Chapter 584 Being Watched

Chapter 584: Chapter 584 Being Watched

They were not merely grumbling about the length of the journey. They had noticed the same thing she had: that they were getting farther from the Royal Capital.

The Priestess’s eyes narrowed beneath her veil.

This was the opportunity she needed.

If she openly voiced her suspicions, the werewolves leading them might notice. But she could quietly alert the male Tigrens through their mindlink without causing a scene.

"Let’s rest for a bit," she said through the mindlink connecting her to the warriors.

Her voice remained calm, but the meaning behind her words was anything but.

She couldn’t tell whether she was simply being overly cautious or if there was truly something worth suspecting.

As the Royal Guard Captain had instructed them, after he, their Chieftain, and the Royal Archmage departed, a small group of warriors wearing the same Royal Guard uniforms had come to escort them. They had even presented their badges as proof of their identities.

The Priestess had not accepted them blindly.

She had personally inspected the badges with mana detection before allowing her people to follow them. Authentic badges issued by the Royal Court were embedded with magical seals created by court mages specifically for verification, making it difficult for anyone to forge a convincing copy.

The magical signatures served as a reliable means of authentication, and she had made certain to check them herself.

The seals had appeared genuine.

So, naturally, none of the Tigrens had suspected anything.

They might be considered simple-minded by the other races, but they weren’t ignorant. They understood enough about the world to know that appearances could be deceiving and that important people carried methods of identification for precisely this reason.

Yet now, as the unfamiliar forest stretched endlessly around them, the Priestess couldn’t help but question her earlier judgment.

Had she missed something?

Had there been a flaw in her inspection?

Or worse... Had someone managed to fool even her mana detection?

Her grip tightened around her staff.

She didn’t like that possibility at all.

Soon, the male Tigrens began slowing their pace, preparing to stop and rest as their Priestess had suggested.

The change did not go unnoticed.

The werewolves leading the entourage immediately noticed the Tigrens’ sudden decrease in speed, and one of the warriors positioned at the rear, closest to the Tigrens, didn’t even need to be told by their leader to check. He turned and approached them instead, clearly intent on finding out why they had slowed down.

The Priestess noticed immediately that the werewolves were watching them closely, their very movement and every change in pace.

Her eyes narrowed beneath her veil as she tightened her grip on the thick fur of the Tigren warrior carrying her. For reasons she couldn’t explain, a growing sense of unease had begun crawling beneath her skin. It felt as though something was about to happen.

She just didn’t know what.

That uncertainty made her even more cautious.

Her posture stiffened, her senses sharpening as she quietly prepared herself for whatever might come next.

"What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly stopping?"

The moment the werewolf guard reached the Tigrens, who had come to a complete stop, he shifted back into his human form and questioned them. His tone was casual enough, but the fact that he had immediately come over the moment they slowed down did not escape the Priestess’s notice.

The Priestess carefully climbed down from the Tigren warrior carrying her, allowing several of the Tigren women to assist her. One supported her arm while another steadied her as she descended, making sure her feet were firmly on the ground before letting go.

As the werewolf guard approached, one of the Tigren women moved to the Priestess’s side and helped guide her toward the front of their group. The Tigren warrior who had carried her followed closely behind, only a step away, his massive frame towering protectively over them.

"Our warriors have traveled a long way," the Priestess said pleasantly, offering the werewolf guard a gentle smile beneath her veil. "It shouldn’t be too much to ask for a short break, should it?"

Her voice was amiable and unassuming, deliberately chosen to ease whatever suspicion the werewolf might have had.

For now, there was no reason to let him know that she was beginning to suspect something was wrong.

Hearing the Priestess, the Tigren warrior closest to her frowned. "Priestess, we can still—" He didn’t get to finish.

The Priestess immediately shot him a sharp look, silencing him before he could say what she already knew was coming.

He wasn’t wrong. They could continue.

Tigren warriors were accustomed to traveling long distances at full speed. Life on the grasslands had demanded it of them. Their hunting grounds could stretch for miles, and finding enough prey to feed the clan sometimes meant traveling for an entire day without rest. Their bodies had been forged by that harsh existence, giving them incredible stamina and endurance that few other races could match.

It was one of the reasons Tigrens were such formidable warriors.

Even after hours of running, they could still push forward while other races would have already exhausted themselves. Their frightening physical endurance was one of the traits that made them so dangerous in battle.

But that wasn’t the point.

The Priestess didn’t need a break because her people were exhausted.

She needed an excuse to stop.

She needed time to observe their surroundings, question the route they had been taken along, and quietly assess the warriors escorting them before they went any farther.

And for that, a simple request to rest was more than enough.

The moment the guard heard the Tigren warrior’s words, his expression darkened into a deep frown.

The Priestess noticed it immediately and quickly intervened.

"Please don’t think we’re trying to make things difficult for you," she said in a gentle, apologetic tone. "We’ve truly traveled a long way, and we women aren’t quite as sturdy as our males..."

She deliberately placed the blame on herself and the other females of the clan, giving the guard a simple and reasonable explanation for their sudden stop.

The Tigren males exchanged glances.

Only then did they understand what their Priestess was doing.

They had been so focused on the journey and the possibility that something was wrong with their route that they hadn’t considered how exhausting the trip might have been for the women. A hint of guilt settled over them as they realized they had never once stopped to ask whether the females were tired.

And sure enough, the moment the Priestess mentioned it, the Tigren women immediately nodded along.

They looked every bit as travel-worn as their Priestess claimed, their clothes dusty and their expressions weary from the long journey.

Of course, it was mostly an act.

The females of the Tigren Clan knew perfectly well that they could continue traveling without much difficulty. They were nowhere near exhausted.

But they were also quick-witted enough to understand that their Priestess had a reason for asking to stop.

If she wanted to pause, then there was clearly something she had noticed that they hadn’t.

So none of them questioned her in front of the werewolf guard.