19 Village(3)

The sun shone over the whole village, indicating the beginning of the new week. Most of the villagers stepped out of their huts and welcomed the sun's rays with open hearts.

"Sir Cale, we prepared all the maps we could find in the whole village. Do you need anything else?" Aran asked with a smile.

"That's all I need," Cale replied nonchalantly as he adjusted his new green mask. Surprisingly, it was light and didn't obscure much of his vision.

"Then we can begin" Aran placed all the papers on the wooden table, beginning to spread them out accordingly. After a few moments, a huge map appeared before Cale's eyes.

'What are these kingdom? I've never heard of them before'

That was the first thought that flashed through Cale's mind after he looked at the map carefully. The entire region consisted of six kingdoms, each being larger than the other. However, Cale couldn't see the precious Lulah Kingdom anywhere on the paper, his expression notably worsening.

'Either this village doesn't have enough information...or there really isn't the Lulah Kingdom nearby,' Cale sighed before asking, "Where are we right now?"

Aran pointed to a black line separating Romulus Kingdom and Cezar Kingdom and muttered, "Here."

'Borders between two kingdoms?' Cale thought, slightly confused.

"As you can see, our village is in a somewhat unfortunate position," Aran added with a sigh.

"I think you'd better move away from here," Cale admonished after thinking for a few seconds.

"We would be glad to do that...In fact, we've tried a few times. But because of the dangerous beasts that linger around our village, we can't move anywhere from this place."

'Now everything makes sense' Cale finally understood why such a village appeared in the middle of the forest. With his heart being completely clear, Cale looked at the old man, "So you wanted me to help everyone move out of this place?"

"Ah..." Aran was a little startled by Cale's words, but after a few seconds of silence, he said, "I was found out...Although it may sound selfish, would you mind lending us a hand to get out of the forest? I will provide all the necessary things for your department".

After finishing his words, Aran began to sweat uncontrollably, waiting for the warrior's response. The fate of the entire village depended on Cale's answer, as it was unlikely that another warrior would show up willing enough to even listen to someone else's pleas.

'Hmm...I was still initially going out of this forest. Protecting a few people along the way wouldn't be that much of a problem,' Cale thought. He liked the people living in the village altogether and wouldn't want any of them to die just because of getting caught up in the fight of two ravenous kingdoms.

Looking into the eyes of the nervous Aran, Cale simpered, "I can help you get out, but after that, I'll leave immediately"

"That's plenty! Thank you, Sir Cale!" Aran's whole body shook with excitement after hearing Cale's words as he almost fainted from the excessive amount of adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"I'll be leaving in a few hours, so if any of you want to get out of here, start packing up your stuff," Cale added as he pushed his head back.

'After a few hours?! So soon?!' Aran cursed inwardly, "Please, we need more time!"

"Five hours is all I can give, I am going to train now, don't bother me," Cale said as Aran immediately stood up. Whether the warrior was friendly or not, after getting disturbed during his precious training time, he would definitely get angry.

"We'll try to move as quickly as possible!" Aran didn't gush any more nonsense, rushing out of the room without turning around again.

As soon as Aran had left the room, Cale ducked down to look under the bed. Deep in the shadows, Fenrir could be seen lying on the floor, growling occasionally. His huge belly hadn't changed at all, still being as huge as before.

'Thank goodness Fenrir was asleep, or he would have surely been noticed by Aran,' Cale thought before ripping a piece of the cotton from the sheets and covering Fenrir's body with it.

On the other hand, Cale placed himself on the bed, remembering all the events that had happened recently. Even after turning into a skeleton and knowing nothing about the reason for such a phenomenon, Cale was still most worried about the disappearance of the Lulah Kingdom.

With the constant anxiety in his heart, Cale's hatred and striving for revenge increased accordingly. However, after realizing that he didn't have the power to avenge his family, nor did he find where was the Lulah Kingdom, an unusual feeling overwhelmed him from within.

Hence, Cale spent almost thirty in his thoughts before something external finally snapped him out of his trance.

Ah! Ah! Ah!

The grumble of a teenage boy rang in Cale's ears as he immediately looked out the window. Leo, the teenager he had met in the forest, could be seen throwing rocks towards the wooden target in the distance.

'He practices throwing stones? A strange hobby,' Cale thought, watching Leo's movements. Surprisingly, he was doing quite well, as most of the throws reached their target. The only thing that bothered him a little ...

"Hey Kid, your stance is wrong," Cale said loud enough for the teenager to hear the words.

"Mister!" Leo was extremely surprised to see the warrior looking down at him from above, while his breathing intensified in equal measure, "I'm sorry...I didn't hear you clearly."

"Kid," Cale jumped out the window, "I said your posture is wrong, you don't have to lean so far forward."

"Oh...I have always been throwing like that. Is it really that bad?" asked Leo, scratching the back of his head.

"You have to shift your weight to the back foot and keep your shoulders balanced," Cale said as he picked up a rock from the ground, "That's how you do it."

As the words came crashing down on the teenager, the stone in Cale's hand was launched forward, flying at the target. Leo was shocked to see the stone drill deep into the dummy.

"Mister! Could you please repeat your throw?!" Leo asked, his eyes twinkling in bright stars. Without needing to be asked a second time, Cale repeated his actions. This time Leo paid more attention to the way the warrior executed the throw.

After a few minutes and unending efforts, Leo was finally satisfied, "Thank you very much. That will definitely help me a lot," he said with his head slightly bowed.

"Don't worry kid, I'm leaving now," Cale paid no further attention to Leo as he moved towards the forest.

"Wait, mister...Where are you going? Are you leaving the village already?" Leo was rather indecisive after hearing the warrior's words.

"Leo, isn't it? I'm not leaving the village, I just need some time to myself," Cale replied promptly.

"Oh...alright then" Leo smiled cheerfully, showing his combination of white teeth, "By the way, mister, I'm sorry for throwing rocks at you earlier, it was just instinct."

"You don't have to apologize for something like that, you were just protecting your dear friends," Cale said in a serious tone, "Be ready to step up and defend your loved ones when the time truly comes. There are a lot of evil people in this world."

"Of course, mister! Dad used to tell me that too!" Leo replied, his eyes full of determination.

"Good. If you keep practicing like this, I'm sure you'll have enough strength to deal with anyone," Cale smiled inwardly, "Besides, I'm assured that you have more important things to do right now," he added as he pointed somewhere into the forest.

Among the countless bare trees, a young woman could be seen hiding while looking at the blushing Leo.

"Mister, I have to go!" Leo immediately rushed into the forest, his face filled with happiness.

'What a great village,' Cale was even more pleased with the fact that he had magically stumbled into this place. Without letting anyone else distract him, Cale moved into the forest, his mind getting saturated by the image of Margaret and Del again.