"Huh?" Lothur was surprised by the words of the strongest of this group, his mouth open in wonder for a moment as he saw the difference in treatment from the previous village to this place.
"I see... Those creatures surrounded you?" He asked this Celestial Saint in a low voice.
"Yes. Unfortunately, this situation has been happening for the past 500 years." The village chief further ahead said. "Ever since a big battle happened here, our village has been facing problems with spectres.
Fortunately, we have some artifacts from our ancestors that have kept the inside of the village safe from these creatures. But whenever we needed to leave the village, it was a big problem to go through this area full of spectres."
"So that's it." Lothur controlled the space around him, completely erasing the traces of his level 21 aura. "Very well, I accept your gesture."
The surrounding men smiled upon hearing this. It was always nice to please experts, even more with someone who had practically solved their village's problem without being asked.
"Senior, this way." Their leader led the way before asking.
"Senior, may I ask your name? Are you a demon hunter?"
Until the formation of the Peters City Spectre Hunters Association by Lothur's wives, only demon hunters were known to kill spectres.
Lothur replied. "My name is Evan. But I'm not a demon hunter. I'm just skilled at killing creatures like this."n0velusb.c0M
"That's impressive!"
"A trait of a true genius!"
Several of them commented, praising Lothur.
But they were sincere, for they had never seen a spectre-killing skill as good as his.
Lothur controlled these creatures and then eliminated every one of them.
It was shocking!
"Anyway, since you have come to me, I have a few questions I would like answered." Lothur took the opportunity to talk about the subject that had brought him here in the first place. "I am looking for the descendants of an Ancestral Folk woman, Verna. Between 4,500 and 5,000 years ago, she had children with a demon hunter named Mathias.
Do you know anything about them? The last name of these hybrids should be Scheidemann."
The group that walked to the village next to Lothur mumbled the names he mentioned, most of them unfamiliar.
But the tribe leader said. "Senior Evan, I will try to help you with this. I don't know any of those names, but some of our elders have much more experience than I do. Perhaps some of them know something."
The village chief was the strongest and not necessarily the oldest. Unlike the previous village, the one leading this place was not an Ancestral Folk man of pure lineage but a hybrid of the younger generation, a talented young man of 800 years.
Lothur nodded to this person, seeing that some people there looked much older than this fellow.
But he already had a bad impression and thought he would once again fail to achieve his goal.
When they arrived in the village, some people thought it strange that their leader was guiding a person without spiritual fluctuations. Still, since they were experienced people, no one said anything. The village chief was powerful and intelligent. Their leader must have had his reasons for being kind to this visitor.
When he arrived at the main house of this village of 40 households, the village chief politely gestured and called out. "Elders, this man, Evan, is seeking information. He has just helped us with something vital, so I would like someone to help him with his questions."
After a moment of silence, a 2-meter-tall old man, a common feature of the Ancestral Folk, appeared at the entrance to this residence and looked in Lothur's direction.
"Evan? What do you want, young man?"
This elder was at the same level as the village leader, but unlike the young man next to Lothur, he was an Ancestor Folk man of pure lineage.
Lothur greeted this elder, who seemed to be much older than the previous village leader, and said, "I am looking for..." He briefly summarized what he had already told the men who had invited him to this village.
"So that's it..." The old man sighed before turning and calling Lothur inside. "Come with me."
The village leader said. "Senior Evan, in the meantime, we will prepare a feast in your honor."
Lothur agreed and soon found himself in a small living room of the residence where three more elders, like the old Ancestral Folk man, lived.
"Verna... I remember that name." The level 20 old man in front of Lothur muttered, trying to remember the facts of that time better.
He was just a Saint who had never had the opportunity to consume resources to increase his vitality, so he was less than 4,000 years old. However, he was an elder over 3,000 years old who had lived in the same time period as Verna and her children.
"Hmm, now I remember better." He said after thinking for a few moments. "In fact, I knew that name, Verna. As a child, I heard about a woman of my tribe who had committed the taboo that I would eventually commit myself.
At the time, she had gotten into trouble after entering the Ancestral Region after being exiled centuries before." He said slowly, remembering the facts of that time.
He remembered this because the news had caused a great uproar in his and Verna's tribe. Her family was still alive at that time. When they found out that she had suffered at the hands of the royalty of the Ancestral Region, the leader of the tribe at that time, her father, had died of anguish.
After the death of their strongest elder, instability struck the tribe, marking the childhood of the man now standing before Lothur.
"I don't know what happened to motivate her to enter the Ancestral Region after being banished, but she didn't fare well after that. The royal forces hunted her, and, as far as I know, she was badly injured.
I don't know if she managed to escape, but even if she did, she certainly didn't live long after hearing this news.
So I'm sorry to tell you this, but she must be dead."
"I see," Lothur said, happy to finally know something about Verna. "What about her children?"
"I don't know about them. There has been no news of young people with that surname you mentioned getting into trouble in the Ancestral Region. In my lifetime, there have only been three incidents between hybrids and the pure blood of my people, and none of them had that last name.
So either they died prematurely, or they made the wise decision to stay away from that place." The elder said, unable to help Lothur in this matter.
...