'How? Just how could he?'
Amid the rubble and overwhelming chaos, Zaba stood with her gray eyes wide, astonished at the excessive destruction.
While the flying carpet lingered on the horizon, the soldiers, including Hamim and the uncle, inspected the bodies of the fallen soldiers left behind by Vio.
"What kind of camp is this?" the uncle said, his tone dripping with frustration.
"Uncle, an eastern sub-camp, but it seems incomplete," replied the soldier who had earlier delayed sending the message to everyone.
"Does this look like an eastern sub-camp to you?" the uncle shouted at him, causing the soldier to flinch.
The poor soldier had become an outlet for the uncle's frustrations. After all, the uncle would be held accountable for Vio's infiltration. Worse yet, if Vio managed to escape, it would tarnish the uncle's reputation, something deeply valued. Keeping his position would already be an achievement.
"Did you..." the uncle began.
"I did," the soldier interrupted quickly, only to be met with a cold glare from the uncle.
"D-Did I say something wrong?" the soldier stammered.
"Did you interrupt me just now?" the uncle asked, taking deliberate steps toward the poor soldier.
"I... I didn't mean to," the soldier replied, retreating.
"Did," the uncle said, voice menacing as he emphasized each word as if driving nails, "you send word to this camp's leader?"
"I did, I did, Uncle," the soldier answered anxiously.
"Here," Zaba called out, gathering everyone around to see a wolf's corpse near her feet.
"What has my clever wife discovered?" Hamim said, smiling at her in a way that made her smile back. Unfortunately for everyone else, she was wearing a veil that obscured their view.
"Save your flirting for the castle. Speak," the uncle said, unclear whether he was jealous or just disliked them.
Zaba pointed at the wolf's mouth.
"his's teeth are broken. The rat has a hard body," Zaba explained.
"Couldn't he be wearing armor? Hamim asked, folding his arms, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.
"And since when do wolves bite at covered areas?" Zaba retorted, annoyed by the interest she saw in her husband's eyes.
"It's either the head, neck, or a limb. Anything else, wolf wouldn't bother biting it," the uncle muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Everyone dispersed, continuing their inspections to better understand who—or what—they were dealing with. Zaba held Hamim's hand.
"What?" Hamim asked.
"Don't," Zaba replied firmly.
Hamim smiled, patting her hand without saying another word. This only deepened her unease.
On their way here, Hamim yawned from boredom, believing the rat to be just a lucky rodent that wandered into the mountain and wouldn't escape unscathed.
As for the bodies, he assumed they were either weaklings or amateurs, so he paid them no mind. But now, seeing the devastation Vio caused, his hopes rose. Perhaps he had finally found a worthy opponent, someone capable of breaking the monotony of the mountain's peak.
The uncle turned, sensing the approach of an owl. Extending his arm, he let it perch and retrieved its message.
"You fool!" the uncle roared once again at the unfortunate soldier.
The soldier had no idea what he'd done wrong, which only fueled the uncle's fury.
"Because you delayed sending word, the leader was forced to rush" the uncle shouted as the soldier lowered his head further.
One blow of the horn signaled the presence of a single rat. Multiple consecutive blows indicated several. If no message followed the horn's blast, it meant reinforcements were urgently needed. The soldier's delay in sending the message had caused the leader to leave his post and split the camp. Besides that, could Vio have survived against 13 soldiers—let alone with the wolves' support?
"There's something here," Zaba said again, pulling everyone's attention back to what mattered.
Zaba stood before the leader's corpse, but she wasn't focused on the body as much as on the shattered rock near it.
Her eyes weren't just beautiful—they were sharp, and her thoughts followed a terrifyingly logical sequence. She observed the leader's exploded head and, based on her knowledge of the mountain, identified the type of rock present.
'If the leader's head struck this boulder, his skull would have shattered without damaging the rock.'
But now, the rock was reduced to fragments. What raised her suspicion further was the nature of the debris. It indicated repeated strikes, suggesting the rat had tried to erase evidence of something.
Additionally, considering the surrounding rocks, if a collapse had caused the shattering, why hadn't the other rocks suffered the same fate?
From the way the soldiers were trained, Zaba knew that in a situation where a leader confirmed their defeat, they would leave an important message behind for others.
"Uncle, if you don't mind, could you gather this?" Zaba asked in her calm tone, knowing the uncle disliked being told what to do. She added, "There might be..."
He didn't wait for her to finish, understanding what she meant. What irked him was that she had figured it out before him, despite his superior experience.
"Damn your eyes," the uncle muttered in a voice so low it was almost inaudible.
As the wind formed with a wave of the uncle's hand, Hamim smirked smugly. Zaba nudged him.
'He's only going to make things worse. Why does he keep flashing that amazing smile of his? If he keeps showing everyone his beautiful smile, I'll show them my hair too.'
Hamim placed a hand over his mouth, as if he were reading Zaba's thoughts.
While the two exchanged flirtatious glances, the uncle finished his work. The wind subsided, leaving the rock restored as though it were brand new, preserving the words carved into it by the late leader.
As soon as everyone read the inscription, they frowned.
"No soul, solid, lig…"
The first two words were clear to everyone.
"He has no soul," they muttered.
"Does this mean we can't sense his presence?" Hamim's voice interrupted their reflections.
"No, the more important question is, how can he summon the lightning spirit without a soul?" Zaba pointed out the crucial issue.
The leader hadn't managed to complete the last word, but it was clear enough: "lightning."
"Who are you, you damned creature?" the uncle roared, his voice shaking the falling branches and snow.
"Here we go again with his outbursts," Hamim muttered, redirecting his gaze to Zaba.
"Wife, his body is strong and fast, and yet he has no soul but can summon lightning. Is there any creature in the records with such traits?" Hamim asked.
"Not as far as I know," Zaba replied, and Hamim's expression turned to disappointment.
"What? Did I disappoint my dear husband?" she teased with a smile.
"Of course I'm disappointed. You use studying as an excuse to avoid seeing me so many times, but now when I finally try to benefit from it, there's nothing," Hamim huffed, making Zaba clamp her hand over her mouth to stifle an inappropriate laugh.
"There's someone missing!" a soldier shouted. He hadn't been content with Zaba being the one to discover everything, so he continued searching without pause until finally found something she hadn't noticed. Perhaps he wanted to earn a bit of her admiration.
It had been stated that the camp originally had 13 soldiers. After it was split, 6 remained, but only 5 bodies were present.
"Alive or dead?" the uncle asked.
"He's still alive," the soldier said, pointing to the sword that Vio hadn't been able to take with him. The weapon served as evidence that its owner hadn't died.
'Why would he take a hostage with him?'
"He took a hostage! The bastard isn't just a rat; he's a coward with no honor," the uncle growled before letting out a loud whistle.
"Fwooooooo."
Several white owls gathered in response.
"Write this down and send it to everyone below: If your level is not at least 'Guardian, Second Page,' do not engage the rat. Report his location and movements, and do not leave any trace of him." The uncle's instructions were written by the unfortunate soldier, who then divided the message into several parts to match the number of owls.
As the owls flew in every direction, Zaba narrowed her eyes.
'It doesn't make sense for him to be burdened with a hostage. Why would he do it?'
"Everyone, prepare to set up camp," the uncle ordered. The soldiers promptly began pitching tents, noticing the sun starting to set.
"I'm going," Hamim announced with a wide grin.
"Husband…" Zaba grabbed the edge of his robe, her eyes filled with worry.
"Do you think he's stronger than me?" Hamim asked, his tone revealing his irritation.
"I don't think anything because I don't know anything about him. Neither do you, husband," she quickly replied, trying to calm him down.
He gently placed hands on her shoulders and looked deeply into her gray eyes. She returned his gaze with equal intensity.
"I'm bored of boredom. We were finally granted permission to leave, but after what happened, they'll use this as an excuse to stop us from leaving again. Who knows when we'll get another chance?" Hamim said in one breath.
He was usually terrible at coming up with justifications, so he made sure to speak quickly and at length—his only known strategy for persuasion.
To his surprise, it worked. After all, he wasn't wrong.
'Why am I worried? My husband is strong,' she thought as nodded at him.
"You could come with me," Hamim suggested.
"We can't. If we both leave, their resentment will only grow," Zaba replied, glancing at the others, who were busy setting up tents and performing their usual peculiar rituals.
"Hmph, weak lineage," Hamim muttered before dashing off after exchanging one last look with her.
As the soldiers neared the completion of their tents, the sword belonging to the abducted soldier suddenly rose into the sky. With a brilliant glow, it vanished.
"He dead?" one of the soldiers shouted.
"No, it's been summoned," Zaba said. "He's fighting the rat."