Chapter 379 379 First Stop
Chapter 379 379 First Stop
The bus travelled a bit further down the road, following in Wolfe’s footsteps before he signalled them to stop.
“This is the turnoff to the village. Any of you who are from Gormana or who want to hang out in a village full of local witches who are running a farming project with soldiers from Gormana, please exit the bus now. We will need a new driver, but you can just keep following this road to the east at the next junction, and it will take you to the Academy. I will drop these ones off, then catch up with another group of prisoners that my friends rescued and catch up to you all.” Wolfe explained.
“How long will you take? We’ve got some magic back now that we’ve gotten those bracelets off, so we’re not defenceless.” One of the witches asked.
“Likely not more than an hour or two. Did you want to wait here in the clearing beside the road? I can cast a [Mirage] spell to make you harder to see, or you can grow some plants to block the entrance.” Wolfe suggested.
“I think we should do that instead of risking coming across a patrol without any familiar faces to help smooth things over.” The Witch agreed, then gestured at the side of the bus.
It still had Grand Dutchies livery painted on the side, which likely wouldn’t go over well with the Academy guards when they showed up. Not everyone in this group was a Witch. There were some brave souls who simply wanted out and followed Wolfe when they left the Auction House. The other group would have a much easier time explaining themselves to a wandering patrol from the Academy, and many of them would be familiar faces if the guards were in the same age range.
“Alright, I will be back as quickly as I can. I just need to bring these ones to the village and hunt down a present for them to bring with them to build goodwill with the locals since it will be a real pain for them to go home directly. Sorry to all of you who were hoping to go somewhere, but you’ll likely be stuck in the village or one like it for a while.”
John nodded. “That’s understandable. We were expected to be on a multi-year deployment anyhow since we were sent to make sure that the Grand Dutchies didn’t find a way to break the embargo. That’s how I got caught. I was scouting them and got detected.”
Wolfe looked over the group in front of him and then noticed that it wasn’t all soldiers from Gormana. There was one young Witch holding the hand of a man in his mid-twenties, with a resolute look on her face. If she wanted to try moving to the village to be with her man, that was up to her, and Wolfe wouldn’t try to stop her. It was rather sweet, really.
“Alright everyone, follow closely. I don’t want to lose anyone or have you get ambushed by a monster in the woods. And yes, there are monsters in these woods. The locals do keep patrols, but they’re not capable of dealing with all the threats, and even if they were, killing everything would be counterproductive.”
Wolfe led the way into the woods, using an animal path that was going in the right general direction. The village was fairly well hidden from this side, so their best bet was going to be finding a target to hunt and then being found by the scouts.
That reminded Wolfe of a simple oversight. He hadn’t revealed to everyone here that he was a Demon. Some of the Witches would have noticed, but most of the guards would have bought his human assistant routine.
“Once we have hunted an animal for the village, we are going to say that our Witch in the group cast all the armour spells I’m putting on you. The locals here don’t all know that I am a Demon, and it’s better if I keep it that way.” Wolfe explained.
The soldiers looked nervous but nodded and followed as Wolfe hunted down a target.
“Perfect. I’ve found just the right one. There is a large Elk up ahead, not a magical creature, so the humans can eat it. That is the right offering for our arrival, and any of us could have taken it down.” Wolfe whispered to the group.
He activated [Gentle Steps] and began to sneak through the woods until he had the animal in sight, then severed the head with a [Wind Blade] and used [Levitate] to hang it by its ankles to bleed out.
The process didn’t take long, but it was essential to preserving the taste of the animal, and one of the men began to quickly and efficiently gut the animal as it hung in the air.
“This is so much more convenient than having to build a full hanging rack. But that’s it finished, and we just need to skin it to be done. But I don’t want to do that until we get into the village. I just need a bit of help to carry it or someone with a big knife to quarter it. Even like this, it weighs nearly five hundred kilos.” He explained.
“That’s fine. I will carry it on an Air Magic spell, and we will blame our Witch. I was travelling with one last time I was here, so they won’t be too surprised even if this one can’t.” Wolfe shrugged.
“I can do it. I’m pretty good with Air Magic. It should be more believable if I’m the one that’s manipulating the spell as well. How long of a walk do we have?” She asked.
“Not too much further. The patrols should find us within ten or fifteen minutes if I don’t get us lost, and then it’s a short walk to the village.”
The group got ready to move again, not wanting to be near the kill site when it started to attract other animals or monsters. They were in luck today; the sound of talking in the woods and the not-so-subtle sound of them walking attracted the patrols only ten minutes later, and it was the same group who had found Wolfe the last time.
“So, you must be assigned this side of town. Good to see you again. We came across some of your countrymen in a Grand Dutchy-controlled city, and I brought them back to you. Plus one Witch, who wants to stay with her man.” Wolfe greeted the guard.
“Not only did you bring prisoners of war home, but you brought them back with food? You’re working hard to earn the title of local hero, aren’t you, Nomad? But where are your other companions? Hopefully, not injured.” The guard replied.
“Not at all. They took another group back toward the Academy. The Witches can deal with the Witches, so I brought the rest to you.”
The guard smiled at his patrol mates, and they moved up to lead the way back to the village.
“You have them from here. I need to get back to the others, but I’ll come see you all again soon.” Wolfe called as the group followed the scouts toward safety.
“Don’t think that we will forget to give you your payment when you get here next time.” The group’s lone Witch laughed as she waved goodbye.