Rowan and his soldiers did not return to the vige on time.


    At this moment, if there were a clock, it would show around 9 PM or eventer.


    By now, most people might have already retired to their homes.


    But they hadn''t.


    The vigers stayed outside, waiting for the return of their beloved Lord and his soldiers.


    The shadows grew longer as the night deepened, and the cold wind rustled through the trees, but still, the vigers remained steadfast, eyes fixed on the path leading into the vige.


    After what had happened in the vige over the past two days, the vigers had naturally be more reliant on Rowan''s presence.


    His absence made them extremely worried, while his presence gave them hope of survival.


    Meanwhile, at Rowan''s ce, Ri and ra sat on a bench outside with a group of other young women, discussing anxiously under the dim glow ofnterns.


    ra and the other women were quite worried.


    "My boyfriend is among them. Do you think he''ll survive? He told me they''d be back early, but it''s already veryte, and they''re still not back," one of the women said anxiously.


    ra was also concerned.


    Although she had no rtives who went to hunt, she was still worried about the overall condition of the other men.


    On the other hand, Ri wasn''t worried at all.


    "I''m sure they''ll be back very soon. I know my husband; I trust in his strength and ability to protect his men," Ri consoled them with a smile.


    For as long as she had known Rowan, he had never let her down.


    The women nodded, but they were still quite worried.


    They did not have as much faith as Ri.


    "We should discuss other interesting matters to make you guys less worried," she suggested with a smile.


    Since no one brought up a topic, Ri introduced hers.


    She told them about her tailoring dreams—how she nned to make new and exotic designs.


    Women are naturally interested in fashion, so they joined the discussion pretty soon.


    One of the women eximed, "I would love to wear something colorful for the uing festival—if we ever have one again."


    Very soon, they became lively, and everyone shared what they wanted to.


    ra spoke about how she had been rearing the livestock.


    "The skills Lord Rowan gave me are magical. With them, I can tell if any of the animals are sick, what type of sickness they have, and what to do to make them recover," ra boasted.


    "That is super cool! I''ll be doing something simr in the future, but on humans," Ri replied cheerfully.


    "You mean you''ll be able to heal like Dragun?" the women asked, bing interested.


    "Exactly," Ri replied happily.


    The women became really curious.


    "How can we awaken magic like you, Ri?" one of them asked.


    The others nodded, gazing at Ri, awaiting her response.


    "Honestly, I don''t know," Ri replied with an embarrassed smile.


    She told them the few theories she had heard from Dragun, exining why she was able to awaken magic in a ce like this.


    She even told them that they would be able to use magic with the use of magical medicine—potions.


    "Rowan is going to awaken his mana core using the magic medicine I talked about and use magic like me very soon," she revealed.


    Her revtion was quite shocking.


    "Lord Rowan is super strong even without magic. How powerful would he be if he finally starts using magic?" the women couldn''t help but imagine.


    Ri and the women continued their discussion.


    The women who had been really worried about Rowan and the soldiers forgot their worries and became invested in the conversation.


    Other young women around also came to join them, and soon, a group of more than thirty women had gathered, discussing happily.


    Laughter echoed through the night as they shared stories and dreams, momentarily pushing aside their anxieties.


    While Ri was able to lighten the mood among her friends, it wasn''t the same in other households.


    rissa, Rnd''s wife, sat outside, holding her peacefully sleeping baby.


    "Why isn''t he back yet?" she thought aloud.


    "He should''ve been back by now," she continued.


    She needed her husband beside her.


    She didn''t want to experience the disastrous events that took ce this morning. She would not be able to bear the loss of her darling husband.


    "Waaa..."


    While she was pondering, her baby woke up and started crying, startling her.


    rissa immediately focused her attention on her baby with all seriousness.


    She only calmed down when she realized he was crying because of hunger.


    She brought out her breast and breastfed him.


    Another hour passed, and the vigers were still worried.


    Nevertheless, at that moment, the sound of soldiers marching spread across the silent vige.


    At first, they were worried, thinking an invasion was taking ce.


    "Who could it be at this hour?" some whispered, fear creeping into their voices.


    "Lord Rowan has returned!"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The worries quickly disappeared when one of the vigers who spotted them alerted in a loud voice.


    A collective sigh of relief could be heard in the area.


    "Finally!"


    Ri and the other women eximed and went to wee the men, like the other vigers.


    Rowan''s mood became quite excited seeing the vigers happily weing them.


    "Can''t believe some sort of bastard is trying hard to ruin this mood," he thought.


    The matter of the dark creature was still on his mind.


    But he still greeted his people with a smile.


    He knew his smile would definitely bring hope to his people.


    Ri arrived and went to hug Rowan, excited.


    Both of them shared a passionate embrace.


    "Darling..."


    rissa rushed to embrace her husband with a relieved expression on her face.


    Rnd epted her embrace before holding his baby.


    The baby was still awake; his crystal clear and cutely big blue eyes were observing the area with a hint of curiosity.


    Rnd smiled, seeing his wife and child. They are one of the reasons he fought his hardest.


    The other soldiers were also approached by their loved ones—their arrival made them excited as well.


    Sadly, a few families couldn''t enjoy this luxury of weing their loved ones. The families of the soldiers who lost their lives yesterday could only watch with saddened smiles, happy for the other soldiers but sad theirs weren''t among them.


    Rowan received notifications about their emotions and couldn''t help but heave a loud sigh.


    [ Seven of your vigers are sad. ]


    [ Few of your vigers wish to revive the dead. ]


    He looked at the grieving families, feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders.


    "I will get you very soon," he looked at the sky and swore to himself.


    The weing partysted for a few minutes before everyone began departing to their homes.


    While everyone returned home, Rowan escorted Ri back home.


    "I will be patrolling the vige with ze tonight," he told her.


    Ri nodded and nted a kiss on his cheek. "Be careful, alright?"


    "I will."


    After informing her, he called out ze, and both of them began their patrol.


    The soldiers were extremely exhausted, so none of the guardhouses would be manned tonight.


    Rowan nned to dual-wield the tasks of manning the guardhouse and patrolling.


    Around midnight, Rowan and ze were strolling away from the east guardhouse when ze alerted Rowan.


    Almost at the same time, Rowan heard the thumping of horses, as well as their neighs.


    He frowned and began sprinting back to the guardhouse.


    "Who might these people be?" he wondered.