Caesar decided to leave the carriage, for now, he doubted any animals would dare threaten the horses or their belongings with his scent all over it.Khan led Caesar and the rest through the large forest, the trees and bushes were much larger here in comparison to the forests in Caesar"s past life.
Different kinds of species that Caesar had never seen before showed themselves as they walked, oversized apes, birds, and even insects.
Caesar examined the different kinds of species with interest, in his past life, most animals evolved in the most efficient way possible. He was curious as to what made these creatures evolve to the way they currently are.
"Hey, are you sure it"s okay just following them?" a rough voice broke Caesar out of his contemplation causing him to turn back.
Joe, who was hiding his presence until now, was standing on his tippy toes with a slightly fearful expression.
"Ahri seems to trust them, so what"s the problem?" Caesar asked casually without a pause in his movement.
Joe used his short legs and struggled to keep up with Caesar who walked with long strides… "didn"t you say there was a sp-" Joe"s words were cut off by Caesar"s hand on his mouth.
"Gagadgadg" Joe grumbled out nonsense whilst his mouth was being blocked.
Caesar leaned in towards Joe and put his mouth close to his ear, "keep it down… the fox-kin have great hearing, smell, and sight" Caesar whispered in a grave tone.
Joe repeatedly nodded his head in understanding, Seeing this, Caesar let go of Joe"s mouth and continued on his way.
After they continued walking for another 10 minutes, Khan and the four men ahead of Caesar started to gradually slow down… They walked through a thick vine bush and pushed the leaves away.
Caesar naturally followed behind them, after pushing the leaves away, a huge gate presented itself in front of him.
The gate was wooden, however, it seemed exceptionally thick which was a strength in its own right… Standing on top of the gate were a few guards, presumably lookouts.
Ahri turned around and flashed a bright smile at Caesar…
"Welcome to my tribe," she said happily.
"Thank you for having me" Caesar replied with a small grin on his lips.
"Alright, alright, enough flirting… let"s get a move on!" Khan interrupted and urged them to move through the currently open gates.
Caesar nodded his head in acceptance and started striding forward. While walking towards the gate, he didn"t forget to study the study their surroundings.
The trees in a 10-meter radius from their stronghold were all cut down… this gave them immunity to a night raid.
"It would appear that not everyone in this clan is incompetent" Caesar thought inwardly as he pa.s.sed through the large gates.
Inside of the stronghold, Caesar had expected a large number of wooden houses, but, contrary to his expectations, there were many different tents put up all over the place.
Caesar shifted his attention to the large building in the middle, it looked similar to a j.a.panese mansion in his past life… Elegant looking wooden houses surrounded the mansion further adding to the contrast between the commoners and the n.o.bles.
Khan led Caesar and the rest through the middle of the tents, many different malnourished looking fox-kin looked at them curiously as they pa.s.sed by… young and old alike.
"I-Is the empress back?" a younger child asked his mother excitedly.
"Hope has arrived, we have not been forsaken yet!" the mother cried tears of joy and covered her mouth with her right hand.
"What? The empress is back?"
"The empress!?!?"
Many different forms of cheers and roars echoed throughout the stronghold, Caesar couldn"t help but feel impressed at this scene.
"It"s quite rare for n.o.bility to be loved by their citizens so strongly" Caesar quietly thought to himself as he observed the civilians.
"Who is that gorgeous looking man?" one of the fox-kin ladies asked in a hushed tone.
"Do you remember what the empresses main goal for leaving was? It"s probably the strategist" another fox-kin lady replied.
"Ahh," Realization appeared on the young fox-kin ladies face.
They soon pa.s.sed by the chattering people and approached the j.a.panese mansion located in the middle… Khan led them towards another decently sized gate.
"HALT, STATE YOUR BUSINESS!" An immature, yet, loud roar rang in their ears as they got closer.
Khan took something out of his pockets and rose it above his head… "I am Khan, the leader of the 8th clan and I bring urgent news. The empress is back!" Khan said deeply.
Silence ensued after Khan"s words, a few seconds later, the gate slowly started to open and a young face appeared in their line of sight.
"I-Is Ahri really back?" asked the young man tenderly.
Ahri stepped forward and smiled deeply, "I"m back Charlie, I heard of your recent endeavors!" she said with her arms spread wide.
Charlie smiled excitedly and walked towards her, upon reaching her, he hugged her in a friendly matter.
"I"m so glad you"re back!" he parted ways from her and spoke in a relieved tone.
"It"s good to be back!" Ahri replied and pulled Caesar closer to her.
"This is the strategist that I brought back" Ahri gestured towards Caesar and introduced him.
Charlie closely studied Caesar"s handsome face and delicate features… he frowned for a split second but soon covered it up with a wide smile.
While still smiling broadly he put his hand forward, offering a handshake to Caesar.
Caesar grabbed Charlie"s hand and shook it, he leaned forward and brought his mouth close to Charlie"s ear.
"You"re fake" he whispered icily.
Charlies eyes went wide and he took a step back, he looked at Caesar bewildered for a few seconds before finally getting ahold of himself.
"What do you mean, sir?" Charlie asked in a polite tone.
Ahri, Khan, Joe, and the rest all looked at Caesar curiously.
"Haha, just a joke of course… " Caesar laughed playfully and walked forward, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief, they had thought Caesar had a problem with Charlie.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, that is, besides Charlie who"s heart was beating quickly.
Caesar"s expression which was currently hidden from the rest was extremely cold, in his hand was a very small strand of hair.
The hair wasn"t anything special, however, it contained a hint of mana that belonged to neither fox-kin or animal… The strand of hair was placed on Ahri when Charlie had hugged her.
"There"s nothing I hate more than conspiring family members" Caesar smiled coldly inside as he walked towards the mansion.