Rimi plopped on the crude straw bed and rolled around. The house provided to us by the village was not a bad place at all. They said it belonged to someone who had left to the city a long time back.

The room was just like any other house in the place. There were some kerosene lamps hung to the walls that I lit up one after another. A bed, table, enough water, and some food for everyone to spend the night.

Though there was only one bed, it was not a bad deal at all. Evans and I had different concerns on our heads where we would be sleeping.

“So,” Evans spoke out loud. “What do you think Rimi?”

Rimi had come all this way while talking and mingling with the people of the village. She rolled on the bed again and looked at us.

“It’s good. Bella told me that she would feed me a local dish tomorrow and that the people here wanted to celebrate around a bonfire when the monster was gone.”

“I mean about the people.”

Rimi was our resident extrovert and someone who could talk to anyone with insane communication skills. That was also why both of us trusted her the most when it came to people.

Even when Evans was skeptical of me at the very beginning, Rimi had simply accepted me as I was. The same was the case with the people we encountered down the line.

It was also easy to say that our long-standing partnership with Papatou’s team was mainly thanks to Rimi. We had tried to work with other adventurers as well, but Rimi had always said that no one was as genuine as Papatou’s team.

I agreed with her all the time.

“Hm… It doesn’t feel like anyone is bad. If they were planning to do something wrong, they would have been hesitant in some way. Their vibe would have been off, get it?”

Neither of us understood those ’vibes’, but we also didn’t not understand her. People were mysterious in that way.

“They seemed to be hiding something, but nothing wrong. I don’t think they are doing anything wrong.”

Evans nodded and turned to me next.

“What do you think.”

I leaned against the wall and slowly reached to my back, my bone ax was still there, still the same despite being completely remodeled by the blacksmiths. I gently clutched its handle and looked at Rimi and Evans again.

With a sigh, I began to speak.

“They seemed to be hiding the fact that they had been in a fight with this monster. There were wounds on all of them, hidden under their clothes.”

“Really?” Rimi muttered. “I did think their clothes were too long for the heat.”

“I think they lost their citizens in it too. Probably Bella’s husband.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Evans.

“She looked guilty when she mentioned his passing. The rest of them too. They only turned their heads away instead of looking ‘sad.’ Ah! The vibe! The vibe was off.”

Rimi pulled her lips out like a stork and nodded—just like a stoner hitting a great joint—as she gave me a fist bump.

Right.

Whatever I was thinking was probably wrong. If I was right, Evans would be thinking the same, he was not our leader for no reason. I did not have to say anything and sour the mood.

I looked out the windows. The sun had just set. There was still a faint indigo in the sky. People were moving around outside too.

The more I peeked outside, the more uncanny it became. There was no noise. The village was filled with youngsters, and farmers in their 30s or 40s and there was not enough noise.

I quietly closed the drapes and sat down.

“Let’s sleep for now,” said Evans. “We’ll get on the lookout after two hours.”

***

The time passed by quickly. When I opened my eyes, I noticed Evans was already sitting up. Rimi had taken the bed, I leaned against the table, and Evans was sleeping on the floor.

I nodded at him and got up. Our resident extrovert was also a resident klutz and was sleeping as if she had just paid off three generations of debt.

“I’ll head up first,” I told him. “Come around after waking her up.”

All three of us had to be there in case something went wrong. I decided to give these two some alone time and headed out first.

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In my hands was my ax and my bag was slung on my shoulders. With these things, I felt at peace.

My footsteps carried me through the streets of the empty village. The dirt road below was clean with only some footsteps on it. The houses around were almost all quiet, though some still had their lights on.

Most of them must be nervous about the night.

It gave me an unnerving feeling. I slowly looked up at the sky as I turned toward the road that led toward the church.

Which god did this village worship from the Septet? I wanted to check, but I also did not.

My gaze went to the skies…

This spot that ran next to a river, away from the mountains, offered a clear view of the sky like none other. It was humorous.

It was humorous how pretty the sky looked.

“It’s too good a view for a day like today.”

With a wry smile, I looked away and finally found myself in the field. I settled on a tree stump cut from the middle and gazed over the entire field that had been destroyed.

They had said it themselves, the monster usually came from here.

I just had to keep an eye on it. I doubted I would be able to do it.

***

My saving grace from my thoughts came very soon. I heard footsteps approaching behind.

”How’s it going.”

“Nothing so far.”

Evans stopped next to me and viewed the field. He crossed his hands and glared at the fields, at the forest behind.

image [https://i.imgur.com/j0rXlcc.png]

“Rimi?” I asked.

“I woke her up. She’ll be here.”

“When are you going to say something to her?”

Evans’ eyes which had been glued to the field suddenly turned to me. With a trembling gaze, he glared at me.

“What?” I said.

“Say what? What do I have to say to her?”

“That you like her?” I answered. It was the most obvious thing in the world, and he definitely knew I knew. I mean, everyone knew. Even Shawn and the adventurer guild’s receptionist had noticed his gaze when he looked at her.

If these two hadn’t grown up together, they would have already been married.

Evans faked a cough and looked at the field again. I did the same.

“I don’t plan to say it anytime soon.”

“Hold it in and you will regret it. Are you a teenager? Just say the things that should be said.”

“No, it’s not like that…” Evans ran a hand over his face. “I mean. We are old friends, now is not the time.”

“Haah… do you think she doesn’t see you that way? If that is the case you at least have to plant the idea, right?” It was already frustrating to see people fumble with their feelings and confess over text messages. That used to be the worst in my eyes, but now I thought not saying anything was worse. No texts here, you see.

“What are you afraid of?”

Evans pursed his lips. We were both quiet for a few moments before he spoke again. “What if things don’t work out? We are already close together. I don’t want to change this dynamic, and I mean all three of us.”

“Maybe there will be some changes in our every day, but why do you think things would become different if you two got together?” I asked, exasperated. “This bastard, just admit that you are too scared to say anything to her.”

Evans raised his hands.

“You got me. I don’t know… I don’t have the guts. I’d really rather keep this going than become greedy for more and ruin it.”

“What if everything works out?” I said. “As long as you don’t know her answer, you are only assuming it. Why not assume the better outcome?”

Evans sighed again.

“And what about you?” he said, almost as if he was holding a grudge. “You planning to die alone?”

“Of course not. I would find someone.”

“The mage from Papatou’s party seemed to have a soft spot for you.”

“We are just friends. I prefer older ladies anyway.”

Evans kicked me at my words. “You amnesiac bitch. For all you know anyone older can be your mom.”

We both burst into a peal of laughter.

“I was lying, ok?” I said, barely holding in my laugh. “I believe in love at first sight. I think…”

“Just say you haven’t thought of it.”

“I haven’t thought of it.”

“I knew it, loner.”

I kicked his shin this time and we both started laughing again.

“Speaking of moms and kids…” Evans took in a deep breath and spoke. At his words, the air around us completely changed. From a light-hearted conversation to something deeply malicious.

My eyes narrowed too.

“Did you notice?” he asked.

I nodded.

“I was worried if I was simply thinking too much, but there are no children here.”

Even though everyone looked to be in their mid-life, at the age it would be normal to have growing children—we hadn’t seen a single child. There was no pitter-patter of playing kids in the evening nor were there cries of a baby in the night.

“If it was just children, I would have thought I was overthinking too,” said Evans. “But there are no old people here either…”

I hadn’t noticed that. Right, the role of a village chief was usually with the oldest person, yet a man whose hair had just started to gray was sitting in that position.

“But that’s still not all, Ian.”

I nodded again.

This next bit, I had anticipated too.

“The field is destroyed far too properly while everywhere else there is an abundance of lush grains that made the place seem golden… and…”

I finished his words for him.

“There are no animals either.”

Would there be a village without horses or mules or bulls or cows? Sheep or dogs or pigs? That was impossible.

There was not a single livestock here. Nothing to help with the farming nor anything to slaughter and eat.

”Rimi?” I asked again.

“I ‘woke’ her up. She’s going to keep an eye for us from a distance.”

I nodded. That was great. Her backup would be perfect.

A village of just middle-aged people.

People who would generally be the strongest among all age groups if there was any struggle. And also the most heartless.

Wounds and scratches that could be hidden with longer clothes, and a dead husband that elicited guilt over pain.

I grabbed my ax and stood up.

Evans and I turned away from the field at the same time. If we were correct.

Then the real monster was not in the forest behind us.

But it was the village in front of us. The people here were the true monsters.

“Let’s go,” said Evans. He pulled his sword out and took the lead.

I followed behind him, gripping the ax tight. As we passed it by, my gaze lingered on the church. The run-down building had its stained glass already broken and the spires on top seemed to have been degraded from the years.

Did no one come here either? The only thing that seemed right for a house of worship for the septet was the signboard at the entrance.

[The Gods Always Have A Plan] it read.

I looked away with sharper eyes than before. Things were going to get messy.

Our plan would probably be to ascertain things, find some proof, and return to Scarlet so the lord of the town could take care of things.

Unfortunately, it seemed collecting proof was going to be difficult.

As we returned from the fork in the road to the place where all the houses sat.

People of the village had already gathered.

Standing in the middle of the group was the woman who had lost her husband, Bella.

“Ah… you found out sooner than the rest.”