Zaos and Verkan had to ride for more than ten hours straight to reach Rustbury. Although they arrived at midnight, they noticed that the whole city was still awake. The place was walled, so it could last for a while if a battle happens, but the walls were only ten meters high. There were no walls in the parts the river crossed, evidently. Regardless, dozens of people were crossing the gates at every moment, and apparently, there was no end in sight for that. Fortunately, it looked like many people were still coming from the other side, so the enemy army still hadn't arrived.

"We will leave our horses here, it will be faster to move without them across so many people," Verkan said.

After jumping from their horses, Zaos and Verkan identified themselves and then proceeded to enter the town. While they found several groups evacuating during the day and at night, it was a small portion compared to what was leaving the town at such a moment.

It took only a couple of minutes for the two to reach the base where the town guards used. It was a pretty large building since the number of guards in the town was pretty high as well… for its size. They found several guards camped nearby; they were even using the abandoned houses since the citizens of the place had been the first ones to evacuate when they heard of the enemy's army. Several guards were having a meeting there, despite the fact that it was in the middle of the night, and several of them recognized Verkan. Still, they frowned when they saw him with a recruit.

"Verkan, I knew that you would come, but… where are your men?" A certain white-haired man asked while frowning and looking at Zaos.

"A few days ago, we captured a follower of the demon god, but the kid was tough and didn't obtain any information," Verkan replied. "When we were about to have some results, a group of them attacked in order to silence the kid, I used my men to warn the nearby towns and villages. As for his squad, I used them to pass the message your messenger brought with me."

"I see… for some reason you brought a spoiled kid with you," The white-haired man said. "You are not that old, Verkan. Why are you thinking of passing your position to someone else already?"

"Well, I brought him because of his family's name, but also because he can be useful," Verkan smiled. "You will see…"

"What is his family's name?" The white-haired man asked.

"Let's keep that as a secret for the time being, since that will cause some problems later," Verkan said. "Rather than that, inform us about the situation."

There were no recruits around. That was a meeting that only soldiers of a certain rank could attend. While being a squad rank gave them some leadership position, it didn't mean that it was an official position. The white-haired man frowned for a while, but he decided to talk about it since Verkan interrupted just when he was about to inform others about the progress of the enemies' army.

"During the day, the mercenaries attack another town and two villages, thanks to it, we already lost two towns and four villages," The white-haired man said. "We lost seven hundred soldiers stationed in those places since they sacrificed themselves to give the civilians the chance to escape, but the people of two villages still didn't make it. Right now, they are here. We have thirty twenty between us and them. It is safe to assume that they will attack us the day after tomorrow at noon."

On the map, Zaos found five other points that represented villages and towns. Fighting to protect those was a waste of time since the people crossing Rustbury belonged to those places. So, the enemy army will only waste a few hours looting those places. It was obvious they would do it since they were mercenaries, but that would grant the soldiers much time.

"All the others we can use will be here at the time?" Verkan asked.

"Most likely," The white-haired man said.

"All right, I will return later to hear about your battle plane once it is ready," Verkan said.

The white-haired man rolled his eyes after hearing that. While it was true, he didn't come up with any battle plan yet. His subordinates didn't have to hear that.

"Who was that man, sir?" Zaos asked. "Shouldn't we stay with and make preparations for the confrontation?"

"He is one of the commander oldest friends, while he didn't receive the title, he is vice-commander of the region, his name is Arlen," Verkan replied. "He also knows his father, but we don't' want to spoil the surprise. In any case, we will do some preparations. Preparations to make you become even more useful… let's just hope the old man hasn't evacuated yet."

Zaos had no idea what Verkan was saying, but it didn't look like he was fooling around. In any case, considering that he was important to the point where most people treated him unofficially as the vice-commander, Zaos never heard of him. He was also pretty sure the white-haired man never stepped on the Northern base over the last year.

In the end, Zaos and Verkan stopped in front of what seemed to be a rundown shop of something. It was impossible to know what was being sold since there wasn't a sign of a single product.

"Hey, old man," Verkan said and then knocked on the door. "We need to talk."

Zaos and Verkan waited for a while, but they didn't hear anything coming from inside. The shop wasn't that fancy, so it was safe to assume the place's owner also lived there.

"Who lives here, sir?" Zaos asked.

"An alchemist," Verkan replied. "He can make a lot of weird things with plants and stones, but we want him for his potions that restore mana. We will use that and you will become unstoppable."

"That sounds… like a good idea," Zaos frowned. "Still, I think you are putting too much trust in my skills."