Chapter 448: An Odd Encounter
In the end, after they found a stream to follow, it took them a total of three days before they were able to leave the foothills. Even though their pace did pick up from not having to walk uphill so much.
Elin was especially happy for that. Even though Sonya was willing to let her ride with Heather, Elin had a feeling that always doing that probably wasn't going to be the best idea for her. Not with how much Heather and Sonya liked their time together.
Although, walking next to Kim also had it's charm for Elin, the only problem with it was that Kim tended to be on the alert for any potential danger. Which also made Elin imagining that it was just the two f them and everyone else had disappeared from around them.
When they reached the end of the foothills, Elin couldn't help but feel like their travels would become much easier. At least provided they stay out of area that weren't so well travelled unless they absolutely needed to go that way. Such as when it came time to leave civilization and return to the dungeon they started this competition with.
The first sign for Elin that things wouldn't be that easy is when they first saw a dust cloud in front of them. It wasn't the dust cloud itself that was the sign, but rather the riders who were causing it.
They were well armed, making it clear that they weren't bandits. Their uniforms were also ones that Elin recognized. These were soldiers who directly answered to the king.
Without slowing down, they quickly surrounded their group and had their weapons drawn. Which was the sign for Elin. She didn't understand why they had their weapons out as if they were about to attack without provocation.
"Is there a problem?" Jonas asked calmly, as if this sort of thing happened every day.
"We're looking for a group of four individuals who kidnapped a large number of noble children," one of the guards said, looking at each of them as if committing their features to memory. "We're supposed to inspect anyone we come across in case they join with others or separated."
"Kidnapped?" Kim asked, looking like she was taking this news personally. "What'd they look like?"
The guard merely shook his head. "I really have no idea. All I know is that a large number of them followed after these four and their parents have decided that they were kidnapped. So we are to find the kidnappers and bring them back to their family's estates."