Mastery Is Earned

At the first hint of daylight the next morning, Dario mobilized the town guard. Raymond was up early as well, and he made a point of waking Teddy from a sound sleep. Though still drowsy, Teddy knew something serious was happening. After grumbling a few times, he got up.

A night of dew and wind had faded the remaining traces at the scene even further. After the local hunters and members of the town guard examined the area again, they still could not tell which way Sarah had gone amid the chaotic footprints. The only relatively clear trail was the one Henk had left when he entered the forest. With his height and weight, it was difficult for him to pass through mud and brush without leaving traces.

Dario divided the searchers into several small groups, assigning at least one town guard or hunter familiar with the forest to each. Teddy had identified Henk's trail, so he and Raymond were assigned to search along that route. They were not to change direction on their own or venture too far from Silverleaf Village, and if they discovered anything unusual, one of them had to return and report it immediately. Dario himself remained in Silverleaf Village to coordinate the groups and receive whatever news they sent back.

After waiting all night, Teddy had long been eager to continue following the trail he had found. Henk was not suspected of abducting Sarah, but he might already have caught up with the real kidnappers. Searching along his route offered their best chance of finding Sarah.

Raymond carefully studied the footprints and the marks on the bushes and tree trunks, doing his utmost to learn the techniques of tracking. Teddy held nothing back. Whenever they came upon a clear footprint, broken branch, or trampled bush, he stopped to explain what had led him to his conclusions. As Raymond observed, he compared each of these signs with the surrounding terrain, and his understanding of tracking gradually grew clearer.

After following Henk's trail for some distance, the two arrived at a narrow path overgrown with weeds.

Teddy crouched and ran a hand over the wagon ruts in the mud. “This is an abandoned logging road. It hasn't been used in years, so why would a wagon have come through here?”

Imitating him, Raymond touched the marks in the ground, then glanced curiously at Teddy. “You aren't from Silverleaf Village. How do you know this area so well?”

“My father used to be a forest ranger. I often followed him around these woods when I was young, so of course I know the area.”

Raymond nodded, then crouched as Teddy had taught him and examined the soil along the edges of the ruts. Freshly compressed earth was darker in color, with relatively crisp edges, and the fragments of leaves pressed into the mud had not yet completely dried out. Combining these signs with Teddy's explanations along the way, Raymond finally began to understand how such details could reveal the age of a trail.

[Basic Tracking Lv. 1 (1/100)]

Raymond was mildly surprised. He had thought only combat abilities counted as skills. He had not expected a support skill like tracking to count as well.

Teddy stood again, his expression turning serious. “The edges of the ruts are still clear. They were probably left sometime within the last day.”

“Sarah has been missing for two days, but Henk only entered the forest yesterday.” Raymond looked at the footprints extending onto the logging road. “These ruts may not be from when Sarah was taken, but they could be connected to the people Henk was tracking.”

Teddy nodded. “Henk's footprints turn onto this road too. If we keep following it, we should find more clues.”

The two continued slowly along the abandoned logging road. Teddy stopped every so often, sometimes examining the soil and sometimes studying the fallen leaves. Raymond followed silently behind him, scrutinizing every movement and detail.

Before long, they reached a fork. The path split in two, and there was no immediate way to tell which direction they should take. Raymond glanced at a large tree nearby. A distinct ring of wear encircled its trunk, as though horses had been tethered there over a long period. He had often cared for horses at the inn and knew the marks left by prolonged friction from a rope, so he recognized them at once.

He strode over and carefully examined the unusual signs in front of the tree. Thanks to Teddy's explanations along the way, Raymond already knew which places deserved the closest attention. He approached the tree and first checked the footprints in the mud, quickly confirming that people had indeed stopped there. Several deep footprints remained in the earth beneath the tree, and the surrounding ground bore signs of repeated trampling from people carrying heavy loads.

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Small amounts of fodder, grains of salt, and bread crumbs were scattered nearby, while several short, coarse horsehairs were caught in the worn grooves of the bark. These traces could not have been left by a horse that merely happened to pass through. People must have regularly stopped their horses here to rest and moved or exchanged cargo. Raymond could not tell how many people had recently passed through, but he could at least be certain that this long-abandoned logging road was still being used in secret.

[Basic Tracking Lv. 1 (4/100)]

Teddy had come over as well and crouched beneath the tree to examine the signs closely. The two exchanged a look. Both realized there was something wrong with this place.

“This is important. We need to report it to Captain Dario immediately,” Raymond said. “You know the nearby roads and can get back faster than I can. I'll stay here to guard the scene and wait in case another search party passes by.”

“You want me to go back alone?” Teddy instinctively gripped the weapon at his waist. “Aren't we going together?”

“Dario said that if we found anything unusual, one of us had to report it immediately.” Raymond shook his head. “If we both leave, we may not be able to find this exact place again when we return.”

Teddy looked troubled. He glanced several times at the road they had come by, but ultimately nodded in resignation. After Teddy left, Raymond remained where he was and continued examining the tracks near the two branches of the road. With the little tracking experience he had just gained, he could not determine how many people were involved. He could only tell that the wagon ruts on one branch were clearer, which meant the wagon had probably departed in that direction most recently.

Raymond did not rashly follow them. Instead, he withdrew to a relatively open spot beside the road and patiently waited for Teddy to return with help.

After a while, footsteps suddenly sounded from the branch with the clearer ruts. A young man in coarse clothes, with a weapon at his waist, emerged from the depths of the forest. Though the man approached alone, his gaze swept past Raymond and rapidly searched the surrounding woods. Only after confirming that no one else was nearby did he smile and walk toward Raymond as if nothing were amiss.

Raymond immediately became wary. This logging road had been abandoned for years, yet the man had appeared from the very direction in which the wagon had departed—and he was armed. He was clearly no ordinary traveler.

The man stopped a dozen or so paces away and asked with a smile, “Hello there. I'm heading to Silverleaf Village. Do you know which way I should go?”

Raymond did not answer. He merely glanced at the road behind the man. It led deeper into the forest, not toward Silverleaf Village at all.

“Why aren't you saying anything?” The man's smile remained unchanged as he took a few more steps forward. “Did you come from Silverleaf Village?”

“Stay where you are.” Raymond stepped half a pace back and rested his right hand on his sword hilt. “Don't come any closer.”

The man finally stopped. His gaze passed Raymond and flicked toward the direction Teddy had left. Raymond did not turn to look. He kept his eyes fixed on the man's right hand gripping his sword hilt.

The next instant, the man's smile abruptly vanished. He drew his sword and charged. Raymond had been prepared. The moment the man drew, he stepped back and to the side while drawing his own sword. The man's long blade slashed past Raymond's chest by a hair. When the attack missed, he immediately pulled back to create distance.

“So someone really did track us here.” Holding his long sword, the man gave another savage grin. “Now that you've found this road, don't expect to leave alive.”

Raymond's heart sank. The man plainly knew that someone was investigating the logging road. At the very least, he had to be connected to the group Henk had been tracking. Whether Sarah was in their hands, however, remained uncertain.

The man suddenly gave a short whistle. The surrounding bushes rustled, and four more men wielding bladed weapons emerged from different directions. Raymond rapidly backed toward a large tree beside the road so he would not be completely surrounded. But his opponents had clearly prepared for that. The four men closed in while blocking the road back to Silverleaf Village.

“Heh heh, he's just a greenhorn.”

“Hurry up and finish him. The boss is still waiting, and we can't afford another mistake this time.”

Their words were casual, but they maintained their distance as they approached, clearly unwilling to give Raymond the opportunity to pick them off one at a time. Raymond tightened his grip on his sword and quickly swept his gaze across his surroundings. The five men were steadily tightening the ring around him. Once they sealed off every direction, he would have no chance of escaping. The man who had attacked him first was the closest. Seeing that his companions had surrounded Raymond, he visibly relaxed.

Instead of retreating farther, Raymond abruptly stepped forward and thrust his sword at the man's chest. The man had not expected Raymond to attack while surrounded. Caught off guard, he could only bring his sword across to block. The two weapons collided with a clang. Using the momentum of his forward charge, Raymond forced the man's blade aside, then drove his sword straight into his chest.

The man's expression froze instantly. Before the others could close in, Raymond pulled his sword from the man's chest and swept it to the side, flinging blood from the blade onto the ground. The remaining four men stopped in unison, their smiles vanishing completely.

Raymond gripped his sword in both hands and coldly watched the four enemies begin to close in once more.

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