Chapter 1: 'Cursed Village': Moonlight (1)

Christopher looked confused, "What is this? The 'Cursed Village'? And, what are Roxes?"

No one answered Christopher's barrage of questions. It's not that they didn't want to answer, it was because they also didn't know the answer themselves.

"By the way, who are you? Why are you covering your whole body with a cloak?" Allura said, starting to notice the presence of a figure whose entire body was covered in a cloak. Thus, not a single hair, nor their face is visible. Only the chin that gives a dazzling impression is visible.

The cloaked figure replied in a cold tone, "You don't need to know, Fairy, and you can call me Lana."

Allura didn't look upset at all. In fact, she seemed interested in Lana after hearing their, rather harsh and cold, words. However, before Allura could answer, Augus said in a rather friendly tone, "My name is Augus, nice to meet you Lana."

Lana nodded their head, then looked at Christopher. Christopher narrowed his eyes, then said in a loud, firm voice, "Christopher."

Then, the little fairy with the sly smirk on her face, continued with a sweet smile, "I'm Allura. Nice to meet you."

After Allura introduced herself, Augus immediately asked, "How did you guys get here? Erm, I mean, what were you guys doing before ending up at this place so suddenly? Like me, before I suddenly got here, I was leaning against a tree, enjoying the night view."

Christopher didn't seem to believe Augus' words and showed a very strong atmosphere of hostility towards Augus.

Lana ignored Christopher's attitude, and replied, "I was on a mission."

"I was talking to my friends, then suddenly I'm here." Allura replied with a smile.

'It turns out that this very sly-looking fairy has friends too...' Augus thought with a snort, with the feeling that it didn't make any sense.

After Allura finished answering, everyone's gazes turned to Christopher who was still glaring at Augus. Noticing their gazes, Christopher said curtly, "I was hunting."

'I can feel this guy really wants to kill that vampire...' Allura thought as she saw Christopher's eyes that looked as if they were full of hatred directed at Augus.

Even Augus himself got goosebumps being glared at by Christopher, but he couldn't really ask Christopher to avert his gaze, Augus just wanted to prevent another 'war' from happening again.

Allura, who noticed the atmosphere was a bit heated because of Christopher's hateful gaze, immediately asked, "When you guys suddenly got here, did your head hurt for a moment?"

Christopher nodded his head, a sign that he experienced it. Likewise with Lana and Augus. What they did before arriving here may have been different, however, when they arrived here, they all experienced the same painful headache.

"Were we forcibly teleported here?" Augus spoke his thought out loud, and Christopher immediately returned to gazing him with hateful looks.

"Possibly, but what about the transparent screen? We don't have an explanation for that, do we?" Allura said.

Augus expressed his opinion, "I don't know for sure, but from my current analysis, this [Mission] is something we should do, and once we successfully complete it, we will get a reward. There's proof for this theory to be true because earlier we all got something called 'Roxes' right."

Christopher immediately replied, "Then what does the last transparent panel mean? The 'Cursed Village'? Is it a place? If so, where is the 'Cursed Village'?"

Of course, no one answered Christopher, because they themselves didn't know the answer for sure. But, they also had their own theories in mind.

"That's something we have to find out right now isn't it. But how can we find a village in this unknown vast forest?" Lana said continuing the almost dead discussion.

Augus mumbled a short 'Hm', a sign that he was thinking. While Christopher was stomping his shoes, just like Augus, Christopher was also analyzing the current situation, and set aside the presence of a vampire near him. Meanwhile Allura looked up at the dark night sky, with an unknown gaze.

The silence lasted quite a bit, as again a transparent panel appeared before them all.

[Mission : Go to 'Cursed Village']

[Time Remaining: 30 Minutes]

[Hint: Follow the Moonlight]

Augus muttered a little, "Follow the moonlight...?"

Then, Allura, who had been silent for a long time, expressed her opinion, "It seems that since we've spent alot of time chatting already and still haven't found the village in question, this transparent panel is helping us."

Lana nodded their head, afterwards they said, "Then I'll leave first."

That means, they intended to go to the 'Cursed Village' alone. However, unexpectedly, Augus stopped them.

"The previous [Mission] asked us to gather together, so that means it's possible that on the way to the 'Cursed Village', we'll run into problems that we can't face alone. So you better not go alone Lana." Augus said in a hurry.

Lana studied Augus from head to toe, then turned around. That attitude showed that they would go with them.

'Lana shouldn't be hard to persuade, but..., what about Christopher..?' Augus thought as he looked Christopher. Augus was very unsure if Christopher would choose to go with them. The main reason was ,of course, because of the existence of his enemy, namely himself.

However, to no one's expectations, Christopher said in a sharp tone, "I'll come with you guys."

In the end, Christopher and Augus agree to a temporary truce. Christopher really doesn't like the idea of working with Augus, especially the fact that, one of the vampire race, his enemy, is around him right now, makes Christopher uncomfortable and disgusted. However, right now, fighting was certainly not a reasonable option.

Allura, Lana, Christopher and Augus began their journey to the 'Cursed Village'. Allura as a fairy who can fly, monitors the situation from above, and informs Lana, Christopher and Augus. Of course, her small voice couldn't reach the three of them, so Allura couldn't help but use her magical power to amplify her voice.

They walked for about fifteen minutes before arriving at an area that contained a bunch of simple houses. It was seen clearly that the bunch of simple and small houses were made of straw and wood. Each house has a different shape, but all of them look very sturdy.

When Allura shared what she saw, Lana, Christopher and Augus guessed that they have reached their goal, the 'Cursed Village', and sure enough, as they approached the cluster of simple houses, the transparent panels reappeared.

[ Mission : Go to 'Cursed Village' ]

[ Time Remaining: 14 Minutes ]

[ Mission Completed! ]

[ Rewards: +10 Roxes ]

[ New Mission: Investigate the Cursed Village's ]

[ Time remaining : 3 Days ]

'This time the time limit is quite long compared to before..' Allura thought seeing the time limit for the new mission. Based on her estimation, the mission they got this time should be more difficult than before.

Then, right after that, the existence of the four of them began to be noticed by the villagers who were carrying out their activities. They looked at Lana, Christopher, Augus and Allura with strange looks, but also mixed with happiness.