Chapter 8: The Hero’s Village

Chapter 8:
The Hero’s Village

 

I ARRIVED IN TONNELLES early the next morning. I encountered several monsters along the way, and the journey took longer than expected. I got away without injury, but I was worried for my brother. There sure were a lot of nocturnal monsters around here! So far, I’d avoided using the Great Sage to find out how he was doing. I couldn’t risk the headache, especially not when I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Besides, if he was already dead, that’d be a dreadful way to find out…

From the outside, Tonnelles looked like a small agricultural village. There were probably only a few hundred people living there. I approached the gate and called out to the guard.

“Did a tall, brown-haired man come through yesterday? Around twenty, dresses kind of like a knight?”

“A brown-haired knight? No, never seen anyone like that.”

“Are you sure he didn’t stay the night?”

“I told you, I’ve never seen anyone like that. And he wouldn’t have stayed the night. It’s Gaien’s birthday this week. We don’t allow outsiders to stay during this time.”

Strange, the Great Sage said Gillan was here, and there weren’t any other towns or villages in the area.

“Have any monsters or thieves attacked you recently?” I asked.

“No,” said the guard.

He was starting to get suspicious. I needed to make up a cover story.

“I was just expecting to meet my friend here. We were supposed to visit the great hero’s village together. Can I come in?”

“As long as you leave before sundown.”

“Thank you.”

Why was he being so prickly? In any case, I entered the village and started to take a look around. Some of the people I passed paused to greet me, but most of them treated me like a nuisance.

Worse, Gillan was nowhere to be seen. The village seemed to be composed of single-story wooden houses, small fields, farm implements, and a well. I peered into the well just to be sure, but my brother wasn’t in there either. There were traces of a bonfire in the main square, so I went over to investigate.

“Clothes…?”

I found a scrap of singed cloth. Thankfully, it didn’t look like anything Gillan had been wearing.

Guess I had no choice but to ask the Great Sage where to find him.

<He is thirty yards directly to your right.>

There was some kind of storehouse over there. It had a heavy iron padlock on the door, so the chances of getting inside easily seemed slim.

“Hey! What are you doing over there?!”

A fierce-looking middle-aged man came running over as I approached it.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just got curious.”

“There’s nothing in there but the village’s farming implements. Stay away!”

Well, he seemed unreasonably angry. The more I saw of this place, the more suspicious I got.

“So, the thing is, I’m writing a research paper about the great hero’s village,” I said. “Any chance you could show me those farm tools?”

“No. Absolutely not. Why would I do that?”

“If you let me have a little peek, I’ll thank you handsomely.”

The man wasn’t swayed. “Money isn’t the issue.”

I was running out of options. It wasn’t like I could just force my way in there. At least, not without alerting the whole village. While I pondered my next move, an old, white-haired man appeared.

“What’s all this yelling about?” he asked.

“Chief! This kid demanded I open the storehouse.”

“Welcome to the village of Tonnelles,” said the old man. “Unfortunately, we cannot do that. We keep our village’s treasure within those walls. Please, come to my home. I will explain everything.”

Every minute I spent here was another minute that Gillan could be in danger, but I didn’t think I could refuse. The chief’s home was just a little fancier than the surrounding houses. He offered me some tea, but I was more interested in finding out about Gillan.

“I had plans with a friend to meet up here,” I said. “He’s tall and has brown hair.”

“No one fitting that description has come here,” said the chief. “Even if he did, we don’t allow outsiders to stay overnight during this time. We choose to celebrate Gaien’s birthday alone.”

“I see. So this is where the great hero Gaien was born, huh?”

“Yes,” said the chief. “I am one of his descendants.”

“Well, I’m very honored to meet you.”

I distracted him with a little flattery while I used Discerning Eye. His name was O’Aura Gaien, he was Level 38, and his only skill was C-Grade Alchemy. That confirmed his relation to Gaien. The chief encouraged me to try the tea, but I turned it down—telling him I didn’t have much of a taste for it.

All the same, he spent basically the whole morning telling me about Gaien. Even more than two hundred years later, the town benefitted from his legacy. Apparently, they even got a tax break because of his contributions to the kingdom.

“That reminds me,” I said. “I was wondering if you have some sort of fire-related festivities at night?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“I noticed the scorch marks,” I said. “And what looked like some burned clothes.”

He looked shaken by that. He quickly concealed it, but his eyebrows continued to twitch. “Oh, yes, a drunk last night nearly set himself on fire.”

What an obvious lie! I forced a smile, but I knew for certain now: they had captured my brother.

“It’s about lunchtime,” said the chief. “Would you care to eat anything?”

“Oh no, I’m quite all right.”

“I’m sorry,” he went on, “but I’m going to have to ask you to leave this afternoon.”

“I know. If my friend does show up, could you tell him that Noir is looking for him?”

“Certainly.”

I bid the chief farewell and left him staring at the tea I hadn’t touched. My brother was probably in that storehouse, and the whole village seemed to be in on it. Maybe they had burned him yesterday, leaving only a charred corpse to hide away. Although, that scrap of cloth hadn’t looked like it belonged to him. Our family was poor, but Gillan always did have an eye for the finer things. He’d never wear such a cheap undershirt.

So, he was probably just kidnapped. Or he had seen someone being burned and had called for help?

I approached the storehouse again, but that old man still stood guard. “You don’t know when to stop, do you?”

“Oh no, I just wanted to apologize for being a bother earlier. I’m leaving now.” I bowed and walked off.

Near the entrance to the village, I asked some kids about my brother.

“Beats me.”

Even they were in on it! I walked out of the village and looked for a good place to watch the storehouse. I couldn’t find many places to hide, so I put a boulder into my Pocket Dimension and set it down about five or six hundred yards outside the village. That way, they wouldn’t see me hiding.

Even then, I couldn’t get close enough to see anything, so I spent 400 LP on Variable Visual Acuity. There were limits to what the human eye could do, but that skill more than covered the distance.

I peered out from behind the boulder to see what was going on. The village chief had come to the storehouse to talk to the man outside, probably to let him know I’d left. I kept watching, biding my time.

Then, that evening, some more strangers came to the village.

“It’s Emma and the others!”

They had seen my note. But the sun had already set, and the village guard turned them away. I considered going to speak with them, but I couldn’t risk attracting anyone’s attention. As much as it pained me, I sat where I was and watched them leave.

Once darkness fell, I crept closer to the village. I had Night Vision, but I couldn’t see all that far. I detected movement, however—a man and woman chatting near the storehouse. When they finally moved off, that was my cue to sneak back into the village.

First, I tried to break the lock on the storehouse, but, before I had the chance, the villagers streamed out of their homes. I had no choice but to hide in one of the empty houses. They all headed for the main square. A bonfire had already been lit there, and the villagers made merry around it. As I watched, several men approached the storehouse and dragged someone out.

“Nmm! Mmmph!”

Gillan! Gagged, hands bound, and face bruised, but Gillan, no doubt about it. His injuries didn’t look too bad, but suddenly anger surged through me.

“Come on,” someone shouted. “Hurry up and bring him over here.”

The villagers swarmed around Gillan. I assessed most of them at between Levels 10 and 30, just a few at around 40, and none of them had any skills worth mentioning. But they numbered over two hundred all told. Brute force wouldn’t get me through this.

They dragged Gillan to the center of town, sat him down in front of the fire, and removed his gag.

“Please, save me!” he cried. “I swear I won’t taste very good!”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“I’m begging you! I-I’ve been training, so my muscles are all hard and gross! I’ll make you sick…”

“You sure are weak for someone who ‘trains’ so regularly,” said one of the men. “Ha ha ha ha!”

They sneered at Gillan as he begged for his life. Even the kids got into it!

“You should be happy. You’ve been chosen as the grand finale.”

“What kind of person would be happy about being eaten?”

“The man we roasted yesterday couldn’t stop laughing.”

“I-I’m pretty sure those were screams…”

“Don’t think so. But don’t worry, we aren’t going to roast you. The fire’s just for light.”

“Wait, does that mean…”

“We’re gonna eat you alive!”

What?! These people were insane! The chief clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Today is the last day of the festival,” he said. “And we shall feast on his flesh so that we might live another year, healthy and strong.”

The villagers shouted and cheered—so loud it shook the ground. Their chief pointed at my brother.

“First come, first served!”

And just like that, they all charged toward him. They were going to tear him apart like animals!

“Eeek! I don’t care if it’s a god or a demon, just somebody save meeee!”

That was my cue! I ran into the square, firing off Stone Bullets. I knocked down several people and tripped those behind them, killing the mob’s momentum. The man who had guarded the storehouse earlier stood right next to Gillan. I brandished my sword at him.

“Step away from my brother!”

“Tsk.”

The man retreated a step, but I expected that. I already knew he had the Improved Back Step skill.

“Noir?!” Gillan cried. “How—I’m not dreaming am I? Ungh…”

“Gillan, if you start crying, you won’t be able to see where you’re going.”

Holding the villagers off with a sword, I pulled out a knife to cut Gillan’s bonds. Fortunately, he didn’t seem any more hurt than I’d already seen. He stood up right away.

“Can you move?” I asked.

“Absolutely! I can run, even. As long as they don’t catch me…”

“Use this.”

Gillan wasn’t too good with anything except a sword, so I handed him my two-edged blade. I could use other weapons. I debated whether to pull out my Piercing Spear or mallet.

“Fools,” said O’Aura. “Don’t hesitate.”

“But, Chief, that kid is pretty strong!”

“Then I will handle him. Step back.”

He advanced on me, holding a red stone. I used my Discerning Eye for Items and—an Explosion Stone?! The chief lobbed it at me. I instinctively pulled out the Shield of Champions and covered my brother.

Bwooom!

The explosion was powerful, but it didn’t leave a scratch on us.

“What on earth is that shield?!” the chief shouted.

He had no doubt made that red stone with his alchemy skills. Come to think of it, I could probably make them myself. No, there was no time for that now! We had to get out of here! I switched to my mallet and swung it around to make way.

“Don’t let them escape,” the chief shouted behind us. “You won’t get away!”

Annoyingly, the villagers heeded his call. They were right behind us! I fired some Stone Bullets right into their faces.

“Gah!”

“Ugh!”

Most of them were pretty low level, so it didn’t take much to take them out. The crowd pursuing us gradually dwindled, until only two or three remained. I slowed down to let them catch up and hit them with a Lightning Strike. The last one standing was that ill-mannered man who had guarded the storehouse. He swung his flail, but I blocked it with my shield and froze him in place with an Iceball.

“What the?! I can’t move.”

That’s because you’re frozen, buddy!

We were free to make a break for it now, but I had one thing to do first.

“And this is for the person you ate yesterday!”

I punched the man in the face as hard as I could, breaking several teeth. Blood spewed from his nose and he slumped to the ground. Some people only listened to violence.

“Let’s hurry, Gillan.”

We made it through the gate out of the village and escaped into the night.

 

***

 

Of course, I’d known cannibals existed, but seeing them in person left me feeling sick. I felt bad for all the people who had fallen prey to them in the past. From what Gillan said, Tonnelles had been practicing cannibalism for over three hundred years.

Had their great hero Gaien eaten people too? Or had he been disgusted by them? Was that why he’d left?

At any rate, we made it back to Honest the next morning with all our limbs intact, and I finally asked Gillan the question that had been on my mind the whole time.

“Why were you even in that town? Home is in the other direction.”

“Oh, uh, um, I, uh, do I have to answer that question?”

“Yes. Especially after everything you put me through back there.”

“Fine…”

Gillan sighed, and told me everything. Shortly after leaving Honest, he’d run into a cute girl who had sprained her ankle. He tended to her, and she asked him to see her home. It was a little strange, but my brother never could think straight when a girl was involved. Playing the part of the chivalrous knight, he turned around and took her back to her village. The girl invited him into her house to thank him, and, once he sat down, she punched him in the face and knocked him unconscious.

“She definitely didn’t punch like a girl…”

When he woke up, he was in the storehouse with someone else the villagers had captured. The moment they dragged the other guy out in the middle of the night, Gillan contacted me. His hands were bound, but he had been able to reach the ring.

“I’m sorry, Noir, I never thought I’d be the one calling you for help.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re okay,” I said. “We should really get some rest at the inn.”

I headed that way, but Gillan just stood in the middle of the street—staring at me with tears in his eyes.

“You’ve gotten so strong, Noir. And grown so much! It’s incredible.”

“Well, I’ve been through some difficult things to earn it.”

“I-I want to live a more honest life,” he said. “I want you to be proud to call me your brother.”

“Maybe you should start by cleaning up your romantic life,” I suggested.

“Yeah. I’m…going to take a vow of abstinence for a while. Focus on my studies. Get back into training with my sword.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him so serious. Maybe this could be a turning point for him. I hoped so.

When we got back to the inn, I explained what had happened to Emma and the others. Their eyes went wide with shock. I wanted to tell Duke Schoen about it too, but I needed to get some rest first. I passed out for a few hours, then headed to Duke Schoen’s residence just after noon. After I told him what had happened, I formally asked him to arrest the people of Tonnelles.

“The town is under my jurisdiction but…this isn’t for me alone to decide. I’ll have to consult with the other nobles.”

“There have to have been more victims,” I said. “Have there never been rumors about this before?”

He looked uncomfortable at that. Made me think. I suspected they’d heard reports of this sort of thing, but it was hard to go after the great hero’s hometown without solid proof. This time, however, things were different. Gillan and I had both seen the villagers’ dark hunger with our own eyes. Surely they couldn’t deny it now.

Either way, it would take some time for Duke Schoen to speak to the other nobles.

For now, I headed to the training grounds to practice my archery.

“I’m gonna work you twice as hard for the practice you skipped yesterday,” said Lyrica.

Today, it was time to try and hit moving targets. She asked a pair of soldiers to throw a ball—about the size of a fist—between them. My job was to hit it. The men were strong. They could throw the ball hard and fast, and the target was quite small. All in all, a rather difficult task.

“Of course, you of all people can manage this, Noir,” Lyrica teased.

If I got mad, I’d mess this up. I had to keep a cool head! I loosed an arrow and it missed. Just barely.

“You grazed it on your first shot?!”

I did! Huh, that Visual Acuity skill really came in handy!

I took a deep breath and watched the next ball’s trajectory. Luckily for me, the soldiers threw at a fixed rhythm, without any significant fluctuation. My next arrow went right through the center of the ball.

“Amazing! It took me three whole days to manage that!” Lyrica said.

“Three days?” said one of the soldiers. “That’s incredible! This…this is impossible.”

I practiced for the rest of the day, focused on improving my accuracy.

That night, Emma came to my room to earn me some LP. She brought fruit and fed it to me, mouth-to-mouth. We enjoyed a few other “stimulating” activities as well, but just as the two of us were getting worked up, there was a knock on the wall—Lola checking in on us.

Regardless, I earned plenty of LP!

 

***

 

After everything that had happened, Gillan decided to stay in Honest. When the siege came, he planned to escape to the basement of a friend’s house. I was glad he had a plan. We had no idea how strong our enemies were, and I really didn’t want him to die.

The next day, Duke Schoen summoned both of us to his residence. Several prominent nobles I hadn’t met before were there, and you could have cut the tension in the air with a knife.

“Several monsters attacked this morning. They almost broke through. The great siege isn’t far off.”

The duke had dark circles under his eyes. He was busy securing shelter for the townsfolk and putting out calls for additional manpower. This cannibal situation had just added to his heap of worries.

One of the older nobles cleared his throat, and Duke Schoen took the hint.

“Regarding the incident in Tonnelles,” he said. “We have decided not to take any particular action.”

“You what?!” Gillan flew to his feet. “They almost killed us!”

“Sit back down this instant, young man,” one of the nobles shouted. “Now, listen to me. Tonnelles is the birthplace of Gaien, and you say that its people practice cannibalism? You have no proof.”

Yeah, well, if you went looking, I bet you’d find the bones, but it would be difficult to prove the townspeople had eaten the people those bones had belonged to.

“And we do not believe your story” the noble went on. “We have grave concerns about your character.”

“What did I ever do?” Gillan demanded.

“Our investigation determined that you are a womanizer, that your marks in trade school are poor, and you have no particular positive qualities to speak of. In short: you are exceedingly untrustworthy.”

Gillan groaned. He couldn’t argue with that!

There was nothing to discuss after that, and the other nobles left the room. Gillan and I just sat there in silence.

“You should know that I believe your story,” said Duke Schoen. “Every year, around Gaien’s birthday, people go to that town and don’t come back.”

The duke was a good man, and kind, but he was powerless here. Clearly the other nobles didn’t agree with him, and he had the threat of the oncoming siege to deal with.

“I’ll pursue it once again after all this is settled,” said Schoen. “On a different note: Noir, have you ever heard of a double-layer door?”

I shook my head.

“I see,” he said. “I’m told you have the Great Sage ability. You can use it to acquire all manner of knowledge, correct?”

“I can,” I admitted. “But it can’t predict the future, and it doesn’t know everything.”

“Do you think,” asked Schoen, “that he could tell you how to open a double-layer door?”

“I can ask.”

One of the other nobles came back into the room. He looked impatient.

“Duke Schoen, it’s time.”

Duke Schoen rose reluctantly, saying he’d like to talk to me again in the future. Gillan and I finished our expensive tea and left the room. Gillan wanted to go to the library to research Tonnelles.

“I’m gonna find out if Gaien was a cannibal or whether he left the village because he was against it!”

“Great. Let me know what you find.”

I needed to use all the time I had to improve my skill with the bow. First up on the training menu today: learning how to hit multiple targets in quick succession. Once I mastered that, Lyrica tasked me with shooting apples off the top of soldiers’ heads. Missing was out of the question, even with medics on standby. The soldiers all had tears in their eyes. I felt bad for them, but they all cheered when I pulled it off.

“A cool head is the most important thing for an archer,” Lyrica explained. “Almost as important as the confidence to shoot someone right up the butt, he he he.”

Despite her rather, ah, unique personality, Lyrica was a skilled teacher. I was already progressing extremely well. When I finished my own drills, I watched the others train for a while, then headed back to the inn. It was time to talk to the others about their abilities.

“First,” I said, “I was thinking I’d give Lola Physical Resistance and Flee.”

She had very little combat experience and would mostly be helping lead the townspeople to shelter. I wanted to give her a defensive ability and something that would help her escape if she needed to. Lola agreed, so I Bestowed her with B-Grade Physical Resistance and Flee.

“Emma, what would you say to an upgrade to your Dual Wielding skill?”

She already had some mid-range skills like Wind Strike, so I thought I’d prioritize her primary skills.

“Sounds good to me. Go for it.”

I edited her B-Grade Dual Wielding skill to upgrade it to A-Grade—it worked out cheaper than just producing the A-Grade skill and Bestowing it.

Luna was last.

“Shall I improve your skill with your magical firearm?” I asked. “Or do you want something else?”

“Could you give me Speed Shot?” Luna asked.

It would cost 500 LP to produce and another 100 to Bestow. Luna’s aptitude for magical firearms meant it was pretty inexpensive. I gave it to her and investigated it a little further.

 

Speed Shot: Fires a single Energy Shot at high speed via a magical firearm. Individual potency is low.

 

That could be especially handy for catching enemies off guard or taking out those with lower defenses. I didn’t have the LP to change the potency, but perhaps I could adjust the number of shots? Changing “a single Energy Shot” to “a rapid succession of Energy Shots” only required 400 LP. When I told Luna, her eyes lit up.

“If you can afford it, I would really appreciate that!”

When that was done, I’d used about 4,000 LP in total and had over 2,000 left.

“Leila, is there anything you’d want improved?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. You should save some. I mean, it could be useful if you face a powerful enemy or whatever.”

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

With some LP in reserve, I could break enemy skills or level them down if I needed to. Or I could improve my own abilities to get out of a tight spot.

“I’m up tonight,” Lola said with a sparkling smile. “And I’m gonna work extra hard to fill your LP riiiight back up again.”