Chapter 38 - Trouble in the village!

Updated and final version at: https://thednw.net/38-trouble-in-the-village/

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For any normal soldiers to be able to join the Red Legion was simply a dream. Hundreds of thousands would apply every single year but only a handful would be able to actually get in. The requirements were extremely high and each member not only had to have a LOT of potential but also unquestionable characters and a heart brave enough to stand true in the face of the harshest of situations.

Aria was a human from earth who had been transported over several months ago. Back on earth she was a k-pop star and was only 18 when everything happened. She had long black hair, height of about 5 feet 7 inches, and of course, she was also really pretty and was the center of attention wherever she went.

But she never liked all the attention because of her beauty, for her the most valuable characteristics a human could have was their morality. If a person looked good but acted like a piece of shit, then they were no different from a beast.

She was one of the lucky ones that survived the beast horde that had hit the outer districts and joined the military soon after. She had almost lost her entire family that night and that feeling of helplessness pushed her to get stronger and stronger.

Soon after joining the military, one of her superiors saw the progress she had made and recommended her for Red Legion. She applied and passed every single test with flying colors. Everyone loved her, she was very humble and kind to strangers and stood up for the weak, a perfect human being.

This year she was one of the dozen or so that had the honor of joining the Red Legion, and four of these newbies along with Aria were in the 100 legionaries under Hao Xuans command.

The other three were Luke, a 20 something-year-old boy, the son of a local blacksmith from Fortuna City, he had blond hair and a hard-on for justice and a huge crush on Aria. He was a normal 'white knight' and extremely patriotic.

The second was Mason who was also from earth. He was what some would call a 'weeb' back home so this was a dream come true for him. A new land filled with cat-eared girls, fantastical monsters and whatnot. He had short black hair and a skinny body.

The last one was a girl named Mia. She was a vampire. Unlike in the movies on earth, vampires did not burst into flames under the sun or turn into bats to avoid social situations.

Here, the vampires had several kingdoms and empires. They were a huge race in the beast world and were much more powerful than normal humans from the start. They could indeed get nourishment from blood but that was just a bonus.

Their main characteristics included having wings, almost perfect bodies i.e both men and women were exceptionally beautiful, higher strengths, much longer lifespans, and very very temperamental. They had waged many wars on a whim and were one of the warrior races.

Mia was about 20 years old with long silver hair and blue eyes. She was more than 6 feet tall and looked like something out of a drawing. Her personality was volatile and often got into fights on the smallest things. Her weapons were two long silvery dual swords.

To oversee all of them and even Hao Xuan (since this was his first command), Lt. Kuo was also appointed under him. He was almost 40 years old but barely looked a day over 30. He was a longsword user and a very powerful and experienced soldier. He had served in the Red Legion for over 10 years.

Their rendezvous point was about five hundred miles from Fortuna city, near a small fishing village. They weren't allowed to reveal the fact that they were from the red legion for this mission and so everyone had to act under the radar, but that was easier said than done.

The village was called Calth and was a few hundred years old. There was a massive lake near them which acted as their main source of income and food. The population of the village was only about 200 people and were simple folk that lived uncomplicated lives, away from all the hustle and bustle of the City. Today though, something out of the ordinary happened.

An envoy from one of the nearby kingdoms was going to Fortuna city and stopped by the village as it the sun had already set.

"Your majesty, please," said a guard wearing the uniform of Mei kingdom as he opened the carriage door and a fat man stumbled out. He was dressed in a red velvet robe and had several gold chains around his neck.

"Hmm, very refreshing," the fat man said as he took a deep breath.

"Bring us something to eat. It has been so long since I had some fresh meat," he said to the guard. The guard nodded back and took a few soldiers with him and went into the village. They grabbed some chickens, a couple of goats and something that looked like a bull but much bigger.

"Sir, please, you can't take so much! The winter is here and we don't have much food to spare. You can have some fish but please leave the livestock, that's enough to feed several families," an old man said. He was the village chief.

"Shut the hell up! This is for the great envoy! You should be thanking him that he graced your shitty village with his presence," roared the guard and kicked the old man in the stomach, sending him flying away with blood coming out of the side of his mouth.

"Father!"

"Grandpa!" screamed two voices at the same time and a middle-aged lady and a little boy ran up to the old man and helped him up.

"Why are you doing this? This is our food!" screamed the little boy, staring at the guard with hateful eyes.

"Oi oi, look at this little brat. Doesn't he have some balls," one of the soldiers said pointing at him and they all started laughing. By now a lot of people had come out of the village, creating a small crowd.

"Stop!" said a voice. Everyone turned to look and it was the fat envoy.

"Sir?" asked the guard confused.

"You're forgetting about entertainment. What good is food without a beauty or two by the side? Bring some women as well," he said with a laugh.

"Of course sire, how could I forget. Get her, her, her and her," he said while pointing at the women.

"Roger!" all the soldiers said at once and walked into the crowd and dragged out the crying women. Several men tried to stop them but they were beaten to the ground, bloodied.

"Letuinent! Why are we just watching this? Let's kill these bastards!" Mia said angrily. Aria and Luke also nodded, agreeing with her.

"We can't. At least not until our new Captain gets here. We don't even know what the mission is, our only orders are to stay put," said Lt. Kuo with a clenched fist while grinding his teeth.

"Where the fuck is that bastard??" mumbled Mia looking around and unsheathed her swords.

"Let go of my mama!" the little boy shouted with tears in his eyes. He picked up a stick and ran after the soldiers.

"Beat this brat until he can't stand anymore," ordered the fat envoy with disdainful eyes and started walking back to his carriage.

"Yes sir!" said one of the soldiers and went up to the boy. He snatched the stick out of his hand and lifted it above his head to hit the little boy. But the boy was unfazed and looked straight back at the soldiers without blinking.

*Meow*

Suddenly a faint sound was heard through all the crying and shouting, and then all the noises stopped.