The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family-Chapter 350: The Outpost (1)

The War Mastiffs slowed to a heavy trot and then halted as Reidar raised his hand, signaling Jake and Lena to hold their position while they were still hidden by the tree line.

The settlement walls rose in the distance, but there was no one around. Instead of the organized mass of people he expected from a church's outpost preparing for war or maintaining its daily grind, the place around here, which should have been filled with thousands of people, was empty.

The lack of movement in a place that should have been a crossroads, a door to the adjacent region, was an anomaly that set his nerves on edge.

If the base had been attacked, there would be visible damage in the surrounding area, such as scorched earth, abandoned equipment, or bodies left in the open, but the area looked normal, or better, as normal as it could be in this situation.

If they had evacuated, there would be fresh tracks cutting through the dirt road or signs of hasty departure in the clearing around the walls, yet everything appeared normal.

"Shouldn't this place be filled with people?" Jake asked. "I don't see a single helmet."

There were thousands of footprints, though, all leading toward the outpost.

"I don't know," Reidar said.

They moved out from the cover of the treeline, crossing the open ground that separated the forest from the outpost's perimeter.

The settlement wasn't as fortified as Ashwick, but it was clearly built for war, or at least as a logistical place. The walls were made from heavy timber logs that had been fused together, likely by the skills of a Mage, creating a barrier that stood twenty feet high.

Defensive spikes lined the base of the wall, and the watchtowers positioned at the corners offered a clear line of sight over the entire area.

However, the threat those towers represented was zero because they were empty. The heavy reinforced gates, which should have been sealed tight against any incoming threat, were wide open.

They entered.

The settlement's outer ring was a patchwork of hastily erected tents and supply caches, all arranged in the grid pattern typical of church logistics. But the organization only made the abandonment weirder.

Crates of hardtack and salted meat sat unopened. A blacksmith's forge still had coals in it, although they were cold now, but it was recent enough that ash hadn't been blown away by the wind.

"They left in a hurry," Lena said, crouching near a set of boot prints in the dirt. "Look at the spacing between these impressions. These aren't the patterns you'd expect from a panicked situation such as a monster attacking. These are march formations."

Reidar knelt beside her. The tracks were deep, uniform, and all pointed in the same direction—away from the outpost and toward the forest to the west. Thousands of them. He'd seen enough troop movements to recognize a march when he saw one.

She traced the line of a wagon rut that cut toward the exit. "And here. They overloaded the wagons beyond their standard capacity. The wheels sank deep into the ground under the weight, but they didn't stop to redistribute the load or lighten their cargo."

There weren't tracks of people around pointing at that happening. "They were more worried about getting out of this place."

"They pulled everyone out," Lena said. "But not because they were under attack or forced to flee. There's no blood anywhere, no signs of combat or struggle. They just… got the order to leave."

"Why would the church leave an outpost like this?" Jake asked. "This place was supposed to be a place to reorganize the troops, right?"

"I don't know," Reidar said. He didn't like admitting it, but the truth was obvious. The church had pulled everyone out for a reason, and that reason wasn't likely good for them.

An outpost of this size didn't get abandoned without a good reason, and orders from the church meant they had something in mind. If they'd pulled their forces out, it was because they didn't need to hold this place anymore.

"Do you think they knew we were coming?" Jake asked, fearing they might have walked into a trap.

Reidar shook his head. "No. That's impossible." He glanced back at the empty outpost, then at Jake. "I would have known if Mara had noticed the Vorathid Sky Hunter I placed on her. She didn't. I'm sure of it."

Lena lifted her gaze toward Reidar. Her expression was a mix of contemplation and uncertainty.

"What if this isn't about us at all?" she asked. "What if something happened somewhere else—something big enough that the church had to pull everyone back from the region?"

Reidar turned to face her. "Like what?"

"Kingsgate," Lena said, rising to her feet. "If something went wrong there—an attack, a siege, or monsters—they'd need every soldier they could muster."

Reidar considered the likelihood for that happening, and unfortunately it was high. The church's forces were spread across multiple fronts, and Kingsgate was their main target.

If the capital was under assault—whether from monsters or the Aegis Phalanx pushing back—they'd merge their forces, abandoning other positions like this one to concentrate their strength where it mattered most; it seemed the most logical idea.

"It's possible," Reidar said. "But we don't know for sure. We're guessing."

"We are," Lena agreed. "But the alternative is that they knew we were coming, and if that's true, we might be in for a nasty surprise."

Jake shifted his weight. "If there's a major battle at Kingsgate, wouldn't we have heard something? Rumors, refugees, anything?"

"Not necessarily," Lena said. "We've been moving fast, staying away from the main roads. If something had happened in the last few days, we wouldn't know. Besides, monsters rarely leave people alive."

Reidar exhaled. "Either way, we need more information. Standing here isn't going to give us answers."

He turned toward the settlement's interior, where the empty streets and abandoned supplies waited in silence.

"Let's search around, but keep your eyes open."