45 This Hero Arrives At Mulbik!

We walked along a dirt path. Though this village has at least 50 homes, there are very few people outside. The atmosphere is fairly eerie. The silence is almost deafening. The only thing that reminds us that we are going anywhere at all is the sound of our feet colliding with the dirt with each step. It seems that even the often unaware Tael has taken notice.

"Hey… where is everyone?" He asked while fluttering his head from left to right nervously.

"They are inside. People are afraid of being snyatched away, so they stay in their homes."

"That's awful…" Erana muttered while holding a hand to her face.

"Hey… we're not going to be snatched away too, are we?"

"We're adventurers. We should be able to take care of ourselves."

As we walked, we could see many different fields filled with different crops. It seems as if the harvest hasn't gone poorly since the fields are abundantly filled. There were some farm animals, such as cows, that stared at us as we passed. Whatever has been taking people hasn't been taking farm animals it seems. It also seems like whatever has been taking people is also uninterested in vegetation like the produce that is being grown. Whatever this thing is, it's probably carnivorous.

After some time, Yasri had finished escorting us to her home. The old wooden building was covered in moss and vines which clearly indicated its age. Despite the buildings age, it was fairly small. It was barely even a single story tall. The best word to use to describe this building is "quaint."

"You are welcome to my home. Your journey has been long. Come inside for tea. I will explain more." She said as she walked up to her front door and opened it.

We chose to accept her hospitality as we stepped inside of the small rustic home. As we entered, dust spewed out of the interior. This building must be old if this much dust accumulates that easily.

The walls are littered with a multitude of different shelves that contain jars of various unlabeled things or hold picture frames with many different images on them. There is an old faded rug on the ground and a small sofa against a wall. Each of the windows is covered by a set of faded cloth blinds which look old enough to be family heirlooms on their own. In the middle of the room there is a small wooden table that is barely big enough to fit all four of us around it. On top of the table, there is a cat sitting on top of it.

"Ah! Kitty!" Kany shouted as she ran towards the cat.

"Meow" The cat replied. It quietly began to purr once Kany started to pet it.

"That one is named Vasha. She is a good cat. Please, have a seat. I will return shortly."

Yasri gestured towards the sofa and chairs nearby as she left for a side room. Not wanting to be rude, I went to the sofa and took a seat. Since I had gone first, nobody was hesitant to sit with me.

"Hm? Why can't she own a cat, Kenji-san?"

"Well it'd be like if I owned a tiny human as a pet and I kept that human indoors and naked!"

"Kenji, linxy are not cats. That's really rude, man."

"W-What? Why is it rude? Kany! I'm not crazy am I?"

"Too busy petting cat. Don't bother me."

I'm not crazy, right? No, it's everyone else that is wrong! That's gotta be it!

I continued to assure myself of my sanity until Yasri returned to the room with a tray of tea.

"It seems that Vasha likes you." Yasri told Kany.

"Hehe!" Kany smiled widely.

I pat my legs hard. It's time to discuss our situation.

"Alright. First thing's first: I am Kenji. He's Tael, The girl near me is Erana and the girl that is petting your cat like a maniac is named Kany. It is nice to meet you Yasri-san. Please tell us what's going on with the village."

"Very well. Around a week ago a few farmers went missing. We sent some people to look for them, but they also disappeared…"

"How many people have disappeared so far?"

"11 people have disappeared so far. We do nyot know where they could have gone…"

11 people… That's a lot to just disappear without any fanfare. Was this just a minor problem that piled up?

"It's springtime. Are you sure that it's not just predatory animals or monsters that have woken up and began hunting again?"

"Though we have checked for that possibility, we have been unable to find any remnants of the missing people. Someone that was attacked would drop something like clothing or blood, but we have nyot found any…"

Our group made an uncomfortable noise at that. No physical evidence that people had been hurt or taken. This is going to make the people far harder to find.

"Who has gone missing so far? Is there any link between the people that have gone missing?"

"The people that have gone missing so far have been men. The men that were taken were farmers. The initial disappearances were all farmers, but we had to get strong men to search for them so we had to call upon more farmers so that may have skewed the amount a bit…"

"Only men have disappeared?" Erana asked.

"Yes."

A creature that only hunts a specific gender? That's odd.

"Do any of the farmers that have gone missing have wives?"

"Oi, Kenji! Ease up on the dogging!"

"I-I'm not dogging! This could be useful information!"

"There are two. It is a sad situation. They wait for their husbands to come home every nyight to no avail."

"Okay. Let's go meet them right now then!" Kany interjected. Since her entire body is coated in fur, it seems that she's had enough of petting the cat.

"W-Wait! We just got here! It's already late in the day and there's no knowing the whole story just yet. We need to milk every piece of information out of Yasri as possible first!"

"M-Milk me?"

"Not like that."

"V-Very well. Ask any more questions you may have."

I placed my hand upon my chin as I began to think about any other information we may need.

"Has this ever been a problem here before?"

"Nyever."

So that discredits seasonal monsters or animals that have moved into the area.

"Were any of the farmers acting strangely prior to disappearing?"

"Nyot that I know of."

"Are there any people that are new in town aside from us?"

"No, but people have come and gone through here on occasion."

So that eliminates the possibility that it was some random passerby.

"Was there a specific area that was searched?"

"No. We searched the surrounding area."

"When was the search conducted?"

"In the late afternyoon."

So whatever is taking people isn't nocturnal.

"What day?"

"Last week on Wednesday."

"Was the search party armed?"

"Nyot with weapons like you, but they had pitchforks and torches."

"How many people were in the search party?"

"4 men."

Tael and Kany's heads were spinning at my onslaught of questions at this point.

"What are you in this village?"

"If you mean my position, I am the village representative. I conduct the census and ensure taxes are filed properly."

"Is it possible someone is doing this to get back at you? An ex lover perhaps?"

"K-Kenji-san!"

"N-No… That is nyot possible."

"Hmm…"

I think I've asked all I need to. Now I just need to ensure that we are also taken care of.

"Where will we be staying while we conduct this investigation?"

"Ah, there is an inn that you can stay at."

"What is this inn called?"

"The inn has no nyame. It is the only inn in the village."

"...I see. Are our accommodations paid for?"

"No…"

So we're expected to pay to stay here… Whatever. It shouldn't be much of a problem.

"Do you have ANY other information that may be useful to us?"

"N-No I do nyot think I do. You are very… thorough with your questions."

"Very well. We will go to this inn then. If we still have time today before we go to sleep for the night then we will go and investigate. Otherwise, we will start in the morning tomorrow. Is that alright with you?"

"Yes. That is fine. Allow me to escort you to the inn."

Yasri stood up and began to head out of the door. Kany seems to have formed a bond with the cat and was sad to leave it.

"*Sniffle…* Goodbye Vasha! I hope we meet again!"

"Come on you small time robber. We're going."

"*Sniffle…* Okay…"

With that, our group was escorted to the local inn by Yasri. The sun had already begun to go down, so it seems like we will probably need to begin investigating tomorrow.