear change from the tension of the day before.
Lyle murmured as he looked ahead.
“This road’s nice and easy.”
Elena chided him.
“Don’t let your guard down. That’s when something tends to happen.”
Before long, a dark shadow came into view on the road ahead.
A forest.
And not just any woods. The branches and leaves overlapped, as if refusing the sunlight, and the deeper we went, the more it seemed to gather darkness.
With every step we took into it, I could feel the air changing.
It grew cool and damp, and the sounds around us seemed to be swallowed up.
Something brushed the edge of the mana I’d spread out.
—Wolves.
The moment I caught their presence—
“Pweeet!”
A sharp whistle rang out from up ahead.
A signal from the scouts.
The next instant, the entire caravan came to a complete stop.
The drivers pulled on the reins, and the horses halted with short whinnies.
—The Red Wolves’ job.
Their attitude might be awful, but they seemed to know how to do their job.
A short while later, a dull impact sounded from up ahead.
Then came a shout.
The sound of blades striking something aside. The growl of beasts.
The fighting had begun.
“Up ahead...!”
Lyle muttered under his breath, his hand going to the hilt of his sword.
But his eyes weren’t on the road ahead; he was watching our surroundings.
Fortunately, no enemies were coming our way.
We could sit back and watch from a safe distance.
The fight up ahead was already nearing its conclusion.
The members of Black Iron cut through the pack of wolves with economical movements.
Each swing of a sword sent a wolf crumpling to the ground. Their teamwork was superb, and none of them made a reckless move.
Glen’s broad back stood out in particular. A single sweeping blow took out several wolves rushing toward him.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the wagons—
The air trembled.
As a chant rang out, the Wind of the Azure Sky unleashed its magic.
A fierce gust tore through the forest shadows and sent the pack of wolves flying all at once.
Several wolves sailed through the air and crashed into branches and the ground. Dazed by the impact, they scattered and fled in every direction.
“...Amazing.”
Kai blurted out.
The wolves, who should have had the advantage in numbers, were pushed back in no time and fled.
“...Guess we don’t get a turn.”
Lyle murmured.
There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Before long, the caravan slowly started moving again as if nothing had happened.
A few more times, the presence of wolves surged from deep in the forest, but Black Iron and the Wind of the Azure Sky drove them off up ahead, leaving us at the rear in complete peace.
“Wouldn’t mind if a few came our way. I’m getting rusty.”
Lyle shrugged.
“Being safe is what matters. Don’t say things like that.”
Elena chided him, but at that very moment—
“Pweeet! Pweeet!”
A signal unlike the ones before.
A series of sharp, short whistles rang out.
The caravan groaned to a halt. The drivers hurriedly pulled the reins, and the horses shifted restlessly, stamping their feet.
But—
There was no sound of fighting.
No shouts, no clash of metal. Only an odd silence slowly spreading around us.
“...What is it?”
Kai furrowed their brow.
I spread my mana too, but couldn’t detect any enemies. The forest was utterly still, making the unease all the more palpable.
Only time passed, slowly.
Even so, the line didn’t move.
Lyle clicked his tongue softly.
“I’m gonna go take a look.”
Just as he took a step forward—
Glen came walking toward us from up ahead.
He moved quickly, but didn’t seem panicked. Still, the usual confidence had faded from his face, if only a little.
“One of the wagons broke an axle. At this rate, we won’t make it to the monastery where we’re supposed to stay before its gates close.”
At the matter-of-fact announcement, Lyle furrowed his brow.
“We can’t camp out in a place like this and put the whole caravan at risk.”
Glen paused, then looked directly at us.
“You stay here and guard them until the repairs are finished.”
Silence fell for a moment.
“How long will it take?”
Elena asked.
“We’re pushing them to hurry, but plan on at least an hour.”
If we didn’t reach the monastery before nightfall, we’d have to camp in the forest.
There was no way we could protect everyone with so few of us. Beasts, bandits, monsters... Who knew what might appear?
That said, we couldn’t abandon the job, either.
—So we’re expendable, then.
Normally, if the repairs didn’t get done in time, we’d be done for.
But we could handle whatever came.
I met Lyle’s eyes and nodded.
“Got it. Leave it to us.”
Lyle said firmly.
“...I’m counting on you.”
Glen said that and headed back toward the front.
He didn’t even look back over his shoulder.