Illuminating their path, the moon hung high shimmering in the night sky. Wide awake after sleeping for most of the journey so far, Haruki and his companions were passing time with random chatter. That's when all of a sudden the carriage at the very front began to slow down before stopping altogether, forcing the others to take a halt as well.
"Are we setting up camp, already?" Haruki mumbled, glancing around at the other.
"I'll check," replied Riley.
Letting down her cape, she opened the door and began making her way toward the front. Surveying her surroundings it seemed that they were yet to come out of the safer region, but from her own experience that didn't mean they were in no chance of trouble. Traveling along both sides of the path, the tall dark trees were perfect camouflage for bandits and other criminals to hide.
'Doesn't seem like there are any bandits though.' Walking up to the leading carriage of the silver storm, Riley surveyed the situation to figure out just exactly what had happened.
"Why have we stopped?" She asked, making her way to Kane who was kneeling and yet towered over whatever it was on the ground. Resting her hand over his shoulder, she noticed that there a person was laying on the ground, huffing and panting for breath in their sleep.
"What the hell?!" Kane yelled out astounded.
Taken by surprise by Riley's expert spy skills, the entirety of their party jolted back in shock.
"Don't sneak up like that!" Lucy Squealed, hugging Diana scared by Riley's sudden appearance.
Ignoring them, she got down to her knees beside Kane to get a proper look at the woman laying on the path. Taking the gloves off, Riley pressed her hand against the woman's forehead, and sure enough, her suspicion was correct.
"She's burning, possibly because of lack of sustenance, was she always laying here or did she pass out in front of you guys?" Turning to Kane, Riley was showering him with questions. "Depending on what happened, she might not have too much time."
"No, she was like this when I first saw her," Arthur chimed in. "We weren't sure if it was a trap by bandits so we didn't want to consult the duke until we knew it was safe."
Glancing back at the woman, Riley flipped her over to go through her things. She wanted to see if the woman had anything that could be used as a weapon or even a poison of any kind, but despite searching for a while all she found was a stringed bag with nothing inside of it.
"The scarf is something else too," running her hands through the fluffy scarf with two wolf heads attached to it, Riley felt greatly envious of the lady. "We need to set up camp anyway, what do you say we help her get back on her feet?"
Shifting her attention to Kane, the leader of the silver storm, Riley hoped he would agree with her plan. Stealing glances between the feverish lady and Riley, Kane turned to the other members to get their input on the situation.
"Should we not consult the duke about this first?" Arthur's concern was valid, but Haruki was already watching what was happening with the help of the demonic spy attached to Riley's body.
"I'll go ask him then," as swift as the wind, Riley trailed off with her feet gliding through the air with her wind magic. She often used the ability to travel without making any sound but it also helped to hasten her running speed.
After quickly pretending to explain everything to Haruki, Riley was told to relay his approval to help the girl. Once again, getting back to the party leading the convoy, she let them know about Snow's orders. While all of this went on even the Nue's eye caught up with Haruki's carriage from behind, and the clovers were no exception as they made their way to the front on foot.
"To the right of here there are some plains with a river, we can set up our camp there," Maggie offered after getting to know the whole situation.
"We'd have a high vantage point in case monsters try to attack too," Garth added, his eyes struggling to stay open from all the drowsiness.
"Alright then, Hilma, Mortar you guys gather some food while we set up a camp there," looking around, Kane began to distribute the tasks. "Pon you come with us, in the meantime, you and Lucy should try to improve her condition as much as you can."
Lastly, after Kane asked the clovers to keep a close watch over the duke's surroundings, the carriages departed once more. The plains Maggie was talking about weren't far off and the convoy was able to reach there without much trouble. However, while trying to set up camp, a pack of wolves kept growling at them through the bushes.
"Should we move?" Asked Maggie unsure if the plains were safe.
"Step off," moving forward, Haruki clutched the brooch.
With the help of his demonic vision, he was perfectly able to spy out all the wolves hiding between the dark crevices of the forest. Holding his hand forward, a spiraling seal of ice magic hovered at the edge of his palm.
"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two…" the more wolves he noticed the more spears of ice started circling the magic seal. "Kill them all."
As he mumbled those last words, the spears shot like arrows and pierced right through the wolves' flesh. Being drawn to their deaths by their own stupidity to challenge the duke, their squeamish wails echoed through the darkness. One after the other, the cries died down, leaving behind a forest deserted of all noise.
"Is it fine now?" glancing at Maggie, he asked with a deep frown. The incident with Asmodia in his dream had put him in a deplorable mood.
"Y-yeah…" dumbfounded by the extraordinary feat, not only Maggie but the other adventurers as well stared at him with gaping jaws.
And although they were supposed to be the ones providing him with security, what they had just witnessed assured them of their safety in his presence.
'Something has changed about him, I can feel it from a mile.' Kane wasn't the only one with such theories, the rest of the convoy was just as aware of the changes in him.
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