Azaroth and Sophie spent some time ahead of the graves. Sophie spoke some words in her heart as she thanked these people for putting their lives on the line against the beasts.
Azaroth remained emotionless as he stared at these graves. He felt nothing for these people who lost their lives in that beast raid where he had manipulated quite a bit.
He was something who had stared death in the face and returned to life. It had only increased his willpower to become invincible.
He had chosen the path which he believed would lead him to the peak. By turning his Ardor into Triquetra Ardor. But he was now realizing that this path had its own set of difficulties.
The great power it provided gave him superiority over his realm and its diversity allowed him to win strategic battles and confuse his rivals.
However, there was no convenient thing such as a perfect skill. Naturally, the Triquetra Ardor had its own set of difficulties.
The main difficulty was the difficulty in advancing even a single rank.
In reality, Azaroth wouldn't have taken so much time to advance to the 5 Star Rank if he had known this from the start. But since this was new even to him, he had to experiment step by step.
He was walking on an entirely new path and he had no idea just what he would encounter ahead so it was best to stay cautious.
He diverted his mind away from such thoughts as Sophie finished paying her respects to these graves.
Azaroth continued to spend more time with Sophie.
The two continued to tell stories about each other and they didn't realize the passage of time.
Half a day had already passed while they were talking.
Azaroth was thinking in the back of his mind 'The two should have reached the village.'
~~
Sargan and Noah were indeed quite close to Droln village.
Sargan spoke to Noah, "Let's observe the village first. We need to figure out where the village head and his other officers live in this village. Then we need to form a plan to take them out."
Noah wasn't very good at tasks like these but he somewhat understood that Sargan was right.
"Alright. Let's get inside and ask the people." Noah spoke as he ran towards the village.
Sargan was startled and he immediately grabbed hold of his arm and prevented him from entering the village from the front gate.
"Why are you stopping me?" Noah asked with a frown.
He immediately replied to Noah, "We can't enter from the front gate. What if the guards ask us who we are? We will be captured and will need to force our way out. Master has asked us to stay hidden, after all."
"Then how do we enter?" Noah asked.
Sargan said, "Let's walk," as he led Noah to the opposite side of the village by walking around the perimeter.
Noah heard some sounds. It appeared as if something sharp was striking a tree.
"The woodcutters have to leave the village to cut the wood," Sargan spoke neutrally, "We can go along with them without incurring any suspicion."
After walking for some time, they found 20 individuals using their Axe to break the tree. From their appearances, they appeared to be 50 or so years old.
"Phew. I am nearly done with the days' work. What about you two?" The man who appeared to be the oldest among those three asked.
The other two had a tired look on their faces. They weren't done with their task. They had to cut off another tree and then carry it to the shop.
But they had no energy in them.
They soon heard a clear voice, "Greetings, men."
It was Sargan who had spoken. He gathered the attention of these men and then continued, "I am Sargan and this is my younger brother Noah. Are you men from the nearby village?"
The oldest man of the group stared at Sargan with a solemn expression and he asked, "And what of it?"
Sargan noticed the hostility in his voice and spoke, "Please calm down. We mean you no harm. We have been separated from our master and wish to rest in the nearby village for a few days."
"Why didn't you enter the village straight away then?" The old man asked them.
Sargan replied with a bitter smile, "We come from humble backgrounds and joined the services of our master recently so we have no money. We have no permit letter with us to enter the village or the money to pay the guards."
The old man finally relaxed as he heard Sargan. It was rare for such cases to occur but in his long life, he had heard of similar circumstances.
"If you have no money then how do you plan to stay in the village? Nobody will keep you for free." The old man spoke with some authority in his voice.
Sargan had expected this response and replied, "We have no money but we are strong."
He gave a signal to Noah.
A few seconds later, all the trees in 100 meters of them fell down.
The three men were startled. They didn't even see that little kid move.
"W-Who are you kids?"
"We are retainers of the new Kloras Town's Mayor. So… What is your response?" Sargan asked him neutrally.
The old man looked at all the trees that had been cut off by that little kid.
"You want to stay here only for a few days right." The old man confirmed.
Sargan spoke almost immediately, "Yes, after recovering from our internal injuries, we will leave."
"Do remember you won't get to stay for free. You will need to cut the trees every day as long as you are here. I won't ask you to push your body to the limits but if you have this ability then cutting 100 trees a day shouldn't be an issue." The old man seemed to be trying to negotiate.
Sargan internally smirked as he replied, "Sure."
The old man was surprised to see Sargan agree so readily. He regrated that he hadn't asked for more.
But he couldn't really be shameless and change his words now.
As for taking Sargan and Noah inside the village. That wasn't much of an issue.
These kids didn't seem to know that if they had told the guards that they were the servants of the Mayor of Kloras Town, they could have passed the gates without any permit required. The guards would have asked some questions and check their reactions but if they were speaking the truth then it shouldn't be much of an issue to pass that inspection.
The old man knew the guards and their family quite well. In the village, most of the people were familiar with each other. The guards should give him enough face to bring the two in without asking anything.
In fact, the old man was merely giving them a place to stay for a few days and was planning to use them to help him with this work.
Besides, it was a perfect opportunity to form a relationship with the servant of the Mayor of Kloras Town.
He had heard that the man was an heir of Rhodes House. If they could form some good connections with him then they would be set for life.
Atleast work, money, and safety wouldn't be an issue.
"Let's gather the wood and carry them to the shop." The old man informed everyone.
Sargan and Noah also carried a few wooden logs.
Sargan was somewhat happy that they had accomplished their first objective.
Azaroth had informed him that he wanted to swallow the population of this village.
For that reason, Sargan's plan was to enter the village without gathering unnecessary attention.
If the two entered the village while mentioning that they were Kloras Town Mayor's retainers then they would naturally be allowed to enter but the commotion they would create would be quite big and the entire village would talk about them or visit them.
He was sure that the old man had seen how useful they were to him and he was thinking of monopolizing them. He wouldn't want others to know their true identity and how strong they are.
That would prevent him from extracting complete benefit from them.
~~
Soon, the five individuals were walking towards the village entrance.
The guards noticed two unfamiliar children with the old man.
"They are with me. Allow them to enter." That's all the old man needed to say.
All the guards in the village were familiar with this old man. Well, it would be more precisely to say that their parents were familiar with this old man.
They were family friends.
If their parents knew that they actually asked questions from the old man then they would be beaten silly.
Besides, these two kids looked plain and there didn't seem anything extraordinary about them.
The guards just thought that the old man probably pitied them and thus hired them temporarily.
Sargan and Noah were happy that they managed to enter the village without creating any commotion.
After entering the village, the old man and his brothers first went to his shop before dropping Sargan and Noah off at his house.
The old man informed his wife a little that she had to treat the two guests with respect. And also warned her to not gossip about the two to anyone else.
Soon, the old man left for his shop again.
Sargan and Noah requested some food that the old woman brought soon enough.
While eating, Sargan asked the old woman, "Where is the office of the village head? We have to complete an urgent task."
The old woman was startled by the question. She hesitated before speaking, "There is no office for the village head. For a task, we usually go see him in his house."
Sargan was surprised to hear it.
'This makes things slightly troublesome.'
He looked at Noah and whispered to him, "Be prepared. Tonight, we will begin."
Noah silently nodded as he ate the food.
Sargan then asked the old woman, "Please tell us the address of the village head."
The old woman looked slightly hesitant but she remembered her husband's words.. She soon told Sargan the address of the village head.