50 The Start of The War 4 (1/2)

Ryth hopped down from the tree branch, with Skye on top of his head. He then give out a command. ”Alright. All 40 men of you should go and disguise yourself as visitors. Go and help Lady Elsa to gather information and protect her when the time to project the evidence arrives.”

”Yes, sir!” The 40 men, who had been selected to join Lady Elsa immediately scattered and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

”Okay,” Ryth turned to the rest of the team. ”As for the rest of you. Lets go and find a place to set up a camp. It should not be too close to the city but near enough if an urgent situation arises. At least, let's find a place that's between the prison and the secret passageway.”

Azalea stood beside Ryth and said, ”I think I know a perfect place. Follow me. I'm very familiar with the surroundings of Griefendell.”

Ryth nodded. ”Alright. Lead the way.”

The team took another route, hidden from Yatar and his daughter. Azalea swiftly guided them through the woods, leading the way to the area.

After some time, they finally arrived in a secluded area, not too far from the city.

Azalea squinted her eyes as she looked around her. ”Hmmm,” she mumbled thoughtfully. ”It should be somewhere around here.” She continued to walk a few steps in, mumbling along the way, ”There should be an underground cave somewhere around here.”

She put her hands on her hips as she looked around, not realising that Ryth was behind her, listening to her every word. ”I could have sworn it was here. I remember sneaking off to play in the woods and stumbled upon the cave. Gosh, I remember how Lady Elsa had to get me out when I was trapped inside,” she said softly to herself, reminiscing.

A loud laughter caused Azalea to jumped in surprise. She whirled around to find Ryth grinning at her.

”Eh? So, you're kind of mischievous back when you were young, Azalea? I did not expect that,” Ryth laughed.

Azalea put her hands on her cheeks, trying hard not to blush more. ”Ah! Did you hear it??” she exclaimed. She looked down, trying to evade Ryth's amused gaze. ”So embarrassing!”

”Hahaha. Its alright. I'm the only one who heard it,” Ryth assured her.

”Rawr!” Skye raised one of his paws on the air.

”I heard it too, Miss Azalea. Ku ku ku!” Daedalus butt in.

Ryth rolled his eyes. ”Yeah, yeah. You two heard it too.” He then shrugged. ”Well, do not worry much. I mean, even I was mischievous when I was young. I used to sneak out of our house to play. Llyod and Hill used to catch me and bring me back home where I was lectured by my father for 2 hours straight.”

Azalea covered her mouth to not let a giggle out. But her eyes spoke volumes. ”I see. So, you're a naughty one too, huh?”

Ryth scratched his cheek sheepishly. ”Well, I guess so.” To be fair, the scene that he talked earlier was from the original host of the body.

He then looked around him and asked, ”So, what happened then? Isn't this place filled with monsters? I mean, I know that it is still relatively safe. But there should be some monsters back then, no?”

Azalea bite her lips as she tries to remember back then. ”To be honest… I wasn't scared at first. But when I got trapped inside the underground cave, it was so dark and moist. I couldn't even see what's in front of me. It took me quite awhile to recover from the fear. And after that, I don't dare to sneak out secretly anymore.”

”Hahaha! At least, you've learned your lesson.” Ryth said, teasingly.

Azalea lightly punched Ryth's right shoulder, pouting, ”Meanie!”

”Ouch, ouch. Hahaha, alright. I'm sorry.” Ryth laughed.

Tregnar whispered to Llyod, ”Looks like something is blooming there.” Tregnar stared at Ryth and Azalea, ”They seems quite close.”

Llyod nodded his head vigorously, whispering back excitedly, ”Spring has finally come for my young lord! I'm so happy!”

Hill's expression was stern. He slapped the back of Llyod's head. ”You are too loud!” he hissed.

”Rawr!” Skye slapped Ryth's head twice, looking smugly.

”Don't hit my head!” Ryth pulled Skye's ear.

”Rawr!” Skye patted Ryth's hand, telling him to stop pulling his ear.

Ryth and Azalea actually heard Llyod's nonsense. And although, her face was slightly red, Azalea pretends that she didn't hear it, while Ryth just rolled his eyes at Llyod.

They talked for awhile. Ryth use [Eye of Daedalus] scanning skill and saw that there were no monsters nor people around so they could relax.

Suddenly, Azalea said, ”There it is! The entrance of the cave,” pointing at a hole between two big rocks. ”That's the underground cave. I remember it being big. And it's quite dark so you need to use a fire magic as light.”

”Alright,” Ryth nodded. ”Then we will be using this cave as our base.”

”Great,” Azalea agreed. ”There aren't any people around and it's too far from the main road so I doubt that there will be people passing by the area.”

Ryth turned to look at the rest of the team and waved them over. ”Let's head in.” He looked at the mages and instructed them, ”Mages, prepare to use a ventilation skill, once we're inside.”

”Roger!” They said in unison.

Ryth got in first and use his scanning skill to check the cave. There were only bats inside so Ryth told Skye to get rid of them. Once Skye was done, the rest of the team followed inside. The mages began to cast and make torches and ventilation, while the rest of the team prepared the campfire and tents.