Most of the villagers had been convinced by Edward that it was necessary to leave the village, but that didn’t mean they were happy about it. While some were already preparing their belongings, others had to be helped to accept reality. Leaving the entirety of one’s life behind was not easy, especially for farmers who had tended to their land for years. Although the villagers had to move, it didn’t mean that they had to travel lightweight. The growing monsters were only a threat in the middle and long term. They didn’t have to flee from packs of monsters yet.

Carts had been arranged for the community, they would be pulled by draught horses. There weren’t enough carts for everyone, but it was appreciated to have some to transport more belongings. For normal humans, it would be a three-day trip and supplies had to be prepared accordingly. The carts would also be useful for the elders and young who would need to rest during the travel. However, it wasn’t enough to transport heavy furniture like beds or cupboards. If the villager were lucky enough, the surge wouldn’t last too long and they would be able to come back to their home. But no one could be certain of how long or how bad the surge would get.

While the villagers were preparing themselves, Edward was resting. In the next three days, he wouldn’t have much sleep. He would be the most powerful in this convoy, and he would be responsible for their safety. Awakens would be able to protect the villagers from ordinary wolves, but it would be up to Edward to take care of Regal wolves or equally powerful monsters. If possible before they could even reach the convoy. Edward was aware of how much damage a predator-level monster could do in a short time if left unchecked. After all, he had himself used this tactic against the Regal wolf he had faced.

The preparations continued for the whole afternoon, some villagers even continuing through the night, unable to decide on what to leave behind and on what to take with them. However, the wisest knew that rest was important. Awakens were supposed to keep them safe, but they knew to take nothing for granted. It was better to be rested and alert in case a monster managed to sneak through the guards to attack them.

On the next day, it was time for departure. Not everybody was ready, but sacrifices had to be made, at this point what couldn’t fit in the carriages or be carried had to be left behind. Edward had just cleaned the path of monsters for them, but it wouldn’t last long. The sooner they left the better. Caspian and Balin were coordinating the different awakens, creating an outside perimeter to protect the villagers, with a special focus on the vanguard and rearguard. Edward had free reign to operate as he wanted. He would be able to take care of monsters on his own, and his mobility was greater than the awakens guards.

The villagers left Agripin with remorseful glances. Since he could teleport, Edward had the duty to close the village’s gate behind them. With the wall as a physical barrier and no inhabitants to devour inside the village, it may be enough to be preserved from monsters’ attacks. Even though Edward wasn’t certain it would be enough. Already he had encountered flying monsters, such as Harpies, that were able to ignore walls. Even the Lusus naturae lived in underground tunnels and caves, and could probably dig below a barrier, walls wouldn’t stop them. The best hope for the village to survive the surge wasn’t its walls, but rather to stay inconspicuous.

Edward closed the gate once everyone was outside. He had no trouble catching up to the head of the column. He winced. They are so slow. The trip is supposed to last three days, but with how heavily loaded they are, and at the pace they are moving, it seems it will be more like four days. Moving so many people at once while monsters are spreading everywhere will be an ordeal. It’s assured that we will attract the monsters’ attention. I’ll have to scout ahead of them to remove as many monsters as I can. However, I can’t go too far ahead either lest a powerful monster attacks them while I am away.

This won’t be easy but I have to do it. This village saved me when I first arrived in this world. Now it is my turn to save them.

While the villagers were slowly getting into line and moving toward the forest, Edward went to Caspian and told him he would scout ahead to take care of the closest monsters. He left, quickly leaving the villagers behind him. It was actually a relief to be able to run ahead. Walking was nice to appreciate one’s surroundings or to calm one’s mind. But when he could reach a sprinting speed without effort, walking to actually travel just felt so damn slow. Limiting his capacities in such a way made him feel as if he was contrived in tight clothes.

Edward scouted along the path, never running farther than 200 meters from it. It was the limit to which his aura senses could expand. This may not represent much in an opened plain, but in a forest, this was a lot. Changing sides every so often he was able to survey a 400 hundred meters perimeter from each side of the path. It was daytime and not that long since Edward’s passage. He encountered the eventual lone wolves, even an oversized bear at one point, but they didn’t represent a threat to him. He was able to take care of them swiftly and without drawing attention. He absorbed their blood essence, even if it didn’t represent much, but he had no way to dispose of the corpses.

I hope I don’t end up attracting another monster with all the corpses. But I have no choice, the villagers’ convoy is too big and slow not to gather attention. If I don’t take care of those monsters now, I will have to do it once they reach the convoy. At least by eliminating them right now, the corpses are scattered.

Edward joined the convoy at regular intervals keeping Caspian, Balin, and the others informed of the situation. Nothing unexpected had happened for now, but it was only the beginning of the trip.

The villagers were walking slowly, the children delighted by the massive trees, the flora, and the small critters they saw running away. They had never been allowed to stay in the forest before as it was too dangerous. The adults were less rejoiced in being surrounded by massive trees and overgrown flora. For them, it was akin to diminished visibility and only more places for monsters to hide. The older ones had already lost too many adventurous relatives to wild monsters. The wilds only meant danger to them, it was something deeply rooted in their mind.

For the guards, the situation was more ambivalent. Of course, they knew more than anyone else that the wilds were dangerous. But with danger came opportunity. It was only by killing monsters and absorbing their power that they could grow stronger. Many had been promoted to awaken not long ago thanks to hunting the Bloodmaws remnants. Progress was still fresh in their mind and they wished for more. However, at the same time, they were keenly aware that their friends were vulnerable as ordinary humans. The main objective wasn’t to slay more monsters but to leave the woods with the fewest amount of wounded possible.

Just like that, a full day went by and the night was falling. It was time to establish an encampment. It was decided to stay on the path, although the path protection didn’t seem to work anymore against the monsters, it was still the safest place right now. Edward had cleared the nearby monsters, and the absence of trees on the path itself meant there were two fewer directions from where monsters could come unseen. A rotation was put into place for the night watch between the awaken guards. Three rotations were planned for the whole night.

Although awaken were able to rely on their aura to sense their surroundings it was still decided to light torches to illuminate the surroundings. This wasn’t something Edward would have done personally, even if the torches helped to lighten the immediate area, it also accustomed their eyes to the light and prevented them to see further away in the dark of the night. They would be visible from farther away than they would be able to see from their guard post. However, it was Caspian and Balin’s choice since ordinary civilians wouldn’t be able to see anything without light.

I hope that I cleared enough monsters in the vicinity so that this doesn’t cause any problems. Anyway, even if monsters do come, I will be able to deal with them.

Edward decided to spend the night in a half-asleep state, using his aura on overwatch to warn him if anything abnormal happened. His range would be limited to around fifty meters while he was resting, but if any of the guards needed him, he would be awake immediately. This method had the advantage of keeping him ready if anything happened while not exhausting him. Edward could easily skip a night of sleep, but this was a three to four days trip, he needed to preserve his forces if he wanted to be on guard for the whole trip.

Edward woke up in the morning without having been disturbed during the night. It looks like my worries were for nothing. He stood up, and carefully survey the encampment expanding his aura over it. He didn’t notice anything abnormal. He wasn’t the only one awake, and already the encampment was shifting, people were getting up, waking up their friends, taking breakfast, and putting their belongings in order. Edward noticed Caspian and walked to him.

“Morning, is everything ok? Nothing happened during the night?” Edward asked him still slightly anxious although he could see everything was in order.

“Morning, no there was nothing abnormal. No alerts were raised, and we weren’t attacked even once. You did good work clearing the monsters.” Caspian answered with a smile.

Just then a nervous guard trotted to Caspian. “Sir, we finished the headcount, Florian is missing.”

Caspian frowned. “He was supposed to be in the last night watch rotation. When and where was he seen from the last time?”

“The last contact with him was during the night watch rotation when he replaced Wallace. No one has heard about him since. There were no alerts so we only realized he was missing before the headcount.”

“He can’t have disappeared into thin air. There must be clues, signs of struggles, or bloodstains at the very least.” Caspian insisted.

The guard shook his head. “We looked over the area he was guarding, we didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.”

Edward threw a look at Caspian. “It’s the first time I’m hearing of something like that. It certainly doesn’t seem to be the work of the wolves. I will take a look, and see if you missed anything.”

A Regal wolf could have taken him silently, but there would have been bloodstains even then. I can’t think of any monsters able to achieve anything like that. So, a new monster it is. It certainly is eerie. However, I don’t think this monster should be extremely powerful. Otherwise, it would have taken care of the whole encampment instead of eliminating a single guard. I would bet on a monster with some kind of camouflage power.