Through the commotion, the boy that had ran off returned with the village elder. Archibald and the boy soon made their way through the growing crowd at the village entrance, stopping just in front of our group.

"Thank goodness you've safely returned, and with all of the missing villagers. I don't know how we can thank you." Archibald told Lillia as he arrived.

"We're just glad we managed to get them all out of there. Unfortunately, we didn't arrive soon enough for some of the girls." Lillia didn't sound at all pleased to have completed the quest.

"But thanks to you, most were spared that fate. I can't thank you enough. Will you at least let us put you up for the night? It's too dark for you to head anywhere now."

"Thank you, that would be a great help."

"Then follow me. I've already had one of the empty houses prepared just in case."

"Please, lead the way."

The young boy ran on ahead at Archibald's instruction and we all followed a short way behind. The house was in the middle of the village, not far from where the village elder lived himself. It wasn't as grand a place as his, but it was still one of the larger houses in the village. Archibald walked straight up to the door and opened it while waving the rest of us to step inside. We all filed in at his suggestion, after we had all stepped inside, he followed in behind us. The young boy from the village entrance was already inside, he was busily setting the fire in the building's living room.

Once we were inside, we each slung ourselves down in one of the chairs that were dotted about the room. Everyone was happy to finally be able to sit and take the weight off our feet. Seeing this Archibald took the last remaining seat and joined us.

"I know you must all be tired after today and probably want nothing more than to eat then sleep, but do you mind if I stay a while? I'd like to hear of what happened, if I may." Archibald asked as he sat.

"Please do." Replied Lillia.

At first Archibald simply wanted to know the details of what had transpired after we had left the village this afternoon, but once we had explained to him what had happened in the cave, he had more questions.

"A cave ogre, but how can that be?" He asked, clearly unnerved by what he had heard.

"I've no idea how it came to be there, but there was no mistaking what it was." Lillia explained.

"This isn't the first time that there's been a goblin infestation in this area, but I've never heard of something like that cropping up around here."

"It was definitely unexpected. I've only heard a few accounts of a creature of that calibre being this far away from the front lines and then they were found in dungeons occupied by the demon lord's forces. It's something I will have to report back to the guild as soon as we reach Lintz."

"Are you sure that there are no more of them out there?"

Lillia paused before answering.

"We destroyed the nest and there was no sign of any activity between here and there. I'm as sure as I can be, without scouring the entire area."

"I wouldn't expect more, but I'm concerned for my people after such news. I hate to ask, but is there any way that you and your party would be able to stay with us for a few days? At least until we're sure that no further threat is lurking out there."

Lillia paused again looking at all of us, before answering. I knew what she wanted to answer, and I knew why she needed to think first. We were after all on our way to another quest and this time it was an entire town that was under threat. Not that it would make things any easier for her to decide.

"I'm sorry, but we can't. Once we reach Lintz I will lodge a quest to search the woods and ask the local guard to send patrols to the area, but I'm afraid we aren't able to stay any longer than tonight. We are already on our way to out next quest."

"I see… That is understandable. Thank you for your help so far. Well, I suppose I will let you all rest for the evening, I've kept you all long enough already."

"Thank you for your hospitality. I'm sorry we couldn't help you further."

"No, I understand. The man with you, he is one of the summoned is he not?"

"He is."

"And it is your job to have him prepared to face the demon lord?"

"It is."

"Would I be correct in guessing that these quests are a part of that?"

"Yes, you would be correct."

"Then, we are lucky enough that you were able to come this way on your travels. It would be wrong of me to trouble you any further, when you already carry such weight."

The village elder got from his seat and called the boy that had already got the fire going, before heading to the door. As he left, he briefly stopped in front of me.

"I wish you good luck."

"Thank you."

With that he left us alone in the house. We could all tell that his fear and request for help were genuine. We were quiet for a moment after they had left, maybe a couple of minutes had passed before anyone spoke. It was Lillia that eventually broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Theo, but that was the only decision I could make." She told me.

"It's okay, I understand. People are relying on us to clear that dungeon, right?"

"Yes, they are."

"No one else is going to save them and every minute we delay getting there is another minute they have to live with that threat. I realised today, when we walked into that room where the women were being held. If we had only been earlier, we might have stopped that from happening. If we were any later their entire group would have faced the same fate… I don't feel comfortable leaving this place unguarded, I don't expect any of us do. That doesn't mean staying is the right thing to do, or something we can do. We've defeated the threat we came here for and we have to go to the next place we promised."

"Thank you, Theo."

After the talk we checked out the kitchen. The elder really had prepared for us, the place was filled with food for us to cook. It was great that we could cook a proper meal instead of the travel rations we had been carrying with us. Despite this none of us got carried away, we only ate the fresh food that would have spoiled otherwise, we could all tell from the state of the village outside that they needed the food just as much as we did.

It was a strange mood amongst the group as we cooked and ate the evening meal. Despite us successfully completing our mission here, no one could say they were entirely pleased with the outcome. It was hard to say that was a successful outcome. This was the reality of being an adventurer, even when you had successfully completed your quest, it didn't mean that everything was alright.

After our meal it was time to check through our gear and supplies. During the battle we had used several potions and Altria and Serin's gear had taken on some damage. We would have to stop in Lintz before we could move on the dungeon to see if they could get quick repairs made or replacements. Lillia also insisted on checking over Serin once more. She was now visibly bruised up from the fight, even after I had done what I could to heal her in the caves. Seeing this, Lillia did what she could to heal her further.

Once she was finished it was time for us to head to bed. The upside was for the first time on our travels we had no need of posting a watch tonight. There were rooms laid out for each of us, it was good to sleep in a proper bed again, even if it had only been a few nights on the road. We would need to be up and ready to leave first thing in the morning.