Chapter 74: Meeting with Carine Village’s Chief.

Chapter 74: Meeting with Carine Village’s Chief.

By the goddess, Lorena, I cant believe that you had to go through that sorta hell, Colwyn uttered with disgust, massaging the bridge of his nose as his face slowly contorted from anger. Damn, those were good people. I know being a merc is a risky job and I had a feeling something happened to them but hearing that most of them are dead is fucked up. Those poor womenmay the goddess protect their souls.

We need to save them, chief Colwyn. My parents, the others, and all the other captives, Lorena announced with red eyes, puffy from having cried.

After giving my introduction, the village chief of Carine village, Colwyn, brought us to his home where he wanted to hear what happened to Lorena. As you would expect from a hastily made home, it was sparsely decorated and only had the essentials which included a meeting room, as the chief had to expect to receive the lord of the village, even if it barely ever happens.

Guess I shouldnt have expected a comfy couch. Sitting on a hard bench with a tail is pretty cumbersome.

We will, Lorena, but we need to sort some things out firstoh! Colwyn suddenly flinched back, realizing that he had more than just Lorena as a guest. My apologies, Miss Priestess. We really shouldnt be talking about this stuff right in front of you.

Oh, there is no problems, no worries. Also, please dont call me Miss Priestess anymore. As I have explained, Lorena lied about that part, I replied while shaking my hand.

But, Hestia, you must have been one, right? Only people from the church can learn the white grace! Lorena called out in protest, trying to excuse herself.

"Hey, Lorena, knock it off. I apologize, my Lady, shes is not used to dealing with, uh, fine ladies. We are devoted followers of our Goddess here, so I apologize in advance if I sound, uhm, stiff, Colwyn remarked. "Anyway, that isn't really important. Uhm, how are the ale and the dried fruits? Its not much, I know, so I hope I havent offended you.L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

After we entered his house, Colwyns wife quickly came out of the kitchen and began serving us some dried fruits as snacks, showing their hospitality despite the predicament that they were in. We were also served some of their finest ale, which Saori told me was alright to drink.

["From the smell alone, I think it should be small beer. I heard that it was quite nutritious without containing much alcohol, a staple beverage for medieval times as people considered it cleaner than drinking well or river water.] Saori explained [You are still a minor, but I heard that children would drink this, so you can give it a taste if you wish, Hestia.]

I dont know why she would mention me being a minor when she was biologically younger than me. Still, I was curious about the taste, though. I never tried anything alcoholic in my previous life and I always wanted to know why people even drank this stuff to begin with.

As I was about to drink it, Tasianna asked me telepathically, Should I brew you some tea? which I had to decline as I thought it would be rude to deny their kindness. Tasianna was also worried that the drink would have impurities in it, but I quickly shot that argument down by reminding her that I had [Abnormal Status Nullification] and my tendency to drink my own toxic concoctions.

Colwyn even showed us that it was safe to drink after it he tried it himself. As the one who offered the drink, it was his duty as the host to drink first, as it was courtesy to show his guest that it wasnt poisoned. How intriguing that a farming villager would know this, even making a show of it.

With nothing to stop me, I pumped myself up as I was fully ready to learn why people liked drinking alcoholic stuff. I was expecting it to either have a pleasant taste like tea or that it would give a rush-like feeling like energy drinks.

As I took my first sip, the first thing that touched the tip of my tongue was a sweet and fruity taste, which made me initially quite interested in it as I kept pouring in more into my mouth. It wasnt the most delicious beverage I've ever drunk but it wasn't terrible. It would go well with some bread, I think.

However, as the liquid moved down my throat, a horrible bitter aftertaste assaulted my taste buds. I quickly stopped drinking more of it and covered my mouth with a hand, as my body didn't want to drink it. Whether it was 'cause I got used to drinking bitter liquids through ingesting venom, or 'cause I overcame my body's order, I swallowed the rest of it while keeping myself composed.

Having rehydrated myself, I put the quarter-filled ale mug back on the table and heaved a small breath. For some reason, I was feeling a bit dizzy when Colwyn finished talking with Lorena and asked me for my opinion on the ale and fruits.

Bitter, I answered in a meek tone while scratching my cheeks. The fruits are nice, though.

"Ahahaha, I'm sorry, it isnt the low alcoholic ale as this is meant for important guests. Its only a bottle but I can guarantee the quality of it, Colwyn said with a wry smile, scratching his neck in unease.

Mhmmh, how I missed that bitter taste! as if it was perfectly timed, Saori let out a satisfied moan, having chugged her ale down as if she hadnt had anything to drink in a week, before blushing. Ah, I apologize for drinking too fast. Also, Lady Hestia is still young and had not had any experience with drinking yet. If I am not terribly rude, may I ask for more, please?

Oh, of course, my pleasure, Miss Saori! responded Colwyns wife, Harriet, with a big smile.

Compared to Saori who downed her whole drink in one go and me who took a mouthful of it, Tasianna didnt touch it at all. According to our telepathic conversation, Tasianna admitted that she wasnt too much of a fan of alcohol, from her experience with sake.

I thought she didnt try it cause it was made from humans, but she just didnt like it.

"Ahhh, that is good to hear, although, now I feel bad that I can't treat you to the good stuff that our village makes. The harvest was extremely good this year, you know, Colwyn said with pride, although his eyes showed a hint of sadness.

Saori looked at the chief for a moment before uttering one word, Sake?

Ahh, I see you know your liquor, Miss Saori! We usually serve that stuff at the end of the year to celebrate it in Aurenas and Krunals name, for blessing us with a wonderful year. Colwyn said with a big smile, stroking his beard as he reminisced past memories.

As the chief and Saori were happily talking about sake, I quickly took this chance to telepathically ask Tasianna about something, [Hey, Tasianna, if Im not remembering it incorrectly, Krunal was a subordinate god of Zephira, correct? Why are members of the Aurena faith praying to a wind elemental god?]

Tasianna gave me a small clap from her lap, inaudible in the midst of Colwyns energetic explanation of his villages tradition and Saoris wonderment, [Brilliant, Lady Hestia, you remembered his name but you seem to have forgotten who he was. Krunal is indeed one of Zephiras gods but he is also her husband and the father of all wind elves. Beside from that, Krunal also rules over us as the God of Weathers and Harvests.]

[Oh, the God of Harvests, and this is a farming village. Makes sense now,] I responded, prompting Tasianna to give me a smile filled with warmness and joyfulness, completely different to her cold and distant attitude towards the villages plight.

FUCK! suddenly slamming the table with his fist, Colwyn then let out a tired sigh. What good is talking about our villages specialties when everything is goneAfter those bandits raided nearly everything, I think Carine village has to skip this years festivities. I dont even know if all of us will even survive this winter with how we needed a whole month to rebuild three houses-yeowch! What da heck, Harriet?!

Interrupting Colwyns rather depressive speech was his wife, Harriet. She hit him on the head from behind with a wooden box, which looked pretty painful, as Colwyn was massaging his head with a pained face, having reverted back to his villager accent.

I am sorry, but that is unacceptable for us, interrupting Colwyns speech with a slam on the table, Saori expressed her displeasure against his request. We are not professional problem solvers, especially not when violence is included. I can confidently say that we are able to defend ourselves, but I also do not wish to endanger myself nor my companions.

There is a problem concerning information here. If the quest is marked as Rank D, then our party should be good enough to deal with it, as we have two C rank monsters in Saori and me, while Tasianna can deal some serious damage with her magic against D rank beasts. However, that is assuming the ranks are identical in power.

I had no idea how strong a D rank human would be nor how well I would fare against one. There is also the fact that we have no idea how many bandits were there in the first place. We can't just wander in and expect to bulldoze through everything without a plan. That is reckless.

I have to agree with Saori, Chief Colwyn, I sided with my companion. We are only three people and you also cannot tell us how strong those bandits truly are, it would just be like plunging into the dark without a light. I do sympathize with your plea but we need to be realistic here.

Am I being too cautious? Not at all, especially after I learned that lesson from meeting one of the snake heads of the leviathan. Sure, I was able to overwhelm the Panguanas during the lizardmen rescue mission, but I honestly could have died on that day. That snake head was not a joke. My spells did barely anything against it.

The same thing could happen with the bandits here. The majority of them can be fodder for all I care, but if even one of them can match me in stats and skills, then I need to know that so I can form a plan.

If I can assess their strength and plan accordingly by preparing tools and traps, then I would accept it without question. My party was able to take down a B rank wyvern without much planning, after all, albeit she wasnt trying with her full strength.

If you need more people to help then you dont have to worry about, Colwyn said to reassure us. There is actually a mercenary party camping in the woods, waiting for more people to come until they can depart. They are beastmen like you and Ive seen their ranks, theyre a C rank party consisting of four people. Your party should be around that rank, or even higher, so if you two work together then it should be alright, right?

Colwyn, in a panic, quickly picked up the wooden box and opened it, revealing the contents to us, The 21500 Davi was deposited at the mercenary guild, however I do have 5000 reserved for emergencies in addition to a budget for our winter rations given to us by our Lord. I havent forgotten your payment for your white grace, my Lady. If your party accepts our request, then I will pay an additional amount for directly requesting it to you, I promise in the name of my faith. May our fair goddess judge me harshly if I sin against one of her priestesses!

Colwyn then took out a pendant from beneath his shirt, clutching it with both hands. It hung around his neck and had an emblem that looked like a praying winged woman, If my word isnt enough, then let me swear it. I, Colwyn, hereby swear in the name of the Goddess of Light to uphold my promise to Lady Hestia, Miss Saori, and Miss Tasianna. Once the Quest is fulfilled, I shall do anything in my ability to pay them back.

[I think we should accept it, Hestia,] Saori suddenly suggested causing me to question her reasons. [If you havent noticed it yet, I think your little stunt in front of the village seemed to have left an impression on Colwyn. I do not know what he considers you for but this might be the opportunity that we needed.]

[Miss Saori, you must understand that this Quest is dangerous, right? We will be endangering our lives for thesehumans,] Tasianna stated with disgust as she looked at Colwyn.

[Have we not endangered our lives plenty enough while we were in the Belzac forest? Hestia, tell me, what do we currently need to fully integrate ourselves into society?] Saori asked me.

I gave it some thoughts before giving my answer, [Money, identification, and a job. Even if I consider being an Idol a profession, Im currently unknown and I cant expect people to just give their money just because I sang or danced well. Im pretty much like a street performer right now, somebody who has to hope for donations from kind-hearted people.]

[Exactly, we need money. This is our chance to get some of it before we hand in all our spoils from Belzac forest,] Saori stated, reminding me that my storage magic was filled to the brim with monster parts and alchemical herbs and plants. [There is also the issue with our lack of IDs. You heard it from Colwyn, we cant enter a town or city without them, however, what if we had somebody that could vouch for us?]

[Ahh, I get it. Even if Colwyns recommendation isnt enough, he could ask his lord to help us. Colwyn owes us a favor if we help him with this request and having the support of a nobleman should be useful,] I finished Saoris thought process. [Stillan aristocrat? Urgh, all those Netflix shows usually display nobles as cunning assholes. Then again, this one was willing to support Carine village after they got raided.]

[Regardless, as a party, we would benefit tremendously from it. It will be dangerous, yes, but we will not go into this alone,] Saori announced. [Let us take a look at that C rank mercenary party, first. Then after, we may agree or decline, alright?]

[Mhmm, I personally do not wish to trust this human but I cant disagree with your arguments, Miss Saori,] Tasianna said reluctantly. [If fulfilling Lady Hestias dream requires me to do so, then I will dedicate my soul and body into it.]

[Its settled, then.]

Chief Colwyn, I uttered.

Yes, my Lady? Have you come to a choice? he asked anxiously.

Yeah, could you tell us where that mercenary party is? We would like to speak with them before we make our decision, I stated.

Colwyns eyes widened, slowly forming his lips into a smile, Yes, of course! Ill lead you to them, this instant. Harriet, tell everybody that Ill be gone for a bit, and that the kids should behave while Im awayoh! Here, I have to give your payment for the-

Please, hold onto it for us, Saori interrupted the overly excited man, completely going against his lumberjack-looking appearance. As you can see, we do not have anywhere to store it properly. Until we come back, please hold onto it, or even use the money if you need to.

Shocked by Saoris generous attitude, Colwyn couldnt help but stumble on his words, B-But I need to repay-no. I must have faith, faith that you will come back safely with everybody. This money will serve as my reminder to keep my promise to you three.

With this meeting having concluded, Colwyn and my party went outside his house and exited the village towards the woods.

After a bit of walking, we eventually arrived at what seemed to be camp. There, I was able to recognize the figures of four individuals. As Colwyn said, they were undoubtedly beastmen, but what he forgot to mention was that they had scales covering from the tip of their tails to the front of their jaws.

If Caszcur looked like a crocodile and Apsala looked like a gecko, then these guys were dinosaurs. They were divided into three body types, each recognizable by the size and head differences.

One of them was small and had the looks of a velociraptor with the iconic sickle-like claws on his feet, while two of them were bulky and tall like a bodybuilder, possessing two crests above their eyes like a carnotaurus.

The last of the four was a humongous giant with the head of a menacing crocodile, who could tower over a house, I believe. He was like a hulk compared to everybody involved.

Oh, Chief Colwyn? Ashlakleel sagot toth zacotl, pressing both his hand together, the robed velociraptor-looking scale-kin greeted us with a bow, speaking unknown words to us. We welcome you in Xohulotels name and may the Goddess of the Depths bless your every step with power. How may we Saurians aid you today?