Casper

Casper watched the soldiers spread out and start combing the area, looking for traces of them. Although he picked a spot far from the incident, he underestimated how much the emperor cared about this project. After all, a detection array of this magnitude cost a lot of mana and money.

"Search every nook and canny! Whoever is behind this had deep knowledge about our weaknesses, so traitors are expected!" said the captain as his squad spread out. Casper fell back into their groove, hiding behind the branches.

The old man was no fighter, but he had his fair share of hide-and-seek in his philandering years before his wife tied him down. Thus, he made no sound as he walked toward the bedridden, preparing for their escape.

'The chances are slim, and it might be wiser to leave him here and run away,' thought Casper as he saw how much the young man hallucinated. 'However, after hearing his words….'