The situation grew more complicated once they reached the Windlands. Before, their fear was attracting the city guards. Now, it was magical beasts. Not that these creatures were particularly powerful; William could easily handle the magical beasts there.

The real problem was if too many of them appeared, and they were unable to protect the rest of the people with them.

“I think we should have chosen more warriors,” William commented.

The King, who was nearby, responded, “Yes and no. We’ll go to a peaceful location initially, and we’ll gradually rebuild our army. After all, many have brought their children, who will certainly be trained to be soldiers.”

Even if the King had an answer for every question, William still believed it would have been a good idea to bring more soldiers. However, he said no more and focused entirely on facing any magical beast that might appear.

And they did appear. William was always ready to confront them, as were the others who were acting as protectors for the main group.

Not all magical beasts decided to attack the group. Although most people were incapable of facing these beasts, the sheer presence of so many people made the beasts think twice before acting.

After hours of walking, when the moon rose and everything grew darker and calmer, it was time to stop and set up camp. At this point, everyone worked together and took the opportunity to talk with the King.

This was one of the things they had been looking forward to the most. The King, like all the others in the royal family, had vanished, and many thought they were dead. However, that wasn’t the case. They were there, in front of everyone.

Conversations continued for a long time, but many were too tired to stay up late, especially the physically weaker ones. They were dreaming of that rest to relax their legs, at least for a moment.

Not everyone had the opportunity to rest as much as they wanted. William was one of them. Being arguably the strongest in combat, he had to stay alert for monsters that might appear during the night.

Because of this, he couldn’t even sleep, but it didn’t affect him too much. It was only one day. William could handle it. If this happened more often, well, that would be problematic…

*

By the end of the second day of travel, William would finally be able to sleep through the night. Kier would be responsible for keeping an eye on the camp. And it was Kier who noticed something strange. He went to William’s tent, opened it, and said, “I think we’re being followed.”

“What do you mean?” William asked.

Kier, after everything that had happened between them, wasn’t the kind of person who would just show up and say something foolish without prior confirmation.

“Come with me, I’ll show you,” Kier said.

William ignored his body’s exhaustion and followed Kier through the camp. They walked towards the path they had already traveled. Kier pointed into the distance. “You, with your better eyesight than mine, will notice it even more clearly.”

William followed the direction Kier was pointing, and far off, he noticed something strange. He could see a small wisp of smoke rising into the sky, clearly a bonfire, and he could also see some horses tied to the trees. Whoever was following them had tried to keep the horses hidden and were at a considerable distance. No one had noticed their presence, only Kier, and now, William.

“How did you manage to see so far?” William asked.

“Actually, I saw it by mistake. I went to pee near a more secluded tree and ended up seeing something that looked like smoke. I called you to confirm,” Kier explained.

He still wasn’t 100% certain it was someone following them, but considering how few people ventured into the Wildlands, it was almost a certainty. Not to mention, their positioning was somewhat suspicious.

“We have two days to reach our destination, so they have to attack within that time. We’ll keep an eye on their movements during the day as well,” William said.

“Understood.”

After that, William returned to his tent. Victoria was there, and he had to explain what he had been doing; after all, she always wanted to know everything. After explaining, William went to sleep. He couldn’t deny that he felt a bit of fear during the night. The fear was that he would wake to the sounds of battle, and that many innocent people would suffer.

None of that happened. He woke to the farmers calling him, saying, “Lord William, we’re leaving in 20 minutes, get ready.” Twenty minutes was more than enough time for him to pack all his things and join the group. This time, during the day, besides dealing with the magical beasts that tried to attack the group, William kept an eye out for any strange movements.

When he woke up in the morning, he even went to check the place where he had seen the smoke and horses the night before, but no one was there. They had left even earlier than them, and that was a bit worrying.

“They might be ahead of us now, waiting for the right moment for an ambush,” William thought.

This was William’s greatest fear. Now, whoever was pursuing them was ahead, with an absurd advantage for an ambush. Of course, there was also the fact that they certainly didn’t know they were going to the palace. Or did they?

It wasn’t like there were many things in the Wildlands. It was a desolate, uncivilized place; only the craziest people chose to live there. A large group like theirs would certainly be heading for a significant location too… One of the only remaining options was the King’s old castle. If their pursuers went there and saw the bodies and the damage William had left, the situation would be even worse. This would make the news about the King spread even faster.

But deep down, William knew none of that mattered as long as they could get into the palace to escape the demon-infested island. That’s all they needed.

Some people in the group started to tire, but the promise of being close to the palace, and close to survival, kept them strong enough to keep going. And that’s how another day passed. On this day of travel, William knew the situation would get complicated. It was now or never for the pursuers to attack them.

When the group got close to the castle—not right next to it, but the castle was within their field of vision—everyone was thrilled. For many, it was their first time seeing the royal castle!

“We finally made it. What a relief.”

While people were celebrating, William was talking to the King in private. He had already told him about the pursuers the first night he saw them.

“I think they’re going to attack us now,” William said. “I just don’t know if they’re after me for the murder, or after you. Who knows, they might even have been after me first and just happened to see you…”

“Our departure from the city probably wasn’t as stealthy as we hoped,” the King replied. “Someone must have tipped them off. So, what are we going to do now?”

The King was at a loss.

The King was visibly distressed, not for himself or William, who were capable fighters, but for the citizens who had entrusted their lives to him. What about them?

“I honestly think I’ll make a suicide move,” William said.

“Suicide move? What do you mean?”

“I’ll go alone and confront them. At least that way, I can fight them far away from all of you. I’ll either win on my own, or you can send backup.”

This was the only plan William had been able to devise. It was risky because the strength of their pursuers was unknown. In fact, the King had warned they might be powerful.

“If this is the city’s special squad, then you have a chance of winning if you go all out like last time, but you can expect to suffer some real damage.”

The King then pulled something from his pocket. It was a piece of paper, looking quite old. “This is a magical map that will lead you to where the portal is,” the King explained. “We will keep moving and let you fight them. Then, we can regroup later.”

William disliked the plan intensely, but he knew it was the only way for the vulnerable citizens to have a chance at survival. It would devastate him if, after all they’d endured to convince them to come, they still perished.

“Fine,” William said, “see you later.”

Now, the roles were reversed. William wasn’t the one being chased; he was the hunter. He would find those pursuers, stalk them like prey, and make them regret ever following him.

He left the camp, using his senses to track down the people following them.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep