After everyone dispersed, only Leopold, Isabella, and Blake were left at the village entrance.
Iron Fist went to discuss selecting candidates with the village representatives, Barrow led his people back toward Hexi Village, and Toby slipped away under the pretext of “arranging lunch.”
Blake packed away the map and squinted at Toby's receding back. “That old man's smile makes me really uncomfortable.”
“You don't like him either?” Leopold asked.
“Not at all,” Blake said flatly. “His eyes dart all over the place. He's just like those goblin merchants.”
“It feels like he has his own agenda. Maybe he just wants to use us. We're literally protecting the humans, yet he's being such a bastard!”
“He certainly has his own calculations,” Leopold said. “But right now, we need him.”
“Need him?” Blake scoffed. “An old fox hedging his bets on both sides?”
“It is precisely because he is an old fox that he is useful.” Leopold turned and walked out of the village. “Until he turns on us, his resources and connections are ours to use.”
“Besides, someone like him is the perfect candidate to liaise with the various factions,” Isabella added from the side.
Blake thought about it. Though reluctant, he had to admit Leopold made sense. “...Fine, we'll keep him around for now.”
“Once the war is over, he'll be the first one I exile to the borderlands!” Blake ground his teeth, looking as if he had already figured out how to torment the old fox.
Leopold didn't reply. He merely smiled and continued walking down the village path.
A few farmers resting on the ridges of the fields stood up as they passed, watching them curiously.
Blake walked at the very front with a light step, clearly still immersed in his role as the “Grand General.”
“So, where are we going now?” Blake asked.
“Back to Cabin Village first,” Leopold, walking behind, replied. “Then we need to make another trip to Blackstone Town. We have to find a way to win over George.”
By the time Leopold walked back to Cabin Village along the path, it was already past noon. Blake had split off from him at the village entrance, saying he wanted to head back to the training grounds to check if the militia was slacking off.
Leopold and Isabella walked side by side across the field ridges. After a stretch of silence, Isabella finally spoke.
“How do you plan to convince George?”
“I haven't figured it out yet,” Leopold admitted. “But for someone to stay in a place like Blackstone Town for so long without truly surrendering to the Demon Race, yet not leaving either—he must have his own reasons.”
“What do you think that reason is?”
“A reason that allows humans to survive.”
Just as Leopold spoke, Oliver ran over from the distance.
“Sir! You're back?”
“What is it?” Leopold stopped. “Did something happen in the village?”
“No, nothing bad!” Oliver patted his chest, speaking with a proud grin. “It's good news, fantastic news!”
“Sir, do you remember Adele? The girl you brought back from Blackstone Town.”
“I do.”
“She came to see me this morning. She said she used an old sorcerer contact network to get in touch with several sorcerers hiding in the forest...”
Oliver spoke faster and faster, gesturing in the air. “When they heard someone was willing to accept sorcerers, the leaders of several settlements expressed their willingness to send representatives to Cabin Village for a face-to-face talk!”
Leopold stood in place, his gaze pausing slightly. This was indeed good news, and it had come much faster than he had anticipated.
“How many settlements did she contact?”
“At least three.” Oliver held up three fingers. “The largest one is in the canyon east of the forest. It is said to have thirty sor—no, I mean mages!”
“This is a magical army! There is hope for our war against the Demon Race!”
Thirty mages was not a large number on a battlefield, but for a militia lacking ranged and magical support, it was already a force capable of turning the tide.
“Where is Adele now?”
“Over by the hunter's cabin.” Oliver pointed toward the north of the village. “She said she wanted to organize the correspondence documents and asked if she could borrow a few books on the geography of the Eastern Border.”
“She's certainly proactive,” Isabella interjected, her tone neutral.
Without hesitation, Leopold turned and walked toward the north of the village. “Come on, let's go see.”
Meanwhile, at the hunter's cabin in the northern part of the village.
This had originally been the most desolate area of Cabin Village, but the once weed-choked open ground had now been cleared into a tidy courtyard. A few new houses had even been built next to the hunter's cabin, giving the place the distinct look of a village expanding into a town.
Hector was sitting inside one of the newly built wooden houses, with Adele sitting beside him, teaching him how to read.
“You spelled this word wrong.” Adele's voice was calm. “It seems you don't have any talent for learning.”
“N-No need for you to tell me!”
Adele sat by the table with an open old book, her finger pointing at a certain word on the page. “This word means 'forest'.”
“I know that! Of course I know that!”
“And this one?”
Hector leaned in for a look, opened his mouth, and closed it again. He stared at the word for several seconds before finally leaning back and turning his face away. “...I don't know it.”
“If you don't know it, why were you shouting so loudly just now?”
“That was because—”
“Didn't you say you knew what 'forest' meant?”
“I do! But that word...”
“That word also means 'forest'.” Adele finally raised her eyes to look at him. “It's just written differently.”
Leopold arrived at the gate of the hunter's cabin courtyard at that exact moment. He stood outside the fence, not in a hurry to enter.
He first glanced at the trimmed shrubs in the yard, then at the neatly stacked firewood under the eaves.
He saw Adele gently tapping the edge of the book page with the end of her pen, while Hector stared at the word on the paper with a deep frown.
“Alright, alright! I can't learn this. I'm leaving!” Hector tossed aside the twig in his hand and stood up, preparing to walk out.
But as soon as he turned around and saw Leopold standing outside the fence, his footsteps ground to a sudden halt.
“...You're here, sir.”
Leopold pushed open the picket gate and entered the yard, with Isabella following behind him. “I came to find Adele. I happened to hear you two learning to read.”
Hector's face instantly flushed red, and he stiffened his neck, arguing, “We weren't learning to read! It was... she was explaining to me what the markings on the map mean! It's for the war!”
“Oh, so you were learning to read map markings.” Leopold nodded.
“You're here, sir,” Adele said with a slight nod. “Oliver should have already told you the news.”
“He did.” Leopold walked into the wooden house, his gaze sweeping over the map spread out on the table and a stack of papers covered in writing. “Three settlements? What's the specific situation?”
Adele returned to the table, flipped through the stack of papers, pulled one out, and handed it to Leopold.
“I wrote a brief summary.”
Leopold took the report and gave it a cursory glance.
“The three settlements are located in the canyon east of the forest, the abandoned mine shaft to the north, and a highland area near the swamp to the south,” Adele respectfully added from the side.
“The one in the canyon is the largest, with about thirty people and a relatively complete system of inheritance.”
“The mine shaft has fewer people, but they are said to have preserved many ancient texts. As for the swamp highland... the situation is a bit more complicated.”
“Complicated?” Leopold looked up.
“Their leader is an old man who is said to have lived for over a hundred years. He is extremely wary of humans.” Adele paused. “My contact said he is willing to send a representative.”
“But on one condition—he wants to personally meet 'the person who claims they will build a new nation'.”
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