Chapter 376 - Intimidating Aura As night fell upon Ika vilge, a pious woman in brown robes embroidered in leaves and vines walked up the stone steps to the vilge chief’s home. Her back was straight, her gait dignified and strong, befitting of a priest. Her staff of unpolished wood, leaves still clinging to its length, struck each stair with quiet, unhurried purpose. As she reached the top of the steps she paused, letting her tired eyes sweep over the sleepy vilge. A small, satisfied smile touched her lips as she saw the flickering light of candles and hearths from the homes across the valley. It had been a long day’s work tending to the vilger’s needs. Many of them suffered the not-so-obvious side effects of the Wailing - malnutrition, untreated sores and wounds were common, as the vilgers cked the willpower to help themselves. Likewise, many food and water stores had started to rot, or were contaminated. As a priest of Nature, Naomi’s abilities were well suited to bringing bance and health back to the vilge. As she taking in the surroundings, her brows suddenly furrowed as that very sensitivity to bance warned her of approaching forces. There was a hostility to their energy that disrupted the peace around her. Furthermore, there were many of them. The energy of the approaching Exalted was distinctly familiar to her, so she was not particurly apprehensive. Why they would come to this small vilge on the outer edges of Huan was the real question. If it had been just one or two, Naomi might have thought they would have come to investigate the aftermath of the Corrupted One. However, this many troops indicated that they were on a serious operation. They must be here for the White Maiden’s followers. A small frown touched her lips as she decided not to enter the Chief’s house, but to wait for their arrival at the fence by the cliff side overlooking the vilge. It wasn’t long before she saw numerous bck figures emerge from the wilderness, approaching the vilge from all angles. They moved silently, with a gracefulness that made them almost appear as phantoms floating across the ndscape. Despite their heavy armour and weapons, their presence was subtle and quiet and aligned with nature, such that the vilgers who were still outside did not even notice their approach. These are just the soldiers they want to be noticed. Naomi reflected. There must be more of them staying out of sight. Her spiritual intuition gave a warning as the air near to Naomi shimmered, and a fully armoured giant of a man materialized directly next to her. The ornate horns on his fred iron helmet indicated that he was a captain, likely the leader of the troop. He was a rge man, standing at two and a half meters tall. He was the tallest man Naomi had ever seen, with a dominating aura of a military veteran. He had a ruddy complexion with fierce, thick eyebrows and an impressive bck beard. The halberd on his back was nearly twice his height, made of solid, battle-scarred metal, and was likely too heavy for any normal human to wield. “Priestess.” The captain loomed over her with an intimidating scowl, “We are here for the visitors. Are they inside the manor?” “They are under Yuima’s protection.” Naomi forced her tone to be neutral, but firm, trying not to be intimidated by the captain’s aura — a difficult feat when she had to crane her head nearly all the way up to look the giant in the eyes. “It doesn’t matter.” The captain’s deep voice came out in a growl, “Take me to them.” This can’t be good. Naomi clenched her fists subconsciously as she turned to stand between the captain and the manor, “What business do you have with them? They are in my care, I won’t let you touch them.” Seeing the priestess take an obstructive stance against him, the captain’s eyes narrowed, his scowl deepening. Is he going to strike me down for getting in his way? Surely he wouldn’t…! Naomi fought every urge in her body to run away as she somehow managed to scowled right back at him. The standoff sted for a few tense seconds, then suddenly the captain's scowl cracked. His eyes crinkled at the corners, and he threw his head back with a loud, barking ugh. “Why do you look like you want to fight me, priestess!” His booming voice shook the air around them, “We are just here to greet the visitors!” Not expecting the sudden shift in mood, Naomi’s eyes widened and she felt goosebumps form on her skin as she took an involuntary step back, “Just to greet?” “They just saved the vilge, did they not?!” He gestured across the valley with a violent sweeping motion, “They defeated a Corrupted One!” His booming voice echoed across the previously peaceful valley. Is he yelling because he’s mad at me!? Naomi realized that she had subconsciously raised her staff in a defensive position at the captain’s gesture. It took her a moment to recover her composure as she pced her staff back on the ground, assuming the best dignified pose she could with her trembling hands, “Yes, they did—?“ A sigh sounded from a short distance away as a more… normal-looking soldier appeared, red and blue hues washing over his form as he also materialized out of the spiritual pne, “Captain, you’re doing it again.” Fury ignited in the captain’s eyes as he growled, “Doing what?!” His foot stomped the ground as he turned to face his soldier, hands clenched as he looked like he was about to rip the poor soldier’s head off. “Intimidating people.” The man replied calmly. “I am not!” He snarled, then turned to face Naomi and took a lumbering step toward her. He towered over her, his voice rumbling darkly, “Am I intimidating you?!” “No—” Naomi replied reflexively, eyes darting between the captain and the soldier as she tried her best to make sense of the confusing situation, “You’re really just here to talk to them?” … After a short conversation, Naomi finally understood the situation. The appearance of the Corrupted One had activated the Zephyr Guard, who had quickly made their way from their station on the north coast. Captain Hojo and his fifteen men were one of only three Zephyr squads, and his specialty was fighting Corrupted monsters. It had taken them three days to travel across the whole province, which was both quite fast and also extremely slow. Fast, because a trip from the coast would normally take at least three weeks by horse. Slow, because three days was a long time for a powerful Corrupted One to wreak havoc. Due to Yuima’s assistance and her cleansing rituals Corrupted Ones in Huan were rare, though, and there was a scattering of Exalted across Huan, such as Naomi herself, that could help in a pinch— but Captain Hojo’s troop were the elite of the elite. As for why he had come all this way with his entire squad even after hearing about the successful defeat of the monster, Naomi didn’t find the opportunity to ask. And regarding his somewhat—no, exceedingly— aggressive arrival at the vilge, this was apparently just how he did things. Just like his fierce, intimidating aura, he seemed somewhat oblivious to the perception of his actions and attitude to those around him. Cautiously satisfied that Captain Hojo was not here to harm the White Maiden’s people, Naomi invited the captain and his ‘normal’ lieutenant into the Chief’s manor. As they stepped past the threshold of the front door, the three Exalted paused, frowns on their faces. A soft breeze imperceptibly blew across the doorway as a subtle seal was broken. “They’re… they’re not here?” Naomi muttered in surprise, reaching out with her spirituality to try to sense the presence of the Exalted, “That’s strange, I only saw them… in the afternoon.” Had it really been that long? She frowned. She had made an effort to check in with at least one of the White Maiden’s Exalted every hour or two. But today, somehow as she was helping the vilgers, one thing led to another and she had unknowingly found herself too busy to take a break. She shuddered slightly as she realized she’d been tricked. Seeing the priestess’ reaction, Captain Hojo’s jaw hardened. He sent a sharp look to his lieutenant, who immediately closed his eyes and sent a telepathic signal to the soldiers in their command. Naomi’s spiritual intuition fred as half a dozen Exalted immediately converged on the manor, phasing into the building from every direction. Despite this aggressive move, Naomi didn’t sense any hostility from the soldiers. Just cold, tactical execution of orders. “They’re gone.” The lieutenant opened his eyes after a moment, “We don’t know where. If they left recently, they were very good at hiding their traces.” “They were definitely here just a few hours ago.” Naomi frowned contemptively, not sure why her guests would have felt the need to leave. She turned to look at the captain, and immediately recoiled in terror as she saw a fuming scowl on his face. “Spirits be damned!” He snarled, looking like he was ready to go to war, “I really wanted to hear how they defeated the monster!” “Er…” Naomi hesitated, her heart still racing, “You’re not… mad?” “Why would I be mad?!” Captain Hojo swept his arm dramatically, then barked at his second-in-command, “Chousuke, tell the men to stand down. We’ll make camp outside the vilge.” “Yes, Captain.” The lieutenant smiled calmly as he bowed to Naomi. Hues of colour washed over his body as he faded into the spirit pne. “They can’t have gone far. We’ll go looking for them in the morning.” Captain Hojo grumbled, “It’ll be impossible to escape me for long.” “Do you think they were running from you?” Naomi asked after a moment of hesitation. “No. Why would they?” Captain Hojo looked genuinely confused. “Well— you did just surround the vilge with an entire squadron of Exalted…” Naomi said delicately. “Well, I didn’t want them to get away. It’s standard operating procedure for approaching foreign Exalted forces.” The Captain said matter-of-factly. Despite his fierce disposition and… suspect choice of words, Naomi felt that the captain really did not have malicious intentions toward the White Maiden. It was just a bit difficult to parse his naturally aggressive body nguage. With the way they arrived, even I was intimidated. Maybe if he had been a little less… direct… They wouldn’t have been scared off? Naomi opened her mouth to speak her thoughts, but then thought better of it. Captain Hojo’s eyes darkened as he seemed to be contempting Naomi’s words. His shadow loomed over her, seemingly growing darker. It must have been her imagination, but wisps of dark mist seemed to leak out of his mouth with every slow, menacing exhale. Oh gods, did I insult him by suggesting that they were scared off by him? She fought the urge to tremble under his gaze as she waited for him to speak. “Where is the vilge chief?” The captain growled darkly, seeming as if he had some harsh criticism for the elder’s inability to keep his guests from departing. Then he added amicably, “It would be improper for me to not greet him!” “Yes, well—“ Naomi’s couldn’t help but imagine the poor elderly mayor having a heart attack from a visit from this giant of a man in the dead of the night, “He’s probably asleep— I think he wouldn’t mind waiting until morning!”