Chapter 89 - Midlight Village#9

3RD PERSON'S POV:-

Midlight village, or a village half light. Like every other named village, this village had a strong history. Before it was deserted, there used to live a sage in this place. Nobody knew where he came from or why he was staying in this village. It is said he was one of the founders of the so-called village and existed as long as that village existed, but there was no definite proof of that. That sage used to take care of the monsters in the forest and protect the village from any threats. The villagers looked up to the sage in reverence. For the villagers, he was no less than a God who was protecting them.

One day, a few lost adventurers reached that village and decided to stay in that village before moving forward on their journey. The villagers, of course, welcomed the adventurers as guests partly because it was rare for any outside to enter that village and partly because the sage didn't stop the adventurers from entering the village. Taking it as a sign, everyone in the village was relaxed.

When the adventurers heard about the sage, they got pretty curious about the sage and his identity. They really wanted to meet this Devine Sage at least once before they left. So, they asked the villagers to let them meet him. When the villagers asked the sage if he would like to meet the adventurers before they left the Sage, however, said that he doesn't want to meet the adventurers. The adventurers were slightly disappointed by that fact, but they still complied with the wishes of the Sage and quietly left after they recovered.

Months later, one of the adventurers came running back as he looked at the villagers, but that wasn't important. What was important were the words he spoke later.

"Hey! I forgot my bag here. Just came back to pick it up, haha."

The villagers looked confused a bit before one of the children ran into the place where the adventurers were staying and brought the bag to the adventurer. The adventurer then opened the bag, only to find a few fruits, all dried up and decayed. He was perplexed before he looked at the villagers. The villagers, too, looked at that man with strange curiosity. After a few moments of silence, the adventurer smiled and asked,

"Is this a joke? Haha, it was really good." He had a dry fake chuckle before looking at them. The villagers' faces once again turned confused. One of the smarter villagers then asked a strange question, "Hey! How long has it been since you left the village?" 

It truly was strange, but the adventurer answered while making a slightly confused face as he scratched his head.

"Hasn't it been just a few minutes?" 

The villagers looked at that man for a few moments before asking again,"Are you…sure? You aren't joking with us, right?" 

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong?" The adventurer turns slightly serious as he notices the strange atmosphere.

"In this village, you left 5 months ago." says one of the elder villagers as he looked at the adventurer with a dry eye.

"What? What are you…" the adventurers' eyes turn stunned as he looks at the serious faces of the villagers, "you are all joking with me, right? Cause if you are, then this isn't funny? Do you even know what this means?" 

The villagers looked at the man for a few moments before asking him to continue, as they did not get what the man was trying to say.

"Look…gulp…This strange phenomenon…if it is what it is, then the only cause, I can think, is Time Dilation. Time in this village passes very slowly compared to outside. Now, that might sound like a very extraordinary and good phenomenon but the hidden effect of time dilation, the reason it is banned everywhere but at higher hierarchy is, that it takes the life span of other people to stop the time, and not only that but…gulp…it can give the lifespan, at the rate of maximum one tenth, from one person to another. Let me ask you this: how long does an average person live in this world before he dies?" The man explains about the phenomenon and things related to it.

The villagers were quiet for a while before the elder spoke.

"25 years. Once a person turns that age, he has to leave this village. The only people who can live here after 25 are the one chosen by the sage and at once only 3 elders exist in this village. The elders have the lifespan of 60 or more years. It is the gift of the Sage to those who have more faith in them than any other person."

The adventurer's eyes turn perplexed before his body falls unconscious. A man in a white robe appears in front of the villagers. He looks at them and tells them to go back to work and forget everything that happened here. The villagers move back to their place and forget everything that happened there.

The sage then returns to his place, and the door closes once again.

MORPHEUS' POV:-

"Okay, but is that all?" I asked the female adventurer in front of me who was lying unconscious a few moments ago, as she finished the story…oh wait! Wrong time…

A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER…

'Let's hope I don't get emotional all over again,' I sigh as I move with others, in the direction from where Belphegor's clone came from.

Walking in the direction where Zwain found the slight anomaly, we reached the tree that had some Black Threads of Fate connected to it.

Reaching the tree, I observed it and then, at some points that I found strange, I asked Zwain to apply mana. After Zwain applied mana to it, a naked female girl fell out of that tree. Kaneto covered the eyes of Icelos and Phantasos, who had their cheeks turned red, while Lucy took out a shawl-like cloth and covered the lady.

The lady soon woke up and then told us that she was running away from a certain sage. Once asked about what happened, the female adventurer told us the story about the village and the sage.

Which brings us to this point where I asked her this question that,

"Okay, but is that all? I looked at her with a curious gaze.

"Well, it is that I have heard from my mother as a story, and you know I have finally found a place that matches the description, but then I saw a white-robed man and thought that 'Hey! That's the sage, so I was scared like hell and ran away-oww" I hit her in her head as I shook my head at her stupidity, then thought about her story. 

'Well, it could be true given this world's quirks, but I wonder if it is of any worth to us? Well, who knows? Maybe it will be useful later' I then put the story at the back of my head then look at Zwain.

"Does she have any black threads?" I asked Zwain about it. I can check it on my own, but it is easier for Zwain to do it, so I let him be the one doing it. He then nods and says,

"She does have some connected to her, but they are not flowing to the sky like they normally should but horizontally in that direction," Zwain speaks as he points in a certain direction.

"Wait! What are you both talking about? And why is a strong Elf like you talking to a kid like an equal? Am I missing something? What about the threads? What blac-Owww" I hit her again as she started speaking louder and louder with each question. 

'Sigh…this is a pain…' I then look at Zwain then nod and he moves in the direction where he pointed. I and the others too follow him, leaving the girl behind.

She stays silent for a few moments before speaking, "Wait, don't leave me alone!! Hey!!..." She then runs between Corey and Chase, and starts disturbing them by asking so many questions at once. They answer whatever they can, but mostly it's her speaking, that b*tch doesn't even let them complete their answers before she asks another question.

Ignoring them, we keep walking until we reach near a pond within the forest. There we find an extremely handsome man comparable to Leraye taking a bath there. We observe him for a few moments before he looks at us then smiles before vanishing and arriving right in front of us wearing a white robe, as he smiles at us before he speaks.

"What can I do for you young adventurers?"

"S-Sage…the Wh-White R-R-Robed Sage? Run, we must run or we will di-owww" this time Lucy hit her as hard as she can. Lucy looks really irritated of her. Ignoring that irritating piece of sh*t I look back at the white-robed man.

"Ignore her. What is King level Elf doing in a desolate forest like this? I was wondering about why there were no monsters here except those in that village. Were you the one who killed them?" 

The white-robed man's eyes pierce me as he looks at me with a serious face before the smile returns on his face.

"This isn't something a lowly human like you should know. Consider it your luck that I am in a good mood today, or else I haven't even let you look at me," he speaks as he vanishes from there. I turn to Zwain, who seems slightly perplexed. So he is faster than Zwain, huh? Well, at least the amount of mana he was oozing out was King's level, but the way he spoke and the way his body shape was…I couldn't help but question it over and over again, that…

"Was he one of the so-called 'Gods'?"