The four players scrambled out of the said village house. Fortunately, most of the people were still busy contemplating what happened. Thus, they were able to easily head out of the village to search for the Head Soldier of the village of Axutar.
On the other hand, Meerak Axutar did not dare waste the time and opportunity that Pedro had given him. He went outside and assigned nearby soldiers to clean the mess that Werewolf Tam made inside the prison.
As for Werewolf Tam's limbs, they were all taken by Pedro. While the blood was, of course, sucked by their Pen-knives. Thus, no one, not even Meerak Axutar, the village chief himself, was able to notice anything unusual at the location where Pedro and Werewolf Tam fought.
So, everyone simply carried on as if nothing had happened, including Meerak Axutar who rushed back to his office after giving instructions to the soldiers.
"This is a good opportunity for Neerak!" Meerak Axutar said, running at his fastest towards his office. "If I only knew that a BHO officer would come in this area, I would have not sent Mirak--my eldest son, on a journey to the Eastern Kingdom of Aleptra and participate in the Trials of Aleptra. With his strength and skills, there's a possibility that the young officer would have taken a liking to the abilities of my eldest son. Well... It is really unfortunate. I could only hope that Neerak would be able to learn a thing or two on his trip with the young officer!"
Soon, he arrived outside his office. He did not stop running and slammed the door open of the village chief's office. This astounded a young man who was sitting at the seat of the village chief and was reading a book with a red cover on it. His eyes shot up and glared towards Meerak Axutar, while his body reactively leaned slightly backward in astonishment.
But before he could utter a word, Meerak Axutar gazed towards him and said, "Son! Prepare your things, Fast! A BHO officer has visited our village and he's taking in apprentices from the village! If you are able to show him the slightest of potential, he might take you as an official member of his army! You must join him, no matter what!"
The young man, Neerak Axutar, frowned and said, "Father! You are the village chief! The ruler of this village! Don't get swindled easily by the flowery words of those adventurers! Brother has left for the Eastern Shore and has yet to come back. If I leave the village, who would inherit the role of a village chief if you... uhh... unexpectedly perished? Such tactics were commonly used by our ancestors to conquer opposing villages and Kingdoms!"
"Aish!!" Meerak Axutar grumbled as he walked angrily towards Neerak. Then, he grabbed the young man by the back of his clothes and dragged him out of the village chief's office--heading towards the eastern gate of the village.
"Father! Let go! Father! Let go!" Neerak Axutar cried as he struggled from the grip of his father.
Unfortunately, his father did not even glance towards him and simply dragged him to the eastern gate at any cost, whilst emanating a murderous aura that was strong enough to silence him and stop him from struggling.
"First of all... Do not question my decisions! I am the chief of this village! Whether it falls or not, It is my problem! It's my responsibility! Understand!" Meerak Axutar said, coldly.
His son, Neerak Axutar, did not dare answer back to his father and simply crossed his arms--still against the decision of his father. Thus, Meerak Axutar could not help but scold him, saying, "Secondly... You have to change your manners! What if the officer heard what you said? Do you think that the village would be able to survive their wrath? You must think carefully before you speak! You wanted to protect the future of the village but you are too naive to handle such situations!"
"This officer that you speak off... Were they even able to hear what I said?" Neerak Axutar chuckled.
"That's not the point, young man!" Meerak Axutar shouted as the veins on his forehead seemed like it was about to burst. "Whether he hears it or not, you must learn to respect everyone! Especially people who say that they are from the organization! Besides... You might not know it but... You might have not seen me at this moment if not for the young officer and his accomplices that drove away a human turning beast--who killed three of our village soldiers in one swing of his hand!"
His son could not help but simply absorb his father's lectures as they see the eastern gate of the village--where the figure of four village soldiers stood in wait. That said, Meerak Axutar did not stop his lecture and said, "I can't imagine Eikzitor win from that monster... What much more to the young officer who was able to scare it off our village! So... Just behave yourself and follow the young officer at all cost! At worst... You'll gain a few learnings from him that would allow us to increase the strength of our future generations!"
"B-But... Why choose me, father?!" Neerak asked, "There are more capable soldiers in the village. Why not pick them?"
"Stop arguing, will you! You might not be as strong physically as your elder brother but... You are the most literate amongst the people in this village! If you are able to experience the threats in the continent--first hand, won't it be a great advantage for you to know what countermeasures to prepare, in case our village encounters those threats in the future?"
At this moment, Neerak Axutar did not argue any further as he and his father arrived at the eastern gate of the village. His father simply lifted him up as the Head Soldier of the village of Axutar approaches them.
"Chief! These are three of my best of the best men that you requested! What are you going to do with them?" The Head Soldier asked while pointing towards the three village soldiers behind him. Then, his attention was shifted towards Neerak Axutar, and chuckled, "What's Neerak doing here? Don't tell me that you're sending him again to the frontline to train his combat ability?"
"Something like that!" Meerak Axutar said, "I'll explain the details to you later. But... to cut the story short... They would all train under a BHO Officer."
"BHO Officer...?" The Head Soldier pondered for a few seconds. Then, he can't help but stare towards Meerak Axutar with a frown and said in an astonished manner, "Do you mean that legendary human organization? W-Why is there an officer here in the middle of the continent? W-Wait! D-Did you just say train?!"
Meerak Axutar nodded in response and said, "Yes, Eikzitor! The organization where the yearly winners of the Trials of Aleptra in the Eastern Kingdom of Aleptra were sent to join. As for your other question... I also don't know the reason. But based on what he told me earlier, I think that they are here to help strongholds in fighting the unexplainable number of monsters--like our village."
"I-I see..." The Head Soldier of the village, Eikzitor, rubbed his chin and said, "No wonder several soldiers suddenly fell asleep outside the village earlier. Perhaps, it has something to do with the officer you are saying."
Meerak Axutar simply frowned in response. He was about to say something, when a man in a white overcoat walked past him whilst saying, "Yes, it was my doing! I need to scare the monster off the village and fight it in an open field to reduce the casualties and damage."
"You--" Axutar Village Head Soldier Eikzitor frowned as he glanced towards the young man who casually interjected their conversation.
However, before he could utter another word, Village Chief Meerak Axutar knelt down towards Pedro and said, "Young sir! I did not expect you to arrive ahead of time."
"My transactions with your shop ended faster than I expected it to be." Pedro said, "So, I decided to head here in the hopes that I would be able to talk to you about some matters."
Pedro stole a glance towards the Neerak Axutar, Axutar Village Head Soldier Eikzitor, the three village soldiers, and the adventurers behind them, and said, "I don't have much time to have an elaborated discussion with you, so I would have to inform you about the most important matters first and would discuss the other ones, later on when I return to your village."
"No worries, Young sir! The village of Axutar would not go to another place, and it would be an honor for us to have you here in the village!" Meerak said, respectfully.
"I appreciate your kindness and hospitality, respected village chief!" Pedro said, "Rest assured that I would do everything in my power to help every stronghold and someday bring prosperity to this land. As for the matters that I wanted to tell you... Village Chief... Head Soldier... Consider yourselves warned. The Adventurers pose a threat similar to monsters. Although they aid in your battle against the annoying monsters, Don't be too complacent... If they become strong enough, they might become the cause of the destruction of your stronghold."
"Are you saying that we should not allow adventurers to enter our village? What about those who kept appearing from the Teleportation Platforms?" Neerak Axutar, the village chief's second son asked.
Pedro glanced towards him with a frown. Meerak Axutar could not help but force out a smile as he glanced from his son to Pedro and was about to try to ask for an apology to Pedro. However, before he could do so, Pedro smirked towards Neerak--emanating a murderous aura that was even strong enough to make the Head Soldier shiver in fear.
"How you handle them is not my problem. And... I don't care if you believe me or not!" Pedro said, coldly."It's all up to you! But I can assure you... If you do not control them properly, a disaster would soon occur in your territory. So... Choose wisely!"