“I see a light in the distance.”

Lucilia squinted, trying to focus.

At first, she saw nothing, but then, just as he said, a faintly flickering light appeared. It seemed they had lit just enough torches to move secretly.

She was amazed at how Aaron had spotted what she had failed to notice, like some kind of ghost. It wasn’t for nothing that he was known as someone specialized in combat.

“There’s a deviation from the expected location. We need to go further upstream.”

They needed to quickly hide between rocks before the enemy noticed them. Moreover, they had to secretly approach near the middle of the river, so they needed to hurry.

“We need to move as quickly and quietly as possible, so it would be better if you rode on my back.”

Lucilia climbed onto Aaron’s back as soon as he finished speaking. She was extremely anxious, knowing that any delay could cause problems.

Aaron didn’t hesitate either.

He fearlessly stepped into the ice-cold water.

His body gradually submerged. With each step he took on the gravel, Lucilia’s feet on his back also got wet.

The river water in the cold weather emitted a powerful chill.

She truly had no feeling in her feet. It felt as if her toes had fallen off and rolled away with the gravel.

Her entire body shivered violently, and her teeth chattered.

Though she should normally feel excited being so close to Aaron, she couldn’t think of anything.

She only keenly felt what it was like to freeze to death.

On the other hand, she couldn’t help but admire Aaron’s body, which showed no sign of being affected.

He might not be human.

If compared to an animal, she thought he might be a black bear or wolf that was resistant to cold.

While she shuddered from the flesh-cutting cold, Aaron crossed the river without showing any disturbance.

He neither staggered in the rapid current nor splashed noisily.

To approach the Mrangel territory as closely as possible, they needed to move to the rocks in the center, which required cutting through strong currents.

Just hearing the intimidating noise spreading like a monster’s cry, she could tell how strong the current was.

If she hadn’t been on Aaron’s back, she would have been swept away at least a dozen times.

Lucilia stuck out her tongue in disbelief at Aaron’s incredible strength and tightly wrapped her arms around his neck.

‘Please let us hide safely without being detected.’

All her nerves were focused on the other side of the river.

She wondered if she had ever concentrated on something this intensely in her life. The tension was so constricting her heart that she had to divide her breaths.

After navigating through the darkness with an anxious heart for some time, they fortunately overcame the crisis.

It seemed she hadn’t been abandoned by God yet. She was incredibly grateful to have found a safe hiding place without drowning, and very nimbly at that.

Lucilia huddled behind a rock, rubbing her ice-cold hands together. She didn’t dare breathe into them for fear of white breath showing.

Eventually, she estimated the distance across the river by eye.

Before setting out, she had experimented with Aaron in Tudra to see if she could read minds from a distance.

She had easily succeeded from one end of the front yard to the other, and this distance was shorter than that.

Keeping her gaze straight ahead, Lucilia pressed her face close to Aaron’s.

The sound of water was so fierce that her whispers wouldn’t carry to the other side, but she was too afraid to speak clearly.

She sent her words to Aaron’s ear, carefully, like breath or voice.

“Which one is the leader?”

“Let’s watch a bit longer.”

If they observed quietly, they would naturally find out. Obviously, the one bathing would be the leader.

Aaron, who was already acquainted with the enemy leader, had roughly described his appearance.

He said he was small for someone who had risen to the position of supreme warrior.

She would soon find out, but she was anxious about what to do if the timing was wrong and she couldn’t look into the leader’s eyes.

If she knew who it was, she intended to focus only on that person.

She busily rolled her eyes, sifting through them one by one.

With darkness all around, her gaze was inevitably drawn to the area around the light.

A moment later, she saw several people surrounding one man.

“In the middle. Right in front of the large man.”

As she narrowed her eyes and adjusted her focus, the blurry figure became clear.

He was indeed small and thin, as Aaron had said he was small for his build.

He did seem to lack the strength to directly block attacks and wield a greatsword. That was also evidence of his agility.

She thought it might be better if he were just big and dull.

Lucilia took a trembling breath with a “hoo.” She felt like she might vomit from extreme tension if she didn’t release something from inside.

From now on, she intended to look only at the leader’s eyes.

Unaware that someone had sneaked in, their ritual began.

A man holding a long staff entered the river water first.

An elderly man who looked like a shaman gazed up at the sky and chanted something in their language, like a song or a spell with melody.

The sound came over the fierce stream, and she felt overwhelmed by the strong energy.

Determined not to be suppressed, Lucilia offered her most earnest prayer to God.

She prayed that He would not favor those who had abandoned their humanity and engaged in plunder.

She prayed that He would not allow innocent sacrifices.

The hope of subjugating the Mrangel and welcoming peaceful days was too desperate.

Perhaps the holy power that had seemed useless would fulfill its role today. She hoped that it would help the hero designated by God to give the kingdom a peaceful life.

‘Please… just once, just look this way once.’

She waited with a nervous heart, but the man continued to stand with his back turned.

She hoped he would at least turn his head, but he didn’t change his posture throughout the ritual.

As time passed, her insides burned black with anxiety.

She couldn’t return empty-handed like this.

The Mrangel tribe leader would attack soon after completing the ritual.

It could be tomorrow, or the day after.

What was certain was that he had resolved not to delay any longer.

Before she knew it, the ritual seemed to be reaching its end, as garments were being placed one by one on the man’s n*ked body.

It was enough to drive her mad.

Aaron’s brow had been furrowed for a long time.

Seeing Aaron’s dismay, Lucilia was determined to achieve her goal even at the risk of danger.

They had devised an escape method just in case, so they could use that.

Taking a deep breath that filled her chest, Lucilia whispered softly.

“Give me the reed stem.”

They had planned to escape along the river if discovered by the enemy.

“Are you suggesting we lure them?”

“Yes. Let’s draw their attention to us by making a sound, then quietly slip away.”

There was no time to deliberate.

Aaron handed over a long reed tube, a tool for breathing.

Preparing herself to go under the rock, Lucilia nodded to Aaron.

He then reached under the rock and struck the water surface. Though not loud, it was enough to create ripples.

A sound of a different texture from the flowing water spread.

The moment the alien noise mixed in, the leader, with his keen senses, noticed and quickly turned around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s there.”

That was the moment.

His eyes, full of hostility, were caught by an invisible force and froze in place.

Unable to issue the next command, he stopped moving in a rigid state, causing a commotion among his subordinates.

One of the subordinates asked the man who appeared to be the leader’s right-hand man.

“Should we go check?”

“Wait. If we make a mistake, we might drown before crossing.”

After a short time, about enough to blink five or six times, the leader regained his senses.

He shook his dazed head vigorously and exuded killing intent.

“Someone’s behind the rock. Go search!”

When they hesitated to step forward at the mention of possible drowning, the leader shouted and pulled them out by force.

“What are you dawdling for! I’ll execute you if you don’t jump in right now!”

When he drew his sword, the soldiers at the front line hastily entered the water.

Judging that there was a possibility of escape before they could properly search, the leader personally drew an arrow.

Despite all the noise rising, the critical situation seemed to unfold in the midst of silence. The extreme tension numbed the nerves.

The leader’s fingers turned white as the bowstring was tightly drawn.

With a “twang,” the released arrow flew precisely toward the gap in the rocks.

“Everyone, shoot arrows!”

As soon as the order fell, the soldiers uniformly grabbed their bows.

Twang, twang!

Whoosh—

The sound of arrows cutting through the wind was chillingly eerie.