Kaizen smiled, but his eyes revealed the concern he still felt. He knew he couldn't act solely on suspicions without concrete proof. After all, appearances could be deceiving, and misjudging the situation could lead to disastrous consequences, both for him and his guild. He turned to his group and whispered in a low tone, making sure the guards couldn't hear.
"Friends, I know this situation is strange, but we have no proof that anything is actually wrong. As far as I know, the king may have asked counts or dukes to assign their private soldiers to some operation on the roads." He said.
"But..." Andrew tried to say something.
Kaizen nodded. "We'd better not tire ourselves with unfounded assumptions. Let's stay calm and move on. If something really suspicious happens, then we'll act. For now, let's trust Captain Aric's words."
Andrew nodded, understanding the need for caution. Jayaa and Alina also silently agreed. They were all eager to continue their journey, but uncertainty hung over them like a shadow. So they all returned to their comfortable positions in the carriage, trying to get a better grip on the seats.
The guards' lanterns illuminated the surrounding area and, for some reason, the tension from the start of the approach hadn't eased one bit, as the guards still stared tensely at his carriage.
In the front seat of the carriage, next to Xisrith, Kaizen looked around, observing the tall, shady trees that stretched through the forest beside the road. The night was silent, except for the occasional croaking of frogs and the whisper of the wind in the leaves.
"Have a safe journey!" said Captain Aric, nodding to Kaizen, who just nodded and lightly flicked the reins to get Black Cloud moving.
As the carriage began to move along the dirt road, Kaizen looked back and saw the guards practically escorting the carriage with their eyes, and when he had gone a few more meters and decided it was time to speed up, just in case, he decided to look with <Analyzing Eye> at the dense forest by the side of the road.
Quickly, more than a dozen system windows appeared before his eyes. Then he looked away from the forest and sighed deeply, feeling disappointed.
Xisrith, noticing Kaizen's worried expression, turned to him and, being a little curious, asked:
"What happened, Kaizen?" She asked in a low voice, worried by her friend's sudden change of expression.
Kaizen hesitated for a moment, pondering how to explain what he had seen without causing the necessary fuss. Finally, he chose his words carefully. "Among the shadows of the trees, there are five black-clad figures hiding to the west, and to the east there are five more, all watching the carriage."
Xisrith frowned, sharing Kaizen's concern. "People wearing black? That's not good. Are they with the guards? I knew something was wrong."
Kaizen shrugged, unable to provide definitive answers. "I'm not sure about that, Xisrith, and since we've been released, it shouldn't even be my problem, but if I want to set up a guild, our first action can't be to simply ignore what's wrong before our eyes."
Xisrith nodded. "What should we do then, Kaizen? Should we continue on our way or confront them?"
Kaizen pondered for a moment, thinking about the options. "I'll stop the carriage and talk to them, see if we can get any information. If they attack me, we'll fight. Let the others know when I get off."
With a gentle touch on the reins, Kaizen brought the carriage to a complete stop at the side of the road. He then got off the carriage, followed by Xisrith.
Kaizen walked to the back of the carriage, where there was a small supply box. He opened it and took out an oil lamp. The flame of the lantern illuminated his tense face as he turned to face the forest.
"Here we go..." Kaizen muttered to himself.
For a moment, the silence of the forest seemed to envelop him, and at the same time, at the boarding post set up by the soldiers, one of the men noticed that the carriage had stopped ahead.
"Hey, Captain, look..." said the man, pointing at the carriage belonging to Kaizen's group.
Aric looked where his companion was pointing and uttered:
"You dirty sons of bitches..."
In the darkness of the forest, it was easy to see Kaizen carrying a lantern, as he was as big as a door.
"Kaizen, why did you stop the carriage here?" asked Captain Aric, trying to look worried, but his eyes were shining with tension.
Kaizen turned to face the captain, his expression serious, but said nothing.
The captain tried to remain calm. "Kaizen, you must understand that this forest is dangerous at night. There could be wild animals or even a monster. It's best to move on and avoid unnecessary inconvenience."
Kaizen, however, was not easily convinced. He knew something was wrong and he was determined to find out what it was. Before the Captain could say another word as he approached, a man in black who was hiding in the trees leapt towards Kaizen from the top of a nearby tree. However, before the attacker could reach Kaizen with his claw-like blades, he was stopped in mid-air by an invisible force. Kaizen's right hand was raised, and the man hung helplessly in the air, struggling to free himself from Kaizen's grip.
"What the hell...!"
Captain Aric and the other soldiers watched the scene with shock and surprise. At this point, Aric was visibly uncomfortable, knowing full well Kaizen's reputation as a formidable warrior.
Kaizen didn't look away from the man suspended in the air. "Perhaps you could start telling me what's going on here, Captain. Let me guess, you wanted to use several soldiers to make approaches, find out if there was anything of value in the carriages and then rob them, didn't you? It's a clever scheme, I must admit."
The man suspended in the air began to mumble excuses and explanations, but his voice was weak and unintelligible as he struggled against Kaizen's telekinesis.
Captain Aric was visibly sweating now, realizing that he was in a tricky situation. "This is a misunderstanding, Kaizen!"
Kaizen finally lowered his hand and allowed the man to fall to the ground. He was panting and clearly shaken. Kaizen then turned to Captain Aric, maintaining a hard stare.
"A misunderstanding doesn't explain why there are more people hiding in the forest... This one looks young, he must have acted on impulse, but the others are just waiting for your orders, aren't they?"
Aric swallowed, realizing that Kaizen was not someone who could be easily fooled.