Caius, Brunhild, Elianor, Garrick, Eilif, and Thorne dismounted their horses and proceeded to tie them up in a hidden, safe location within the forest.
After that, they laid out some items containing mixtures of various ingredients to repel most mortal predators. After all, they didn't want their horses to be attacked by wild animals while helplessly tied to a tree. These horses had cost them a lot; losing them would be a heavy loss.
Once everything was done, Caius said with a serious tone, "Maplemurk Village is still a few miles away from here. We will survey the village from a cliff I know, and then we will attack under the veil of night."
Everyone agreed. They had done similar things many times before; it was nothing new.
Elianor asked while brushing the dust off her combat outfit, "Leader, you mentioned you have been to this village before?"
Caius nodded calmly, "Not only me; Brunhild has as well. It was for another mission. Hm... seven years ago, was it?"
Brunhild nodded. She had been an old companion of Caius for a few decades already; in fact, they were childhood friends.
Eilif and Garrick slung their arms over each other's shoulders and laughed, "We two brothers have also come to this village for a small mission in the past, before we joined the Eclipse Team." They had forgotten all about it until they arrived this close to the village.
Eilif then murmured while recalling the past, "I wonder how Billi, Nash, and the others are doing; hopefully, they haven't died to bandits. Do you have any recollection of those children?"
Brunhild, who rarely smiled, smiled lightly at the memory of their old acquaintances. "I remember Billi and Tiala, two naughty children, and a few others too. Caius, what about you?"
Caius smiled and nodded.
Elianor grew interested and asked curiously, "What is the population of this village?"
Brunhild pondered a little and answered, "Hm… more than 200 people, maybe 300." She then continued to inform the others of what she recalled regarding Maplemurk Village's architecture.
As they chatted, they followed behind Caius. He took them in a roundabout way to a high cliff far away from Maplemurk Village, allowing them to survey and monitor the settlement from afar to understand the current situation better.
Along the way, they didn't encounter either the villagers or any bandits. They had already expected that. Bandits often feared unexpected situations and surprises, especially when capturing a village. They wouldn't travel far from their base for fear of running into trouble. Their strength lay in numbers; even if they possessed multiple Rank 1 or 2 Mana Wielders, they lacked the courage to face unexpected situations alone.
There was also a possibility that the bandits had already left, as they didn't usually stick around for too long after invading a place. But nothing was certain until they checked the situation themselves.
After arriving at the clifftop, Brunhild half-knelt and pulled a telescope out from her space pouch. It was a mortal artifact that could show distant images clearly.
After a short while of surveying, she frowned.
"How is it?" Caius asked.
Brunhild handed Caius the telescope so he could check for himself.
After observing every corner, Caius also frowned.
The entire village was empty. There were some clues and markings showing that people still lived there and had not abandoned it, but there was no one out on the streets or anywhere else.
Villagers not wandering around was understandable if the place was still occupied by bandits, but why were the bandits hiding as well? It was already nearing evening; shouldn't they be wasting themselves by drinking and celebrating at this moment?
Caius moved the telescope away, the same frown resting on his face as Brunhild's.
"How is it? And how do we proceed?" Thorne asked in a calm tone.
Caius pondered a little and answered, "The villagers and even the bandits seem to be hiding inside the buildings; we cannot guess their numbers. We can only check on them on foot."
Thorne nodded; that seemed to be the only way, though the risk would also rise. They just needed to be much more cautious when entering the village.
Elianor gulped nervously. She felt it was far too creepy for no villagers to be seen. Who knew—maybe some intelligent Mana Beast had taken over the village, and all the villagers were already dead. Similar things had happened before, though she hadn't faced such things herself and had only heard of them through rumors in the taverns.
She didn't articulate her worries aloud since the others were far more experienced than her. They surely had their own guesses regarding the current situation.
Caius explained his plan, "In a few hours, when it's completely dark, we will infiltrate the village. I will explain our plans further depending on what we figure out before we invade. For now, each one of us will take turns observing the village from here. Someone is bound to come out eventually to take care of their needs. Then we can understand which buildings they are hiding in."
Everyone agreed.
Soon, three hours flew by and not a single soul was spotted within the village.
They even started to wonder if the entire village had been slaughtered.
Brunhild didn't like that thought. She was worried for her old acquaintances; they had all been very cute children, and she was good friends with quite a few of the adults, too. The possibility of them being brutally killed did not feel nice. Even after years of being an adventurer, this kind of thing usually wouldn't happen, as both beasts and humans didn't normally annihilate an entire village.
Caius informed the others of his tactical plans and his past knowledge of the location.
"We will stick together when we enter through the eastern side. After checking out the nearest houses, we will slowly proceed from there. If no one is found, then we will separate and search, but don't separate too far. Also, in case you are found by a tough enemy that you cannot swiftly knock out or kill, do not hesitate to yell out loudly for the others to hear. Depending on the enemy's rank, Brunhild and I might not show ourselves immediately. So, it will be up to the four of you to help each other, but if you guys cannot handle them, we will provide support accordingly."
Everyone agreed. Brunhild was a late-stage Rank 2 and Caius was an early-stage Rank 3; both were the strongest among them. Meanwhile, Thorne was a mid-stage Rank 2, Garrick and Eilif were early-stage Rank 2, and Elianor, being the weakest, was a late-stage Rank 1. All of them were Warriors. Brunhild was an archer, while the rest were close-range fighters.
After taking one final glance through the telescope, they all silently walked toward Maplemurk Village.
Upon arriving near the village wall on the east side, they all crouched and suppressed their presence as much as possible. While making as little noise as possible, they entered the village.
After leaping over the stone wall, they studied the village up close.
The moon was high up, and the village was partially covered by a night mist. The huts were built with mud and straw. There were also quite a few tall wooden and stone buildings placed at random intervals.
The night wind blew gently. Except for some occasional creaking sounds from wooden doors and windows, everything else was completely silent—almost as if it were an abandoned village.
The tall wooden and stone-mix buildings had the highest chance of being where captives were kept, and also where the bandits should be staying. But they couldn't ignore the huts either, as there was a chance of bandits hiding inside who would surround them during battle.
Four of them quietly started checking the huts as silently as possible, while Brunhild and Caius sneaked toward the nearest three-story wooden house.
Unsurprisingly, the tall building was also empty; after all, they were still far from the center of the village.
Caius signaled Brunhild, to which she nodded and climbed onto the roof of the tall building. She then found a nice vantage spot that would allow her to shoot arrows at various locations. Since she was an archer, she was at her best from a distance.
Caius crouched and traveled within the shadows of the houses toward the tallest wooden building in the center of the village, while also checking the other bigger structures in between.
He moved very steadily and slowly because he wanted to give the others a chance to clear the eastern side houses; also, in case they encountered a tough enemy, he could rush back quickly to support them.
Garrick and Eilif peeked through a window of a small hut. Seeing no one was around, they separated, both heading to different huts nearby.
They tried their best to make little noise, though it was difficult for them since they were heavy weapon users with large physical builds.
For houses that had no windows, they would try to enter through the door to check. If it was locked, they broke the lock as silently as possible. Only after checking the inside and confirming they were empty did they move on to the next huts.
This was necessary not only to make sure they didn't get ambushed from behind but also to have an escape route ready in case they needed to fall back.
Thorne had no problem with stealth as he was lightweight. While Garrick and Eilif checked only two houses, he had already checked four.
But no matter which one they looked into, it was empty, showing no signs of anyone living there for the past few days or even weeks. They wondered if the east side of the village was completely deserted and people were hiding on the other sides, or perhaps if, for some reason, the inhabitants had completely abandoned the village.
Elianor was the only one who was totally creeped out. She felt as if there were ghosts and monsters within the village, and that if she entered their houses, they would eat her alive.
But she also couldn't drag her team down, so she gathered her courage and followed what the others were doing.
She slowly sneaked into a hut that had already been checked by Garrick. After not finding anything inside, she nodded to herself as if she had done a great job and contributed greatly to their teamwork.
She came out of the hut and continued doing the same for the next few houses.
Brunhild, who was keeping an eye on all of them, felt like covering her eyes in shame after noticing Elianor's actions. Elianor was not even subtle about it; the moment others checked a house and left, she would sneak in like a master thief and then come out while shaking her head as if she were too disappointed that there were no monsters inside.
Brunhild sighed helplessly. There was nothing she could do or say from so far away, so she let Elianor do whatever she liked and focused her attention on the others.
After checking and finding that the huts were all empty, Elianor finally found her courage again.
She slowly started heading toward the northern side, where the original entrance gate to the village was located.
She had already separated from the others and had no idea where they were. In short, she was lost, as the houses were not built in a straight line. But she was now certain that the village was empty and abandoned, and that there were no ghosts or demons around, so she was completely relaxed.
Garrick, Eilif, and Thorne were very cautious of their positions. They kept each other in mind and stayed close in case they encountered an enemy and needed immediate support.
After some time, Thorne noticed that Elianor was missing. He frowned and turned toward Brunhild, who was stationed far away on the top of a building.
Brunhild knew what Thorne wanted to ask, so she pointed with an arrow toward the northeast side of the village.
Due to other buildings blocking her eyesight, she had lost track of Elianor. She also couldn't shout at Elianor to come back, as that would alert the enemies if they were sleeping or resting nearby.
Thorne acknowledged her signal and headed toward where Elianor had gone.