While all of that was happening inside Lionel’s tent, the atmosphere in the forest was completely different.

The knights were still roaming around. Some were strolling around the area to see if it was safe or not, while there were a few who were tasked with cleaning up the mess from yesterday.

Rylan and Eiden stepped carefully back through the area. Neither of them spoke to each other, just like the others.

In Rylan’s hand, hidden beneath his uniform was was the small pouch they found earlier. It was still wrapped in clean white cloth.

Coming back here, they had only one purpose.

That was to return this pouch hidden and make sure it would be found... by the right people.

Rylan slowed down for a moment as they reached a cluster of bushes near where the fight had taken place.

"This is the spot," he mouthed to Eiden.

Eiden nodded at it. He swallowed and patted his shoulders.

"Let me handle it." His gaze swept around the area, checking for any nearby knights.

Rylan just nodded back. He stood up straight and acted normal as Eiden did his job—to distract the other knights.

With it, Eiden stepped forward without hesitation. He walked calmly as if he had no worries at all.

Compared to Rylan, Eiden was someone who could easily blend with others. He was natural at talking, and he knew how to joke around. Meanwhile, Rylan was more of the serious type, and he prefers to be alone rather than with others.

Eiden walked toward the group of knights that was standing not too far from them. They were gathered under a tree. Some took this time to rest for a short while.

"Hey," Eiden called out to them casually, raising a hand.

The knights turned to him.

A few of them frowned at first, unfamiliar with his face. After all, everyone here was a mix of knights from different houses. They were temporarily assigned to work together for this situation.

"What is it?" one of them asked.

Eiden stopped a few steps away from them. He let out a deep breath as if he had just finished a long round of patrol too.

"We’re assigned to this whole area today, right?" he said, glancing around. "It’s so big, I’m tired already... hays..." he wiped the small bead of sweat on his forehead.

With those remarks, the knights exchanged looks with one another. They have the same sentiments over it.

"Are you also taking a break?" Eiden raised a brow.

The knights became hesitant to answer that. They were resting, but they couldn’t actually bring themselves to say it because it was not allowed.

When Eiden saw it, he playfully nudged the knights on his side.

"Come on, you don’t need to hide it," he added, his tone light. "We’ve been walking around since morning. Nothing’s happening anyway. We’re just seeing dirt everywhere."

Those words from him seemed to hit the right note.

"He’s not wrong." One of the knights let out a tired sigh and nodded.

"Yeah," another added, rolling his shoulders. "It’s been quiet for a while now. I’m also getting tired." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Exactly," Eiden said, nodding once as if he was just agreeing with them. "And we have already patrolled since morning. I’m pretty sure it’s already safe."

The tension in the group eased at that. The knights began to relax and actually show their normal side. Some of them lowered their weapons to stretch their arms and others sat on the ground.

Eiden blended into the group naturally. He continued the small talk as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He made sure to include everyone in the conversation to get their attention and also to give time to Rylan.

When Rylan saw it, he immediately moved. He gives a quick look around to make sure they’re not missing something. With everyone’s attention pulled toward Eiden, no one was paying attention to him.

He quickly took out the pouch from his pocket and carefully slit it between the branches. It was just enough to remain hidden as if someone accidentally missed it.

Rylan paused for a second, making sure everything looked natural. Then he stood up. Without hesitation, he returned to his original position as if he had done nothing at all. He gave a quick thumbs-up to Eiden to show he was done.

When Eiden saw it, he briefly nodded. He continued to have a conversation with them until he got tired of it.

"Alright," he said, stretching his arms. "That’s enough. Let’s move again before we get scolded."

The knights groaned lightly but began to stand up too.

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Let’s go back to work..."

They picked up their weapons and started moving again.

Eiden walked with them, naturally guiding the group’s direction towards Rylan.

"Oh right, this is my fellow knight," Eiden added casually as they approached.

The group’s attention went to Rylan because of it. A few of the knights gave him a quick look, sizing him up.

Rylan didn’t say much. He simply gave a short nod to greet them. Even with that simple greeting, the knights didn’t seem to mind it. They still smiled at him and proceeded to do their own thing.

"Alright," one of the knights said as he adjusted his grip on his sword. "Let’s spread out again."

"Yeah. Let’s finish this quickly so we can go back."

With that, the group slowly dispersed, each heading toward different directions to continue their patrol.

Eiden stretched his arms once more before stepping slightly to the side while Rylan closely followed.

The two of them walked quietly for a few steps, putting just enough distance between themselves and the rest.

For a moment, everything seemed normal again. The knights continued to walk around for a couple of hours. Everything was silent, not until a loud shout echoed throughout the whole forest.

"I FOUND SOMETHING!"

Everyone’s eyes turned in the direction of the voice.

"What is it?"

"Where?"

"What did you find?"

Knights began to gather quickly, drawn by the call.

Eiden and Rylan exchanged a brief glance to each other. Then, without hesitation, they moved with the others.

When they arrived, they saw a knight crouching near the bushes, holding something in his hand.

"What’s that?" someone asked.

The knight lifted it slightly.

It was a small pouch wrapped in white cloth... but beneath it, something golden could be seen.

"A golden pouch?" another knight frowned. "Did someone drop this?"

Eiden and Rylan remained silent at the side.

"Wait..." one of the older knights stepped closer, his expression slowly changing. "That design..." He leaned in, his eyes narrowing.

"Isn’t that from the royal family?"

Whisper quickly spread through the group.

"The royal family?"

"What would that be doing here?"

"Open it," someone said.

The knight holding it hesitated for a second, but when the others encouraged him to open it, he had noo choice but to follow.

"Alright..." Carefully, he unwrapped the white cloth.

The golden pouch was revealed fully inside. With a little hesitation, he opened it. He moved the pouch and peeked inside.

"What the—" His hand froze as his voice trembled slightly.

"What is it?" Another knight stepped closer and looked inside.

And then that knight’s face paled too.

"M-Mon...ster... T-there’s monster’s bones inside!"