Chapter 111: Take care!
Seth was perplexed to witness the crowd formed at the entrance of the town—they planned to stay for the night at. Since it would have been extremely tedious for horses and the passengers to travel overnight, he asked the coachman to turn in the first town he sees, but never he thought he would be facing a crisis at the end of such a beautiful day.
There were hundreds of men and children all around with some occasional old generation appearing in between and sharing the grief with others. Some women were also present around the vicinity but they seemed to be hiding inside the perimeter for some reason.
"Stay here for a second, Professor."
Despite sensing the anxious cloud surrounding the woman by his side, Seth wanted to know what was the situation before he could decide whether they would be staying here or have ultimately spent the night in the coach. The latter one didn't seem that bad though...
"Ah..."
Haruka exclaimed but she didn't stop Seth from approaching the crowd as she also stepped forward and halted herself to a point where she could be able to hear them.
"Can anyone tell me what is happening here?"
There were so many people in distress that Seth felt reading their minds would be a hassle since as complex as one thought process turns out, the more bothersome it becomes to collect meaningful information out of piles of garbage.
He did send a pulse of skill [Lull] throughout the place which brought a slight pause to the commotion, relatively providing the window required for Seth's voice to reach up to them. Almost every gaze turned in his direction, greeting Seth with varying emotions blended in their eyes.
Some were fearful, some were suspicious but what played mutual in those gazes was utter grief.
One of the elderly-looking men in his forties walked toward Seth as every other person stayed silent and let the white-bearded man take the lead and explain the situation.
"A-Are you a visitor, boy? Unfortunately, you arrived at the worst period in Dahan."
"Umm...actually I am an adventurer, sir. A high ranking at that. Please tell me the circumstances so I can help."
Seth lied, already on his way to extract the memories from the old man since he didn't want to extend the conversation if the oldie gets stone head on not spilling it himself.
Haruka who was standing at the back blinked in surprise at the bluntness he put behind his lie of being an adventurer. But she understood that to make this faster and easier for the old man to state the matter, it was a good way which Seth chose.
And indeed, hearing that the green-haired boy was a high-ranking warrior, many from the crowd gasped and cheered inwardly with their eyes brimming with hopefulness and expectancy from this small ray of light in this abysmal darkness.
Even the old man who was actually the governor of the place was taken aback by the fact that some high-ranking adventurer actually came to such a secluded place that was surrounded by nothing but quarries and abandoned lands.
However, the bearded governor didn't test his luck by asking the identity of the bespectacled boy and decided to finally tell him the reason for their distress.
"A-A group of bandits came....a-and kidnapped all the daughters and wives of the village leaving only those who they found 'defective'."
The bandits only picked those women whom they found attractive and to their taste. It does without saying that some of them even kidnapped little children as well, which the chief didn't include to talk out since it was making his throat heavy and mind full of guilt even to talk about it. Despite being in charge of the town he was not able to save them which was making the elder want to end his own life in guilt and regret.
Seth cast aside the old man's feelings and concentrated on any other meaningful information he received verbally and mentally. He knew what had happened but to proceed with the matter he needed some clue or hint regarding the group he would be searching for.
Though it would be easy to set the two shadow guards following Seth all around the place on the task, he wanted some light training if he could from this crisis.
Through the old man's memory, he found all the bandits had a flame emblem attached to their left arm which was the symbol of Amber Organization which was not a nationwide criminal group but had authority enough to commit such crime and still could remain unscathed.
Seth thought about something for a moment before he upped his voice and spoke in a louder tone for everyone to hear.
"I will be able to help but for now, please everyone settle down and listen to me carefully."
The beaming faces Seth was directed with...he didn't even count how many people were internally worshipping him already even though there was a chance of Seth being nothing but a liar. Well, underdeveloped towns have the kindest civilians who easily trust others. It was their individuality and a factor of a great possible hazard as well.
Not like Seth was going to teach them or anything...
He wanted to have some field experience. Killing monsters and dealing with rapists are different things and he would like to get his arms bloodied in crimson after a long while.
There was another reason why Seth decided to help them, even though he would not accept such a fact. Having Haruka by his side, this was the perfect chance to impress the woman he likes after all...
The townspeople gathered around and focused their entire attention on the boy without daring to utter a single word since they could do anything right now but displease the hope they were desperately seeking.
"I am going to bring those who have been taken. I don't know whether I could make it in time to save all of them but once I reach there, I will not let a single woman get tainted by those creatures. So, please, for now, you guys calm down and have patience."
Might this new appearance be lying or providing them false hope, the townspeople were at least provided with a slight tug of expectation to which they could cling and hope they would see their beloved once again.
Some have lost their daughter. Some had their wives taken away and many children have lost their maternal warmth because of the incident. The toll the townspeople had weighed on them for the past some hours finally began to lighten up, even if it was a little bit.
"Alba, Alan."
On his call, two shadows suddenly emerged out of nowhere startling everyone around as the two knelt before their master with heads leaning forward and ready to comply with whatever command they were forward by Seth.
Seth contemplated for a second but soon he disregarded all the thoughts regarding their skills. He needed one of them to be with Haruka and there was nothing he needed to consider since Alba was the right choice.
"Alba, stay with the lady and Alan, follow me." Two of them disappeared once again before he heard someone calling out for him.
"S-Seth, wait...."
Seth's glowing green eyes grew dim once again as he heard a familiar voice calling him from behind. He turned to face the woman before walking in her direction.
Haruka was standing there with her demeanor oozing with nothing but concern and anxiety. She was kind of proud that Seth took the job of helping the people he don't even know. But the nervousness of letting Seth out there alone to deal with bandits was anything but settling.
"Professor, I know what you are going to say, but I have to do this. And no, I won't be taking you along."
Haruka's lips were left part as the words she was about to say were already declined. She at least wanted to tag along and ensure his safety even though she knew she was weaker than Seth. And hearing his stern tone, she knew he left no room for argument as well.
She has never felt this useless that even being a meat shield of Seth seemed to be a hindrance for the boy who would be much better alone. Other than her slight knowledge of ancient history she just was a disappointment.
That's what she always did...crying in a corner while repenting herself for being such a useless person. And all this frustration has always weighed down on Haruka even though she never shows it on her face.
"Haruka."
The violet-haired lady was thrown out of her daze when she felt Seth's hand over her cheek, urging her to look his way. As her gaze fell upon him, the emotion she saw in them made the woman quite startled.
Seth was not disappointed in her rather he seemed agitated.
"I don't even have to read your mind by this point to know what you are troubled about, and believe me professor if I weren't your student, you would have received a thorough scolding from me."
But this seemed like a scolding as well, that was what Haruka wanted to say but she held it in and listened to his words with a sense of complicated feeling swirling inside her chest.
"Just know professor, that more than anyone presents around here, I worry for you. So you can understand, why I would not take such a precious person to that shady place, right?"
It was the second time Seth confessed that she was very important to him but again Haruka neither had the conscience nor this seemed to be the time to ask him the reason why he say so.
Mindlessly, while gazing at his deep eyes which told many more things what she was able to hear, Haruka nodded and didn't persist on the matter for coming along. She very well knew the capabilities of Seth and even though her mind was saying something else, her heart assured her that he would return safely.
Holding his hand which still was on her face, Haruka blossomed into a smile before she uttered the most fitting word in this situation.
"Please take care of yourself out there."
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A/N: - This is a small arc of maybe two or three chapters solely based on relationship development. I hope you guys are enjoying the chapters~
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