Smokes filter into the sky
The scorched village looms quite like a graveyard
Chip
A bird cricks standing on a small scorched branch, it chips again before cleaning it's feather
We move past the bird to a scene
"Thank you sir for helping our poor village"
"Thanks to you we were able to save the remaining villagers and their family"
"We could never repay you" stated the chief as he placed a bow
Aria was standing in front of the chief, Mira was hugging his leg while Mira mother was helping some other woman to pick up baskets while men picked up plank from destroyed houses
The village was a mess, Aria could notice
They were working hard but not to their fullest, the reason
A white cloth was spread on the ground that housed the body of the dead
The villagers that had died in the ogres attack
They were moving like normal but those death must have hurt them a lot
He even noticed Mira staring at a small boy between the dead, his side had been cut in two
She saddened, finally realizing he wasn't getting up, she pushed her head into his knees, hiding her tears
Aria groaned, he had save the village but the casualties were too great
Well.. it was partially his fault
Because he could kill the ogres in a matter of a minute, he waited a day before coming to the forest
Foolishness
He belittle himself as his grips tighten
Tap.. a head tugged his cloak
"Don't cry mister" Aria looked down
Mira was staring at him with sad eyes, she looked sad but with a glint in her eyes, she tugged and smiled
Aria smiled back but only a little, she was trying to cheer him up
Aria looked up and saw a boy, looked to be about the age of 17, he was staring at the dead body of the boy
He kept staring, just standing there for minutes, he wouldn't move, he wouldn't cry, like a statue he stood
Just waiting and waiting
Crack
A woman came to his back, she hugged him from the back and said soothing words to him
That did it
The boys tears flowed like a broken dam
He cried, falling to the ground and crawling to the dead body, he picked the boy up and cuddle him in his hand
His tears didn't stop, he clinged to the boy begging him to wake up, shouting at him to wake up and insult, to wake up so he can wish him happy birthday
The dead boy didn't steer
The boy broke, the woman crouched down to hug the boy as tears also fell from her face
The village was quiet as everyone had stopped working, finally taking in the loss of their loved ones
Each moved to a family that had lost someone as theirs tears left their faces
Mira cried, she couldn't hold it in anymore, she ran to her mom who embraced her
The chief grow a saddened expression as he failed to protect his village
Aria couldn't take it
He had gone used to seeing death in this world and knew it was a necessary thing in life
Especially to villages that don't have protections like the Nila town that is guarded by adventurers
Because it is the center were all adventurer go to and the adventurer guild reside there as well
But what about the villages outside
Guild requests come from merchants, nobles and townfolk
But the majority of requests comes from villages
Villages that aren't protected by the government because they refused to sign a pantial document
The pantial document is a form that is given to every head of villages to sign
It means the loss of ownership of their lands and force labour
The villages would have to work to pay taxes to the capital in the form of protection, it doesn't feel like a bad idea but
The protection come with a price, soldiers or adventurer have the right to do anything to the village, either rape, murder or even slavery
It doesn't matter because they had signed the law
And ones signed it can never be broken, if the village decide to retaliate they would be wiped out of the map
A village that one's stood close to Nile town was wiped out, this caused the other villages to learn from their mistake and not sign the document
Leading them to flee from Nile town and take up reside outside the border
In the monster forest
The quest to kill five ogres at the Dawn village up top of Dawn mountain had been sitting in the quest board for months
Quests from non pantial villages are not commonly selected because they are not apart of the capital
Dawn mountain is basically it's own land as it ranges a 100 kilometers from Nile town, almost leaving the entire capital district
A non village, not recognized by the capital as a land of thiers but an outcast
When I took the quest, the receptionist gave me an odd look, telling me that what number of amount of dead ogre I bring will not matter since they would only give 7 bronze because of its location
I had to pick another quest to make up my earn
At first I wanted to drop it when I heard the price
It was unfair, yes it was a non pantial villages but for it's quests pay to be so low would drive any adventurer away
Which would explain the left over pile of village requests on the board, their from pantial villages
This is absurd..
I know that every world can't be perfect but to stoop so low as taking the right of villages just for their gains
It reminds me of..of...my world
Even though the government was trying their best, they were still people left to rot
People who saw exploiting as a better way for them, it caused casualties to our world
It's the same here
Sigh....
How Cruel...