I slowly opened my eyes as my biological clock told it me it was about time to get up, and as I turned my head to look around as usual Claire was nowhere to be seen.

“Despite how she looks she has quite the stamina and endurance, especially for one of her level.” (Giri)

Yeah, she sure made a fast recovery even after going for so long. Well, I should continue with the preparations.

I got off my bed, and changed into my equipment. I looked out side of the window and people were excitedly preparing for the Harvest Festival even in the morning.

I walked down stairs to begin my morning routine and to grab a little bit to eat, and it seems that quite a few more adventurers have been coming in and staying in the village.

Apparently they were former villagers, while some of them are simply village friends. Some come for the Bornean Forest, while others to come by for a visit, and some just come by for old times sake. But for whatever reason they came over, they were here to stay or at the very least here to stay until the end of the Harvest Festival, a festival traditionally meant to honor the Harvest Goddesses.

And after a little practice, and some grub I moved on with the preparations. And over the course of the following week I took on a number of missions, slowly accumulating funds while getting to know the all the new faces.

While I had Stella go and party up with a few of them, turning them into Flesh Devils under her command. I also had her set up a meeting with the the goblins, were we finished a few arrangements and exchanged information.

The goblin’s have a total of 134 troops comprised of Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Kobolds. And if we were to combine our forces we’d only total 157 troops not including myself, a force far from enough to wipe out a village of 300 or so people. But for a raid it’s plenty.

After all only ⅓ of the population are adventures, and maybe only ⅗ of the population can fight. So we’re only really dealing with 180 able bodied fighters.

Now, Adventurers are generally more powerful than goblins and it would usually take a group of goblins to kill a single Adventurer. But in an ambush it would only require a single goblin to take out an Adventurer or two. And that’s what we’re going for.

We’ll go in, kill as many people as we can, kill as many goblins as we can, hit both sides as hard as we can, and run with whatever we can.

“That’s nice and all, but what about him?” (Giri)

Him?

“The Adventurer Guild Branch Director” (Giri)

Him? Well, I’m honestly quite wary of him. He doesn’t show his face to often, but I’ve heard quite a bit about him from the villagers. A former B-Class Adventurer, and a charismatic leader. He’s helped fend off numerous raids, and single-handedly killed a group of Hobgoblins

And to make matters worse he’s somewhere in his late forties, meaning I won’t be able to use Analyze to get any information on him. He’s dangerous, but he’s not a problem.

Even if he’s twenty levels higher than me, he’s still Human. If I cut off his head, crush his heart, or destroy his brain he’ll surely die. And if it weren’t for the risks involved in doing so I might have already killed him myself.

The experience from killing someone over twenty levels greater than your own is quite tempting, but the risks naturally outweigh the rewards, at least for now. I’ve got too little on him, and this world in general. I still don’t particularly understand this phenomenon they call Magic, and to even use Magic I have to learn magic I have to send myself into a hypnotic state.

Magic, the foundation of miracles themselves. It’s far too illogical! What is mana? What is magic? And how can I counter it?

Until I have those answers, I can’t guarantee I can kill him as is. After all magic could even stop a bullet shot at around 1000 feet per second shot at almost point blank range.

This is a bet I’m simply not willing to take. And besides how much can one man accomplish alone? He can take on a group of Hobgoblins alone, but how about an army of goblins? Even trained elites can be overwhelmed by sheer number alone. And what how much of that strength can he show under the influence?

…

I made my over to Dr. Jude’s office as I surveyed the village preparations, and my own preparations.

The Doctor greeted me with a smile, “Oh, good morning Blade.” (Dr.Jude)

“Did you prepare it?” (Blade)

“Of course”(Dr.Jude)

Dr.Jude opened up a drawer, and pulled out a small leather packaged tied together by a string. I activated Analyze.

Weak SedativeA rather weak sedative created from a particular species of mushroom, it will take a few hours before the effects start showing

Over the past week I’ve been going around collecting mushrooms, herbs, and poisonous plants and handing them over to Dr. Jude who's been converting them to poisons, medicines, and sedatives.

I sent the Goblins, and the Flesh Devils most of the poison, while I’ve held onto the medicine and the Dr.Jude held onto the sedatives. Now, this particular sedative is rather weak, however it’s tasteless and has no scent meaning I can easily hide it in others foods and drinks. Which is of course the plan.

So I bid the Doctor farewell after erasing part of his memory, and heading over to the Bollen Inn.

The entire village was busy preparing so part of the Festival, and most families contributed so dish or meal but the Bollen Inn was off cooking up a storm. One could see an unreasonable amount of food outside of the inn, and just as much food through the windows.

They had large pots out in their backyard cooking away, pigs and cows roasting over a large fire, and dozens of chickens hanging on a clothesline. An inside the usually crowded dining room where a number of baskets, ones usually used for washing clothes or fetching water, sprawled on the floor filled with cut and uncut vegetables.

In the kitchen Claire and her mother Helen were cutting vegetables, peeling vegetables, watching the fire, mixing the pot, and plating the dishes. While Joe, was carrying heavy barrels of alcohol up from the cellar, and lining them up on the yard.

I quickly entered the inn, and Claire greeted me, “Oh Blade! Are you hungry?” (Claire)

“No, I just came by to see how things are going, and well….” (Blade)

I activated Mind Control, “Can you add a little bit of this too all the food you’re cooking, and the food everyone else is cooking?” (Blade)

“Sure thing.” (Claire)

This sure is useful

“And if the other abilities weren’t so absurdly powerful it would have been an SR ability,” (Giri)

How powerful is an SR ability anyway?

“Well, a Hero would normally have only one powerful cheat that would be classified as an SR ability. And usually it’s enough to take out a Demon King. Though there are Heroes who just have a bunch of Rare abilities” (Giri)

I see, well I better go and spike some more food. I only gave Claire half of half of the sedatives, I’ll hand Stella and her Flesh Devils a fourth, and I’ll go around and spread the rest myself.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

…

And after slowly spreading the sedatives throughout the village, I patiently waited for the festival as I began sharpening my weapons. And as the sky grew darker and the sun began to set, all the men gathered together, myself included, and built a large bonfire in the center of the village.

And as a hunched back old man climbed up a hastily built stage in front of the bonfire, he spoke with an oddly loud voice, “I….I’d like to thank everyone contributing to this festival. And now I’d like to say a few words to commemorate this occasion, but we all just want to party right? So let’s party!” (Old Man)

And with that out of the way, several men threw touches straight into the center of the fire causing it to burst into flames, “Let the Festival begin!” (Old Man)

And after the bonfire was lit, everyone scattered about drinking, eating, dancing, fighting, gambling, talking. Everyone ran around, and let loose, whether they were kids or old men, men or women. It was as if the invisible restraints that were holding them back were released and they ran around in joyous laughter.

As for me, I made my way to the corner of the village and sat down with Camouflage activated. I watched as people got drunk and intoxicated. I watched as couples kissed, played, and laughed. As old men flirted with the old women, or joked among themselves. I watched as the sky grew darker, as the moon grew brighter, and the sky cloudier.

And most importantly I watched as countless red dots began appearing on the minimap, and as the sedatives began to finally show their effects. I deactivated Camouflage and stood up to take a stroll and get a better gist of the scenario.

“What are you doing here?” (Claire)

Claire walked up from behind me, “Nothing, I was just taking a little break. I ate too much” (Blade)

I smiled and tried to wave her off, but she pulled my arm, “Come on then, you can rest later. We can’t let loose like this everyday. Let’s dance, have fun, and play!” (Claire)

Claire dragged me back to the center, beside the bonfire where everyone was dancing amidst the flames.

Should I use Mind Control and get her to let go off me? No, let’s not waste any mana, this is only a minor inconvenience.

So I danced, I held Claire’s hand and spun her around. I moved to the inconsistent beat of the tired musicians. And as I danced I began to survey the area.

“Blade!” (Claire)

“Hmm?” (Blade)

Claire pouted, and leaned her on my chest, “Blade, you know…..I love you. It’s an indescribable feeling, and I just don’t know why but I fell in love with you.”

She looked up at me, “I don’t know why, was it love at first sight? Was it after that one night? And why did I even let you have your way with me that one night? I just don’t know….”

“Was it because I was watching you? Was it because there was something about you that just, enchanted me. I don’t know…”

“But Blade I love you, and I don’t know you…”

We continued to dance by the flames, and Claire looked at me with tears in her eyes, “Blade I don’t know you. The real you, the you I fell in love with, the you before me. I don’t know you.”

“You’re in front of me, yet you’re an enigma to me. I’ve be watching you, yet I feel like I couldn’t see you. Whenever you’re with me you smile, but I can’t see anything past it. And it…..it scares me Blade. It scares me.”

Tears began to fall from Claire's eyes, and she leaned on my chest again as we continued dancing “I don’t know why I picked now off all times to say this, and it’s weird really. I love you, or at least I think I do and  yet I want to be away from you. I can’t be with you Blade, I just can’t, I’m sorry….”

“Shouldn’t you say anything?” (Giri)

Why, should I.

“Well, it’s just. I just. I don’t know, I just feel you should. I just feel if you don’t, you’ll lose something precious. Something you never had, and at this rate never will have.” (Giri)

We continued dancing as Claire silently wept, she kept saying the words, “I’m sorry…...I’m sorry…..I’m sorry”

And it was incomprehensible to me, what was she saying? What was she apologizing for? What did she do? What did I do?

And then she separated from me, and smiled wearily, “Blade I love you, but we can’t be together. I can’t describe why, it’s just you scary me Blade. It’s almost as if whenever you smile, or laugh it’s all an act. It’s just a play. It’s as if…..it’s as if you have no emotions, as if you’re empty inside.” (Claire)

And with those words, Claire turned around and ran away. A burly middle-aged man walked up to me and laughed, “Your date ran away? Ahaha, don’t let it get to you kid. You’re still young, you’ll find that special someone eventually. We all do.” (Middle-aged Man)  

“Don’t worry I’m fine.” (Blade)

“Ahaha, is that so? Well, I won’t stop ya, just don’t hold it all in. You need to let it out every now and then.” (Middle-aged Man)

And I slowly walked away from the bonfire.

As if I’m empty inside, as if I don’t have emotions huh….

Sadness, Love, Happiness….

Stella asked me through the link, “Don’t tell me you’re getting all sentimental now.”(Stella)

How did you….

“It might not be sent over to your side, but I can feel it on my side at the very least. You’re minds disturbed, your thoughts and emotions are passing through.” (Stella)

Emotions? I’ve lost those a long time ago. Are you in position?

“Of course” (Stella)

Good, be on standby, and send the signal on my mark.

“Very well” (Stella)

Now, I should find an isolated target…

“Ah Blade” (Dr.Jude)

The Doctor called out to me, “Oh, Doctor.” (Blade)

“Are you enjoying yourself?” (Dr.Jude)

“Of course, what are you doing out here? Are you taking a break” (Blade)

“I just like to have a little alone time you know.” (Dr.Jude)

“I see” (Blade)

Speaking of targets, I mighty want to eliminate the doctor as soon as possible.

“And while you’re here why don’t you give me your opinion on something.” (Dr.Jude)

“On?” (Blade)

“The sky, the clouds, the wind. Don’t you think it’s ominous? And I just have this disturbing feeling something’s going to happen soon. It’s like the calm before the storm you know. I feel like something bad’s about to happen.” (Dr.Jude)

I looked up at the sky, “Doctor, you’re oddly perceptive. But you’re a little wrong here.” (Blade)

“Hmmm?” (Dr.Jude)

“This isn’t the calm before the storm, because you see the storm’s already here!” (Blade)

I pulled out the cursed Machete, and severed the Doctor's head from his shoulders. And sent a message to Stella through the link, Begin!

----------------------------------------

Authors Note

This is a little late, breaks over and I had a lot of work to do. I didn't have a lot of time for this one, so tell me if there are any mistakes.