Even though they had some meals together and slept in the same rooms, the group didn't talk too much, probably because they feared that they would be heard by the people around. Weirdly enough, Edward would stay behind as a guest of Jean. Drew felt troubled over leaving their leader behind, but again, he couldn't protest.
When night came, they left the city toward the enemy's location and as soon as he had the chance, Leo let out a long sigh. He could understand the necessity of starting a relationship with another state well. Still, that mission was way too reckless and sudden.
"Sorry, guys. It seems that our lord asked us to do something more unreasonable than usual."
"It is the part of the work… still, it would be less stressful if he weren't to do such a reckless thing again," Leo said.
The leader of the guards of the hammersmiths also shared the same opinion with the others, but there was nothing he could do. The other leaders had already thrown away their complaints as well. Instead of wasting their energy and time with that, they would rather save it and then use it to complete the mission.
"Against one hundred guards we might be able to win, but not without giving the enemy the chance to escape," Leo explained. "So, we will avoid a direct confrontation. A few of us will invade the warehouse and capture the target and the rest of us will work as diversion. The team who will attack the warehouse from behind will be me, Drew and Lucy. The others will attack the enemy soldiers and damage the warehouse."
Billy nodded when he heard that those three were the fastest, and they had the skills to help each other in case something happened while they captured the target.
"Once we approach the enemies armies, we will rely on Lucy and Natalie to make sure that no enemy will spot us," Leo said. "Theu will stay a few hundred meters on the side of us with someone else to pass messages if something happens. Let's see, some ranged fighters would be the best option to offer them support in that kind of situario. So, I will work with Lucy and Billy will work with Natalie."
"Why not me?" Lily protested.
"Because I know you have been skipping on your training at night," Leo said. "Besides, I am not confident you can keep your cool if something happens. Billy probably can and he has enough skills to act in many ways in this scenario where everything can happen."
"Ugh," Lily groaned since she didn't realize that her father was aware of her shortcomings.
Nevertheless, Sarah probably would be a better support in that situation. Still, Leo knew that those two didn't get along well. Putting Sarah with Lucy wouldn't work either, since her husband was killed by the elementalists. Regardless, everyone nodded at those words.
For the first few hours, the group walked together. Still, around midnight, they assumed the formation to spot enemies as Leo had told them. Even in the darkness of the night, Billy saw his father nodding at him as if he was telling him to keep his guard up. Not like he was the type to drop his guard at any moment anyway.
"Congrats, your skills are finally being recognized since you have been given such an important job in this mission," Billy said.
"Be quiet, I need to concentrate, otherwise, I will fail to notice any changes around," Natalie said.
Billy shrugged. He realized that she was more tense than usual, probably because the adults relied upon her skills. Nevertheless, she had a point. Idle chat might cause problems, so they better stay quiet most of the time. Although sensing things from a distance wasn't something he was good at, Billy could tell that the atmosphere was pretty eerie the more they advanced. There was something weird in the air… something creepy. It was probably because they were close to battlefields where thousands had already died. Despair, pain, fear… all those emotions explode in the moment of one's death, so it wouldn't be weird in a world where magic exists for the land to be sulled by those dark emotions.
Regardless, they didn't find anything out of place during the first night, and when the sun was starting to get brighter, they decided to look for a shelter where no one would find them. However, the border between the states was essentially made of grasslands that had small hills. There was nothing around them that they could use as a shelter… Leo didn't consider that. However, Billy and Sarah worked and created some fake boulders in certain spots to hide their presence. They weren't exactly easy to find around, but they do exist. Besides, no one will feel strange the presence of a few extra ones in that area. Everyone could tell that those lands were rarely used, and even though the states were at war, they had proper roads connecting them.
"You look exhausted, Natalie," Lily said. "You should rest as much as possible."
"Yeah… that is because someone couldn't shut up for five minutes," Natalie said.
Billy shrugged. As expected of a kid, blaming her own exhaustion on others when she was just too fearful of failure. Still, Billy decided to keep quiet about it. He didn't mind being looked down on by the adults. Still, Natalie was someone who wanted to be recognized by them since she was following a path different from the others of her tribe.
Although the group was nervous due to the fact that they were using fake boulders to hide themselves, they soon began to relax since there were no signs of enemies for several hours. They also failed to realize that Billy and Sarah used the ground below them, so their resting spot was on a depression in the land.. Unless the enemies approach, they would never see or feel them.
