"Over here," I called as Astrid and I walked towards the paint store.
When we first stopped here, together with the rest of the scout team, we set up four cans to be carried later. And right now, there were only two left. It felt wrong somehow not to bring anything back to the village, even if we were taking Frederick literally on our backs. But at least, now we had that option. The Frosted Lumberjack just lifted the cans up and carried them like they were nothing. I suppose that's what I should have expected. After all, for Astrid, that should barely weight anything.
We continued moving back to the village, trying to be careful not to attract too much attention. At the same time, we kept an eye out for the rest of the scouting team. Since there were only two paint cans left on the store they should've already returned. Which did make sense. We spent a good chunk of time underground with the kid. It was too much to ask for them to have waited around for who knows how long without even knowing if we were going to return. Yet, despite our expectation of finding one of the team members on our path, we found nothing. But the journey was nice nonetheless, and we continued to walk towards the village uninterrupted by anything.
By the time we arrived, it was nearing sundown. Once we approached, one of the guards signaled our presence and another guard ran off to call someone. It did not take long for the rest of the scout team and the mayor to appear and just stare at us as we got closer and closer to the village. By the time we reached the doors, there were about 40 people just there watching us arrive. Amongst them was Frederick's family. A large bearded man with a round belly and a woman who was likely in her mid 30s maybe nearing 40, with her hair in a tight bun.
We smiled and asked for a doctor or someone who could take care of wounds. Frederick still had that gunk stuck on him and we had no idea how to remove that safely. Especially considering he should have burned scar now.
One of the people who was watching stepped forward. "That's me." A younger man, probably in his mid 20s, said.
I glanced at him, then at the mayor with a puzzled expression, but he just nodded, confirming that this was in fact their doctor.
"What happened?" the man asked, looking at Frederick with a confused expression.
"We found a few monsters in the tunnels. One of them snatched Frederick. We think it wanted to eat him but I'm not sure. We did our best to run after him and then to escape. But during our escape, he ended up getting hit by a strange spit that came out of the creature. It was a giant rat. Not long after, he approached some fire and the oil on his face started burning. We didn't have water or anything like that, so we had to suffocate the flames. The only thing I could do at the time was shove his head on the ground. Admittedly, I might have been a bit too forceful with that out of panic. But aside from being unconscious, he seems fine. We just need someone to deal with his wound and whatever is left of that gunk."
The doctor nodded to us and then to the mayor, who gestured for him to go along and told a couple of guards to follow. Starting to speak right after it, "Now, everybody. I understand you're all excited and curious about what just happened, but please, go back to your homes. It has been a long day for our visitors and we still need to learn what happened in the tunnels before anything else. So please just go back home and thank them for saving Frederick. We'll see where we stand tomorrow."
Some people seemed to be hesitant about leaving, but most of them just nodded in agreement and walked away. I was very thankful to Sebastian. I really didn't want to deal with the repercussions of what we did. Then again, I didn't regret my decision. It was worth saving Frederick and meeting Rex.
"Cassandra, Astrid, please come. Let's take you back to my home. You can rest for the night and we can have a conversation in the morning. Is that agreeable?" the mayor asked.
I was beat and just lying in bed without doing anything sounded like heaven. Astrid seemed to share my intention, maybe not the bed part, but she also agreed with the mayor's suggestions. Just a handful of minutes later, we were back at his house having been given some food by some of the people in this village. It was a gesture of thanks for bringing Frederick back. Having that kind of reception felt very strange, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
A bit later in the evening, before we slept, the mayor asked what happened, and we gave a brief report about the events until the moment when Frederick was kidnapped. I made sure to not go into details about what we saw in the tunnels. Sharing that information didn't seem like a great idea. Now without a proper plan. It would be a lot to digest and I didn't want to approach the subject recklessly. On one hand, it would be very beneficial for them to have the System and know the kind of threat they were dealing with. On the other hand, there were people here who could be a problem if they gained that kind of power. For instance, that child abusing asshole we trapped in the prison, whatever his name was. I was still weighing my options, and I didn't know which was heavier.
The mayor listened to our story intently, or at least to the part where we arrived at the ruins and until Frederick got snatched.
"I see. That fits with the report that I got from the scout leader. Now, if you don't mind, could I hear the rest?" He said.
I turned to Astrid, who was half sleeping while laying in bed. "Would it be a problem if we could do that in the morning? I don't think there's anything that is too pressing and we really are tired."
If the rats were going to attack one night wouldn't make that much of a deference. Even if they attacked now, knowing wouldn't give any extra time for the village to prepare for the siege, since it would take too long to convince people of what we were saying.
"Of course," Sebastian nodded. And walked towards the door, "I apologize for not giving you time to rest properly. Feel free to raid my kitchen if you are hungry later this night. Can we discuss this in the morning?"
I nodded. "Of course. In the morning."
The man stepped out of our temporary room and before I could even consider talking to Astrid about what we were going to do next, my head hit the pillow and I was taken away to dreamland.
It had been a long time since I had an actual dream, and this one was just as weird as I remember. Dancing with giant rats who turned into jellyfish while one of them became a pterodactyl and started to fly over the ocean. After that I was riding on top of a giant monkey, fighting some tiny Eaters on the ground. I woke up unsure if I had slept properly or not or if I was just going crazy. But at least I wasn't tired anymore and Astrid was to my side snoring not too loudly.
I continued laying in bed and just enjoyed the quiet moments for a few minutes until my companion slowly woke up. It took her a moment to gather her bearings, and I gave her that time before saying anything.
"Morning," I smiled, "The mayor is probably waiting for us. And maybe we should go out with everything we have already."
She nodded and grabbed her stuff. There was a feeling in the back of my head that things were about to go wrong. But that might have something to do with all the people were looking at us yesterday. Or with the amount of noise I heard in these past few minutes.
We headed to the kitchen only to find the Sebastian waiting for us. He gestured for us to sit on the seats that were in front of him. Just as we moves past the living room, we noticed the other two scout members standing up to the side. Together with the doctor, Frederick, who still had a large bandage over most of his head, and a few of the guards. Everyone was very tense, and I cursed my luck since I had an idea what was about to happen.
"Cassandra, Astrid," the mayor said. "I'm glad you're up. How are you feeling?"
"Good, alive," Astrid said.
"I'm fine too. How is Frederick?" my voice was slightly weary. Or at least that was what I was trying to convey. I didn't really feel any guilty about what I did, but they might less prone to do something stupid if they think I feel bad about that.
Once my eyes met with Frederik's still had, he glanced away, "I would be better if I could use both eyes."
It seemed like he was one of those ungrateful kids. The ones that complained about being helped unless the help was absolutely perfect. Even if that meant he was still alive when he should've died.
"I hate having to meet you like this, but we need to discuss what happened yesterday," the mayor tried to look friendly, but he was doing an awful job of it while being surrounded by his goons.
"Sure," I nodded, "what we found in the tunnels is something you should be aware of, anyway."
"Yes. Frederick told us part of it, but," Sebastian looked back at the boy, "it is a bit tricky to take his word for it."
I was hoping that Frederick's words would be enough to give some credibility to the tale. But again, we were going to recount a pretty impossible story.
"It's not going to be easy to believe in what I'm about to say," I started, but was quickly interrupted.
"I wonder why. Why would you try to hide what you did after knocking me unconscious? Maybe you were the ones who dragged me there, I don't know why," Frederick said.
"What?" Astrid and I both said at the same time.
"Kid," the scout leader protested.
"Don't you kid me!" Frederick snarled, "That didn't happen to you. How can you know what it was like? How can you know this is not just a ploy for them to lure me in the tunnels and do whatever they did with me down there? I can't remember anything. Only that I was dragged there. There was some strange stuff, a talking monster. And then I was on fire! She made fire with her hands and tossed into me!"
"This is going to be more complicated than I wanted," I rubbed my eyes. "Look, inside the tunnels we found monsters. A highly aggressive society. They are smart, but they seem to be at war with each other. I think grabbing Frederick was something they did out of desperation because one of the sides is struggling with food, but either way, that's what happened. Either way, fought them. One of the monsters, a giant rat in this case, even helped us. He wasn't really a part of either of those factions it was there just visiting. For some reason he decided to help us."
"Stop lying," Frederick shouted. "You did something with me. I don't get what it was. But that's why I'm like this. I remember. You used some weird magic to mess with me! You said you could teach me to do that!"
I stared at the kid. "So you don't remember the giant rat, but you remember that I told you I could do magic?" I huffed. "That's convenient."
"But can you?" the mayor asked.
I turned to him and sighed. "I don't think it matters what I say right now. You already made your decision, and this is all just a shame. Or am I wrong?"
"We heard about your abilities." He turned to the men that we trapped in the jail. "And I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to cooperate as we try to understand this type of power you possess and how we can better help our village."
"I guess you really think we're going to give you this? Especially after this. After you ambush us?"
"The thing is," the child abuser perked up, "You don't have a choice little girl. You going to do what you're telling you to, one way or another."
I turned to Astrid, and the both of us started laughing.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. That was rich coming from someone who we trapped in the jail and tucked his tail behind his legs the moment when Eaters were mentioned. Tell me, big man, what do you think is we did to get rid of the Eaters yesterday?"
"You just escaped it using your powers. Whatever they may be," the man said matter-of-factly.
"No, you dumbass. We didn't escape it. We killed it. And honestly, almost all the rats we saw down there would probably be able to do the same. Once you get used to fighting them, killing an Eater is not that hard. At least not the ones like what we say around here. There are a few of them more dangerous ones out there," I was half lying. Even if I was a bit more confident about killing Eaters, I didn't want to seem weak.
"Don't lie to me girl, there's no chance you have fought an Eater and lived to tell the tale."
"I don't have to prove anything to you. I'm giving you this one advice and consider this is the last piece of advice I'll ever give. Drop whatever you're doing. Astrid and I are going to leave with our stuff and it will be done with this. The village can rot for all I care."
"I'm afraid that is not an option," Sebastian sighed. "Your powers may help too much. I cannot, in good conscience, let you go without sharing them."
I turned to the mayor, "So you're going to use force to give us force to make us give you what you want? That's pretty much being bandits? That's what your legacy will be. You turned your village into a village of thieves."
"I promise I have no intention of harming you and hopefully a few days in prison will be all it takes for you to give us these strange powers we have, or at least tell us how to acquire them ourselves. Or maybe even just decide to stay here and use your powers for the betterment of our village."
"Yeah, no, that's not going to happen. We're out of here." I got up, with Astrid following me. Her face was fuming and her hand was already ready to pull her axe.
"You're not leaving until we say so," the annoying man that was messed with the kid in the prison said, getting up and pulling a small knife from his pocket. That gained some gasps from the scout team, but the guards seemed to be aware of the presence of the weapons.
The mayor just shook his head and sighed. "I'm really sorry it had to come to this."
He was acting as if it was certain that they would get what they want today. And I think that was what was really annoying me. How could they just act like they already had gotten what they wanted without even understanding the type of powers we had?
Astrid turned to me and just asked. "Kill?"
"Only if they get annoying."
I groaned as I slammed my staff against the head of the annoying prick with a knife. Astrid activated {Shattering Frost} not aiming on anyone in particular. The attack landed close enough to the guards that they got hurt by the giant icicle spikes that were created from her weapon. The ice slammed against the back wall and opened a massive hole in the mayor's house. At the same time, I jumped towards the last two guards, knocking them out with my fists and using {Compression} and slamming my staff on the ground and ceiling. I broke the wooden boards, causing them to fall into the foundation of the house.
After that initial shock, everyone else was frozen. While Astrid and I walked through the front door, taking a couple of apples on the way, only to be met by a few more guards and people from the city rushing to see what happened.
"What's going on?" one of the guards asked.
"We are leaving," I replied without even looking at him. Thankfully, my instinct was right, and we left the room we spent the night already with all of our belongings.
"No. Stop. You are not leaving until we can figure this out," the guard protested and stepped in front of me.
"Stop!" a voice came from the house, "let them go," the mayor was wide eyed and clearly frazzled. Some ice had embedded itself on his arm.
"But sir!" the guard protested.
"No buts! Just let them go!" he said.
I didn't look back and continued walking towards the exit of the village. And frankly, I was really glad the mayor stepped forward. If he hadn't, I might have ended up killing someone. And on a side note, I wasn't sure how I felt about Astrid being willing to kill people. She didn't even hesitate to ask if we should kill them. Maybe we should have a conversation about that later.
Either way, a few minutes after the confrontation, we were back on the road, heading west towards the ocean. But it was still going to take some time to get there.