Guarding the walls was important work.

  At least that was how Guard Captain Albert saw it.

  He had guarded the walls of the capital for almost 50 years. A few more years and he would retire from this job.

  Some people may say guarding the walls was a boring job. Nothing exciting ever really happens. The last event was a monster outbreak that occurred forty years ago.Even though he had just been a rookie guard back then, he can still vividly remember the event.

  It was terrifying and he thought his life was going to end that day when it was announced. His life did come dangerously close to ending that day several times, but he managed to live through it with all limbs intact.

  From that day on, Albert took his job very seriously.

  The origin of the monster outbreak had been from the Forest of Death. Scholars stated that overpopulation and decline of resources pushed the monsters out towards the city. That was why several outposts were built around the forest. Adventurers already went in to claim precious herbs, but it was not enough to cut down the monster population that originated in the Forest of Death. The knights also began to run yearly training inside the Forest of Death to prevent another monster outbreak.

  To this day there have been no problems, so the small clearance methods seem to be working.

  Since the Maldolg kingdom is located on the borders of the Forest of Death, there was little worry of invasions from other countries.That’s why guards consider guarding the wall a dull task. At least patrolling the city offers more activity instead of staring at the never changing green expanse. Day in and day out, the scenery never changed. Most guards found wall guarding extremely boring and would only perform their job in a spiritless manner.

  Still, Albert took guarding very seriously. Be it rain or shine, he took part in the watch on the walls.

  Maybe that was why he was promoted to guard captain after the old one stepped down.

  “Captain, there's a report coming from one of the new recruits. They don't know if the issue is important or not.” one of the guards shouted at him, waking him out of his thoughts.

  “Huh, let's go take a look then,” Albert said as he moved towards where the report was made..

  It was rare for there to be any issues when patrolling the walls. Most guards were briefed on the basics and how to handle any problems that crop up when they start off. Afterwards the guards are left to their own devices from there. Only when a serious issue erupts then will the Guard Captain come into the picture. The recruit probably sighted something off and didn't know if they should ring the alarm for fear of punishment. The sighting must have been truly odd, but didn't ring any alarm bells since they called Albert over.

  Albert didn’t mind questions. That meant people were paying attention. There were only really two things as Guard Captain he was afraid of.

  Incompetant people and unexpected situations.

  It could be considered three things that Albert loathe since incompetant people could be broken down for both subordinates and superiors. As a Guard Captain, his direct superior was the knights. They weren’t bad to deal with since the current Knight Commander took office. When he had started off, his superior had gotten the job through nepotism and was incompetant as they came. That particular superior had run away when the outbreak started, almost causing the walls and therefore the city, to fall that day.

  Thankfully that superior was replaced for his failure of mishandling the walls during the outbreak. The new superior was better, but not by much. When the current Knight Commander started, he did a direct and thorough cleaning. All members who got into the guard through connections and bribes were kicked out. While the nobles disliked the current Knight commander, most people like Albert were all too happy to see the new state of affairs.

  “What is the problem Johnas?” Albert asked as the new recruit who had reported the oddity. Johnas was a young guard, but he was honest. He would never lie or joke about things that could actually devolve into a serious situation.

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  “Yes Sir! I noticed smoke coming out of the Forest of Death sir. I have never seen that happen before and dont know what the procedure for odd sightings were,” Albert said as he pointed towards a direction in the distance.

  The Forest of Death had been constant for so many years, so it was a cause of concern if something appears different.

  Alarmed, Albert immediately focused his eyes and looked in the direction Johnas was pointing. Since it was night time, it was hard to see. He had to use his blessing to actually find what it was that Johnas had found strange.

   was an excellent blessing for hunters or any occupation that requires a bow and arrows. He had tried his hand at archery when he was younger, but just being able to see the target was different from being able to actually hit the target. Albert was never able to shoot the arrows as he wished. He always somehow missed the center point which is critical for an archer. While Albert would never become an expert marksman, his blessing allowed him to land a job as a wall guard.

  Good eyesight wasn't a must for the job, but it certainly was a plus. It did help with spotting troublemakers.

  However his eyes wasn't what they used to be due to age. Hence the reason why he planned for retirement in a few years. He already had his replacement trained that could replace him any time soon.

  Albert starred off in the distance, trying to catch the smoke plumes that Johnas had seen. There were small rest spots and villages along the borders of the forest where they used fire to cook. Hopefully that was what Johnas spotted. If not, there was a cause for concern.

  There.

  Albert finally saw what Johnas had seen.

  Smoke coming out of the forest that seem to grow bigger by the second.

  “SOUND THE ALARM! ALERT THE KNIGHTS! GO ON ALERT AS THIS IS NOT A DRILL!”

  The guards began to bustle about, following the orders of their captain.

  All except one, the young guard Johnas who had spotted the oddity. He looked around in confusion at the sudden activity. “It just smoke. Surely it can't be that bad?”

  Albert glared at the young guard in which Johnas quivered in return. Right, this was a newbie. He couldn't fault him for asking, but there will be a need to discipline him later.

  Albert sighed and decided to give an explanation. “ I have been guarding this wall for fifty years. FIFTY! That's almost triple your life son. And never had there been a case of smoke coming out of the Forest of Death. Do you know why?”

  Johnas shook his head, afraid of punishment from his superior for giving the wrong answer.

  “THATS CAUSE ANYONE WHO LIGHTS A FIRE THERE IS ALL DEAD! Go prepare yourself. Just hope its the only strangeness that you see tonight.”

  Johnas quickly ran off, happy to escape from the Guard Captain's sight.

  Albert sighed once again and began to head off for his own preparations. Every word he spoke just now was the truth. The Forest of Death was strange. First of all, it was highly difficult to even start a fire there. It had natural obstacles in place that prevented its plants from catching fire.

  It was also highly not recommended to do so. Anyone who was actually able to light a fire would somehow be caught in a toxic gas that would later become an explosion.

  Even though the Forest of Death was far from the walls, Albert could hear explosions year round caused by some poor ignorant chap.

  Albert had gone into the Forest of Death once, and that was enough.

  He listened to the stories of survivors and stayed a healthy distance away.

  Unfortunately there were few people who were tired of their lives and wanted to experiment on the specific phenomenon of lighting a fire inside the Forest Of Death. A group of mages and scholars set off on an expedition to find the very truth of why fires couldn't be lit. That was some thirty years ago.

  Needless to say that group never returned.

  Albert rushed to his office to put on the extra armor for emergencies. Armor that was rarely worn as it slowed down everyday movement. He wanted to be ready for whatever happens. The last time something odd happened was when the monster outbreak occurred. There were signs, but that was dismissed by their superiors at the time.

  As a result, hundreds of deaths occurred from the monster outbreak.

  He never wanted to go through that again.

  Albert much rather sounds a false alarm than be caught unaware.

  Besides he only had a few years on the job if he was wrong. If they fired him, then Albert would just consider it an early retirement.

  Once Albert finished putting on the armor, he exited the office. It took longer than he like as he wasn't use to the stiff feeling the armor gave. He never had to put on the armor since the outbreak.

  Just as he was making his way to the meeting point to communicate with the knights, he heard gasps coming from the other guards. He immediately spun around and was about to ask about the situation, but closed his mouth right away.

  He didn't need to ask as his eyes confirmed the problem.

  The Forest of Death was on fire.

  Something that had never happened before in all the years he worked as a guard.

  With his worst suspicions confirmed, Albert only had one thought.

  Damn, its going to be a long night.