Her Graceful War Song novel Chapter 1257

It took Carissa an hour to pull herself out of the paralyzing grip of fear. Afterward, she mounted her horse and rode straight to the palace. She needed a reason to leave the capital.

Salvador had received two letters from Rafael. The first letter reported an unusual village they had come across, and they suspected that the villagers were the private army they were looking for. Salvador had sent a secret order for Rafael to investigate the area.

The second letter described their initial foray into the mountains, where the defenses were tight, confirming the presence of a private army. However, they had not yet found the weapons or supplies. Salvador had sent another order to continue the investigation, with a directive to destroy any weapons and supplies found.

Since then, there had been no word from Rafael.

Salvador was, admittedly, a little worried. Sending just a few people to scout several mountain ranges, without knowing the size of the enemy force or whether they had martial arts experts among them, was undeniably risky.

At the same time, he also saw it as an excellent opportunity. If they could locate and destroy the weapons, they could immediately mobilize troops under the guise of quelling bandits. This approach would avoid unnecessary fanfare and potentially reduce casualties.

Hearing from Carissa that there had been no news for half a month only deepened his concern. But without information, it was impossible to take action—he couldn't dispatch troops until he had verified the situation.

He issued an edict, instructing Carissa to lead a group to Jasford City to oversee the delivery of a shipment of luxurious brocade. This particular shipment was intended as a gift to Westhaven and couldn't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

It was well-known that the area surrounding Jasford City was rife with mountain bandits. The surrounding hills offered ideal vantage points for the bandits, who would then descend to rob passing merchants.

Therefore, sending Carissa with the Mystic Army to escort the brocade was the perfect cover. However, there was no need for a large force. He assigned 50 men to accompany her, and the rest—whatever extra help she required—she would have to arrange on her own.

Violet, Cynthia, Bun, Alana, and Leah, along with Isaac and Claire, were all packed and ready to go. Meanwhile, Mabel, Iris, and others remained in the capital to manage the affairs there.

The Mystic Army had previously escorted tax money shipments, so their departure did not raise any suspicions. After all, the team wasn't particularly large.

The mountains around the village were tall and treacherous, with some areas rarely touched by human feet. The old forest, shrouded in perpetual mist, made it even more dangerous. The air was thick with miasma, and most people avoided entering, despite rumors of rare herbs and strange beasts hidden within. No one dared risk their lives to make money from such ventures.

Once, Stone Village had been a relatively normal village. It was sparsely populated, with the young and able-bodied men heading down the mountains in search of work, leaving behind the elderly and the sick.

However, a devastating plague had killed many of the villagers. The exact cause of the village's transformation was unclear, but rumors said that outsiders, homeless and without proper identification or records, had ended up there and settled in the unlucky Stone Village.

Over time, the population grew.

The local government had taken notice, but since the people didn't cause trouble and only made a living by farming the land, the authorities chose to turn a blind eye.