Chapter 30: Koror Villagers

"What do you mean you don't know where the serpent is?" Claude asked.

"It's a trap, the real enemy is the snake-like old man."

"No, no, dear adventurers. That is not the case."

"Why did you ask for our equipment then? Huh!?"

Claude's ears perked up at Elric's words. That made sense. Why did these bastards ask for their equipment in the first place? That wasn't normal.

"It's totally normal! You're dressed worse than our farm boys!" The old man snapped back.

"Oh…"

Claude looked down at his clothes. Well, maybe wearing sandals all the way to the village was slightly bad.

"Ok fine. Now explain, why do you not know where the serpent is?"

"That…" the village chief slightly lowered his head. "We are sorry for withholding information. We are not sure if it even is a Rammer Serpent."

Tsk.

All that book hunting and reading gone to waste.

"Why?" Claude asked, heaving an annoyed sigh.

The old man hesitated, like a child nervously asking its parents for money to buy some ice cream. It was a disgusting sight. After a bit, he finally spoke up. "The serpent was seen and identified by all the villagers. We tried to confront it, but it was too terrifying…

"Still, our numbers seemed to have worked as it got scared and… ran away underground."

"Underground…" Elric repeated his words as he placed a hand on his chin and covered his face. The village chief seemed to have received an idea of him being quite the intellectual from Elric's pose and strained eyes. Little did he know the boy was only trying his best to suppress a yawn.

Right then, the doors of the room rammed open once more.

"Village chief!"

Elric and Claude turned to their backs and saw a group of other villagers standing at the door. The one at the forefront wiped the sweat on his head and the bits of dark mud as he tried to catch his breath.

"You people…" The old village chief's voice lowered. "I am sorry… I had to tell them everything. These young ones are just kids."

"Chief…" The people at the door lowered their heads, so did that one guy who had met them at the front that Elric had forgotten the position of.

"You didn't tell us jack yet," Claude clicked his tongue and said.

It was clear they had something to be guilty of, and Elric wasn't going to pass it by. He strode over to the desk of the village chief and pulled back the chair before slumping down on it. His feet rose, with a bit of effort, and he slammed them on top of the desk. Claude seemed impressed for a split second before he grabbed another chair and sat down on it as well.

"Explain," Elric said, raising his chin. Calling them appalled wouldn't be the beginning of it, but the people of the village still held their tongues and tried to explain, the guilt in their eyes still strong.

Their match wasn't considerate of that stuff though.

Before they could begin speaking, Elric snapped his fingers and pointed at one of the people standing at the back. "You, I am parched. Something to drink would go well."

Exasperation colored the faces of the villagers, but they weren't going to call the kettle black now. They soon took to the front of the desk and started explaining the situation.

Elric almost nodded off right as they began, but pinched himself to stay awake and hear whatever they said. Soon enough, the man he had sent away came back with some tea and snacks for everyone in the room, which Elric dived right into.

"Sho bashically," he said with his mouth stuffed. "Yho din't hab enough mhoney?"

Claude slapped the back of Elric's head and the latter gulped down everything in his mouth. "You didn't have enough money to hire a higher rank adventurer and were planning to use a freebie from the guild? Since if the adventurers die or get injured the guild would send a higher-ranked one for free?"

The villagers lowered their gaze with guilt.

"Hmm…" Claude hummed, crossing his legs with a hand on his chin.

"I-it's a very desperate situation…" the one that had barged in first groaned. He was clenching his fist hard enough to turn them white as the ones behind him patted his shoulders with pitying gazes.

"You guys can go back and report it to the guild…" the village chief pitched in. "We're sorry. We were mistaken, and should face the consequences."

"Village chief…"

"Chief…"

Elric pursed his lips in annoyance. He turned his gaze to meet Claude's and pumped his eyebrows. Claude thought for a few seconds before raising his chin, earning a smirk and a shrug from Elric.

"Fine," Claude said. "We might not seem it, but we're pretty crazy strong. We'll handle the snake."

"W-what!?"

"You, it's not something C Ranked adventurers can handle… There's no need to go out of your way—"

"Shush it. We said we'll do it, so we'll do it."

The villagers exchanged glances, and then nodded. "Fine," the one at the front said. "It's too late today, though, so rest for now and go at it tomorrow. Please, don't do anything reckless."

***

"So, how much do you think they're hiding?"

Claude pulled the desk from a side of the room and placed it right in front of the door, blocking it shut.

"A lotaahm…" Elric slumped down on the couch, and yawned as he spoke. His eyes moved to the sides as the lamps around the room flickered from left to right, tinting the wood around in an orange glow. "It was a simple play on pride. They wanted us to go in, didn't even look guilty or discuss it at the end there."

"They did look guilty, didn't they?" A final check over everything. Claude's eyes swerved over the room as he looked for places one could barge in from, they were all blocked, including the windows, except one.

"Being guilty about what 'could' have happened won't make you that accommodating towards strangers. It was all a ploy, a ruse."

"Hm," Claude walked over to the couch as well and sat across from Elric. "That's why you pushed their buttons, huh?"

"No? I just wanted tea."

For some reason, Claude did not doubt that at all.

"Then, if that was the case. Why bother with the whole higher-ranked adventurer bit? I am also confused about how they know the capabilities of a C-Ranked adventurer in the first place. I don't imagine they hire many with the money they have."

"That bit confuses me too…" Elric's voice lost strength as he snuggled on the couch, going deeper into its cushion. "Something's fishy…"

Claude crossed his legs and started thinking again. "Sleep for now," His voice naturally came out. "I'll take the first wa—"

"Zzz…"

"Bastard."