Summoned and Unwanted

364 A difficult choice in front of a beast’s cave

Vincent looked at the people noticing their approach. It appeared about forty people were gathering, and most were men. There were no children in sight. They were probably hiding as a group of unknown people approached their village.

The group of villagers formed a few rows with an old man in the front. The old man presented himself as the village elder and asked who they were.

Vincent flashed his adventurer’s card and pointed at the star icon to immediately make the villager know he was a man the Adventurers Guild had an eye on.

The villagers smiled upon seeing the star and the strong-looking Sakura wearing a hood. Her painted green skin was visible enough to make the villagers think she was a strange hobgoblin.

The new appearance of a group of adventurers that weren’t all bark and no bite caused the villagers to feel that their problem would be solved soon.

[Look at them being happy of our presence. Now, this really feels like we are in an RPG game, and we are going to slay an underleveled boss. This is getting exciting.]

-...-

“Adventurers and their servants, I must remind you all that the reward money is something we villagers scraped to give. It is not much for adventurers but for us. It is a lot.” The elder looked at the villagers behind him and continued, “At least our lord will refund us when the quest is completed, but we can’t increase the reward price because of this fact. ”

“Blind old man, the body of the wolf will be mine, correct? I wanted a new pelt for my women.” Vincent spoke casually with confidence as if he mentioned killing a little wolf. The unconcerned gaze on Vincent and the women behind him of the danger they were heading towards made the villagers feel as if the Great Gray Wolf was already slain.

.....

“Yes, but... Blind old man?” The elder felt insulted as he was proud of his eyesight.

“These are all my women as such. You better tell me all the information you know before I get angry for disrespecting my women. ” Vincent said in an angered tone. His brows frowned, and a slight glare appeared on his face.

The elder and the villagers behind him became intimidated. None of them had a class nor the strength to protect their lives if an adventurer was angered because of their actions. They had to lower their heads and apologize to live another day.

The elder apologized six times with cold sweat appearing on his face. He quickly changed the subject to the matter at hand when Vincent relaxed his frown.

The elder explained how their village was attacked three nights ago after the sudden disappearance of nearby wildlife. Last night, the last of their cattle were taken. Now only the villagers remained, and many were planning to leave tomorrow if another attack happened since there were no more animals to be taken in their place.

The elder informed how a small group of adventurers found the den two days ago, but only one out of five survived. The adventurer said the den was about five hours’ walk from the village, and it was on the east side where the forest gets thick. There is a natural small cave enough for the wolf to use for shelter.

The elder cautioned about the wolf. The adventurer mentioned how it was waiting for them as if it knew they were coming. To make matters worse for the adventurers, a couple of trees fell on them, and their escape became more difficult.

“The adventurer didn’t want to tell us how he escaped, but he was heavily wounded.” The elder turned his gaze behind him and continued, “Adventurers, you arrived a little before we had a meeting to decide if we should leave the village until our lord returns or a group of adventurers can slay the damn wolf.”

“Can the village provide us a place to rest for an hour or two and offer a small meal? ” Vincent asked.

The elder didn’t look too happy as Vincent showed signs of his group wanting to take advantage of the village’s situation. However, the thought of being forced to protect the village changed his mind to offer hospitality.

The elder accepted and led them to a house beside a destroyed east side log wall. Kazumi was the first to comprehend the elder’s intention of offering hospitality in one of the three unprotected places in the village.

The villagers looked at Lupa, Iris, and Sakura with a skeptical gaze. Iris and Sakura became uncountable, while Lupa didn’t mind unless she felt hostile intentions.

On the other hand, Lilith didn’t receive many gazes, yet she panicked. Ester smiled and held her hand.

“Vincent is acting tough, hehe. Let’s follow him.” Ester whispered.

Lilith looked at Vincent, and she felt a bit better watching him lead them.

Shortly, they entered a house. In the house was a young woman who received them politely. Her clothes didn’t look too clean or well maintained as it was an unexpected visit. Furthermore, the state of the house wasn’t great either.

Other women of different ages soon helped the young woman to cook a small vegetable meal for Vincent, Ester, Lupa, Iris, Lilith, Saurka, and Plow.

Lupa and Plow didn’t touch the food. The villagers worried the adventurers wanted to cause trouble after being welcomed to the village and offered a meal, but Vincent quickly explained how both of them like to eat meat.

Vincent noticed the women who cooked the food frown because not only were they offering their food for free, but the food offered wasn’t up to Lupa and Plow’s standards.

“Don’t mind these two carnivores. The food is good. I will later feed them the meat of the wolf.” Vincent boasted about the defeat of the wolf that was using their village as their hunting ground to change the mood.

The villagers overheard Vincent’s claim outside the house, and most of them smiled. The villagers would believe even a weak party of adventurers boasting to defeat the wolf terrorizing Okan Village in their current situation.

Vincent and his wives left the village about an hour later because of Lilith, Iris, and Sakura.

Ester constantly supported Lilith to keep calm and not panic. Iris was anxious to feel so many gazes on her because she was a gray hobgoblin to the villagers. On the other hand, the hooded Sakura was like a ticking timebomb.

“Will that adventurer party really kill that monstrous wolf?”

“Who knows. But that strange huge hobgoblin looked strong.”

“I hope they return with good news. The food would have helped our village greatly in our current situation.”

“Yeah. I want to ask our lord for support after the wolf is dead.”

“Me too.”

“Same.”

The villagers returned to their homes after a while. Many prepared to leave at any moment as their trust in adventurers wasn’t as high as they showed. The adventurer’s party that recently failed filled their hearts with doubt. Others were already thinking about what to request from the owner of Okan Village.

The sun was setting, and the darkness of the night was looming.

The cave was vaguely in their sight as it was dozens of meters away from their location, yet Lupa nor Plow could hear the sound of any living being other than them nearby. The Great Gray Wolf is a large beast. As such, it should have louder breathing and louder footsteps.

[How about we split in two groups? You and Lupa scout the cave while the others remain here. Plow will notify the girls if she hears anything approaching.]

Vincent liked the idea.

“Lupa and I will inspect the area since it is getting dark.” Vincent lifted Plow from his shoulder and gave her to Ester. “Plow will help the second group detect any approaching danger.”

Plow liked the idea of being in the group with the most people. It meant her responsibility was much higher than Lupa.

However, Lupa didn’t mind staying alone with Vincent. Furthermore, she was excited to hunt the Great Gray Wolf.

Vincent and Lupa slowly approached the cave. Lupa’s nose didn’t stop twitching as there were a lot of scents. On the other hand, Vincent and Kazumi assertively gazed at their surroundings.

There were large patches of dried blood in front of the cave. Forcefully fallen trees with broken trunks and significant claw marks.

There were signs of the adventurers’ previous fight with the Great Gray Wolf. Pieces of broken shields, swords, and arrows were all over the place. Cuts, scratches, and burn marks could be found on a few spots as well. It appeared the adventurers fought with all they had before the situation turned grim.

As Vincent approached the cave, animal bones of large-sized animals like cows, medium-sized animals like sheep, and small-sized animals like chickens became easier to notice. They littered the place, and many poked from the dark cave.

[The Great Gray Wolf ate a lot of animals, and it might not be a pleasant visit next time it goes to Okan Village.]

-So you are saying the wolf has already gone to the village?-

[Who knows? That is the answer. It is highly likely it went, yet we don’t know if there are more places it goes hunting.]

Vincent felt that the village might be in danger. However, the lives of his wives were his responsibility. He couldn’t act of possibility and placed his loved ones in an unprepared danger.

-I decided.-

[Are you going to Okan Village then? I hope we won’t get ambushed in a disadvantageous area, and someone gets hurt.]

“Lupa, let’s ambush it. Let’s go back to the others and wait for the wolf in front of this cave.” Vincent decided the difficult choice.