Reborn As A Villain?

[F̶i̶v̶e̶]

The five days trip back to the Kingdom of Ancalen soon started, the group leaving the region of Darkyeon and back into the forest leading back to the Alfhiem capital. As the army rode their horses at a slow steady pace, so was Claude as he held onto Guquan's fur, walking beside the group though keeping a distance between them as he could no doubt sense their hostility towards him.

Well more like they were staring daggers at him to watch whatever scheming moves he had probably planned up his sleeve. Claude sighed beneath his hat veil as he plucked a handful of berries from a bush that Guquan had walked by. Plucking a few he fed the Skound before he himself ate a few.

That said, how in the world were there killings by his land yet he got no news about it? Greness would have noticed something going around in the lands around Darkyeon. Unless it was hidden away and only aiming for certain people to hear of it?

The Reaper frowned.

If that was indeed the case, in the end, he was the scapegoat for whatever the results they're looking for. Claude didn't like where his thoughts were going so he only laid down on his back as Guquan continued walking at a much more steady pace, as if he had sensed the more solemn emotion of his master.

The man only sighed as he decided not to think too much about it and proceed to take a nap.

[🍁🍁🍁]

The journey was far too peaceful to the elves' liking. With their pride in the way, the prince, general and the secretary did their best to not turn their head to look at the Reaper. However they gave in under the pressure of the temptation to do so once they felt the peace was too overbearing, snapping their heads to the side to look at Claude.

However much to their surprise, the Reaper himself was in a state of relaxation. Laying with his back on Guquan's back, an arm rested underneath his head as he looked up at the sky, his veil hat slightly tilted. With the elves' sensitive ears, they managed to pick up the peaceful and rhythmic breathing, meaning that Claude was asleep.

It made them all flabbergasted yet at the same time all the more suspicious of the Darkyeon born individual. If the Reaper could sleep so peacefully in the presence of enemies, is it because he has the capability and the power to wipe them out if he wishes so? As the group continued to be worried, Claude has long kicked all otherworldly worries out of his own mind. Really, it was just a wasteful of his energy, and might as well preserve it for more productive and practical things, shouldn't he?

The journey continued until evening came, the sun could be slowly setting down towards the horizon and it wasn't long before darkness came by in an hour or two. And that was when the peace was no longer tranquil and the chaos or havoc the elves seem to be anticipating finally arrived. However, it wasn't from Claude himself. Rather, it was from the forest itself. The forest is home to many things, mythical plants and creatures, prey and predator. Home to all lives that lived within it. And said Forest is home to the large Whirling Centipede. As its name mentioned, it's a large creature that threatens most of the creatures of the forest, an A grade level monster with the ability to swirl its body and drill towards its victim like the power of 100 torpedoes.

Why am I suddenly talking about said Centipede here? Well, because said creature is now hurtling through the forest, screeching loudly like a banshee as it crashes through the trees and towards the direction of where the elven group is. The sound of its millions of legs crawling against the surface of the forest floor was heard like multiple little wooden taps against tiled floors. Due to the mage that was in charge of scanning for any enemies in their surroundings, the group was able to escape being crushed to mashed potatoes.