Calm Before the Storm

The next day…

The family was currently eating their breakfast together.

"Jin. Tanya. I have something to tell both of you." Said Leo after drinking a cup of water.

"What is it, dad?" Asked Jin as he ate.

Tanya had her mouth full of food but still looked at their father and paid attention to what he was going to say.

Leo smiled as he looked at his children before sighing with a difficult expression, "There was a sudden notice from the castellan. It requires all professionals to gather for an expedition…"

The siblings glanced at each other as they listened to their father's words, their faces filled with worry.

It turned out that the scouts had detected strange activities in the Stygian Forest and that Lord Axton immediately ordered for all professionals to gather at the Battle Camp.

'What strange activities can possibly alert the castellan to the point that he would issue a sudden notice…' Jin's eyes darkened as countless thoughts appeared in his mind.

Tanya, on the other hand, asked with a whiny expression, "Can you not go, dad?"

Although she didn't think as far ahead as Jin, she still knew that something was strange due to the expressions of her brother and father.

Leo smiled bitterly as he shook his head, "Unfortunately, I can't not go. Disobeying the order of the castellan will not be good for all of us… I don't want to put the two of you in danger…"

"When will you leave, dad?" Jin asked.

"I don't know, but the letter told us to be ready to depart by the end of today…" Leo frowned, as he too, felt that it was suspicious.

…!

'That's too sudden!' Jin's eyes constricted, a bad feeling looming over his heart.

Tanya whined, "But dad, isn't that too soon!?"

She showed a pitiful expression, hoping that their father would change his mind.

Seeing the worry on his children's face warmed Leo's heart. He felt bad rejecting his cute son and daughter.

Leo rubbed the head of his children while chuckling, "Haha! Don't worry, your dad is strong, you know? Besides, I'll promise to run away if things get dangerous. I won't even care about offending the castellan!"

His large warm hands full of calluses brought comfort to the siblings.

Although Jin still felt a little uneasy, their father's promise along with his reassuring laugh made him smile in satisfaction.

Tanya also enjoyed being rubbed on her head.

"Alright, let's finish eating so I can drop both of you to the Training Center before going to the Adventurer's Guild, okay?" Leo showed a toothy smile.

""Yes, dad!"" The siblings happily responded.

* * *

"Are all the preparations done?" A figure sitting on a chair asked, his voice rough.

Another figure knelt in front of him and replied, "Yes, Your Highness. The most powerful professional in the fortress, the castellan, is making his move already."

The figure sitting on the chair grinned, "Very well."

"But Your Highness…"

"What is it?"

"I have some concerns for the children of the heretics…"

"What concerns shall there be? Whether they are young or old, a heretic should be killed."

"I understand, Your Highness."

"Very well. We must get ready too to ensure the success of our plan." The figure got up from the chair.

He left the dark room followed by the other figure.

* * *

'I wonder what the problem is…' Leo thought silently as he walked.

He had just dropped off his children a few minutes ago and was now on his way to the Battle Camp.

Like Jin, he also felt suspicious about the sudden notice by the castellan.

After a few minutes of walking, he arrived at the Battle Camp located near the West Gate of the Cabanary Fortress.

He could see a crowd gathered in front of the building where the strategic meetings for expeditions and demon beast waves were held.

Leo entered the building after making his way through the crowd.

"Leo!" A voice caught his attention as he saw Oswin walking towards him.

Leo smiled at his friend before asking, "What happened?"

The smile on Oswin's face disappeared, "You've come at the right time. The meeting has just begun."

Leo followed Oswin to the side.

Lord Axton and Director Ver were at the front of a long table where the map of the area was placed.

After a short while, Lord Axton spoke, "Alright, it seems that everyone's here."

He looked around, meeting the eyes of every warrior as he spoke, "Thank you for attending at such a short notice, let's begin the meeting."

"The scouts have noticed some strange activities in the Stygian Forest. The report stated that various demon and magic beasts could be seen in the periphery of the forest…"

"But how is that possible?"

"Right, there's still around two weeks before the next demon beast wave…"

"Could there be a vampire lair again?"

…

The professionals discussed among themselves.

Lord Axton cleared his throat and said, "That was my initial idea as well. However, there were no traces of ghouls and other monsters related to vampires. As such, the possibility of a vampire making their lair in the forest is low."

"Another thing that was stated in the scouts' report was the rumbles inside the forest. They concluded that there might be a couple of Demon General and Magic General Class beasts going violent in the forest…"

"D-Demon General!?"

"And not just one but a couple of them as well…"

"But what caused the beasts rivalling Master Class to be so irritable?"

…

The crowd exclaimed in shock again.

Lord Axton shook his head, "It was also what we're trying to hypothesize. After all, it's too strange for a couple of Demon General Class beasts to be active at the same time. Therefore, we're thinking of assembling a group of professionals to see what's going on in the Stygian Forest…"

The room fell silent, the expedition was too dangerous.

"I'll lead the expedition team personally." Lord Axton sighed.

"B-But Lord Axton–"

Axton shook his head, "There's no other way. I'm the only Master Class in the fortress."

They knew that when faced with a couple of Demon General Class beasts, even a Master Class could only run away.

Therefore, the professionals could only stay silent.

"But my l-lord, isn't it too dangerous…" A knight wearing armor spoke.

"Then what are we going to do? I've already sent someone to ask the nearby counties for reinforcements. But we're all aware that it would take at least a couple of months to reach the nearest county from the fortress and another couple of months for the reinforcements to arrive." Axton had a bitter expression on his face.

Everyone knew that not taking any action would only put them in a more dangerous position.

Gathering information early on was what they needed to do if they didn't want to be met with unexpected danger.

Therefore, the expedition was the only way.

After a short moment of silence, Lord Axton spoke with a determined look on his face, "Everyone in this room is atleast a Second Class Professional."

He sighed and continued, "Thereby, let me ask you all. For our family and for the people living in the fortress, will you go with me?"

The professionals all looked at each other.

"Hah! The castellan himself is leading us. Who are we to decline?" Director Ver chuckled.

Then, he knelt and said loudly, "Yes, my lord!"

The professionals all knelt and followed suit, """Yes, my lord!"""