The Third Monster Mountains, at the edge of the Forest.
White dragons glittered in the sunlight as they chased one another, while mages and warriors spread through the Forest to search.
It was their third day in the mountains. They had encountered plenty of creatures that lived in the Forest—gnolls, fairies, venomous spiders, even dwarves—but not a trace of the druids.
"Could the druids be hiding from us?" Sven flourished his sword and marked an oak to show they had passed this way.
"I don't know. This Forest is enormous. We may not have come anywhere near them." Sven's uncle Blom leaned on his Greatsword and watched the soldiers hack through the underbrush as they advanced.
It was only early April. By June or July, a druid could stand ten yards away and they still wouldn't see one.
"Uncle... why won't Lord Olmedo go to Gemstone City?" Sven took the chance to ask what had been bothering him.
"What do you think?"
"Lord Annan said he'd make Lord Olmedo the Deputy City Lord. Does Lord Olmedo not want to serve under him?"
"Do you think Lord Olmedo is that kind of man?"
"...No."
Sven shook his head firmly.
The year Lord Olmedo had served as City Lord had been Breeze City's most stable. The Nobles paid higher taxes, the knights received better treatment, and the Civilians did not go hungry. Compared with Annan's practice of treating Nobles and civilians alike, Olmedo's policies better matched Sven's principles as a Noble Knight.
"Keep thinking. Once you work it out, you'll understand."
Sven hesitated, but Blom had already asked, "How did Annan meet these druids?"
Sven, who had once served as Annan's Knight Captain, thought back. "I remember Lord Annan showing a Magic Film in the Forest. The druids seemed drawn to it..."