The village was by far the most impressive one I've seen so far. It didn't have much to go for in terms of size - actually being the smallest one I've been to - but it made up for it with a feeling of uniformity I haven't felt in any of the other villages so far. The others seem to place a building first and then figure out its purpose, bit the foxkin village clearly planned out where everything went beforehand. Aside from that is the spacious area of land between the furthest buildings and the wooden walls - which in turn are set up to be easily taken down from the inside to relocate while still maintaining the other properties of any wooden wall - that simply proves that the village plans to expand even more.

We rode down what looked to be the main street of the village, stretching from one gate to the other. As we rode further, I noticed the buildings were made of some sort of colored wood, and these colored houses became more common the closer we got to the center of the village. We entered the village square after a short trip, and the first thing I noticed was the strange shrine on one side, and the village's largest house not too far from it. We stopped here, and Adrian told us to wait by the wagon as he approached the house and knocked on its door.

“It's me, Adrian! I'm back with the adventurers!”

The foxkin boy took a cautious step back, then the door violently swung open. The new arrival was a human woman. She had raven-black hair tied in a ponytail similar to my own, but not as long and a little messy from stress and a clear lack of sleep. Her eyes - as black as her hair - turned to each of my party members, examining us. When finished, she crossed her arms and I noticed the katana at her hip. It was a simple one, and it looked identical to my own. She began to speak.

“So, you're the adventurers who specialize in fighting these things, yeah?”

“Yes ma'am. I'm the party leader, Mira, and these two are Lucindell and Rick.”

I pointed at each of my teammates when I introduced them. I also realized that Adrian had left us.

“I've heard about you, Mira. You can use all elements, and I also see that you use a katana.” She nodded in approval at my preferred weapon. “I'm Kinokara, a fellow swordswoman. Nice to meet you.”

Kinokara held out her hand and I took it.

“You too.”

After a brief handshake, she abandoned the smile that had grown onto her face.

“You three, come with me. We'll discuss the plan with the Council.”

Luci - who had stayed quiet the whole time - spoke up.

“So, real quick, what was that thing you just did with your hands?”

Kinokara seemed embarrassed at the question, but she replied quickly.

“Oh, um… nothing.”

Oh, she wasn't actually answering. I guess I have to.

“It was a handshake. It's - I guess - something to signify an agreement. It's a little weird to explain honestly. Do elves not do anything like that?”

Rick pitched in with his own comment.

“For the record, dwarves don't.”

“Maybe it's something like that time when you were talking about butter? It could also be something from where you're from.”

“Ah. Maybe. Wait, then that would mean…” I turned to the raven-haired girl. “You're not actually from here, then. Where are you from?”

“Can we get a move on? The longer we spend here, the longer Setsuna is with those… Shadows. Come with me.”

Dodging the question like that was a little suspicious, but she had a point, so we obliged and followed her. We came upon a smaller building after walking down the street. It looked to only have one room from the size, so I assumed it was reserved for meetings. The fact that there were armed guards standing outside reinforced that idea. 

“The Council of Elders is in here. Some of them can be real stuck-up assholes sometimes, so mind yourselves in there.”

“Right.”

“Actually, it'd probably be best if only you came inside, Mira. The others can wait out here.”

“Why's that?”

“Well, you're the party leader, and knowing them, it's best to bring as few people in as possible.”

“Alright, then. Luci, Rick you two good waiting?”

The two nodded in affirmation, and Kinokara led me inside. The room had a small round table with four chairs in an x shape, so that a visitor could stand at the table in the spot in front of the door. Three seats were filled, so the fourth one is likely for the chief. All three of the occupied spots were taken by young-looking men, and each had either white, yellow, or brown hair - each color I've seen on people in this village save for orange was represented here. The way the men compsed themselves made it seem like they were actually much older than they appeared, and they even felt familiar somehow… Of course, none of that mattered too much to me, as I saw a truly familiar face standing behind the white-haired elder. 

“Young Mira, it's been a while. Have you been well?”

“Yes, Miss Freiya. I didn't expect to see you here.”

“Well, here I am. Since we're all here I take it we should start the meeting?”

The man in front of her was the first to talk.

“Mhm. Let's begin. Lady Mira, as you know, our chief was abducted alongside her advisor and personal bodyguard. From all of the reports we've received about these creatures, we've expected the Shadows to be mindless beasts that simply attacked to kill, but they very clearly set up the attack against us last night as a distraction to swoop in and grab the chief's group during the confusion. You seem to be the expert on these fiends, so tell us your opinion.”

I knew the chief was kidnapped, but their village was also attacked? I wonder…

“Around what time did they launch the attack on your village?”

The man with yellow hair replied.

“About an hour before sunset. We were already distracted from preparing and sending weapons to Lexica to help with their own defenses, so we assumed the attack here was to capitalize on that distraction. We never could have guessed that it was also going to be a distraction.”

“An hour before sunset you say… My party joined in the defense of Lexica. While Shadows were there, they never moved to attack, they only sat and waited. Over the first night, they suddenly multiplied to where there were millions of them. When they finally attacked, it was also an hour before sunset.”

The man with brown hair finally took his turn in speaking.

“Then it is clearly no coincidence. All of it was a setup. The only question now is how we'll find the girls.”

Freiya once again replied.

“I will handle that. I can use Clairvoyance. I'm sure that with my proficiency in Mind magic combined with how my own daughter is involved, the distance won't even matter.”

“You have a daughter, Miss Freiya?”

“Yes, I do. She's the chief's bodyguard. She is among the three abducted. I'm not sure how far you've progressed your Mind magic, but the fourth tier contains the spell Clairvoyance. When cast, it will guide you to whatever you seek. It's really useful, except that it only shows you the location, and not the path to reach it. On top of that, it's limited by range, and is really underwhelming despite its tier. However, if the user is familiar with the target, then the range is increased. Similarly, if the target is humanoid, using one of their possessions as a catalyst eith further increase the range, as well as a simple proficiency with the element.”

“So we can find them?”

“Yes. There's nobody I'm more familiar with than my daughter, and basically everything she owns is here in the village.”

The yellow-haired foxkin finished the brief conversation I was having with Freiya. 

“If you can find them, do so. There's no need to waste any more time. Dismissed.”

The three Elders filed out, but Freiya gestured for me to stay, and Kinokara was still here too. When they were gone Freiya took a small ring from her pocket.

“This ring is my daughter's, and I brought it just in case I'd be using it, so let's go ahead and get started with that.”

“Go ahead.” Kinokara spoke with a determined expression. “The sooner we find them the sooner we can save them.”

Freiya nodded, and held one hand palm-up, with her daughter's ring on top. She closed it into a fist, and then held her other - open - hand just above it as she closed her eyes in concentration.

“I call upon you, Lord of Mind and all knowledge. Grant me access to your wisdom, and let it be my guide. Clairvoyance!”

When she finished the incantation, her eyes shot open, and they were glowing a bright violet. Moments later, they returned to their usual gray color. She let out a small chuckle at something.

“That's ironic…”

“What is it?”

“They're being held in the abandoned Frost village.”