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nBerlin Bungo stood at the side and had several trolls lift the massive door up after fixing the broken hinges, there was nothing he could do about the dent in the wooden part of the door as a basic restoration magic had no effect on it. They managed to place the door back on it’s hinges and Bungo was able to perform the finishing touches without a problem. He had also copied a couple of the runes he found on the door to study them later on.

nAzar having just let go of the door alongside the trolls felt drained eventhough he barely did a thing, even for its size the door was more heavier than they thought, most likely because it wasn’t any ordinary door.

nOnce the job was done Alzar sent the others off to the main gate to continue their work, he chose to remain behind and wait on Albert. Stretching his arms to relax his muscles he soon saw Albert returning from the outer ward heading in his direction.

n“Oi, where did you scurry off to?”

n“Mmm… I just wanted to check in on the sentries I positioned. Is the door fix already?”

n“Of course, how long did you think you were gone for. My wife and the others already made breakfast.”

n“Oh, I guess I lost track of time.”

n“Well you managed to avoid all the hard work, but since it’s you, I guess it’s fine.”

n“…”

n“Oh, Bungo just left with the trolls to fix the main gate.”

n“Yeah i saw them on my way here, shouldn’t you be helping then?”

n“I sent a few ogres with them so it’s fine, I still need to supervise the kobolds in setting up and repairing the traps on the walls and wards.”

n“Alright that’s good.”

n” So what now, Lord Ty hasn’t been down in a while it feels like we’re the only ones here.”

n“It has only been a day or two… He must still be busy, but he did say to not push yourselves. How bout you take a break for now and have breakfast, I’ll escort you and the kobolds in fixing the traps later.”

n“…Well, at least that’s a plan, I think that would be best.”

nThey both continued their chat as they all headed for the dining hall for breakfast, Albert also had someone take food to Gail and Lora in the tower as well as Bungo and the trolls fixing the main gate, the broken wall would have to wait for now as they couldn’t fix it even with magic, there was a lot of previous metals required for such a venture that would need to be purchased in a city.

nLiz and Rain had also joined them alongside Erin as they all ate and talk together, they seemed to have gotten really close in just the short amount of time they had been together. The meal was a simple one compromising of a type or variation of oatmeal and some purple fruits along with a slice of pie.

nThe oatmeal wasn’t much to talk about but the pie was made with one of the most popular berries in the demon continent called pillian berry, which were practically just blue berries only larger. They tasted great and complimented the meal well.

nWhen they were done with breakfast a lot of kids were finally feeling like themselves again and ran to play in the inner ward. Rain and Liz now hung out with Erin all the time as they talked about various things, most of which were idle chatter and they never once dove deeper in their pasts.

nAlbert and Azar went with the now active Kobolds and managed to fix more than 80 percent of the traps in the castle. The kobolds weren’t used to being among other races so dealing with them was a bit difficult.

nTime went by quickly and the day soon came to an end with activities like these, to everyone this was a welcomed change of pace and they appreciated the peace and quiet of an empty Castle.

nAlbert felt a sense of peace return to him that he hadn’t thought would happen this soon, he knew this was just a placebo effect from being in an empty and peaceful environment that wouldn’t last long.

nThis was why he had spent the entire day thinking of various plans he could suggest to Lord Ty if he ever requested it. He didn’t know if Lord Ty had already thought of them but he would try to be useful as much as he could, beside this would also keep the people of the settlement safe so in a way it was like he was still doing his duties as captain of the guards.

nThis was the second day they had spent in this castle so far and Lord Ty hadn’t been present for either, he could only hope they hadn’t done anything that would vex him. After they all ate dinner Albert did his usual rounds checking on everyone, it turned out Erin was spending the night with Liz and Rain again, perhaps she was still mad at him or maybe she just found people she could truly get along with without her feeling exhausted.

nHe finished his rounds pretty quickly and wanted to end the night by checking in on his sentries again. He went towards the wall with fast strides and arrived quickly, climbing the stairs he entered the tower and saw Lora asleep on a makeshift bed and Gail using a magic item to observe the surrounding.

nThe item was portable one eye silver telescope that had the power to see certain auras even through obstacles. This meant it could almost see through objects and was perfect for watching the dense forest. Gail seemed to be fully concentrated on something which was unusual for her, she hadn’t noticed Albert walk in and she was usually the sharp type.

n“See anything?”

n“What the unholy **!”

nGail yelled clearly startled by the sudden voice beside her. “Oi captain, how many times do i have to tell you not to do that.”

n“Oh… my bad, it’s still an habit.”

n“Well get rid of it!” She yelled angrily startling Lora awake. It was impossible for someone not specialized in stealth or have an usual amount of perception to sense Albert while distracted so Everytime he moved he was almost used to this type of reaction.

n“You’re so loud Gail, what’s up?” Lora said rubbing her eyes. “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.” Gail replied not wanting her to notice Albert which would end up ruining the current sleeping rotation they had in place. “Oh, ahhhh-hhaaaaaa okay, goodnight.” She yawned as she folded up and went back to sleep almost instantly.

n“So, did you notice anything?” Albert asked again as he hadn’t yet received an answer. Gail scratched her messy hair and replied a little hesitantly. “Well, I’m not sure if this is much but.. um… Ahhh… Although there is movements in this section of the forest, there doesn’t seem to be any strategic patterns to it so I’m not sure if it’s the scouts, they move semi randomly through the forest so i think they’re beasts.”

n“Really, what do you mean semi randomly.”

n“Mmm… yeah, i think they’re changing or expanding territories so most of the weaker monster are moving elsewhere.”

n“Expanding their territories? If that was really the case it would mean, one of the four kings has perished.”

n“That’s why I’m not entirely sure about this, for one of the four monster kings to die in battle, more than one of the other three would have had to team up against them.”

n“Yes, although that’s not out of the question giving how intelligent they are, a fight between kings would’ve caused a huge commotion and would never had gone unnoticed even by us, and the fact that the others are making a move in winter proves this was sudden.”

nAlbert thought about the information for a while, this was a big deal, if one of the four king’s that had ruled the Darknar forest for centuries had really died, this would cause massive changes in the entire forest and could even send waves throughout the demon continent.

nIt wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the four kings or maybe three kings now was also one of the main factors why the Great Five hadn’t completely claimed the entire Darknar region. The Darknar forest contained more than half of the resources in the entire Darknar region so the fact that the great Five were hesitant in claiming more territories deeper into the forest show how fearsome the four king’s were.

nSo how would one die without destroying a large chunk of the forest with them. ‘Hmm, come to think of it, i had sensed a massive amount of negative energy coming from the direction of the forest a while back. I hadn’t paid it much attention back then so perhaps…’

n“Captain. Captain! CAPTAIN!”

n“Uh, what is it.”

n“There is more movements”

nGail said seriously as she watched the forest through her single eye telescope. Albert activated his skill and his eyes glowed slightly and his pupils turned into a slit. He then turned towards the direction she was looking at. His eyes functioned even better than the one eye telescope and he was able see exactly what she was looking at.

nTowards the southwest of the forest there were shadows moving around in a section of the forest. Concentrating even harder he could now vaguely make out the shapes of these figures. There was a pack of wolves and judging by their glimmering silver fur, they were most likely silver wolves, engaged in a fierce battle with a different type of wolves and Albert couldn’t tell which type just by their fur alone as it wasn’t

nunique enough.

nHe could make an educated guess as to which species those were, judging by other factors like their sizes and how they fought on par with the silver wolves they were most likely Dire wolves. Normally these monsters wouldn’t run into each other like this as they lived on the opposite sides of the forest. The fact that they were now fighting over territory means the balance of power in the forest had really been broken.

nAlbert closed his eyes and massaged his temples, his previous elation this morning over the snow went out the window and he was now full of worries. There was no doubt in his mind that the scouts for the Great Five would’ve already noticed this a while back and had probably already sent words back to their respective families. It wouldn’t surprise him if the other families had already received news of this.

nHe now realize how much he had underappreciated his previous information network when he was a Lord. His information now was surely lacking and he hoped to discuss this issue with Lord Ty as soon as possible. As his thought wondered it seemed like the silver wolves had won in the time he had his his eyes closed and the dire wolves were forced to retreat, both sides having a large number of casualties.

nEven the survivors of the brief but intense clash had grievous wounds and were struggling to maintain their ranks almost like they were expecting another round of attacks. Gail let out a sigh and spoke to Albert. “I think we need to investigate this section of the forest if we want to know what exactly is going on.”

nAlbert stared at her curiously, the fact that a lazy person like her was actually taking this so serious, shows how serious this situation was.

n“You’re right.”

n“Should we make a request to Lord Ty.”

n“A request huh.”

nShe looked like she was more interested in the situation than him, perhaps it was her instincts as a sentry at play or maybe it was something else but Albert had no choice but to agree with her. However, Lord Ty wasn’t available right now and he had no idea when he would be back. Even if he was to sent a team out on his own authority he wasn’t even sure if they could exit the barrier without Lord Ty’s help.

nAs he thought to this extent a sudden force enveloped the entire castle. It was a feeling that was hard to describe and every single person in the castle could feel it. Albert was even sure if the barrier wasn’t up that this force would enveloped the entire region.

nThe space inside the barrier felt distorted and heavier, it made every feel like taking even a single step would have dangerous and disastrous repercussions. This went on for only a short while though, as the force was suddenly eclipsed by a presence and disappeared completely.

nAlbert turned to head back to stare at the castle, a long sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he thought. ‘Looks like Lord Ty is finally back.’

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