"Do you know what this is?" Miss Pearl asked.
"It's the same yellow cylinder I saw in my dream," I replied.
"In your dream?"
"Yes."
I proceeded to tell her about the dream I had.
"A weird stick-like weapon," she said her hand in her chin.
"Do you know anything about it?"
"No, I don't," she replied, shaking her head.
"I see..."
"Even if I knew, there's nothing I could do about it right now."
"You're right. Let's focus on the search."
"About that... maybe you should turn back."
"Huh? Why?"
"You don't look so well, and you even fainted."
"Thank you for your concern, but I am just fine."
"But," she started to protest, but we were interrupted by a man's shout.
"Hey, we found some tire tracks!" he yelled.
I ran towards the voice, and Miss Pearl followed me.
When we arrived, two members of the search party were standing beside some tire tracks that led towards the northwest road.
One of the men was standing at the end of the trail, muttering something to himself.
I was about to go and talk to him, but my attention was diverted by Miss Pearl's conversation with the other man.
"They're following the trail?" she asked.
"Yes, I tried to stop them, but they didn't listen," he replied.
I approached the two.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Some villagers went to follow the trail to see where it leads," Miss Pearl answered.
"Huh? Why bother?"
"Take a look at this." She showed me another shoe and countiued,
"This is the other pair of shoes we found earlier. Apparently, these folks just picked them up from the ground."
In my last dream, I assumed the shoe belonged to The Elder, but is that really the case?
"Hey! Do we even know if these shoes belong to the Elder?"
"...It's indeed his shoes."
"How are you so sure?"
"It's because I gifted them to him on his birthday last month."
"Oh... But it's still possible it's another person with the same sho-"
"They're specially made. Take a look at the inside of the shoe."
Because of the blood, it wasn't possible to see what was inside the other shoe we found earlier.
But on this one, it's crystal clear.
"Willow," the name of The Elder, is written inside the shoe.
*Sigh*
"Take a look at the blood stain over there," Miss Pearl said, pointing towards the road with her finger.
"It got cut off just before the trail."
"I am certain that cart has The Elder. What I am not certain of is whether he's alive or..."
"Let's just hope for the best."
"You're right. In any case, we should find a way to bring those who went to follow the cart back. They are running towards danger."
"It's probably fine. They won't be able to catch up with the horses. I bet they're panting and sitting in the middle of the road right now."
"And what if the cart decides to turn back? They would be vulnerable."
"Okay, I'll go tell the cart not to turn back. How about that?"
"Now's not the time to joke around. Go catch them and tell them to return."
"Me?"
"Yes. You said you're fine, right? You should be able to do that. And if you can't, be a good boy and return to-"
I didn't wait for her to finish her sentence and started running, following the trail, leaving her behind.
*Sprint* *Sprint* *Sprint*
I ran between the wheel tracks.
*Sprint* *Sprint* *Sprint*
Now that I think about it, why would they even take The Elder's body with them if they killed him?
*Sprint* *Sprint* *Sprint*
He is probably alive, injured, and a bit more ugly but alive.
*Sprint* *Sprint* *Sprint*
That being said...
*Sprint* *Sprint* *Sprint*
How far those idiots ran.
I've been running for a while, but I haven't reached them.
They must be quite determined to catch the cart.
*Sprint* *Sprint* *Sprint*
"AHHHHHHHH!! IT HURTS!!!!!"
A scream echoed through the forest. It was close by, so I veered off the road and went into the bushes.
Stealthily moving forward, I grabbed a stone from the ground in case there is a fight.
My plan is to go behind the enemy and attack them from their blind spot.
I know I should be rushing there, but this is the safest option to take.
If I go there straight away and they outnumber us, we will be defeated in no time.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The screams were getting louder. I was close.
I decided that before I jumped in, I should peek through the bushes.
I pulled my head out and looked, and the first thing I noticed was the man on the ground.
He was lying there, his legs and left arm broken, curled up in weird directions.
I slowly turned my head to the left to see what had caused him to be in this state.
"Guahhhhhhhhp!" I vomited at the scene I saw.
A reddish texture covered the grass and dirt.
Another man was lying on the ground with his guts spilling out from inside his body.
He had been split in half.
But the real horror was what caused this disgusting scene.
"What the hell is that thing!?" I exclaimed, my voice shaking.
A fortress? There was a bloodstain in front of it!
*VRRRRRR* *VRRRRRR* *VRRRRRR*
It is roaring! is it alive?
No, wait a second... That thing has wheels.
Is it a vehicle?
*Thump*
The stone I was holding fell from my hand. I must have let it go due to the shock.
*VRRRRRR* *VRRRRRR* *VRRRRRR*
It continued to roar.
*VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
After a long roar, the weird vehicle started advancing forward.
It was heading towards the man who was writhing in pain on the ground!
Shit, they were planning to...
*CRACK*
It moved past me in just a matter of moments, its speed too fast for me to follow with my eyes.
When I turned my head, the man was already... I couldn't do anything.
*VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
The vehicle started to move backwards,
and unable to move, I watched in horror until it disappeared.
...
After some time, I managed to gather the strength to stand up,
but my legs and hands were shaking.
I walked towards the man.
"I'm so sorry," I said, tears streaming down my face.
I knew this man.
He was one of my lumberjack buddies.
We had worked together a lot.
Maybe if I hadn't hidden from the beginning, I could have saved him.
Looking at him, blood covered his face.
Blood poured from his mouth, eyes, and ears, while his chest had been torn open, his organs spilling out and creating a gruesome path along the road.
"I need to go and te-"
"Guahhhhhhhhp!" I vomited again and again.
I couldn't stop myself from retching.
I walked as I vomited.
*Step* *Step*
With each step, the horrifying moment repeated in my mind.
*Step* *Step*
I couldn't erase that image from my head.
*Step* *Step*
The sound of the man's bones breaking, the image of the other man's split body.
*Step* *Step*
I could barely hold back the nausea.
*Step* *Step*
The sun was fading away, and it was almost nighttime.
I didn't know how long I had been walking.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
Suddenly, Miss Pearl appeared in front of me.
I hadn't even realized she was there.
I was back at the place where we found the trail.
"Are you listening? Why are you covered in blood?" she asked, her face filled with worry.
"They're dead."
"Huh?"
"I couldn't bring them back."
"Keep it together. Can you tell me what happened?"
I told her the whole story.
"..."
She kept her silence, but I could tell she was getting more stressed over time.
The man who was mumbling to himself before broke the silence.
"There is nothing we can do anymore. Let's go back."
I didn't want to go back just like this, but he is right.
He continued speaking,
"The Elder is dead, so are the other two. We are putting ourselves in more danger every second we stand here."
"Hold on! The Elder is not dead. We can't determine that yet."
"Huh?"
"Why take his body if he is already dead?"
"I don't know, to sell his organs?"
"He is way too old to have healthy organs."
"OK, let's say he is alive. What can you do about it?" he said, getting heated.
"I will find a way to save him."
"You just encountered them and couldn't even manage to save one person from dying!"
"I..."
"And you are going to challenge them head-on? Do you have a death wish?"
Miss Pearl interrupted before I could answer,
"You two, stop arguing. We are not going to solve anything by shouting at each other." She glared at us with fierce eyes.
We both retreated.
He turned his back and started walking.
"I don't care what you are doing, but keep me out of it."
Miss Pearl sighed and turned to me,
"We can't blame anybody for this, but he is right. We've got nothing left to do. Let us return and come up with a plan with everyone."
"I know,yeah... let's return." I said felling defeated.
She signaled the other search party members to gather, and we started returning.
"Are you mad at him?" Miss Pearl asked me.
"Mad at that guy? No, I just want to kill him."
"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. He's just stressed."
"We are all stressed. Who is he anyway? I never saw him before. Is he new?"
"His name is 'Hope.' He moved here from Castle Unut. He was a guard under Lady Unut."
"Huh? Aren't guards getting paid well? Why did he leave? Why is he here?"
"Apparently, he started a fight after some drinks and caused a scene. He was exiled here afterwards."
"Let's 'Hope' he behaves here or I will exile him to hell."
"I wouldn't try it. Back in that fight, he took down 15 guards before being taken down himself."
"Really? Why didn't he step up and go with those villagers before then? Did he leave his courage in the castle along with his sword?"
"Come on, it's not the time to start a controversy."
We were walking past the Elder's house when suddenly she grabbed my arm.
"Come with me, we need to get something from that house," she whispered to me.
I nodded.
We parted ways with the rest of the villagers and entered the Elder's house.
As soon as we entered, Miss Pearl went straight to the bookshelf and started searching between the books.
"What are you searching for?" I asked.
"There is a list of villagers. We need that for the tax calculation and payment."
"Huh? They are going to make us pay during this crisis?"
"I know for a fact that they won't even listen to us if we don't show this list to them. It also has a certificate that shows the holder is the Village Elder."
"Great to know that Lady Unut values us a lot."
"Let me check if this list is up-to-date. This list needs to be checked every week before the tax collectors comes."
"Why does it need to be checked?"
"Well, we need to update the list if someone left or joined the village."
She lowered her face and looked sad.
"We also need to remove their names," she said, her voice shaking.
"..."
It must have been hard on her.
She took the whole responsibility on her shoulders.
I didn't even think about her condition because I was too busy with myself.
Poor woman... She first lost her husband, and now she has to deal with all this.
"Huh? This is weird," she said, ending the silence.
"What's wrong?"
"Hope is indeed the last person to join the village, and nobody else joined since 13 years."
"That's how long it's been? Wow, people are hating us!"
"That's not it!"
"Well, what's wrong then?"
"Your name is not on the list."
"Huh!?"
"According to the list, Hope is the last one to join, and before that, Rose and her family. But your name is not here."
"How? I joined the village at the same time as Rose."
"I don't know how, but it's certain that this was intentional."
"Yes, it's impossible for the Elder to forget me. I was with him almost every day."
"But why? Why would he do something like this?"
"Maybe he really hated me all along and didn't see me as a part of the village."
"No of course not,I think he was trying to hide you from something, but from what?"
"Hold on a second!"
"What's wrong?"
"You said our payment is made according to this list, right? If my name was never written there, I didn't have any payment."
She fell into silence for a while, her hand on her chin.
"If I didn't have any payment, who paid for my taxes?"
"I would check the records, but we don't have time for that."
Lady Unut sends her taxmen periodically, and when they arrive, they first give us a payment for our products, excluding the taxes from the payment.
We give our products to them, and they sell them for us.
That's how the system worked till now.
But if my name wasn't on the list, he can't receive any payment for me.
So, that was the reason all along!
That's why he never paid me.
"In any case, we can't have your name unwritten. We don't have anything to say if they question your identity."
"You're right. Just write my name on the list."
"Alright, I did. Oh, you don't have a surname, right?"
"I do."
"Really? I didn't know. Your family was important people. What was your father's job?"
"Is this really the time to ask that?"
"I was just trying to make you feel better. You're stressed, right? So, what is your surname?"
Oh, she was trying to lighten the mood.
"It's 'Wellman'."
"That's a we-"
"Don't you dare."
"Hehe, okay." She smiled as she wrote my surname on the paper.
She indeed managed to make me feel better.
A weird widow she is. She is considerate of others even though she is in the most pain.
Here I thought all spiders were bad.
...
My jokes are dying.
"I am done checking. Let's go to Rose's house and meet with everybody else. We can plan our way then."
"Okay, the tax collectors must have already arrived and is waiting for us."
We left the house and arrived at Rose's house.
Everyone is indeed gathered around, looking very nervous.
Someone shouted to us,
"Ah, you two finally arrived. We've been waiting for you."
It was Rose. She ran towards us.
"We've got a problem," she said to us with a nervous face.
"What is wrong?"
"The tax collectors hasn't arrived yet."
