17 – End of the Road

Brunch brought a huge dead eagle with its mouth to that chunk of ground. The wyvern put down her prey, then glanced at the wind village.

Her mouth let out a small shriek. She was still waiting for Alan and Celia, hoping that nothing would happen to those two.

That beast doesn't want to lose them. She doesn't want her new house to be empty. She didn't want to be alone anymore. It hurts.

Should she look for them? But Alan ordered her to stay on guard until further instructions or after a certain amount of time.

After taking a deep breath, she started to eat her prey.

***

"I'm tired of smiling, Al." Celia massaged her cheeks as they walked the village roads the following day.

For the umpteenth time, a villager smiled at them. Celia smiled back, but Al didn't join in.

"We better ignore them," Alan suggested when the person was far away. "I'm not sure those people do that sincerely. I don't know what made them like that, but I feel like this is not a good sign."

Yes, Alan is sure that something is wrong with those villagers.

"But it feels weird not to smile back at them." Celia sighed.

"I know…" Alan stopped when a group of people carrying weapons came out of an intersection and blocked the road.

Like the previous residents that Alan met, those men and women also smiled.

"Where are you two going?" One of them, with shoulder-length orange hair, asked.

We just wanted to check on our wyvern." Alan replied in a relaxed tone to prevent unnecessary arguments. "Anything we can help you with?"

"You guys can't do it." The orange-haired man held the hilt of the sword at his waist. "Priestess Hilda ordered us to prevent you from leaving this village no matter what."

Is this also related to the reason that crystal processing takes time? So that Celia and Alan can't get out of this place?

"We just need a moment." Celia gulped. "We don't want to leave our wyvern alone for long."

"You two are already so safe here. Your needs have also been met. What are you going out for?" The orange-haired man continued.

Alan didn't understand. The man's words had nothing to do with Celia's request. The female fighter had clearly stated their reason for wanting to leave the village, but why did this man say as if Celia and Alan weren't coming back?

What's really going on in their minds?

"What if we insist?" Alan finally confronted the man.

"Then, we had to use violence." The orange-haired man's smile widened.

Alan felt even more disgusted seeing a smile like that. All these mysteries made him really want to get out of this village.

"Let's go, Celia." Alan turned around. "We'll check Brunch later."

The young man hated to admit it, but he and Celia wouldn't stand a chance against that many people. He wanted to quickly level up and blaze through every obstacle.

Celia took turns looking at Alan and those people, but she tailed her friend in the end.

***

It was already late afternoon. Alan and Celia kept walking around the village. Celia no longer returned the smiles of the villagers because she couldn't take it anymore.

"Why does everyone here answer that they don't know the location of the wind crystal deposit?" The female fighter shook her head. "This place is called the wind village. There's no reason not to know about it."

"I have a guess, Celia." Alan looked at an empty fenced meadow without any animals. "It seems the people here are being controlled by that priestess. You heard her speech. She persuaded them to serve us well."

It took a moment for Celia to answer. "Well, I feel your guess makes sense, Alan…. But is it possible to do it to that many people?"

"Hilda once said that she saw the unique energy flow within us. I think that's true. The proof is that she can guess that we are from another world." Alan explained. "Maybe she has other abilities, one of which is influencing people."

"Aah, maybe it's some kind of magic to control people? But why are we not affected?"

"Who knows, if we stay here too long, we might become the same as the villagers." Alan shrugged.

Celia shuddered. "I don't want that to happen. I don't want to be a doll."

They continued walking until they came to the edge of a forest.

"Do we need to enter it?" Celia asked hesitantly.

"This road is often passed by carriages. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made it with this size." Alan pointed at a nearly eight-foot-wide path in the woods. "And look at these wheel trails."

Celia approached the road to take a closer look. She found the trail Alan meant, even though it was starting to fade. "So, it's possible that the deposit of wind crystals is at the end of this road? Are we going there?"

Alan didn't answer right away. If this road really leads to that deposit, he feels that there should be people blocking him again.

Are they hiding among the trees? Should he and Celia turn around?

However, at this rate, they would never be able to unravel these mysteries.

"Let's go, Celia." Alan started walking down the road. "Have your weapons ready."

The female fighter gripped her spear tighter and followed Alan.

There was no obstacle at all as they walked down that road.

"She's…" Alan finally arrived at the end of the road, which turned out to be a cave. It wasn't the cave that caught Alan's attention, but Hilda, who stood in front of it, smiled and put her hand back.

"I told you. Your crystal is being processed as we speak." The priestess's tone was friendly, just like when she greeted Alan and Celia back then. "You two should stay at the guest house, but apparently, your curiosity can no longer be contained."

"Is this the mining site for those crystals, madam?" Alan confronted the old woman. "It's fine if I can't check the inside, but can we see the process you're referring to?"

"The thing is, I'm afraid your curiosity will eventually doom you." Hilda continued regardless of Alan's words. "It seems the best way is to keep both of you from leaving, O our saviors."

People appeared behind the bushes and trees.