In an unnamed valley to the west of the territory.
In a relatively secluded spot in the grass on the mountaintop, several people were hiding, observing the situation in the valley. Yes, they were members of the first guard of Gray Fortress and Cedar.
"Lord Andrew, look over there, the guards here are much tighter now."
Andrew looked towards the valley and saw that there were indeed more guards, but the miners were no longer in the same spot as before; they had moved to another location not far away.
Is it because it's easier to dig over there? Andrew couldn't understand why those people kept switching places to dig.
After watching for a while, it was soon noon. People in the valley below were distributing food, which looked like some black bread and cloudy ale from a distance.
Andrew has confirmed that there are no villages around here, so these people must have come from elsewhere.
Andrew planned to observe for a while longer to see where they transported the ore after it was mined.
As Andrew was thinking, the cedar tree quietly came to his side.
"Lord Andrew, there's a miner over there who looks a bit like one of our old comrades from our village," Cedar said, pointing to a man eating in the distance.
However, this place is far from the valley, and we can only see a rough outline of the person. The cedar tree is not particularly certain, but it does look very similar from a distance.
Shan Shu's body trembled slightly. If it were true, that would be wonderful. He had previously thought that no one else in their village had survived except for them.
"Fir Tree, really? Take a closer look." Andrew didn't dare to be careless. If it really was someone from Fir Tree's former territory, then it would be a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.
The cedar tree calmed its excited emotions and opened its eyes wide again, trying to look into the valley.
Hmm, his eating habits are really similar to Yu Mu's, but Yu Mu used to be very strong, while this person seems very thin. But I haven't seen him for so long, so I can't be too sure. It would be better if he stood up and walked around.
As Sugi was mentally comparing the differences between the two, a figure suddenly caught his attention.
Shan Shu's eyes instantly turned red, and his emotions, which had just begun to stabilize, surged again. He kept repeating to himself:
"This person…this person, this person is Ares, the lord's servant."
The rustling of the cedar tree caught the attention of Andrew, who pressed it down as it tried to stand up. "Cedar, what's wrong? Calm down. We're just observing the situation discreetly right now. Let's not cause any unnecessary trouble."
With Andrew's reassurance, the fir tree seemed to calm down a bit, but he still glared at the valley with hatred and said:
"Lord Andrew, do you see that man with the whip? He was a servant of the former lord of the territory. I would recognize him even if he were ashes. And that man who looks like my companion, it must be him too."
Listening to the Ficus's words, which were filled with hatred and certainty, Andrew knew that this place was indeed occupied by the people who used to be in the Ficus's territory, but they probably weren't very close by, and the road from their side was probably better than his own.
Since there are acquaintances of Shanshu there, let's ask Shanshu to go and find out the details later tonight.
"Shushu, see if you can sneak over there tonight and contact your former companion to ask about the situation here."
"Yes, Lord Andrew, I'll try tonight." Cedar wasn't afraid at all, only excited to see his companion soon.
"Okay, be careful. Don't force it if you can't reach them."