A Blessing Or An Omen

Yv's sudden departure left Rain in a spiral of emotions that he thought he had kept hidden. And Rain spent most of his time reminiscing about everything Yv had taught him over the course of 2 years to keep his mind in check. Rain kept on hunting and hunting everyday until his bow string snapped from the intense exercise.

All his prey were shared by the villagers after exchanging them with everything he used to get while Yv was still around despite with little to no use. His strange and odd behavior was picked up by some of the villagers who managed to catch a glimpse of his eyes.

"That guy is still going hunting even though it's raining hard." said one of the drunkards seeking shelter from the rain inside a pub.

"I know right? He's been acting all weird lately. He is usually cheery and filled with vigor, but he suddenly became like this. What do you think happened?"

"Listen to these idiots. Did none of you experience something similar in the past?"

They all turned their attention to a certain person sitting at the very end of the pub, at once. Intrigued by his remark, they all surrounded him. One might think that the villagers would resort to violence after being called names but most of the people living in this certain village love peace more than anything. And for someone to have a clue as to what is weighing on Rain's shoulder, their interests are piqued.

"I haven't seen you around here. Are you a drifter?"

"Don't ask him anything else, you idiot!"

They all surrounded him like a flock of birds. Despite the intimidating aura around the drunkards, the man remained calm knowing that they wouldn't do anything to him.

"Don't you all get it? That guy is having romantic problems. You said he was cheery just recently, right? He doesn't look like the type to have a pet dog or cat or anything so that must be the source of dark air around him." said the man, pointing out the things he had observed.

"Wait…. I think you're right! There's this elf that's been living with him ever since he came to the village and I haven't seen her lately! That must have been it! The elf must have left him!"

Having said that out loud, an old lady bashed the drunkard's head with a tablecloth.

"This is why your wife left you, you do not have any tact at all. How can you say that out loud for all the people here to hear?"

"Eh? What did I do?"

"Don't give me that. You should have kept your mouth shut in these kinds of situations." said the old lady, and then turned to the man who started it all. "I don't know why you brought it up but please refrain from doing anything like that from now on. We don't know what that young man is going through, after all."

"I understand."

The wives of the drunkards heard what happened and gave them a scolding and brought them back to their houses, drenched. All the others watch the spectacle as it doesn't always happen. It was all due to the fact that Rain has been supporting the village with his catch as tribute for letting him stay within the premises of the village.

Since there's not many people hunting in the forest where Rain had erected his house, he is most likely the only contributor of catch from the forest and the wives of the drunkards appreciate his tribute for the village all the time knowing how hard it is for someone who isn't used to that kind of life.

"The ladies admire his hard work, so when they hear that their husbands are taking what he's going through lightly, it's understandable that they are bound to get angry in his stead." said the old lady, wiping the table.

"I still remember the day when that guy came into the village and asked us to live here. He doesn't even speak our language that well, much less live the way he does now, but he still managed to pull through." A drunkard cut in, "If anything, its sad seeing him acting like that all of a sudden."

The man sitting alone listened to their conversation and found it strangely interesting about how they secretly admire an outsider just a few years ago. Just as their talk continued, a man came rushing inside the pub, soaked to the bone.

"Russel, what in the world are you doing here!?" exclaimed the old lady and rushed to give the man a towel, "Here, dry yourself with this. Now tell me what you came here for, can't wait until the rain lifts off?"

"Thanks, grandma. It's father, he's still not back from hunting yet, and there's no one to butcher the wild boar Rain brought."

"T-That's troubling. Hey, Lan. Do you know how to butcher a boar?"

"You're asking for the impossible! I only repair sandals and shoes!"

"Don't even ask me, I'm a freaking carpenter."

The people inside the pub immediately brought their excuses to light, deliberately telling the hunter's son and his grandmother that it was outside their expertise. It was an understandable response. The villagers do not thrive in hunting animals in the plains or animals but from their very own product: weaving baskets and such.

And because that is their main source of livelihood, there's only so many people who want to live by hunting, thus their very small numbers.

"What are we going to do? If we don't butcher the boar right now, its meat will lose quality."

The hunter's son walked back and forth, anxiously. His grandmother, who can do nothing but watch, shook her head. She knows that if they were to leave the boar until her son comes back to butcher it, the meat will lose a good amount of quality. With only limited ways to preserve meat, it will spoil faster.

"I can help. If you don't mind." The man sitting alone raised his hand, garnering everyone's attention.

The hunter's son exploded in delight and raced to the man's side, holding his hands. "Will you really help us?! Are you sure!?"

Taken aback by his reaction, the man steps back. "Y-Yes. Like I said, if you don't mind."

"Hey, Russel. Didn't your parents teach you not to trust strangers?"

"Shut it! I can't afford to let such a catch go to waste! And besides, you can't even help me! So I'm taking all the help I can get!"

The hunter's son's remark shot the others down, who wanted to warn him. Knowing how stubborn he is, some of the drunkards gulp down their pints of ale in mere seconds. It was unusual for them to do such a thing as they tend to enjoy their drinks, however, it was unanimous agreement with no words spoken. It was to protect their own.

"We'll come with you."

"If you're that hyped then Rain must have brought a big one this time, huh?"

2 drunkards accompany the man and the hunter's son back to their place, where the slain boar was placed. They raced under the unforgiving rain and reached the hunter's home in seconds. Russel, the hunter's son, offered them towels to wipe themselves dry. Although it was useless as they're soaked to the bone, they didn't refuse.

"Why did it rain today of all days?"

"I get you. There weren't even a single dark cloud earlier. This is just too sudden."

Getting drenched in the rain sobered the drunkards. And after barely wiping themselves dry, they followed behind Russel, who was ushering the stranger into the back of the house to show him the way. The other two were keeping a close watch on the stranger, but right after entering the back of the house, their eyes shifted to the lifeless body of the boar before them.

The man, along with the drunkards were utterly speechless upon seeing the large boar. It was thrice the size of anything they have seen so far, so seeing such a monstrous animal left them in silence.

"That's dead…. Right?"

"Are your eyes made of knotholes? Of course it's dead!" Russel even patted the boar's dead body to prove that it had died.

"S-Still.. Isn't that too big for a boar? That's a lot bigger… is that even a boar?"

Rather than reacting the way the drunkards did, the stranger regained his composure and inspected the boar. And then, he confirmed that it was indeed a boar just as the hunter's son claimed.

"I agree that its monstrous size suggests otherwise, but it is indeed a boar." said the stranger, checking its wound. "Still, to take down such a thing requires skill. And these wounds…."

The three of them watch as the stranger traces his fingers from the boar's wounds to its legs as if he was trying to make out how such a large creature was taken down. It was an investigation.

"Arrows? Is the Rain guy an archer?"

"Yes. Rain is an archer. I believe he was taught how to use a bow by the elf he was living with."

Astonished by his findings, the stranger inspected the boar's corpse even further and found traces of other variables that might have contributed to the death of the creature. And as if found something valuable, his lips arched in a smile.

"This is rare…"

Knowing that he needed to butcher the boar as soon as possible, the stranger immediately went to work. He asked Russel as well as the 2 drunkards to help him since it was a much larger boar, instructing them and asking them for tools. It was a huge workload that required at least 5 people to finish, so the 3 weren't able to refuse.

It took them almost 20 minutes to finish everything. They separated everything, mainly: the insides that aren't good for eating and used the rest.

"The bones can be boiled. Add in some spices and the broth will be good to keep ourselves warm in this rainy evening." Russel gathered the bones and then bowed his head to the stranger, "Thank you. If it weren't for your help, the meat would have surely gone bad!"

"Not at all. This has been productive for me as well. Getting to see and butcher such a monster is already a reward for me." replied the stranger while sitting on a chair, utterly exhausted.

"You're incredible, how did you manage to cut through the tough bones like that? I saw you struggling but if it was one of us, we would have struggled a bit more."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! You flutter me. It was nothing. As a drifter, I needed skills to help me get by. And it was one of those skills." the stranger chuckled, "I was done with wandering around and wanted to settle down. I asked around and was told that this was a good place to stay if I want to have a peaceful life. Surely enough, they weren't lying. This place is indeed peaceful."

A few moments later while the others are cleaning the mess they made, Russel's father returns. He had a disheartened look on his face as he greets his son, looking down.

"Father, you're back! Took you long enough." Russel rushed to his father's side, wiping his hands clean before holding the door open.

Russel's father saw their guests and nodded his head, "I'm home. It looks like we have ourselves some guests."

"How'd your hunting go?" asked one of the drunkards, "You must be crazy continuing to hunt under this unexpected and unforgiving rain."

Russel's father breaks a smile but soon disappeared after holding out his hands, "I did put an effort but I came back empty-handed, you see."

"What are you looking so disheartened about? If you're thinking of not being able to give everyone even a little piece of meat, don't be." said the other drunkard, rather confidently.

It was an unusual response for he wasn't able to contribute to the village lately. He was certain that his people were starting to hate him, and for him to hear such a response utterly surprised him.

"He's right, father. We just finished butchering a monster-sized boar just now, and this gentleman helped us. The meat will feed the village for days." said Russel, gleaming with excitement.

His father immediately ran back and saw the bloodied mess they'd made. Seeing the stacks of meat piling one after another left him in a bit of shock. From the sight of the limbs alone, he can already tell that it came from a single creature alone.

"W-What the hell did you butcher here?"

"Don't speak nonsense, we already told you it came from a monster-sized looking boar."

The 2 drunkards told Russel's father about its actual size and even boasted on how they are able to help butcher such a creature. Russel's father, who was still stunned, couldn't help but hear them out. The stranger, although listening to their cheery conversation, was thinking of something else in mind.

"This boar…." he said to himself, gazing at the decapitated boar's head. "... is almost as large as the records from that time. People who are ignorant would see this as a good chance, and be happy. But for those who are aware, it's a sign. A sign of something ominous that's about to happen."