Return of the Fallen Volume 2 Chapter 13
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch13
It was the old village chief who had awoken who knows how long ago and said that.
Shin’s face warped hearing the old chief’s accusation.
“You actually call her a liar when we caught you red-handed trying to harm them?”
Shin walked over and stepped on the chief’s hand, twisting his heel over top of it.
The chief grimaced in pain but he still continued.
*Urh*
“Don…Don’t listen to a word the wench tells you, she can no longer be reasoned with.”
Tsura jumped to her feet and grabbed a nearby rock from the ground and threw it at the chief with all her might.
*Thwack*
The rock struck the old man directly in the side of the head, causing him and those tied to him to fall over from the weight.
The man’s head began to bleed profusely but he refused to give up now.
“The child, you must capture the child before it’s too late. Please don’t let these two go or we will all fall.”
Tsura became enraged and screamed at the old man.
“You…You vile beast. After what you’ve done to me. After what you almost did to my precious Mei. Unforgivable…Unforgivable…Unforgivable…Unforgivable. AHHH!”
Tsura released a terrifying scream as she ran over to the village chief and began to pummel his defenseless body with her fist. Even Shin didn’t know what had happened to cause this but he ended up pulling Tsura away anyway.
Tsura thrashed wildly in Shin’s arms while still trying to kick the old man repeatedly. This caused her wound on her chest to reopen and blood to spill out from her but she was so enraged that she ignored the pain, All the while she screamed at the village chief with hatred in her voice.
“You devil, you animal. My husband died, I’ll kill you. Let me go, let me go so that I can kill this beast!”
Mei ran over to her mother crying.
“Mama!”
Grabbing her mother’s leg she wailed her little heart out, causing her mom to snap out of her frenzy. Tsura fell to the ground and hugged Mei.
“I’m sorry, mommy’s fine, mommy’s fine, so don’t cry.”
Seeing the two, mother and daughter, Nunully felt a pain in her heart watching this scene and had to look away for a moment. She couldn’t look away for long though as Tsura was starting to bleed badly. Nunully once more helped to reclose her wounds. Tsura thanked Nunully before returning her attention to her child and caressing her sweetly.
The moment that should have been precious was then interrupted by a sudden question from Danny.
“So why is it that these villagers want you and your daughter dead exactly?”
The air became silent. No one could believe that Danny had actually broken up their moment so that he could ask a seemingly unimportant question like that. Even Shin, who was normally in a pleasant mood, felt the air stripped from his sails, and a deeply soured expression spread across his face.
“Dude, can’t you read the atmosphere?”
Danny rolled his eyes.
“Does no one find any of this odd. I feel like since we’ve already become involved in the situation, the least we can do is our due diligence and gather as much information as we can to help determine our next move. Though if no one finds anything odd, should I just go with the flow and expose my neck, I don’t think so. Therefore if I ever find things off or I have a question, I will always ask rather than be surprised or unprepared later on.”
Shin had no retort for that and Kazuki as well found no reason that Danny shouldn’t be allowed to speak when he wishes, especially if he found something wrong.
With everyone’s silence, Danny found no objectors to his questioning and proceeded to ask.
“Tsura, right? Can you tell me why the villagers wanted you and your daughter dead exactly? You said that the villagers were mad at your husband and that they backed him in a corner and forced him to leave but if their goal was to simply kill all of you, they could have done just that, so why kill the two of you now instead of earlier?”
Tsura became terribly quiet before her words slowly came.
“I…Because they…There was not enough food so, in order to preserve as much as they could, they got rid of us and…”
“And what? I asked you why they didn’t kill you?”
“I…I.”
“Not only that, I noticed that you as well have that same tattoo on your wrist as they do but your daughter does not. I’m told slaves have these but you all belong to this remote village, nothing about you says slave to me.”
Tsura swiftly pulled at her sleeve to cover her tattoo and became quiet but it was too late, everyone had already seen it. Suspicion and doubt started to grow within them as Danny continued.
“You say this all happened a week or so ago, so when did your husband die exactly?”
Tsura trembled slightly and hesitated for a moment.
“Tonight, he died tonight.”
Mei started to cry again being reminded of her father’s death but Tsura could only hold her to try and comfort her. Asuna and the others held doubt about Tsura but it wasn’t anything major and they couldn’t see where Danny was going with his line of questioning. But with his next question, they collectively felt the air tense up for some reason.
“Tell me, the creature that attacked your village and repeatedly hunted your neighbors, was it a large black bird with no eyes?”
The air went cold and Tsura lowered her head. Her eyes seemed to gloss over with thought before she uttered a single word.
“Mangshi.”
Kazuki and Nunully shared a look and they could tell that neither had ever heard that word before.
A question mark could almost be seen above everyone’s heads.
“Mangshi, is that what that giant bird is called?”
Danny’s curiosity grew and he became filled with excitement learning about something new.
“Why is it called Mangshi and where does it come from?”
Tsura shook her head.
“It is a mythical legend from my village, it wasn’t supposed to actually be real. A Magical Beast that hunts in the night. Over 7 feet tall with metallic-like feathers and no eyes whatsoever. When it opens its mouth it can swallow a small child whole but even if it couldn’t consume an entire child in one bite, its razor-sharp teeth could bite even through stone. When the world goes silent, it is already too late. This story has been passed down from the many generations before me but it was only supposed to be just that, a story. I don’t know where this demonic creature comes from but the word [Mang] means blind. As for the [Shi], I don’t know. All I know is that everything became crazy once that monster showed up.”
Danny went quiet for a moment.
“Hmm, I guess that’s it for now.”
“What, that was it? Your questions haven’t gotten us anywhere and are a waste of time. What was the point of all of that if you were just going to end it there?”
Shin started to chide Danny but Danny simply ignored him as he continued to think about something.
“Hmm, what about the other villagers, did any of them attack you two or force you out?”
Kazuki started to become involved. Kazuki had been chased by this Mangshi creature and hadn’t had time to properly think but its screech was indeed a magic ability. Since it could use magic, that made it a Magical Beast. Kazuki and the others were able to take one on and completely kill it which meant it wasn’t too strong and had to be a 1st tier Magical beast aka a Limit Beast. This news brought a potential opportunity to Kazuki.
(If I can find that Mangshi Beast that I killed earlier then I can take its Beast core. With a tier-one Beast core in hand, I’ll only need one more tier 1, a tier 2 Beast core and a few other ingredients and I can finally Reforge my Mage core. This stupid night of running away may actually prove to be profitable. First, I should probably learn more about this area, maybe see if any of these people have a map.)
“No, they didn’t harm us but I don’t think I can trust them either.”
Kazuki nodded along.
“So what are your plans from now on? Those Mangshi don’t seem to be around but they could come back at any moment, so what will you do?”
“I, I wish to take my daughter far far away from here and find someplace peaceful.”
“That makes sense, but you said you and all the other villagers have lived here for your whole lives, right, and that you also almost never get any visitors. Tell me, do you actually know the way out of this forest or where the nearest city is. Can you two gather food on your own or sleep out in the open safely?”
Tsura’s face darkened with worry.
“You all are adventurers, right? Surely you all know the way. I don’t have anything to pay you with but if you escort me and my daughter out of here safely then as soon as I secure a job in a city I’ll surely pay you all back.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“We have no clue which way is out and which way is in. As a matter of fact, we ourselves are beyond lost.”
Tsura looked at everyone around the burning fire and they all nodded embarrassedly. Her face went pale and she began to tremble in uncertainty.
“No way!”
Kazuki nodded.
“Yep, we only found this place by mistake and we have no way of knowing which direction will lead us out but maybe there’s something that can be done.”
Tsura almost shouted at Kazuki.
“What can be done!”
“Hmm, your village has lived here for so long surely there are a few hunters amongst them. They might not know the way entirely but I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew where animal trails ended and human ones picked up and even if they don’t maybe one of them has a map or something, otherwise, there’s not much we can do but wander around while being attacked.”
Tsura remembered something and grew excited.
“Wait, there is a map.”
She pointed at the village chief and exclaimed.
“He has one, he’s always had one. He treats it like a little treasure and never lets anyone see it but he definitely has one. If you use his map will you then lead me and my child out of here?”
Kazuki was ready to agree but Danny cut him off.
“They were all checked, none of them have anything like a map. Back to square one.”
Kazuki shrugged his shoulders at Tsura, causing her face to pale even further. If she couldn’t get her daughter out of here safely then only death awaited them both. Without a village of people to surround them, they would be exposed to the dangers of the outside. They had to get to a city no matter what.
“The cave! The rest of the villagers and most of the important stuff they could carry at the time were all taken to the cave. His map has to be there, it just has to be. I’ll lead you there and when you get the map, promise me you’ll take me and my daughter out of here. Please!”
(If there really is a map, I might be able to locate the Mangshi’s corpse a bit better. If I just have to take her and her kid out of here the exchange is definitely worth it.)
“Agreed. If there truly is a map then I promise to escort the two of you out of this place with my full protection.”
Tsura’s eyes became slightly wet as she grabbed Kazuki’s hands gratefully.
“Thank you.”
Asuna and the others didn’t know why Kazuki so readily agreed to help them so much but he seemed to know what they were thinking and said.
“Well, we did get involved, we might as well go all the way. Besides, we really are lost and if there is a map, it’s not a bad deal to take them out of here in exchange for it.”
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