The Guardian gods-Chapter 199

Ethan nodded, his expression changing. "What should I do then?"

Roth looked over to the camp where the human soldier where "Follow me" He said as he swiftly moved over to the camp.

Roth while heading to the camp began thinking of possible reasons on why the soldiers were here, before he and his sister decided to choose this place as their starting point. They made sure it was a place where the demon and its empire would not pay a lot of attention too.

The current sight of the soldiers now made him question if the demon knew of the existence of him and his sister in this continent. Establishing a mental connection, Roth a block away from the camp asked Ethan "Is it a normal sight for the empire to send soldiers over to your town?"

Ethan taken back by the sudden voice in his head took some time before answering "The only time we see the empire soldier is when the lord whose territory we are under sends people over to receive his tax"

"Is now the right date for receiving tax?" Roth asked.

Ethan shook his head "No, we still have to the end of the year before tax is requested"

Ethan continued "My blood, I believe i may have some idea on why they are here"

Roth stopped as he looked back at Ethan under the night sky "I’m all ears" He said waiting for Ethan to share his idea. freёnovelkiss.com

"The attack of the beast king, for those who have no context on why it attacked will all see it as something unusual as it is something that never happens. No town has ever been under an attack by a beast king before so for it to happen to our town is strange, which I think is why the lord sent his people over to find out" Ethan said as he noticed the glowing eyes of Roth.

"I see, stay here" Roth said to Ethan as he disappeared, appearing in the shadow of the soldier camp.

Roth blended seamlessly into the darkness, his presence undetectable even to the Empire’s keen-eyed soldiers. He crept closer to their camp, his ears tuned to their conversations. The soldiers had set up a temporary outpost on the edge of town, their campfire flickering weakly against the oppressive night. Roth settled behind a cluster of thick bushes, his gaze fixed on the group of men seated around the fire.

The soldiers’ faces were stern, their armor glinting dully in the firelight. Roth focused on their leader, a grizzled captain with a scar running down his cheek. The captain was speaking in hushed tones to his subordinates, and Roth strained to catch every word.

"We need to find out what caused the beast king to attack," the captain said, his voice gravelly. "The lord is expecting answers, and we can’t return empty-handed."

One of the younger soldiers, his face drawn with fatigue, spoke up. "Do you think there really was a treasure in this town that attracted the beast king’s attention?"

The captain’s eyes narrowed. "Treasure? I doubt that. My only conclusion was someone among the party that battled the beast king may have gotten their hand on the beast king offspring which led to it wrath"

Another soldier, an older man with a gray beard, nodded his head. "The captain is right, observation showed the beast king moved with purpose, In this case it’s target was in the tavern. Unfortunately no one inside the tavern made it out alive"

The captain squinted his eyes. "Someone made it out alive, Only that they are no longer in this town, I had a few talks with the townspeople about the party that fought the beastking."

"They are a well known group around here and they are a party of four. If memory serves me right, there were only two bodies found near the place of battle, the other two male is nowhere to be found except for one male hand that seems to be sliced off" The captain said as he looked around at his men.

Roth in the shadows frowned "He’s good", he was tempted to end the lives of the soldiers here but he knew that wouldn’t help as he knew that will only increase the Lords interest of the situation and soon it might reach the head capital instead.

Looking at the soldiers, Roth thought about wiping their mind of the incident and leaving false memories in place instead but he decided not to do that as he wasn’t sure of the demon’s hand in this situation, so the possibility of him tampering with their mind may be noticed.

Roth’s eyes gleamed with a cunning light. "Why do I play into the captain’s deduction of the situation"

"He had a tone of pride when he was deducing the situation so it plays out the way he deduced it, he might be so complacent to overlook everything else" Roth thought to himself.

Once again he disappeared into the shadows appearing near Ethan who didn’t even notice his presens as he was looking at the campsite with deep focus.

Touching his shoulders, Ethan almost screamed out but Roth took control of his body stopping that, Not minding Ethan scared look, Roth said "Change of plan, We are now going to create a false trail, follow my lead" Roth said as he took off heading to the tavern.

Ethan had no problem following behind as Roth deliberately wasn’t moving too fast. Soon they reached the tavern. Roth began issuing orders in a hushed tone.

"The captain thinks that the beast king’s attack was aimed at something specific here, so now we leave something the soldiers can latch onto, we need them distracted," Roth said, scanning the area.

Ethan nodded, Roth’s eyes gleamed with a cold, calculating light. "Follow me."

The two of them moved into the broken remains of the tavern. Roth began rummaging through the debris, pulling out pieces of broken furniture and scattered belongings. He worked quickly, arranging them in a way that suggested a frantic search had taken place.

"We need to make it look like the beast king’s attack was because someone took its offspring," Roth muttered, his eyes scanning the wreckage. His gaze fell on a half-buried wooden chest, its lid broken and partially open. He pulled it out, revealing its contents—a few old books, a tarnished silver goblet, and a small, intricately carved box.

"This will do," Roth said, taking the box. "Create a few small crystals" He said to Ethan who immediately did that as Roth took them and laid them inside the small carved box.

Roth placed the box in a prominent position amidst the wreckage, then took one of the old books and tore a few pages out. He scattered the pages around the box, making it look as though someone had been examining it before the beast king’s attack.

Ethan watched, absorbing every detail. Roth’s meticulousness was both impressive and intimidating.

"Now, we leave a trail leading away from the tavern," Roth said as grabbed hold Ethans hand, he drew a line on Ethan’s skin where blood began sipping out from, pulling Ethan he began creating tracks that led from the tavern to the edge of the forest ensuring the trail was a bit unclear and believable.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Roth paused as he said "I need pieces of your clothing"

Ethan quickly shrugged off his outer jacket and handed it to Roth. Roth tore the fabric, leaving scraps along the trail to make it look like someone had fled in a hurry. He even added a few drops of blood, using the small cut on Ethan’s arm, to add a touch of realism.

"Now, we wait and watch," Roth said, his voice a low whisper.

Ethan nodded, his face betraying his action as he asked. "What if they don’t believe it?"

"They will," Roth said confidently. "The captain is sharp, but he’s also human. He’ll see what he expects to see, and his pride will do the rest. Besides, we’ve made the trail convincing enough. He’ll want to believe it."

They retreated into the shadows, finding a vantage point where they could observe the soldiers without being seen. As dawn approached, the camp began to stir. The soldiers moved about, preparing for the day ahead.

Looking at Ethan beside him, Roth looked to the rising sun and said "Head back to the castle, I will handle the rest". Roth knew he still had much time himself as the sun wasn’t fully out yet. He had long noticed that the mist he produces doesn’t appear at night time only when the sun is at its brightest which made him conclude that it was a protective instinct of his body that does that to protect him.

Ethan bowed his head as he sped off into the forest. It didn’t take long for one of the soldiers began digging through the tavern remains and soon found the trail. He called out to the captain, who quickly gathered his men and followed the path to the tavern. Roth watched as the captain examined the scene, his eyes narrowing as he took in the false clues they had left.