Chapter 20: Suspicious things

Two days passed peacefully, nothing worth mentioning happened. Flora and Ray just moved through the forest most of the day with breaks in between and then they would camp at night.

Food was not a problem, they had a massive source of food around them. Meat? Hunt the animals that roam the forest. Fruits? Trees are basically everywhere.

Even though they moved at a very fast speed, according to the map they still had at least 3 more days before they finally quit the forest.

*****

"Flora, come look at this." Said Ray while looking at the ground calmly.

In front of him, there was a trace of blood that made a long line that eventually fade inside the forest.

In normal circumstances, Ray would've just ignored this trail of blood but Sanguis said something that took his interest.

"That's human blood. I'm sure." Said the grimoire with a confident voice. 'Human blood? How did it end up here?' He thought while examining the trace in front of him.

Just from the amount of blood, he could see in front of him, Ray was sure that the injury this person took was fatal if not deadly.

"Maybe it's just an animal or something." Dismissed Flora with a calm tone. Ray couldn't tell that it was that of a human because he could risk exposing his grimoire.

'It's still not the time to tell her.' He thought. He sighed quietly and then they left the place.

Three more days of constant travelling and there finally left the forest. They found themselves in a massive plain.

The green grace covered their vision and created a scenery to behold and admire.

"So beautiful." Muttered Flora with a dazed look. This was not her first time getting out of the forest. She did go to some rural villages that are scattered around the place with her grandfather. But still, these plains always amazed her.

"Yeah, but you're still even more beautiful." Said Ray but the whistles of the wind covered his voice.

"Hmm, did you say something?"

"No, not really." He just smiled warmly and patted Flora on her head. "We need to move." He added and then started moving.

"Hey! Wait."

The plain was indeed massive. Even after hours of moving, they still can't see the end.

But that didn't last long. After approximately 5 hours of walking, something changed. a high black dot appeared on the horizon.

"Isn't that a village?" Said Ray while squinting his eyes and infusing mana to enhance his eyesight.

"Yeah, I can see it." Replied Flora with a wary look.

"The map didn't say we will find a village here. Very weird."

"Maybe the map is old?"

"That's probable. But still, we need to be careful." Warned Ray before continuing his marching.

******

The village was rather small, with a wall surrounding the settlement, probably for protection. You can see people getting in and out through two big gates with two guards standing there.

As they approached the gates, Ray and Flora covered their faces with hooded capes. Better safe than sorry!

"You two, stop there! Names and purpose of entering the village." Shouted one of the guards while holding his spear ready for anything.

'He's very hostile. This place is very weird.' Ray thought.

"I'm Klein and she's Claire. We are here for supplies for our journey." Said Ray coldly. His voice was devoid of any emotions, the exact opposite of his normal tone.

They agreed to make fake names for such situations. Flora was Galdof's granddaughter. He's the strongest swordsman to ever live in the lower realms so people were bound to know about her.

"Reveal your faces!" Shouted the guard again.

As if by agreement, both of them revealed their faces at the same time.

They coldly looked at the guard who for some reason froze in his place. 'S-so beautiful'. He looked at Flora with a lustful gaze.

Flora wasn't aware of this but she had an unrivalled beauty even by standards of the holy kingdom where the mana was purer and beautiful women were basically everywhere.

Even her body was something that will attract the gazes of all men. This guard over here couldn't hide his desires and that made Ray extremely angry.

If not for the fact that they had to enter the village, he would beat the shit out of him. He can't tolerate anyone disrespecting Flora.

So he just coldly said, "Open the gate." The authority that the guard felt from Ray made him feel like he was standing in front of a king.

Because he was born to a ruling family, this aura was infused in his bones and made him someone who can make people obey his commands. As for Flora, she was oblivious to all of this and just stood there waiting. She didn't even bother to look at him.

"Ehem. You can pass. Next!" Coughed the guard.

They covered their faces again and passed the gates.

"It looks really peaceful," said Flora as she looked around curiously.

The village was bustling with movement. The main street cuts through the village were full of all kinds of people. Merchants were shouting to attract customers. Wagons passed left and right.

"We need to find an inn for the night." Suggested Ray.