A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

During the past four months, Ingram made tremendous progress.

His knowledge on herbs was already at the basic level and his control of Spiritual Energy advanced by leaps and bounds. The amount of spiritual energy he could channel increased in tandem with his control.

Right now, he could confidently cast Kidōs ranging from numbers 1-3. Also, thanks to his little exercises, his physique slightly improved most especially his flexibility.

His relationship with Landers grew and after visiting his house several times, he knew the whole layout of the place like the back of his palm.

In front of the hut.

Ingram sat on an armchair, enjoying the warm spring breeze as he kept his wife company. Right now she was hard at work, piecing together a black woollen tunic for him.

They had just had lunch and the fields were already ploughed so right now he was a little free. The tunic that Rosella was making for him was something he would wear on the night of the harvest festival.

He looked at his wife with a huge smile on his face.

'All that's left now is to just wait patiently. The drugs are complete and this tunic is almost ready... Well... I guess she does have some use after all.'

Once Rosella raised her head up and noticed his smile, she blushed a little and kept her head down again, continuing with what she was doing.

Her husband had been treating her with "immense care" and showering her with so much love. Right now she was pregnant which further added to her happiness and she was going to inform him over dinner today.

She knew he wasn't like this before.

Yes, he was always a happy man and joked around a lot but when it came to the little things like romance, there wasn't much of that from him.

However, it wasn't necessarily something that was important. After all, in their minds, things like love were just secondary in comparison to giving birth to children and taking care of the house.

"What's the matter?" Ingram asked with a teasing grin on his face. "Is anything wrong?"

"Huh?.. Ye—wait!, no!... Why would you think that?"

He stood up from his seat and walked towards her as he crouched and lifted her face.

"Well, your face is red... are you sick?"

Ingram pretended to be oblivious to the embarrassed and reddened expression written on her face.

"Uh... n-no I'm not sick... I-I'm just thinking of Ephmi's wedding during the harvest festival night."

He conjured a look of realization on his face.

"Ah! That's right, you're absolutely right. Harvest festival night huh, it will surely be a good one... Sorry for distracting you, please continue your work."

While smiling, he stroked her hair gently and kissed her on the lips.

"Oh~"

Rosella was in a daze as she watched him walk back to his chair and sat down.

He turned his head and gazed at the direction of the village entrance before shifting his sights back to his wife.

'Three months. Harvest Festival. The City... It will only get interesting from here on out.'

...

Three Months Later.

At the village central square.

Underneath the slowly sinking sun, numerous villagers gathered around the wooden structure which housed a large bell.

There was some silence as all eyes were glued in a particular direction.

It was a young couple standing in front of a man with flaming red hair which seemed to glow under the dimming light of the sun.

The man had a huge smile on his face as he stared at both of them in their wedding outfits. The groom wore a simple grey tunic while the bride donned a blue cotehardie.

"Ephmi, do you take Renard, son of Hyatt and Juleva to be your lawfully wedded husband. To take his name and bear his children. To love him as you do yourself. To care for him and diligently do your duties as a wife?"

Ephmi's gaze was trained on the man she was going to call husband from today. Without even sparing a glance at the person who spoke, she just nodded her head with a beaming smile:

"Yes, I do."

Hearing this, the man shifted his gaze to Renard and spoke again:

"Renard, do you take Ephmi, daughter of Ingram and Rosella, to be your lawfully wedded wife. To love her as you do yourself. To protect her in times of danger. To provide for her and your children. To diligently do your duties as a husband?"

In the same fashion as Ephmi, Renard looked at his future wife who kept staring at him with a smile on her face.

She looked even more dazzling in his eyes as he admired her figure.

He just smiled back at her and nodded as well:

"Yes, I do."

Once the man heard this, he continued:

"So be it. In the name of the Great Gods, I, Landers Patridge, chief of Truys village hereby pronounce you both husband and wife. Henceforth, you are one. Groom, you may kiss the bride."

Renard hunched down and planted a kiss on the lips of Ephmi after which there was a loud roar of cheers and applause.

It officially signalled the start of the Harvest festival night.

A night where the villagers would gather around as couples danced. Where food was shared and drinks were had in celebration of a good harvest.

Coupled with the wedding, it caused the atmosphere to ascend into one of pure joy and merriment.

Landers stepped away and walked towards the direction of six people who watched on with smiles on their faces.

They were Lander's wife, Heni. Followed by Ingram and Rosella, Renard's parents and finally Rina.

Ingram just observed the buoyant festivity as he held Rosella by the waist.

Her right hand would occasionally rub her slightly bulging tummy as she placed her head on his shoulders. Although her eyes were a little wet, she had a happy expression plastered on her face.

"What are you all doing!!??... oh come on!! this isn't the time to be standing. Go join the festivity and dance with your partners for goodness sake!!"

Landers shouted, attracting their attention even amidst the loud noises in the background.

"Do you want me to drag you all there? ...hm?... Ingram... you know... if you keep smiling like that your face will hurt. Can't you see poor Rosella almost in tears because of you?"

All of them looked at Landers and just laughed. They weren't surprised by his sharp tongue and little jokes.

After some time, they all went forward to dance and celebrate with the others.

The harvest this time around was plentiful so the villagers were even more delighted.

Apart from the crops, they had made extremely good profits when the doctors and herbalists visited the village a week ago, purchasing their herbs at good prices.

Of course, the person who made the most profit in terms of medicinal sales was Rina, considering she knew more about herbs than all of them.

Still, just like the others she also had to give most of her earnings to the village chief so he could offer them to the Tax Collector.

Nevertheless, what was left was still more than what they got last year. In summary, it was a bountiful harvest and they were all certain this would greatly please the Tax Collector and the Lord of the land.

However, one man thought differently.

He was also happy but not for the same reason they were. No, he was happy that all those coins would be his by the end of the night.

He was happy that by this time tomorrow he would be in the City, abandoning this small village.

That same man was dancing happily with his pregnant wife in the village square.

Drinking and laughing with the village chief.

Dancing with his newly wedded daughter.

Making jokes with the little children who beamed in delight.

He looked no different from any other normal person.

But, it was just all a pretense. A mask that covered his true nature.

The man was quite simply a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Still, the activities continued.

These happy villagers, most especially the village chief who kept on laughing like a madman, didn't know that their celebrations would soon turn into that of despair the next day.

...

The festival eventually came to a close as the villagers happily retreated back into their homes.

However, three men sat in front of a wooden house near the village entrance as they drank and conversed.

Landers swigged the wine in his hands and exhaled refreshingly:

"Haaaah... what a beautiful night! Good wine, good wedding, and a good harvest. I feel quite lucky tonight."

He looked at Ingram and grinned.

"What do you say Ingram, care for a game? I feel the blessing of the Great Gods on me tonight."

Ingram however just shot him a mocking smile, "Don't bother chi—Landers. We both know it won't end well."

Landers didn't take any offence and just laughed:

"Hahahaha... one day I'll wipe that smugness from your face—oh wait." He shifted his sights to the other man with them. "Hehe Hyatt, are you interested in a simple game?"

Hyatt, who was silent just raised his right brow and asked in slight confusion:

"And what game might this be chief?"

Landers just pointed at the crude wooden board on the floor and smiled:

"That one. It's not hard and I can teach it to you. Also, just like Ingram does, just call me Landers here."

Hyatt nodded to his reply as Landers picked the board up.

Hyatt was a man in his late thirties with brown hair and brown eyes. He was slightly taller than his son and had a muscular build.

Landers grinned mischievously.

He had been losing miserably to Ingram ever since he was introduced to this game and now he could vent his frustrations on a newbie.

Ingram just sat on his chair, taking small sips of his wine and observed the game between the both of them.

But his mind was far from here.

Everything was set in place and all he needed to do was just wait.

'The effect of the drug will kick in once he falls asleep. His wife also has the drug in her system but she won't sleep until Landers goes back in... same with Rosella.'

He raised his head slightly and stared at the watchtower.

'As for the night guard that'll be stationed there... well let's just say that nightwatch will be the least of his concerns.'

Everything was ready.

He had done the best he could and revised everything over and over again in his head. He was fully confident that by tonight, he would have the required starting capital that he needed.

His gaze was drawn back to the game between Landers and Hyatt and unfortunately for the former, he was losing miserably.

Seeing this, Ingram sipped his wine again and smiled.

"It sure is a beautiful night."