As the rest of the unit escorted the guide back toward the forest’s entrance, Captain Sofie Merz and her lieutenant returned to the clearing. The grumpy old man—now seated comfortably on the porch of the hunting lodge—watched them approach with mildly amused eyes.

  Sofie squared her shoulders.

  “Sir, I would like an explanation for your conduct toward a public official. Threatening—”

  “You don’t need me to explain,” the old man cut her off, pointing lazily at her lieutenant. “That squirt next to you already said it perfectly.”

  The lieutenant stiffened. Sofie blinked, startled.

  “But,” the old man added with a sigh, “I will apologize. I shouldn’t have greeted you with threats.”

  “I… don’t follow,” Sofie admitted.

  A second voice drifted out from the shadows.

  “Oh, come now, missy. You didn’t think you could hold a secret meeting in our forest without us listening, did you?”

  A grey-bearded elder stepped into the light and sat down beside the first, startling both officers. Immediately after, another nine elderly men and women emerged from the trees and approached.

  “You enjoy startling people way too much,” one of them complained.

  Before Sofie could respond, the first old man suddenly shouted, “False alarm! Do your thing!”

  Confused, she turned—then nearly jumped out of her skin as the entire forest shifted. Leaves rustled as figures vanished from view. A heartbeat later, several arrows whistled overhead, embedding themselves into a training dummy with pinpoint precision.

  And then the forest fell silent again.

  “What—what was that!?” Sofie gasped, staring at the arrows buried in the training dummy .

  “Relax,” the old man chuckled. “The kids were wound up on adrenaline and already had arrows nocked. Had to let the shots fly. Sorry about that.”

  Sofie swallowed. She recognized a tactic when she saw one—intimidation to gain leverage. She was right. Because moments later, the elders made demands she absolutely could not grant.

  If it had been money—no issue. She had resources.

  But tax exemptions and binding government promises? Only parliament could authorize those.

  Still, when they demonstrated their archery technique, she understood why the EU needed them so badly. Even she—who had chosen a Warrior class—was impressed by the sheer speed and brutal precision of their shots. if you compared them with how she saw the modern archers shoot they were lucky if they could shoot 2 arrows per minute accurately

  If they had one hundred such instructors…

  The army would change forever.

  “Thank you for your demonstration, Mister…” Sofie faltered, realizing she didn’t know his name.

  “Oh! Silly me,” the old man laughed. “I forgot to introduce myself. Karl Sonnenberg. And you are?”

  “Sofie Merz, sir. I’ll inform the General of your conditions. Someone will come to negotiate within the next three days.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “That’s good to hear,” Karl nodded. “Arin will guide you back.”

  She turned—and nearly jumped again. A young man stood on the path, though she could swear no one had been there a second earlier.

  “Okay…” she muttered.

  Karl whispered something under his breath too quietly for her to hear.

  “Merz… Could she be the general’s granddaughter? Good thing I signed up under a fake ID back then, or they’d drag me back into the army…”

  He chuckled dryly.

  “Did you say something, Karl?”

  “Nothing, dear.”

  Arin’s POV

  Ahhh, why does Grandpa always push this on me!? I should’ve gone with the others!

  Why is she staring so much!? We’re only halfway back!

  Arin was screaming internally the entire walk.

  Sofie, meanwhile, observed him closely. Every time they passed through a patch of shadow, his outline seemed to fade. Whenever the sun hit them and visibility dipped, he simply… disappeared for a heartbeat.

  How do they do that? she wondered.

  He’d explained earlier that their style had to be taught from early childhood until it became instinctive. And she believed him. Still—if the Black Owls could learn even five percent of what this family could do, they would become the greatest special forces in the EU. Possibly the world.

  Her gaze drifted to Arin again.

  A promising youth. Probably not even eighteen. If she read the elders correctly, he was considered talented among them.

  Maybe I can recruit him… somehow.

  It would be difficult, but not impossible.

  At the Forest Entrance

  “Well, this is it,” Arin said quickly. “From here you should know your way back. Have a nice day—goodbye!”

  And just like that, he melted into the shadows and vanished.

  “…That was certainly a way to send us off,” Sofie muttered.

  Her officers exchanged looks. She pointed toward the treetops. They stared—seeing nothing—until a branch shifted and a figure vanished again.

  “Right,” Sofie said. “Let’s return to base. Notify the rest of the unit to rendezvous there.”

  As the squad piled into the vehicles, Sofie caught movement in the forest. Two shadows collided, followed by a muffled voice:

  “You idiot, Tom! They didn’t even see you! Heck, I didn’t see you—and we’re trained to spot each other! She just guessed, and you fell for it! I’m telling Grandma Lilly!”

  “Nooo! Not Grandma Lilly! Bill, don’t tell her! I can’t take another of her training sessions!”

  Laughter echoed through the trees—more than ten voices at least.

  A chill ran down Sofie’s spine.

  If these people were enemies…

  She stepped into the car, closing the door with a slow exhale.

  “I think,” she whispered to herself, “I’ve just found Grandpa’s friend. And now I understand why he sometimes looked afraid when he talked about him.”