Enoch Winslow was a man who had seen the darker aspects of humanity firsthand and had even experienced it himself. Yet, despite this, he had abandoned his own humanity in pursuit of power and wealth. Enoch had made a name for himself in the underground world of the border city, and had even established a small group of mercenaries based in the underworld.
He prided himself on his ability to ensure that every job was carried out properly. A few days ago, an anonymous person approached him with a specific job – to abduct the son of Duke Zane, a noble from the Kingdom of Luvet. Enoch initially rejected the job, as he was concerned about the potential ramifications it could have on his operations, not to mention the recent incident of the beasts going crazy and emerging from their habitat.
However, the downpayment offered by the anonymous person was substantial enough to secure Enoch a small fief. Despite his better judgment, he decided to take on the job. Since the job only specified abduction and drop-off, Enoch made preparations with his men to carry it out.
Surprisingly, the anonymous person also provided information about the target's known strength level, which Enoch found quite helpful, as the target's level was lower than his own. Even so, Enoch remained cautious in his approach to the job, determined to ensure it was carried out successfully without incident.
...
"Did you see the emblem on their armour?" Enoch asked his subordinates. Their response confirmed that their target was en route.
Turning around to face the rest of his men, he gave his instructions, "Our target has been confirmed to be en route. Tomorrow we implement our plan. The people we are after aren't your run-of-the-mill knights. There is no room for error.
"Jacob and Doe, you will take over from Ben and James. Make sure to keep an eye on the path. We can't let them leave this region. I highly doubt they'd travel at night, but just in case, you send a message via the communication crystal."
The two men he called out nodded in response. "The rest of you; make sure to rest well. Tomorrow we begin the operation." Enoch ended and his men went to set up their tents to rest.
'Hopefully, all goes as planned.' He silently prayed.
...
Caleb in his position on the tree nearby heard everything and simply smiled. He was amused that these people were after him. Thinking thus far, he couldn't pinpoint why anyone would want to abduct him.
Additionally, their journey was not exactly public knowledge. The only ones made known of their plans were the city hall and knight commanders in charge of the garrison dedicated to monitoring the forest. His mission required him to get additional briefing from the commanders there and know exactly where to go.
'But what exactly would they want from me? It's not like I'm a prince or something, and this doesn't look like a ramson job either.' There were other nobles of weaker ranks than him but they still had substantial wealth they could extort. But the more he thought about it, the more confused he became.
"Why am I even bothering with this? I just have to make them talk. But before that..."
Caleb closed his eyes and projected his thoughts to Sean through his domain skill.
>Sean... Sean... Relax, it's me, Caleb. I'll be a bit late in returning. I have to take care of something first.<
.....
Back at the campsite
Sean jumped out of his sitting spot in fright when he heard a voice inside his head. After realising who it came from, he sighed in relief.
"Sean? Are you alright?" Elina asked when she noticed his reaction.
"Ah... my lady, I'm fine. It's nothing." He was not sure if what he heard was true. 'I'll just ask him when he returns.'
...
Caleb descended from the tree and slowly made his way over. His presence was still erased so no one noticed him draw closer. The blanketing darkness didn't help either; not that it affected him.
When he got closer to the treelines, drawing closer into the open space, he disappeared in a silent burst of speed before appearing behind the 'Boss.'
"Hey..." Caleb uttered behind the man.
"!"
Enoch was taken by surprise when he heard a voice behind him. He quickly distanced himself from the voice and turned around to see who it was. His men noticed his movements and when they noticed the presence of the stranger, they moved to surround him. The atmosphere quickly became tense.
Caleb was now surrounded. But even in this situation, he displayed a relaxed demeanour. They kept a distance of about 20m away from him. From the movements of the men and how some changed their locations to other areas, he deduced that it was some kind of practised manoeuvre.
Enoch and his men stared vigilantly at the man in black with eyes shining with a blue hue; something they had never seen before. He stood with both hands in his long coat and a small smile on his face.
"Who are you?" Enoch asked. He already had a sneaky suspicion of the person in front of him. From the description he received from that person and the fact that this area was supposed to be deserted; save for their target, the possibility was high.
He looked around to see if they were being surrounded but sensed no one else in the vicinity. He looked back at Caleb, still waiting for his response. The way he was nonchalant about the whole situation made him anxious. It was like he didn't see them as a threat at all.
"Oh come on, weren't you waiting for me? Here I am." Caleb said as he took his hands out of his pocket and spread them out.
It was clear to them that the man before them had no ounce of fear. Heck, he walked right into their camp! From their perspective, he was either very brave or very stupid. Still, they had the common sense not to underestimate him.
"Caleb Zane, I presume." Enoch said, still keeping his vigilance. "For you to show up by yourself...You must really be confident in your abilities. Either way, you made my job a whole lot easier."
Of course, the target in question just looked at his opponents. From the preliminary data gathered by his system, aside from the leader, the majority of the men were at a level more or less his own when he first came into this world.
"I'm curious as to what gave you guys the balls to target the son of a duke. From what I can tell, you guys don't look like bandits and the fact that you knew we would be coming this way and when implies that someone put you up to this.
"So I'm only going to ask once." At this point, Caleb had assumed a serious look with a furrowed brow.
"Who sent you?"