Chapter 44 Mysterious killings

Ren and his group went to talk to the hunters that saw the dead body of the mountain ogre. The questioning went smoother than expected, since the hunters were very proactive in answering Hilda's questions. When the hunters showed the head of the mountain ogre, Ren, Hilda, and Lara inspected it.

While the three were inspecting the head, Ren noticed something strange with the head. Ren didn't say what he found, since he felt something was amiss. When the three were done inspecting the head, they thanked the hunters and left.

Hilda then passed a piece of paper to Ren and Lara.

'head towards the exit of the village.' When Ren read this he and his group headed straight outside of the village. The three who were now away from the village, doubled checked if they were followed.

Once they confirmed that no one was around Hilda spoke. "So what do you guys think about this?"

"The villagers are hiding something." Lara as usual made her comment concise and to the point, yet as she said those lines, she kept on looking here and there.

"Yes the villagers are obviously hiding something, most of them, even the children smelled of blood. Also that mountain ogre that they showed had nail marks at the back of its head." Ren reported what he saw, which made Hilda tilt her head in confusion.

"So? Maybe the monster killed it with it's claws."

"That's the point... I don't think that the mountain ogre was killed by a monster. The nail marks I saw was made by a small hand... It looked like it was made by the hands of a human." When Hilda heard what Ren said, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Are you telling me a human cut off a head of a mountain ogre using his or her nails? Is that what you're telling me, Ren?"

"Yes. Alsothose hunters should have noticed this too, seeing as they should have already inspected the head before. My father is a hunter as well, and he would have easily spotted the wound that killed the mountain ogre. Yet those hunters didn't give as that kind of information. I'm sure if any normal hunter saw that wound made by human hands they would be suspicious of it, but these guys said nothing." Hearing what Ren said, Lara nodded her head in agreement, while Hilda was thinking about something.

"Not only thateveryone in this town was too calm. If they was a monster that could easily kill a mountain ogre near my village, almost everyone would panic, but these people treat it like it was nothing."

"I also have something to report about the villagers. I noticed that they were hiding something on their necks. All of them the children, the village elder, the hunters, every one of them might have a wound on their neck." Lara might have said this with her usual poker face, but the contents of what she said was deeply concerning.

"We have too little information regarding this incident. What could the villagers be hiding? For now we shouldn't believe in anything the villagers are saying. Not even the children." Ren and Lara nodded their heads in agreement to what Hilda said.

"Okay now that we are in agreement, let's head to the site where the hunter saw the head. Maybe we could get some clues there."

"Sure, but before that." When Ren said those words, he disappeared from his spot. After a few seconds he returned with something in hand. When Ren returned he was holding a scrawny looking boy with black hair and eyes. The boy was screaming and kicking in Ren's arms.

"Let go of me! Let go!"

"Who's that?" Hilda asked looking at the scrawny boy confused. 'Did Ren kidnapped a kid? Or was this...'

"That's the kid who was spying on us." Lara informed the other two. The moment he saw the boy's figure she figured out that he must have been the one who was looking at them from a distance.

Hearing what Lara said, Ren smiled as he put the kid down. The boy who was finally released from Ren's grasp looked at Ren with an expression of both fear and anger.

"So Kid why were you spying on us? Do you need something from us?" The kid who heard Ren's question looked like he was about to cry, but tried his hardest not too.

"..." The kid kept looking silently at Ren.

"Let me try." Hilda butted in and stood in front of the boy. She took something from her pocket and handed it to the boy. The thing Hilda handed was some fruit candy, and the boy gladly accepted it. The boy who got the candy looked at Hilda a little less wary.

"Hi there, I'm Hilda an adventurer from Grenton. What's your name." Hilda smiled gently at the boy. Ren and even Lara was surprised to see Hilda was able to act this way. The boy who was looking at the smiling Hilda, hesitated a bit but still answered in the end.

"...Darius..." Hearing the boy finally answering made Hilda smile even more.

"That's a nice name you have there Darius. It's a truly valiant name. So Darius can you tell this big sis why you were spying on me and my friends?"

"I... I wanted to ask for help... I wanted to make sure you didn't become one of them?" Darius started to tremble when he mentioned them. Hilda then hugged the trembling Darius.

"Do not be afraid Darius, me and my friends are pretty strong. I'm sure we'll be able to help you. So tell me what's happening."

"Everyone... Everyone in the village started acting weird, a few weeks ago. At some point even my mom and dad, they-" As Darius spoke about his parents he started to cry.

"It's alright, just cry it out." Hilda who was hugging the boy patted his back. After some time the boy finally stopped crying.

" *hic* I saw everyone eating that monster, and they only left the head."

'The villagers ate the mountain ogre. What the hell is happening in this village?' Hilda continued to hug the boy, as her mind was thinking as hard as it could.

Ren on the other hand had some thoughts in regards to this incident. Based on the evidence they saw, the story Darius told them. Ren had a vague guess as to what is happening in the village, but he wasn't sure. It was at this moment Ren started to smile as viciously as ever.

'This quest turned out to be better than expected. If my hunch is right, then a good fight is probably coming.'