Suggestion

*Clop Clop Clop Clop*

The sound of a carriage being drawn by horses rang out through a dark forest. Apart from the sound of the carriage and sounds of insects chirping, the forest was quiet. The scene of violet moonlight reflecting off the trees of the forest was enchanting.

Even though the forest was quiet, the same could not be said for the carriage's inside. The sound of snoring rang out inside the carriage, which contained three people. One out of the three people was a child, who was the source of the snoring.

While Slem slept like a baby, Zane and Astrophel Lane, the Grandmaster, was looking at the map laid on a small table in front of them seriously. As for Myron Black, he was still acting as the coachman. After guiding the horses for some time, Myron began phasing and split into two. Then, one of the Myron jumped to the side of the carriage, opened the door and entered inside.

When he opened the door of the carriage suddenly, the wind entered the inside of the carriage and the map on the table started flying away. Zane quickly reached out with his hands and pinned the map down on the table. Myron closed the door and sat down next to the Grandmaster.

Slem shivered as he felt chilly because of the sudden wind. Seeing this, Zane pulled the blanket which had fallen off of Slem's body and tucked him in. Then, he looked outside the window at the forest. The carriage kept on going for a while, without anyone speaking a word to each other.

After a while, Zane finally broke the silence. He pointed at a village which was marked on the map. "He has stopped here." When the Grandmaster and Myron heard this, the flat expression they had on their face turned into a frown.

It had already been nearly four months since they started chasing the Saint. When Zane pointed at the village, they already knew what fate awaited for the people of the village, but there was nothing they could do.

'If only I was a Saint myself...' The Grandmaster lamented. Although he was a Transcended Seeker, he could not catch up to the Saint. They thought as the Saint had fallen into lunacy, he would be considerably less powerful, but when the Grandmaster moved on his own to follow the Saint, he doubled his speed.

So they just gave up and quietly followed the Saint from far behind. This way, he would move at a slower pace and destroy less villages and towns. The Grandmaster and Myron didn't like this, but it was the lesser evil. The Grandmaster had personally contacted the Union, but if they wouldn't move even for the capital of Astra, why would they move for some small villages?

"Haah..." The Grandmaster sighed. He looked at Zane and spoke, sadness apparent in his voice. "So what do you suggest we do?"

Zane shot a glance at the Grandmaster before looking at the map again. He pointed at an area in the woods, which was somewhat far away from the village he pointed at before. "We should stop here for the night, it's at least 5 miles away from the village so the Saint won't move. Is that okay Mr. Myron?" He turned towards Myron.

Myron nodded his head. "It's safe to assume the Saint won't move for the night.."

"Good. Then we will do as Zane suggested." The Grandmaster straightened himself up.

If any knight from the three countries saw this, they would open their mouths wide open in surprise. A Grandmaster and a Marshall were taking suggestions from a rogue Seeker. But during the four months, any suggestions that Zane made would strangely become the best or at times, the only option for them to follow.

Also, they had developed a somewhat favorable impression towards the rogue Seeker. Due to their needs, they also taught Zane how to read maps, and they were surprised by how quick of a learner he was.

One of the reasons they had a good impression of Zane was because of Slem. They had seen how good Zane treated Slem. Out of curiosity, the Grandmaster asked if they were related by blood, but he was even more surprised when he heard the story of how they met. In a way, they also pitied the two rogue seekers.

'Hah... He also asked for the kid to be free too...' The Grandmaster remembered Zane's conditions for the deal.

But there were some negatives that they didn't like about Zane too. Like how he was not at all compassionate about the deaths of the innocent people from the villages that the Saint destroyed. Or how sometimes he seemed like a different person altogether. 

"Myron, including this, how many villages are now destroyed?" The Grandmaster suddenly broke the silence once again.

"42, Grandmaster..." Myron answered in a low voice.

"And according to your estimations, how many more places will he pass?"

"A total of four more places... That leaves us with less than a week before we reach Arcturus..." 

After hearing this, the Grandmaster joined his hand and began muttering something under his breath. He was praying to the Goddess of the Night, Nox. As for Myron, he disappeared from the carriage and phased together with the duplicate outside.

After traveling for a while, they finally reached the area that Zane pointed. Collecting some firewood, they set up their camp and prepared to rest for the night.

The forest was full of beasts, and normally, they would've been in grave danger camping like this in the night. But due to the Grandmaster's presence, no beasts dared to approach them.

---

Far away from the forest, in the village where the Saint had stopped, Avery Gray was sitting at a dining table.

He moved the fork on his hand, grabbed a handful of meat from the plate in front of him, and stuffed his face. "Ahh... This is great." He wiped his mouth with a cloth. "Thank you for this delicious meal."

He turned his head to look at a woman by the dining table, who had already turned into ash. There were two other ashen figures sitting at the table. One was an adult male and other was a child.

"Haah..." He sighed. "This is getting boring.." He grabbed the whistle hanging from his neck and played with it. "Maybe we will head for the city tomorrow, huh cultist?" He smiled.