Thanks to the attack the other night, the assassins retreated because they couldn't escape Zaos's tracking skills. They only moved to a point where they were sure that they wouldn't leave that region and cause any more damage.

Zaos tried to decrease their numbers two nights after they returned, but he gave up on the idea when he noticed that they were moving in groups of ten. That sure was weird, considering that they were assassins. Regardless, Zaos didn't want to risk being bombarded by bolts again.

"I don't like this," Erean said. "I don't feel comfortable waiting here without knowing if more enemies have arrived or not."

They could always move in the group as well in order to deal with the assassins, but their range of search was big, but the groups were close enough to help each other in case something happens. So, if Erean decides to attack, he could risk being attacked in two other directions.

According to Orleand, if Ferdinand had asked for reinforcements, the first ones should have arrived. That was why he wanted to strike them before they could increase in number. It was a risky plan, but it still was better than waiting to be attacked.

"What is the plan, captain?" Drannor asked. "We might be able to defeat some assassins, but against raw numbers of soldiers, things won't be on our side."

"Yes, I know that," Erean said.

Since Erean didn't say anything more than that, it was evident that he didn't know what to do. He was a royal guard, and even though he had plenty of combat experience in many situations, he never had been in a situation anywhere close to that one. He was hiding in a mountain that had several mines, and he only had twenty able soldiers on his hands and one hundred civilians, of which half of them were kids.

"What do you think we should do, Zaos?" Drannor asked.

"I have no idea," Zaos replied with his eyes closed since he was still meditating. "I am trying to recover my mana before the enemies arrive so don't bother me while I am meditating."

"Do you have any idea, Drannor?" Ameria asked.

"I studied some strategy thanks to my dad and while I was in the North, but I can't think of anything to do here to solve this mess," Drannor said. "The only thing I can think of is to use the terrain in our favor, but that also might cause problems to us in the long run."

"What do you mean?" Ameria asked.

"I told this to the captain early in the morning, that we could climb the mountain and attack the enemies from above as they try to reach us," Drannor said. "The path above is quite dangerous and the roads aren't large, so the enemies will climb slowly, even if few people can fight, they can help damage the enemies' troops by dropping boulders at them, but…"

"But?" Ameria asked.

"Even if we succeed, and that is a big if, we will get tramped above," Drannor said. "If the enemies decide not to fight, they will just have to keep us here and we will eventually run out of water and food."

Ameria could see how dangerous that would be. Without water, neither of them could actually live more than three days. So, it was a pretty effective method for the enemies to kill them without losing a single soldier. Erean was quite sure that the enemies would march, considering that kind of plan. Drannor didn't complain about Zaos indifferent behavior because he was preparing himself to do that in that situation. With mana, he might be able to fight back and take down a few dozens of armored soldiers, and that should buy them sometime… unless they bring a whole army to wipe them all out as fast as possible. According to Orleand, Ferdinand might raise such an army in one week, but only two hundred would be enough to trample them in the mountain. And also, according to Orland, Ferdinand probably already has that many armored soldiers with him.

Since that might happen, Erean gave his soldiers the order to hunt for some food and also grab all the fruits they could find. He asked Zaos to teach them which plants they could eat, so they have been creating a stock of fruits, meat, and herbs… but the stock could only last for so long when one hundred and twenty people were there to eat them.

"So, we don't have any other plans aside from curling up in the higher mines?" Zaos suddenly got up and then asked while he was massaging his shoulders.

"… My apologies," Erean clenched his teeth and fist and then said. "I can't think of anything else to do."

"You are the veteran here, so we probably don't have any other way to get out of this mess," Zaos said.

Zaos left the mine and then headed toward the woods. Despite his calm tone, those who have known him knew that he was angry for the past weeks. He couldn't go home, he couldn't do his research to help his mother, and he couldn't kill all of the enemies by himself.  While that wouldn't work to ease his anger, Zaos began to hunt all the animals in the area. The creatures tried to run away, but Zaos killed them with a single enhanced bolt on their heads.

In that afternoon alone, Zaos brought eleven deer and fourteen boars. After all, the last thing he needed to worry about during the next few days was about food.

"That is it! This is enough!" Noemi suddenly got up and said that. "We can't keep hiding here forever. We need to do something."

Noemi said that while facing all the other merchants' families, for the past few days, they didn't do much aside from waiting for the soldiers to solve that mess, but Noemi got sick of that attitude.

"Do you people really want to return to your homes like this?" Noemi asked. "From what I can see, you people certainly aren't desperate enough to fight for the things that were taken away from you. The enemy tried to kill you, after they had drugged you! Are you going to let them keep doing what they want forever?"