At this point in time, Rowan had no choice but to suspect that Dragun was involved in the whole thing.
Rowan still hadn't figured out the actual cause of the unexpected monster horde he had just defeated, but from what he saw with the forest eater, his sole suspect is Vishirk.
Without wasting time, Rowan gave brief orders to his soldiers, and they began preparing for their journey home.
It was almost the late hours of evening, and if they marched back to the village, they would arrive by noon — such a pace was acceptable on an average day, but sadly today wasn't.
"Morph into your biggest form and take as many soldiers as you can with you, and find a safe space to land," Rowan said to Black Drifter, who was still in his smallest form.
Black Drifter nodded and activated morph right away. Above the amazed gaze of the soldiers, he was quickly enveloped in a blinding glow which caused the soldiers to shield their eyes with their hands.
After the glow subsided, a bigger Black Drifter hovered above the soldiers, who could not help but let out loud gasps of surprise.
Even Dorian was surprised as well, for Black Drifter was now about two times larger than his usual maximum size. It could transport at least twenty-five soldiers at once with this size — at this new scale, transportation would be much easier and faster in the future.
Before Black Drifter took the first twenty-five soldiers and flew away, he told Rowan that he could further increase his size in the future after breaking through. He even added that there was a possibility of him becoming as small as a housefly, which would be perfect for spying.
His words made Rowan understand that his pet was not only excellent for aerial combat but also an ideal spy. It excited Rowan as he imagined what he could achieve with him in the future.
The transportation began immediately; Black Drifter rocketed through the sky with the soldiers.
Rowan waited with his other soldiers.
He decided to do a quick headcount with the system and discovered that they were only around eight hundred left; more than three hundred soldiers had lost their lives in this hunting adventure.
While their deaths saddened him, he appreciated the fact that it aided the growth of the others — it was a lose-win situation.
Black Drifter arrived after about ten minutes and took another twenty-five soldiers with him. Rowan did a quick calculation in his mind and realized it would take at least five hours to move everyone.
"That is not bad; if we arrive at night, it would be even better to catch those bastards and reveal their evil plans," Rowan muttered to himself.
Black Drifter continued his task. Flying at such speed was natural to him, so it didn't consume much mana.
The sky had already darkened and the half-moon hung in the night sky, providing the minimal amount of light for the soldiers who gathered at the exit of the dark forest, waiting for Rowan.
While waiting, they could not help but discuss amongst themselves, their major topics revolving around the safety of their families. Some panicked about the chaotic situation they were currently in.
"Relax everyone, everything will be okay very soon," Bryce spoke to the soldiers.
The other captains joined in and helped to calm the panicking crowd.
Rowan arrived with Black Drifter and Blaze.
Rowan landed and walked toward them.
"We have spent more than a week in a forest filled with countless creatures after our head, and we survived. This proves our strength as a people. You all are no longer the scared soldiers that entered the dark forest with me; you are stronger, fiercer, brighter…" Rowan delivered a two-minute speech to boost their morale.
"We do not need to cower in the presence of betrayal! We will deal with them wisely even though they are stronger than us," he continued.
"They are not aware that we know of their evil plans, so we should keep it that way. We enter the village as usual and let our people welcome us. Of course, the traitors are going to act normal and greet us with smiles, and we will accept while remaining cautious."
Rowan's speech smoothly transformed into a mission briefing — each and every soldier understood his brilliant plan and prayed it would work without casualties.
After Rowan was done speaking, he made the soldiers perform a loud battle chant before marching out of the dark forest.
They marched gallantly through the silent night.
They could not see clearly in the dark, but their instincts were relaxed; they were already aware they would arrive home soon.
They soon entered the village and passed the farms.
Their gallant footsteps reached the villagers.
Inside a small house not too far from the farms, a middle-aged woman breastfed her twin while singing a gentle melody to make them fall asleep.
Her gentle melody was soon interrupted by the sound of loud footsteps approaching. Her heart leapt in fear, thinking that another horde of goblins was attacking the village.
She grabbed her twin and wrapped them in clean clothes before running out of the house.
Reaching outside, she quickly noticed her neighbours as well, drawn by the same footsteps she had heard.
She looked in the direction of the sound while moving away — it was night and the moonlight was weak, thus she and her other neighbours failed to see clearly.
"Is it goblins again? Oh god, let it not be them, please!" a woman panicked.
"I can't see anything."
"Wait, these footsteps are too organized. If it were goblins, they would charge in randomly," one of the panicking women suspected.
They were still panicking when the shout of the men reached them.
Their expression transformed positively as they realized the owners of the voices. They cried out happily and ran to welcome their men.
Their loud cries awakened the other neighbors and also alerted the enemies lurking in the village.