Chapter 6 - The Village and Captain

The woman's scream grew louder and then another voice joined in, a voice that was begging for help, begging for something to stop. We ran to the front of the line, and Leone pushed back everyone that tried to stop us. They probably thought we were trying to cut in the line, but I didn't have time to explain to them that we weren't. We arrived at the front and I felt Leone let out a low growl as my rage boiled. In front of us stood a man, most likely a guard since he wore leather armor, beating a dirt-covered woman with the flat of his blade, a shortsword that looked like it had seen better days.

"Please, please stop. I'm begging you," said a desperate female voice and I turned to see an older-looking woman crying and looking at the woman on the ground. Her mother? It didn't matter right now, I needed to help them.

"This girly ain't going nowhere until she begs me for forgiveness. who do you think you are to refuse me?" said the man, as he raised his blade to strike her again.

"That's enough!" My voice boomed out as a command, not a request. The man's blade stopped and he turned his pock-riddled face to me. His beady black eyes met my age-filled ones and examined me for a moment before he snorted and pointed at me with the tip of his sword, "This ain't none of your business, so shut up and get back in line."

He took a threatening step forward when I didn't move, "You deaf boy. I said move!" he all but yelled at me.

"Or what!" I growled, looking him up and down. He was lanky and didn't look like he had any muscle whatsoever. "You look like your about to topple."

I heard Leone snort out a laugh from beside me and the man's gaze moved to her. The man's eyes filled with hunger and he smiled, revealing his black and yellow teeth,

"Well look at this lovely lady here," he leered, staring Intently at Leone's face, the hood having fallen off in our rush to get to the front. "If the lady comes with me then I'll leave this girly alone."

Leone moved to attack but I placed a hand on her forearm and glared at the man, "Last chance. Leave or you die." The man raised his sword and started towards us, "I tried playing nice, but now I'm gonna-"

Those were the last word he got out before I summoned Lilah and she drove her blade into his chest. He looked down in shock and tried to say something, but all that came out was a bloody gurgle. Lilah ripped her blade free and viscera and blood spilled from him, but she wasn't done yet, a quick slash to his neck sent his head toppling end over end, and a moment later his body followed, crashing to the ground in a heap of blood and guts.

It was silent for a moment and then the first scream sounded followed by a dozen more as I turned and saw people quickly backing away from the scene. I ignored them in favor of approaching the woman on the ground. I leaned down a hand for her to take, so I could help her up, but she flinched away. I sighed, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I literally just stopped you from being beaten half to death." Her brown eyes were still fearful and wary, but she slowly almost cautiously took my proffered hand and I gently pulled her to her feet. She winced with the movement and placed a pale hand to her left side, it was probably bruised, but I didn't have a summon who could heal just yet.

"Tracy," whispered a voice, and I turned to see the older woman staring at us and cautiously moving closer to the woman next to me, whose name was probably Tracy. I backed away from Tracy and raised both my hands up, "Go ahead, I don't mean any harm towards either of you," I said in an empathetic tone.

When I was a few more feet away the older woman rushed towards Tracy and gripped her in a fierce hug, "I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "The village has changed, but I didn't think they'd do something like that."

I went to send Lilah back to storage but stopped as I heard the sound of shouting and marching feet. I turned to the sound and saw a group of guards marching towards us. They were 8 of them and they weren't very organized or well equipped, as some held swords while others held spears, and were those... pitchforks?

As there drew closer one of them, a bulky-looking man, spotted the corpse, "Surround them in front!" he yelled.

Lilah and Leone positioned themselves in front of me and took up fighting stances, and a moment later the guards took up a loose semi-circle in front of us. I examined them and any worry I had left me as I saw their worn leather armor and shaking hands. It was clear to anybody that these people weren't proper guards and most likely hadn't been in a proper fight before. The bulky-looking man gulped as he stared at Lilah and turned to me, "Drop your weapon and there won't be no trouble." his shaky voice and fear-filled eyes gave him away and I let out a laugh, "Ha! You think you can stop us?"

He gulped and one of the others, an overweight fellow, spoke up, "There 8 of us and only 3 of you." I didn't bother replying and instead focused on Lilah and Leone, "The moment a single one them looks like they're about to attack. Kill them all," I commanded in an assertive tone and both of my summon's nodded. The men tensed up and took a few steps back. I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud shout

"What the bloody hells is going on here?"

I turned and saw a young-looking man walking up to us with an annoyed expression on his face. He stopped as he noticed the tense atmosphere and his gaze moved across all of us and finally stopped on the corpse. He frowned and looked at me, "May I ask why you killed one, my guards?" He looked confident but also wary.

"He was beating an innocent woman and when I tried to stop him, he threatened me with violence and tried to attack me, so I had my Darkwraith," he tensed and I smiled, "take care of him," I finished. He cleared his throat and stood up to his full height, which wasn't very high as he looked about 5ft 8.

"My apologies, I didn't know." That was a lie, I thought but didn't speak it out loud as he turned to the bulky man from earlier, "George you watch them a line and I don't want you beating up on any of them refugees, got it?" He said the last few words almost as if someone was taking a toy away from him. George nodded and the man, who I now suspected was probably the guard captain turned to me, "I'm Rick. What's your name, and what's your business in our village?" I stored Lilah and saw Rick's eyes go wide, "Names Nathan, and I'm just here to rest for a couple of days before I head off." His eyes narrowed and he nodded, "Well that's fine, but don't cause any more trouble." He said it as a warning, but I didn't take it as such. He had no way of stopping me and I already had a bad impression of the village, so he should have been thankful I didn't rip him a new one. I took a deep breath to calm myself and nodded.

Tracy and the older woman broke their hug and entered the village. I looked back and spotted Lory and Lemmy in the crowd of people that were forming back into a line.

"Lory, Lemma, Come on!" I called and Lory quickly walked over with Lemma in hand. I turned back and walked through the village entrance but not before I spotted Rick and the guards sneering at Lory and Lemma. So they're racists too, I thought, fucking pieces of shit.

[Congratulations: Quest Completed: First Contact: Find the nearby village]

[Reward: Summoning Ability(Mental Command)]

I cheered in my mind and filled the information away for later. I would ask more questions to the system and take a look at my abilities once we found a place to stay.

We walked into the village and as we walked I was once again shocked at the poor conditions of the people and of the buildings. Almost everyone looked dirty, depressed, or both. The ground was muddy and the roads were poorly carved. most of the buildings were made out of wood and thatch, but they were a few stone buildings here, and there, and almost all of them looked like they had seen better days and were falling apart. The people walked around like zombies and we heard few voices or conversations. I saw Lemma push herself closer to her father and I patted her head once, "Don't worry kid, I ain't gonna let anyone hurt you." I said in a reassuring tone. She looked up and gave me a small smile, "Thank you." her voice was a soft whisper and I smiled sadly as I noticed just how tired and worn out she looked. We kept walking until we arrived at a fairly large building with a sign outside that ready 'the giggling baffle.' It was definitely an inn or were they called taverns?

I shook my head and shrugged, reaching a hand to open the door, but I stopped as I realized a problem "I don't have any coin," I said in a concerned voice. Lory gave shot me a smile and shook his head, "Don't worry I'll pay. It's the least I can do since you did save mine and Lemma's lives." I gave him a thankful smile, "I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

"I know you will," he replied and opened the door to the building. The first thing I noticed was the smell of food and smoke, and I heard a small rumble and turned to see leone holding her stomach. She blushed slightly when she noticed me staring, but I just smiled and turned my gaze to the room. It was fairly wide and had a dozen or so tables set out, each with a couple of chairs. There was a set of stairs and a hallway in the right corner of the room, a large fireplace on the left side, a bar that was at the back end of the room, and a door beside it which probably led to a backroom or kitchen area. Everything looked to be in decent condition which was a far cry from everything else I had seen in the village. I was also surprised that were so few people, as I only spotted around 4 people in the room.

We arrived at the bar and we've greeted the stout man with a long, scruffy black beard.

"I'm Ron. What can I do for you fine folk today?" he asked in a deep, yet gentle voice.

"We're looking to rent 2 of your largest rooms for 3 days. we might extend our stay before the third day is up though." The innkeeper nodded, "That'll be no problem at all. You'll get 3 meals a day and some time in the baths as well."

Lory turned to me, "Go find a table for us while I sort the payment." I nodded and looked over the room. I spotted a table in the right corner next to the door and walked over to it, followed by Leone. We took our seats and a few minutes later were joined by Lory and Lemma.

"They'll be bringing some food and drink out in a minute," he said as he pulled a chair out for Lemma and helped her sit. When we were all sat down I turned to Lory, "Are you planning on staying here?" I asked. He slumped in his chair and lowered his head, "That was the plan, but now we're probably gonna have to find someplace else."

"That's probably a great idea," said a female voice, and we all turned to see a middle-aged-looking barmaid carrying two wooden trays. She placed the trays down on the table and put a bowl of what looked like soup, a mug of something, and a piece of bread in front of each of us. We immediately started to dig in, and I turned back to the barmaid, "What do mean it's a good idea to not stay here?" I said taking a spoonful of soup. It was a bit watery, but It tasted fine, and the bits of meat and potato gave it a savory feeling.

She looked around the room before leaning in close, "You see, this here village use to be a much better place," she began and we all paused our eating, "The village chief used to be old Rickon, but he passed away a few moons ago and his son Rory and that two-bit thief Rick took over. Some people tried to object, but they were quickly killed." Her eyes grew angry and she growled the next words. "Those two bastards are treating us like shit and abusing their power to rape and take whatever they want." The barmaid stood back up and walked away. Perhaps I should help them I thought.

[Quest received: Abuse of Power: Help the village and get rid of Rory and Rick: Reward: Summoning Token]

Well, that decided that. "We are definitely not staying here," said Lory after a few seconds, and I absently nodded. I felt eyes on me and looked to see Leone staring at me with a pleading expression on her face. I gave her a nod and she smiled before going back to eating. The rest of the meal continued in silence and I was glad to find out that the drink wasn't actually alcohol but some sort of juice, as I had no intention of getting drunk, although I did catch Leone frowning when she realized it wasn't alcohol. The barmaid came and took our plates and mugs when we were finished and handed us our room keys. Me and Leone were on the second floor while Lory and Lemma were on the bottom floor.

We stood and me and Leone wished Lory and Lemma goodnight as we made our way to our room.