33 Trouble

Xiv waited at the gate of the village since the morning, waiting for Warden to return. He waited till late last night as well, but there was no sign of their savior since he left for the dungeon. 

Many of the villagers seemed to grow discontent with his absence and even blamed him for letting Warden go, as if Xiv had any power to stop the lanky man who could take on packs of wolves on his own effortlessly.

He told them multiple times that Warden had gone to the dungeon to take care of their problem, which was his duty. Half of the village was already certain Warden was dead in the dungeon and would never be coming back. 

Many families left for the nearest town, Triu, in groups over a couple of days. They knew their life in town wouldn't be any more comfortable, but to them, living was all that mattered. Xiv couldn't stop them even if he wanted to. Even if the village was relatively safer now, they had all experienced the disaster and loss.

The little village meant nothing to them if they could keep on living safely somewhere else. Xiv's own thoughts were complicated on the matter. Although he had gone to the town a few times with his Dad, the village was all he knew. But now, with his family gone, he guessed it would be better if he left as well, though he wasn't sure where.

"Xiv, you're here," Onia yelled, running in.

Onia was only a year younger than him, and like him, had lost everything in the beast tide. They had literally been neighbors and friends since childhood. Well, considering the village was small, most youths could be considered his friends since childhood, though none of them were as close to him as she was.

"What are you doing here alone all day?" She said, gasping. "You haven't had anything to eat yet. Come back with me."

"Onia, I'm not really hungry at the moment," Xiv lied.

"Then accompany me and watch me eat," she said, latching his arm with hers. She began pulling, not in the mood to listen to anything he had to say.

"Onia, just listen to me for once," Xiv grumbled, breaking his arm free from her clutch. With his improved Strength, it was as easy as eating a pie. "I'm not in the mood right now. I promise I'll eat with you at dinner."

Xiv turned his head back on the lookout again. Then a splash of water hit him on the head.

"Why did you do that for?" He turned, screaming.

Onia cast another ball of water and splashed it on his face without warning, and proceeded to blast the water at him continuously. The spell was never threatening, but it was irritating to no end, especially when Xiv was in such a state.

"Would you stop already?" he shouted, his voice losing in the splash of water. "Onia, I said..." the impact of water rose. "Fine, you win. Let's go eat together."

Onia finally stopped, a victorious smile on her lips. "So you finally come to your senses," she said.

"I had to," Xiv grumbled, wiping his face clean with his sleeves. "Not having magic is truly a disadvantage."

"Xiv," —Onia caught his arm— "You are not responsible for the whole village. Not even your father, who was the village head, was responsible for the entire village. So stop putting all the weights on your shoulders and look—"

A whistle cut Onia's speech as both of them turned to find a person sitting on the fences without their notice. A moment ago there was no one there, but now a thin man with a rough beard was looking at them.

"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds," said the man with an impish grin, "but is this the village attacked by wolves a couple of days ago?"

Xiv exchanged a look with Onia as he came in front of her. He wasn't sure where to begin, but the outlook the man was giving didn't bode well for him. There was no joviality in his smile. 

"Are you deaf, boy?" the man asked, brows creasing together.

"Um, no," Xiv answered. "I was a bit surprised to find you there. Sir?"

"Sir, eh?" the man laughed again. "I guess I'm Sir to you. Now answer my question."

"Yes, we were attacked by packs of dire wolves for the last couple of weeks," Xiv answered. "There were attacks before but never constant or frequent."

"And you have hunted down these wolves?" the man asked again.

"Um, there were adventurers from the academy who came to our rescue," Xiv said. "Without them, it would have been impossible for us to survive."

"But they have left, haven't they?" the man asked. He didn't seem to need acknowledgement on that as he continued, "Pompous nobles from the academies, they called it a job done after they killed a few wolves and left all of you to die in the next attack."

Xiv was growing more and more worried as he listened to him. He was pretty sure this man was no noble adventurer like the three their village had seen in recent times. They were more like—

"Go carry out our orders," the man croaked, jumping from the fence to stand before him. "Call all the villagers in one place and wait for our arrival. It will be beneficial for both of our sake."

"But, sir, who are you?" Onia asked from behind Xiv. "Why do you want everyone together?"

The man gave her a look and licked his lips, grinning ear to ear. "You don't know, Little Girl?" he laughed, bringing out a handy dagger. "I thought it was pretty self-explanatory. I am what you call a bandit. And our whole band is coming to this little village."

Both of their expressions were ashen, as Xiv clutched his spear tighter.

"Now, contrary to what you know about bandits, we are a more civil bunch." The man took a step forward. "If you are civil with our needs, we can all get this over with without any bloodshed. Won't you say that's for the best?"