Chapter 38: Chapter 37: The Departure – On a Witch Hunt

 

The drums resounded loudly in the village’s central square, the place where the food-selling stands used to be. However, they’d been moved away to make room for the mass of people.

While the gathering started with hatred and threats, civilians were now dancing in groups around a huge fire, celebrating the recent win against evil. Adventurers were serving glasses of wine and cookies to lighten the mood even more.

On a stage, not far from the drummer, Shigeru was dancing with a lovely young woman whose boobs caught the eyes of many men. Several chairs, twenty-five in number, were placed around the show for commoners to relax on while sipping from a glass of beer.

“Come on! Come on! Let this old lady predict your fate in the upcoming battle against the witch.” Anta shouted to attract even more people and increase the queue. She was using a white glass globe with some smoke inside to look into their future. Obviously, it was just a lie to get money.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. What’s going on here? Is this the so-called gathering?” Saori, who had only arrived after running at max speed, asked one of the men in the queue.

“No, no. It has already been decided, there will be a witch hunt. We are partying to celebrate our recent victory. Once it’s over, we’ll depart. Barely any will stay behind with the children left in the village. It’s incredible how everyone was quick to accept.”

“Whaaaat?” The girl was shocked and didn’t try to hide it, “Ok, but what is with the huge fire?”

“Oh, that? It’s the body of the monster you slayed. It was cut into several pieces, the body parts were positioned on top of each other, then set on fire. Crazy, right?”

The man’s excitement was crystal clear. He was happy to go to war against demons and witches.

“This is madness.” Saori thought.

“Yo, yo, yo! The new girl… Come first. You’re a hero after all.” Anta waved her hand at Saori asking her to cut to the front.

A few people in the line started whispering when seeing their savior.

“I understand you would like to know whether you’ll survive the war against evil, my girl.” The old woman spoke louder than necessary to make sure she would be heard by many, “It’s only three silvers.”

“Huuuh? How dare you, old—” Seeing the stern look on gran’s face, she scratched the back of her head and rephrased her sentence, “I meant to say… Yea, sure. Can you also predict how many monsters will I slay?”

“But, of course, my child,” Anta answered confidently and pretended to focus on the magic globe, which began to shine.

Saori glanced at the people behind her from the corner of her eye and spoke: “I’m so curious about what I’m gonna get.”

Eager to see for themselves, the villagers in line tried to get closer.

“Uuuuuu, my child....” The woman said a couple of seconds later. “I see. I see. INCONCEIVABLE! Looks like, despite many obstacles coming your way, the head of Dragnya will belong to the Birds Valley Village!”

“Seriously?”

“Wow! We are amazing.”

“Of course, we’ll win.” A cocky villager joined in from the back of the queue.

“You will kill too many to count, my child,” Anta added, ignoring the man, then waved for the next one in line.

Two hours later, Saori became the soul of the party. Dancing with both men and women on and off the scene, drinking and laughing with men, arm wrestling everyone who desired to test their strength, she was the center of attention.

“Ha, ha, ha! Who else is foolish enough to test their strength against me?” She shouted with a cocky smile, crossing her arms behind her head and throwing her feet onto the table. The girl was enjoying the attention given to her as the hero of the village.

Saori decided from the moment she joined the party that she would do anything possible to wipe away the painful memory of her mother’s death.

“Daaaaaaamn, I’m so tired after all this dancing, but an arm wrestle won’t hurt.” A tall man with a long yellow hood that was covering half his face, sat down on the opposite side, let go of the bag he was carrying, then positioned his left arm on the table.

The moment she heard his voice, Saori was on high alert. “Ashura. What is he doing here? And how did I not feel his presence?”

While she was aware of the danger, the rest of the villagers had no idea that a monster had been hiding among them.

“Don’t tell me the beast is scared of a little force show?” Ashura asked, clearly mocking her.

“Have it your way. I won’t hold back.” Carefully, she stared at him and slowly grabbed his hand. She was focused and ready for anything, expecting the worst.

Attacking him or telling everyone that Ashura was among them would only create panic, and if things took a turn for the worse, many could die. Thus, Saori decided to play along.

The girl stood up, positioned her right foot on the bench, grabbed the table’s edge tightly, and leaned forward to whisper into his ear, “Did you kill my father?”

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“THREE!”

“TWO!”

“ONE!”

“GO!”

The arm wrestle was over in a fraction of a second and Ashura had lost.

“Haaaaa… What a letdown. He even had all those muscles. All bark, no bite I guess.” A sweaty older man with a towel around his neck said disappointed.

“I delivered some goods. The rest is up to you. Use the mask to suppress your aura and hide your presence.” The mysterious man pushed the bag to Saori’s feet, stood up, and left.

“What an embarrassing loss on my side. I’m sure we’ll meet again. For now, I have unfinished business to take care of.”

Once villagers had their fill of booze, dancing, and games, the party ended and the crickets began to sing as the blue sky was covered with a dark blanket. Torches and weapons ranging from gardening forks and kitchen knives to spears, bows, and swords, were given to the brave ones that vowed to fight against Dragnya.

Many considered heartbreaking the separation between those who were going to war and those who decided to stay behind and continue with their daily lives. Several women tried to stop their husbands from leaving but to no avail. They had already made up their minds. They were going to slay the witch once and for all.

Numerous carts and wagons were aligned one behind each other on the dark alley leading to the exit gates. This part of the village had been recently destroyed and most of the lamp posts were still not functioning.

“Check to see what’s inside the bag once you’re alone in a wagon. Stay calm and appreciate his effort. He did what you wouldn’t have been able to. Now it’s your turn to do what he couldn’t.” Anta said to the beast girl who was watching the touching separations.

“Yap, I know. I can feel the smell.” A tear fell on the ground from the girl’s left eye. “I’m sorry for calling you incompetent, Ralan. I promise not to let your death be in vain.”

“I have already informed Masaru of his death.”

The wagons were filled with fighters, among which commoners, guards, and adventurers. Due to a large number of passengers, some were forced to go on foot for now, and from time to time they would switch places so everyone had a chance to rest.

“Listen, fellow adventurers!” Masaru waved his torch in the air to grab everyone’s attention. He stood with one foot on each of the two white horses attached to the front cart.

“Yes, you heard it right. Right now we are all warriors! We’re departing on an adventure, a crucial mission for the good of mankind. It’s unheard of for humans to go on a witch hunt like this.”

The leader stopped for a second to look at the crowd. “People have been too afraid to defy evil since witches were born and it’s understandable. Yet we still found our courage and our resolve. I only see determination in your eyes. This is a big first step forward!”

Encouraged by the man’s speech, the adventurers lifted their weapons up and started calling his name in unison: “Masaru! Masaru! Masaru! Masaru! Masaru! Masaru! Masaru!”

The time has come. The sound of the horn, along with the squeaky wheels and the horses’ noisy hooves, gave the signal of the departure. The few people left waved goodbye from their doors, their balconies, and from their windows. Some had tears in their eyes and others were happy to finally take a step forward. Was it toward freedom or was it toward death? They couldn’t say for sure, but it gave them hope.

Far in the back, inside the last wagon, Saori untied the string that kept the bag closed and looked inside. Her fear had been confirmed. It was Ralan’s head, the guard she used to mess with when she first arrived in the village.

“I’m sorry. It’s only because of my letter…” Several tears rolled down her cheeks one after another, and then on the dead man’s face.

With her shaking hand, she picked up the white mask resting beside the head of the victim. Just by looking at it, she could tell that it would fit perfectly. With three symmetrical red lines on each side, a red 0 at the top, and two very sharp fox-like ears, the mask looked like it had been designed specifically for her inner beast.

Ralan’s lifeless eyes seemed to be staring at her as if his death was her fault. The spark of life from his face was long gone now.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…” Soari started chuckling.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…” She tried to stop but she couldn’t. With an arm around her belly and the other hand hitting herself in the head, she seemed to be having a breakdown.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” Her laugh was slowly getting louder and louder.

A chill ran down the spine of the guard walking outside her wagon as he was soon forced to listen to the girl’s hysterical laugh that lasted for a while.

The trip into the heart of the forests to find Dragnya’s cave would not be easy. There would be obstacles, fear, bloodshed, and possibly betrayals. At least that’s what Masaru thought. There was still much the man didn’t know about the evil lurking in the shadows. He was not sure whom he could trust, but he wanted one thing more than anything else, and that was to avenge the death of their master, Sagurou.

Beside him, Anta was rubbing her watch with the sleeve of her cloak. She was an old woman blinded by revenge, ready to sacrifice anyone to achieve her goal of defeating her sisters. But was that everything? Or was there something more?

The world they lived in was driving them crazy. People were adapting and becoming insensitive to the point where many lost their humanity. Anta was among those people, slowly but surely, she was changing.

 

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