Gwen gripped the hilt of her sword, her face grim as she looked toward the army opposite them.
She had known they would inevitably run into trouble along the way, but she had not expected it to come so quickly.
The Resistance Army had left Slading Fortress in the afternoon. Before night had even fallen, they had encountered the enemy.
By all rights, they should not have run into enemies at this hour—this era practically had no capacity for nighttime warfare.
Leaving aside the issue of illumination, night blindness was highly prevalent among soldiers of the Northern Territory. At night, they were practically blind even with their eyes open.
And given the standard of armies in this era, simply locating the enemy was already a problem. Fighting? Impossible.
Yet the Resistance Army had indeed encountered the enemy at dusk.
"Something's off." Isaac leaned closer. "Look at those people. They haven't even put on all their gear, and their mental state seems strange too."
Gwen narrowed her eyes and examined them closely. It was true—their equipment was appallingly poor. No matter how she looked at them, they did not resemble regular troops, but rather... guards from small towns.
They did seem somewhat absent-minded as well, but that was not the important part.
What truly made Gwen feel there was something wrong with their minds was this:
There were fewer than two hundred of them, yet they had simply lined up directly in front of the Resistance Army.
The Resistance Army numbered several thousand.
"What do you think is going on?"
"The work of Investigators," Isaac said without hesitation.
"Investigator is an extremely versatile Transcendence profession. These mortals were likely beguiled by them and sent here to block our path."
"Then we..."
"Leave it to me." Isaac sneered. "I'm an Investigator too."