Two adventurers traveled together with white horse as a mount, they were strong enough to defend themselves against dire or even alpha wolves that could threaten the lives of many people, one of them was Roy and another one was Silicia, Silicia was on the back, barely stretching her arms to wrap around the bear-like man

- You are so large

She pouted

Roy smiled wryly and sighed

- We are already running out of dry rations, is your village near?

- Stop grumbling, you ate just an hour ago didn't you?

- But...

- It's alright, we will be here soon

...

Journey continued, after passing the forest they could walk on the ground that was compressed by passerby merchants over time

The horse was running down the hill, appreciating the scenery of approaching down Silicia felt especially exhilarated, she was going to visit her village soon

- Look, that's my village, there you see that watermill? Grandpa Quelvin used to take us here, the river was so cold, I miss that place, oh and there, there used to be healthy crops growing...

Silicia said excitedly but by the end her voice got weaker, Roy did not notice this, as he was not really paying the attention

- Yeah, yeah~

- Hurry!

- Huh?

- Please hurry, these fields... they are no more, the village...

Her voice got weaker and weaker, Roy lifted his head up and his expression turned into frown, from afar village looked fine, but if looked from closer, you could notice that this place was almost devoid of people, some houses were destroyed and crops were decayed, seems the village has been through disaster

Silicia's expression paled and two tears slid down her cheeks, she tried to surpress her whimpering but her weak voice could still be heard

- It's ok, we'll do what we can

Roy said reassuringly

...

They entered the village, there was nobody guarding it, it was almost devoid of people and broken houses and butchered pets were even more apparent

Once they were about to approach certain house that used to be her grandma's house, two man exited that house, holding the plebeian working tools in hands and their stance was vigilant and threatening

- Hold on!

Said the man with ragged farmer clothing and beard

- Where is my grandma? Let me see her

Shouted Silicia disregarding them and she pushed them aside

- W, wait, where are you... halt!

But their voices were not heard

She entered the house which was the biggest in the whole village, her grandma used to be a village chief

Now she was resting on the chair, she seemed to be sleeping, wounded and bloodied villagers which mostly consisted of old man and couple of children were helping each other, once she entered everyone stopped what they were doing

- Grandma!

She screamed and tried approaching the old woman, villagers exclaimed in surprise, seems they recognized her

Old woman slowly opened her eyes and once she saw her, her weak eyes lit up and weak smile plastered on her face

Roy also entered at that time

- Who are you?

Said some villagers vigilantly

- A friend of hers

Roy pointed to Silicia and went quiet

- What happened here, grandma who did this?

Silicia asked resolutely

- Dear, you can't go

- I have to know, please, now I am stronger than ever, I want to protect the village

She said resolutely

- Sigh, fine, but something is fishy, goblins and kobolds never liked each other, this time, they joined hands to raid our village, it was not a long ago, merely 12 hours should have passed, they cooperated, I am afraid something bad is going on, Silicia, my dear, please don't risk your life, we will preserve and stay strong, get up and continue living, even with our loses we...

Until she could finish her words a little boy ran out from the crowd while weeping and hugged Silicia's knees

- You, ah, Rowan, you have grown up, what happened?

Silicia asked kindly, she knew him, once she was child she used to play with Liana, Rowan was his little brother that was born later

- Where is Liana?

- She... she was abducted, big sister, can you help? I want to see my big sister again

The boy wept as he said, Silicia's heart sank

- We can't lose time, they should not be too far away, we should pursue now! Boy do you know the direction they went to?

Roy slowly explained approached the boy and patted his head, his huge back seemed dependable for Rowan

- They passed the river, but... they destroyed the bridge and went straight to the hills, going up the mountain

- That's not the problem, alright, I'll be going, Silicia you stay, help them heal, with your help they will be fine

- So the old man is...

- Yes, he was killed 2 months ago, he died fending off bandits

Someone said gloomily

Silicia clenched her firsts due to helplessness, if only she was faster this disaster might not have happened

- It can be dangerous

- Does not matter, I have to make sure my childhood friend is fine, even if a single strand of hair is missing on her head I will burn them all down to the last one!

' Ah, angered Silicia, I would not go against her in this state '

- Fine then, let's go

They hopped on the horse after saying goodbye to everyone and grabbing some dried rations until departing

- Don't worry, we'll make it in time

Surely they were more than capable of eradicating goblins and kobolds but they did not know the true threat was not them, they were up against something more dangerous and terrifying

POV change

The fat man with top quality silk clothes was sitting in the carriage, his eyes were tiny and he was reading a book on the way, his eyes were... dismissive as if he was none caring

He wore a small moustache, his cheeks were chubby and he wore a hat which looked like compressed turban, he looked like a merchant, but in truth he was a noble

The carriage was hitting rocks on the way, making his hobby of reading unenjoyable, despite being pissed off no emotion was written on his face as he closed the book, even the glances that were thrown at scenery was dismissive as if everything was particular in his small eyes

Despite being fat and having to go through steining and long path, his clothes were devoid of speck of dust, he looked really neat, even the clothes he wore were secretly generating constant cooling cold to refresh his body, he was not sweating at all, instead he felt somewhat comfortable, if we don't count the path that made him unable to sleep and read

- Stop the carriage

He said in nonchalant voice and it was stopped

He personally exited the carriage, it was quiet, the sun was shining and surrounding trees shook with wind

* Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

Three arrows flew from nearby trees, but one was caught by him directly in fast motion, his hand movement seemed fast yet slow, he predicted the angle of arrow with impossible precision, but it was not enough to get rid of other 2 arrows

His ring shined in silver light and small barrier of wind rose, tearing the arrow apart, the third arrow flew a bit later once barrier deactivated, it hit his clothes, the arrow head was seeping with poison but it harmlessly bounced off his clothes

His none caring expression did not change as he said calmly and slowly, even coolly

- Assassins? Is my brother Luke this desperate for my future position?

There was no answer

The meatball did not move, he seemingly merely waited for another attack to come, but it did not, because the enemies that hid behind trees were... already turned into mist of blood

With his state unshaken he sat in his carriage and said calmly

- Let's go

It's as if nothing happened