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Chapter 147 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 12

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While Vek took to the skies to deal with the flying arrows, Fayrene wasn't absent-minded in those moments and activated her defensive spells by instinct, taking the minstrel that started getting afraid into her protective veil following next by casting her buffing spells, such as 'Arcane Intelligence' to enter a serene state of mind.

"[Arcane Barrier]"

Her voice sounded calm, giving off confidence and as she wrapped Maryden next to her using the magic, she saw more arrows being fired in her direction from inside the forest, which hit her shield making a crack into her defense.

[The 'Arcane Barrier' has absorbed 1650 damage.]

'Whoever attacks me clearly wants to harm me. I can't allow such a thing. My shield can only absorb 15.000 damage as it says on the description.'

Her purple eyes turned colder while dodging the second arrow using her [Impactful Wave] spell to blast the arrow away from herself, and with this opening she used [Levitate] on herself and began flying in the direction the arrows were shot from.

Vek also started flying in the direction of the attacks was faster than Fayrene, getting to a group of two archers sitting on the frozen trees, drawing their bows for another round of shots.

"Monster, you will perish for daring to attack our village!"

Vek who was flying toward the ones that attacked them, could see that it was a young man with short black hair, dark eyes that had a sharp intent to them, dirty and rugged clothes full of fighting marks on them, and his friend too looked to have the same clothes and tear to them, with a scar on his eye zone, brown haired with shaved sides and long top.

Then when he heard the words directed at him and Fayrene, he could only try to clear the situation without being required to fight.

"I am not a monster! Why are you attacking me and my Mistress? We came from the Adventurer Guild to solve the problem your village has."

"Lies! This is what they told the Elder multiple times when he asked an audience with that bastard Count, that they will solve the monster problem. You clearly are her monster, and obviously we will first attack her. It's common logic that a witch without her familiar is nothing." said the black haired boy who drew his bow again, shooting at Vek to kill him while he had the advantage.

"You have to believe me! I don't want to fight you."

*Shoot* *Shoot*

Vek didn't get a response back, instead two arrows flew at him targeting his heart and head, triggering the young dragonwrought to activate his transformation mid-flight to boost his flying abilities.

The two boys saw Vek transform into something they heard in stories, and they could only whisper feeling pressured by this new appearance Vek showed as he deflected the arrows which pushed him back to Fayrene distance.

"Is that a draconian?" asked the black haired boy, looking at Vek that was pushed back by the impact the arrow held.

Gazing in the direction Vek was sent flying, and turning his head toward another place, the black haired boy nodded his head while beginning to jump from tree to tree. Communicating with his partner along the way.

"Must be. The Elder said that only draconians have the ability to fly using wings that look like humans."

"Doesn't matter, let's return to the village and send the alert. The leader will assist us against that witch and her monster." suggested the one with shaved sides, while keeping a swift pace while jumping around the trees with his Bow held on his back.

The two boys used the nearby trees to move, jumping from branch to branch in an agile way, that they lost their way once Fayrene and Vek arrived at their former location, with the kobold showing some signs of annoyance while sniffing around the former location of the archers.

"Vek I don't think those people want to fight us. It must be a misunderstanding." remarked Fayrene after her short observation of how those two archers tried to fend them off.

"I know Mistress, I just wanted to capture them, and let you talk with them. Hmph, maybe also kick them a bit for trying to harm me for no reason."

"Let's not act violently. Those people must have suffered from monster attacks. What if it is similar to the insect ones?"

"Fayrene, the reason you two want to reach the villages is because of monsters? Aaaahhh, aren't I in danger?" inquired the minstrel that was tied to Fayrene's back using her arcane powers.

"You can always continue on your journey to Comeo." mentioned Fayrene casually, as if she didn't mind letting Maryden to continue her journey on her own, a tone which clearly contained some sarcasm into it.

Maryden shook his head as if the worst calamity was suggested for her, and wrapping her arms around Fayrene's waist, she turned herself into a slug.

"No way I go alone in this dangerous place. Now I realize how much of a mistake I made to go alone for this banquet, especially in this infested hell-hole. I'll stick with you guys, it is safer this way."

"As you wish."

Fayrene stopped her levitating spell, landing gently on the ground, similarly Vek also reverted back to his kobold form resuming their journey on foot. Not taking a long time of walking, they started seeing signs of settlements in this forest, with trees starting being less frequent compared to the surrounding landscape.

Wooden walls began appearing in front of Fayrene eyes, standing at 4 meters tall having a foundation of stone to reinforce the wooden planks, while this settlement gate made from wood was closed shut. It made the young girl to think about her hometown, Cidarian Village, but this village clearly suffered a lot, with a lot of parts of the wooden wall being destroyed.

'I don't have to be an expert to tell that this village was attacked. Just like the adventurer notice implied. Hah, I shouldn't get angry if someone insults me since it's normal to be viewed in a hostile manner. Afterall, I haven't suffered the same pain as them.'

Moving closer to the gates, Maryden wasn't foolish not to see how deteriorated the walls looked to be, and could only ask Fayrene in regard to the village.

"Fayrene, what's going on with this village. The reception isn't too friendly."

"Because it shouldn't. Now stay quiet and get to my back in case they start shooting arrows." replied Fayrene while giving Maryden a stare which told her a lot, especially a "Not now." remark.

The minstrel acted according to Fayrene instructions and got to her back, following the raven-haired woman who took out her black winter cloak which might be a sign to those two hunters that attacked her and Vek that she had bad intentions.

"I have not come with hostility to you, instead I came to listen to your problem with the monsters who attacked your village and the others villages surrounding this area."

"I came to put an end to all this suffering you people have been put through for no reason.."

She was at an safe distance as she said that, and when ending her introductory speech, the two young men who attacked Vek and Fayrene, along with other 5 men in their 30s, made their presence felt, standing on the wooden wall platform with their bows extended to the limit, looking in a hostile manner at her and Vek.

Seeing that her initial words didn't bore any hope in having an communication with this village, she tried a second time, with a different approach.

"I was expecting you not to trust my words. However, if I give you the letter which addressed this issue in your village will you believe me?"

The two young men remained silent, as the same could be said for the other men holding their bows ready to attack Fayrene at any signs of aggression. Yet, in that silence someone appeared on the wall helped by other men to stay straight in front of the raven-haired woman gazing at the wall.

"Young lady, I greet you and I appreciate that at the last hour someone has listened to our cries of help. My name is Kerlian, Elder of Amphail Village. Children, lower your arms, can't you see that you are facing just a woman and her familiar, clearly not the monsters that have attacked us."

"Elder! We can't accept those foreigners so easily, what if she wants to harm us." mentioned the young man with brown hair, while glancing at the old man.

"I trust those old eyes of mine, while they failed me a lot of times, what can we lose? How long can we survive without resources while fight the monsters?"

"..." the guys on the wall remained silent, and as the Elder walked down the wall, he ordered.

"Open the gates."

"Yes Elder!" shouted some people from the ground level, where slowly the wooden gate began opening, allowing Fayrene to have a better look at those inhabitants or Amphail Village.

She could see the entrance access being cleaned out of snow, having a clear path, while the people inside were slightly underdressed, with their clothes having tears. She delayed from stepping inside the village, letting more villagers to get a glance at her, and see that she wasn't a witch as the ones she encountered labeled her to be.

"Can I step in?"

"The Elder allows you." responded a man who had a sword in his hand, acting like a guard, and with a nod of Fayrene's head, she started walking forward, followed by Vek and Maryden, who looked curiously around herself.

The minstrels' curious face turned a bit sour when she entered the village and saw a part of the buildings being destroyed, with a decent number of people seeming to glance at her with a hateful look.

"Don't take it to heart, young lady. Since this harsh winter came, we have barely survived. Now we are also suffering the attacks of this scourge." explained the Elder who climbed down the wall, getting to greet the group.

"Elder, I greet you, my name is Fayrene, while those two friends of mine are Vek and Maryden. We received your message, this one, and immediately departed to bring our help from the Capital." said Fayrene who showed the letter Vek gave her from the Adventure Guild, and it immediately had an effect on the old man as he read his own writing.

"My voice has been heard, at least in my old years. Please, after me, we can discuss about the details in my home. Baric, Halric, have the boys on patrol, soon night will came and is unknown if we will be attacked. Last night was weird, we weren't attacked even though I had the impression I managed to figure out the pattern of those beasts."

"Sure thing, old man." said the two middle-aged men with scars on their faces, decently equipped with leather chest armor and a broadsword, starting closing the gates, and calling out some names.

Fayrene followed the elder who asked her about her journey, which she described in a brief description how it was, making the old man remark surprised.

"You got attacked last night? Wait, we'll talk about those details inside my home."

She nodded and in the slight moment from the entrance gate to what seemed the center of the small village, she glanced at the structure of the village and could only sigh, making it remind her of Cidarian.

However, she didn't have much time to her own thoughts as the first thing the Elder showed to her was the basement of his home, where the severed heads of the beasts were displayed like trophies of war. From ugly wolves that had a weird pattern to their fur, with larger teeth, followed by birds of pray that also suffered the same change, giant bears that made Vek flinch a bit, reminding him of Iljnoks.

"Have you encountered any of those abominations?" asked Elder Kerlian, watching with a cold expression the severed heads of the monsters that tormented his village this winter.

"Yes, last night there was something akin to a monster wave composed of that insectoid monster, they are called Endriago. Along with more adventurer's we faced more than 200 of those monsters."

"May Rebecca have mercy. Two hundred? This is more than my village has faced in a single attack. Is this really the doom of my people?"

Maryden listened to both Fayrene and Elder Kerlian discussion, and could barely contain herself from puking from how disgusting the monsters the village elder had put on display in his basement. Her stomach acid raised up, and no longer containing herself she went out of the house and puked a bit.

"Is your friend alright? Did she get wounded in your battle?" asked the elder, a bit worried about Maryden's well being, as she continued to observe the monsters.

"Don't mind her too much, that's her. You would expect a minstrel to be strong against such monstrosities?"

"Yet, it seems you are doing fine." commented the old man watching Fayrene carefully as if he was observing her for his own reasons and safety, and it was evident to the young lady, but it didn't matter at this point as she responded straightforwardly.

"I am also disgusted, but also curious to understand how such monsters could come into being. This is one of the things I want to achieve from this mission, get to the source of those beasts."

"If you have any question, I will try my best to satisfy all your curiosities about the attacks."

"Before we get there, I want to check something."

Saying that Fayrene used her arcane energy, that created a layer of energy on the heads of the beasts, where she began approaching the heads closer, starting to observe something about them, making the Elder and even Vek wonder if she discovered something.

After 10 minutes of silence, Fayrene finally opened her mouth, remarking in a surprised way.

"Those mutations are created by magic. But how? Is this a path of necromancy? I can't tell which magic element has been used to tell if it is someone with connections to Yatan Church."

"Young lady, you are telling me that someone created those monsters? For the reason of attacking my village? Why? We are just a farming village, nothing more, nothing less. We have never angered anyone, we paid our taxes to the Count even if they are exorbitant, we make sure to pay it. Why would someone attack us?"

"I don't know. Elder, I am as clueless as you are right now. But in this world, there's a lot of unknowns that we simple people can't fathom. However, since I arrived here I will try to solve the problem."

"Still, I would wish to know about the story of those attacks, and to hear about the situation of the other villages in the surrounding area." requested Fayrene to know the whole story of what happened so she could plan her next steps.

"It will be a long story so make yourself prepared."

The elder took Fayrene and Vek upstairs, to his small living room, where he wanted to serve them something, such as tea, but was stopped by the raven-haired girl. Getting himself seated on a rocking chair, Elder Kerlian began stating with a sad tone.

"You asked about the other villages? There's only us Amphail standing against those monsters. Only us stand. But this doesn't mean the others, such as Bray, Jukum and Cobh disappeared. No, they are still fighting together with me and my people."

"I see. I am truly sorry to hear about this."

"You have no fault in this young lady, instead I am thankful to know you have come to offer your help and stop those monsters from ever harming us."

"I can't promise you anything Elder, just that I will try. But now, I hope you can make some light for me so I know how to approach this problem. When did it all start? Do you have any leads?"

"Hah, brace yourself for a long story."

"Can I say, we got time right now?"

"Until nightfall. Afterwards we'll have to be on guard."

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