As we made our way back toward the academy, we encountered a group of guards heading in the opposite direction, clearly responding to the sounds of the explosions that had echoed through the forest due to the assassin's self detonations.
"Excuse me," their leader called out as we approached. "Did you see or hear anything unusual in the forest? We received reports of loud explosions in this area."
My guards and I exchanged quick glances before responding with a calm tone.
"We heard some distant sounds while we were training," the senior guard replied smoothly, "but we didn't see anything specific. We decided it was best to head back when things got noisy."
"Nothing out of the ordinary from our perspective," I added. "Though we did hear what sounded like magical combat somewhere deeper in the forest."
