Way of the Knights

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"I think forgot to place one more marker…"

Everyone was somewhat bewildered when they heard him say that. Carol, the Head Mistress of the Inscriptionists immediately frowned and said:

"Are you sure were missing something? We build exactly 20 markers right and double checked before we placed them at the suggested spots right? Did something went wrong?"

Everyone in the room also agreed, they all saw the markers before they were sent and just like Carol said, there weren't anything missing in their numbers. Even Jackson could attest to this since he was there when every single one was planted.

Instead of answering them, Raven just stared at the Jade Board. He was in deep thought, based from what he could see, he wouldn't be mistaken about this…

He took a deep breath and took out some materials out of his spatial ring, he then began working. No one interrupted him as they saw once his hand grasped the brush firmly and began writing one inscription seal after another. 

Golden patterns flowed out from the tip of his brush and landed perfectly in the array disc he was holding. Carol, who was watching this, stared unblinkingly and committed his performance in her memory. Others might not have a profound understanding to what he was doing but to her, it's completely different. It was like she was witnessing a miracle unfold right before her very eyes.

There was no rush or impatience in his act. Every stroke of his brush was filled with confidence and power, which caused every single inscription to flow like an unhindered stream. The degree of control he had over his energies was on another level, something that most Knights don't pay attention to. 

Raven took his time, but the performance was still too short even for Carol. He made a quick work out of something that should've taken a whole day to finish. Once all of the inscriptions landed on the array disc, Raven nicked his finger using a small dagger and sprayed blood all over it, causing the disc to buzz around and emit a strange noise.

Under everyone's gazes, he threw the array disc out of the window which nearly gave Carol a heart attack. But once it flew outside, it automatically floated in air and emit a gentle fluctuation. 

Once again, Raven's were fixed on the Jade Board, patiently waiting until the disc he made earlier gathered enough energy to display what he wanted to see.

After a minute and a half, there was some slight change in the Jade Board. Raven's eyes gleamed as he hurriedly detached the Jade Board from it's stand and went towards the table. 

"Everyone, please give me some room." He said in a little urgent tone while holding the Jade Board. 

Everyone in the room hurriedly took their things away from the table. Once they're done, Raven placed the Jade Board on top of the table and suddenly, it merged with it. 

Now the whole table was displaying the overhead imaging of the Kingdom and the Yellow Zone around it. Raven the manipulated the array and pressed on the new Marker Legend that appeared on it.

Instantly, one spot from the map was highlighted. Everyone saw this and was puzzled, nevertheless Raven still didn't say a thing. He glanced at the accumulated energy of the array and noticed that it was enough. He then shifted his position towards the side where he could look closely on the highlighted zone in the map.

Raising both of his hands, he made a parting motion. Once he did that, the array responded and the map immediately started to zoom into the place that he targeted. Everyone watched with bated breaths as they saw the picturesque scene of the area. They still have no idea what Raven found out, all they felt right now is awe when they saw that they could practically see anything within the jurisdiction of the array in a detailed manner even without going out of the walls. 

Suddenly, the map stopped zooming in. There were then left with an image of something that completely stunned everyone in this room.

"Son…is that…what I think it is?" Luis stuttered as he too stared unblinkingly at the zoomed in image.

"Yes, Dad." Raven sighed, "The marker I placed right now is specifically made to track humans."

"It seems that my guesses were right on point." Raven continued, "Something in the Real Time Imaging wasn't showing things properly. We made a tracker for living things but when it initially booted up, the array didn't understand how to properly identify Humans since we didn't make anything specifically for tracking them."

"Then I remembered, there's the Black Curtain Guild. How are we going to track them if we don't have a Human Marker? But it seems that it's not the Black Curtain Guild I found."

Everyone gazed at the real time feed that the array was showing up. There, they saw a somewhat tragic sight.

Several patched up huts that, by their guessed, wouldn't even stand a chance against a strong wind. A petite wooden fence that could even be broken down by a wild boar. Pale and sickly looking Humans were walking from one hut over another. They wore loosely sewed animal skins which were only enough to cover their private parts. 

This small tribe of Humans consists of at least 200 people upon initial estimations. The males were at least as many as the females, and there are certainly children with them. They even saw some females breastfeeding their babies, even so it still a pitiful sight. 

Just from one glance, one could already tell that these people are starving. Their cheeks were sunken, some of them could even fit the word 'Skin and Bones' by how terrible they look. Their faces exuded sadness and hopelessness. For the most part, it seems that they have already given up on life. They were just waiting for doomsday to come and claim them. 

They even saw some children crying, maybe due to hunger. While some of them were forced to work and push themselves into danger in order to feed themselves. 

"How terrible…" Luna gasped in horror as she watched on. She felt a stinging pain in her chest as she saw their pitiful state. 

"They must've been suffering for a while now." Raven said, his voice slightly shaking as well. "Though their tribe is somewhat hidden, it's not completely safe. Their fences could be broken down by a strong gust of wind or a rampaging boar easily."

Raven then shifted the imaging a bit and continued speaking: "Look what's nearby."

Jackson who had been watching all this time gasped as he hurriedly sat up and exclaimed: "Lair!"

"Yes, a Lair." Raven confirmed, earning a gasp from the rest who were listening. "If any beast in this place wandered just a little to far, they would be able to sniff out the tribe. Assuming that it didn't happen before. But looking at their situation…"

Raven didn't even want to finish his own deductions, it was just too ugly to even think about it.

"The children aren't getting proper nutrition as well." Raven continued, "I can tell from a glance, some of them are sick. The temperature at night is quite low, and this patched up huts won't really do a proper job of keeping them warm, it will only give them a shelter from the harsh sun during the day and it's not even doing a proper job at that."

"Their men don't look strong enough to hunt for food. I guess they must've been feeding off by catching some wild hares and poultry due to their isolation. But that's not nearly enough for any of them. Look at the nails of that kid…" Raven pointed out.

Everyone looked at the kid he was referring to, more specifically at his nails. They were heavily damaged, most likely from bite marks. It seems that suppress his hunger, the kid was biting his nails and eating it. It was such a horrible sight that made anyone's heart clench in pain.

Luna couldn't bear it anymore, she clasped Alexander's hands and said: "Father, we have to do something. We can't leave them in a situation like that!"

"I agree, Dad." Balmung added as well, his face was somewhat somber. Even though this people aren't technically aren't their subjects, he still felt responsible over them. Specially after knowing their situation. 

"No need to tell me twice." Alexander smiled as he patted Luna's head, "How could I call myself a King if I turn away from the people who needs me?"

He then gazed at Jackson and said: "Can I entrust this to you and your men?" 

"Absolutely, Your Majesty." Jackson replied, "We will also take down that Lair while we're at it."

"Good." He then looked towards Luis and asked: "Can I trouble you to search for a safe route towards this tribe?"

"Of course, Your Majesty." Luis replied immediately, he then urged Raven to manipulate the array so that he could start searching for a good path for the Lair Hunters to take. 

"Noel." The King called out.

"At your command, Your Majesty."

"Select a few of your men to join the lair hunters. How much you send will depend on your discretions but keep in mind that you're escorting at least 200 people. Is that clear?"

"Loud and clear, Your Majesty." Noel replied.

Then the King looked at Raven, who's looking at him as well. He smiled and nodded: "Yes, you may go along as well."

"Thank you, Uncle."