It was late by the time Flare and I returned. We weren't able to visit all the villages as we had planned, but we were able to request assistance from eighteen of them. And if everything goes as expected, the support should start coming from tomorrow afternoon.
There were several magic lights illuminating the part of the forest we were at. There were few guards stationed for defense, but they looked barely awake.
"Oh, it's you."
It was the same guard that stopped me when I was about to head out. Compared to the rest of the guards, he looked a lot alive.
"Yeah, it took me a little longer than expected."
"Were you able to find anything? Or was it just a waste of time?"
"Oh, I found plenty. However, I couldn't bring anything today. We will probably need to wait till tomorrow afternoon."
"Is that so? Anyways, you can go in and sleep, but be careful; most of the people are already sleeping."