Chapter 3
“Halt!” ordered the mysterious voice.
Hearing the voice, the men's mind grew blank as heavy pressure bombarded their souls. The voice did not only carry overwhelming pressure but also contained force that sent the men literally tumbling as well.
Aside from Rennel’s uncle and Pina’s father who did not join the encirclement, the other men were thrown tumbling to the ground.
Fortunately, the mysterious person who interfered was merciful and did not really intend to hurt the men, only punishing them a little for bullying a girl not even half their age.
It’s Chaos!
Rennel was really happy hearing the familiar voice. She wanted to call Chaos’ name out loud but stopped herself in the last second after Chaos sent a message that only she could hear.
“Who’s there?! Show yourself!” One of the men shouted
"Hmph!"
Chaos snorted after hearing the man’s question seemingly displeased by the man’s rudeness. The snort was not an ordinary snort; it contained strange power that sends tremors to the men’s hearts. It was a warning…
“Great lord, please calm your anger. This girl is from our village. She ran away and only wanted to bring her back. We have no intention of harming her.”
Seeing the situation quickly deteriorating, Pina’s father pushed down his fear, stepped forward and pleaded for mercy. He tries his best to explain the situation in case that the misunderstanding escalates out of control. Judging from the power that the mysterious “person” showed, there’s a good chance that the person who interfered was a powerful magician.
What were magicians? They were powerful individuals that possess strange powers. They could do pretty much anything and ordinary people are not their match.
Although their village was out in the boondocks, that didn’t mean they were ignorant of magicians. At the very least, the villagers knew that they could not antagonize magicians.
Pina’s father was worried of the consequences of angering a magician. That’s the reason he was so respectful and called him ‘lord.’
“It seemed that at least one of you still has some sense left. I don’t care what your reasons were for chasing after the girl but you could forget forcing her to return. I took a liking to her and decided to take her with me. Do you have any complaints?
Everyone present was left speechless by the mysterious “person’s” arrogant and domineering attitude. Some of the village men were angered and wanted to retort but after recalling just what had happened, they swallowed their anger and decided to stay silent.
What else can they do? The great pressure caused by the mysterious “person” prevented any thoughts of rebellion from even forming!
“Great lord. That’s…” Pina’s father was at lost on what to do. Although he had somehow expected that the magician might take the girl, he was still hoping that they could return with Rennel. Unfortunately, it seemed that the great magician was determined to protect and take the girl away.
“What should we do? We need the girl to be able to tide over the winter but we have no way of defeating the great magician. If we tried to take the girl by force, the great magician might just bury all of us here!”
Pina’s father was out of ideas. If they let agreed with the magician, the village might not survive the winter. But if they disagreed and anger the great magician, all of them might end up dead.
“What is it? Are you unsatisfied? Quickly, speak out your minds!” Seeing that the village men are hesitating, Chaos decided to put more pressure on them. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future, Chaos must solve the problem from the root.
For Rennel to start her new life free of worry, she must cut all ties with her old village. As such, Chaos doesn’t mind playing the role of the villain. Anyways, it knows a lot of things, and acting was no problem for it.
The village men including Rennel’s uncle and Pina’s father could not help bit groan inwardly after hearing what the great magician said.
Unsatisfied? Yes, they’re feeling unsatisfied!
Speak out our minds? Only a fool would speak out against a powerful magician!
‘It’s nothing, great lord. Please take the girl with you…”
Seeing no hope of changing the great magician’s mind, the village men could only concede. What else could they do? Their situation was pretty much hopeless. If they were to choose between Rennel and their own lives, they would obviously choose the later.
“Hmph! It’s good that you know what’s good for you. But don’t worry; I won’t take the girl without paying compensation. I know propriety.” Chaos who was pretending to be a magician was satisfied by the men's decision. For Rennel, it was also the best conclusion.
“Compensation? Great lord, what do you – “
Bang!
Before Pina’s father could complete his question, something huge and heavy falls in front of the village men!
The huge object caused a loud ‘bang’ when it hits the ground. Not only that, it also disturbed the snow and dust causing fog to form.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!”
Everyone, including Rennel was shocked by the sudden development and could not help but exclaim loudly. When the fog finally cleared, they finally saw what the large “object” was.
It was a huge beast! A monstrous boar!
No, calling it a “huge” might be an understatement. The beast was like a small hill! So calling it gigantic might be more appropriate.
The huge creature looks like a boar. Its appearance, shape cannot be mistaken for anything but that of a boar. It clearly had two tusks but one of them was cut off cleanly near the base and was missing. The remaining tusk is white and is longer than a spear but thicker than a full grown man’s thighs. The description of the tusk alone should give anyone an idea how massive the creature was.
“That's... That’s the king of the forest!”
One of the men, a man that seemed to be in his 50s could not help but scream out loud after seeing the gigantic beast. How could he not scream? The beast that falls out of nowhere was the feared “king of the forest', A fearsome beast that controlled and ruled all of the surrounding forest. Many villagers, including Rennel’s father died because of the creature!
“King of the forest?”
Rennel’s eyes were glued to the mountain-like beast lying lifeless just in front of her. Her body trembled, and her mind blank. She knew that the beast known as the ‘king of the forest’ was the one responsible for her father’s death.
Could that fearsome ‘king of the forest’ she’d heard a lot when she was still a little girl be the same dead creature as the one in front of her?
If that was really the case, does that mean that her father’s death had been avenged? Rennel doesn’t know what to do. Things just happened so fast that she couldn’t react at all.
Not far too far away from Rennel was her uncle who wore a very complicated expression on his face. Glancing at his niece, he saw that she was looking intently at the beast. He sighed but did not try to approach her.
“Great lord… This beast… Where did you find it?
Gulping, Pina’s father looked at the ‘king of the forest’ and asked Chaos where he found the beast. Chaos, sounding nonchalant, answered: “I was taking a scroll in the forest when it suddenly attacked me. Since I found it annoying I decided to kill it.”
Chaos then looked at the men (even though its figure could not be seen) and asked, “Is there a problem?”
The village men gulped at the same time when they heard that the creature died simply because it attacked and annoyed the mysterious "magician." When Chaos asked if there was a problem, the men shook their heads left and right collectively. Recalling how one of them was rude to it earlier, the men could not help but let out cold sweats despite the freezing cold weather.
Thankfully, the situation didn’t get out of hand. If it did, they might have shared the same fate as that of the ‘king of the forest.’
“I took one of the tusks as souvenir, but as for the rest of the beast, it would be your compensation for allowing me to take the girl.” Chaos explained. “But there’s a condition, once you take the beast it meant that you’ll have no connection to the girl anymore. Understand?” It added.
Pina’s father, Rennel’s uncle and the rest of the village men could only nod their heads in agreement. With the great magician protecting the girl, they would be foolish to make things difficult for her. Although they have some complicated feelings, none of them dare to voice it.
“Since, an agreement had been reached; I’ll leave with the girl.” Chaos, whose figure could still not be seen, removed the pressure from the village men. He then secretly sends a message to Rennel; telling her to turn around and leave.
Hearing Chaos' secret intruction, Rennel nods weakly. With a complicated look, Rennel forced herself to look away from the ‘king of the forest.’ She then glanced at her uncle who happened to be also looking at her. Their eyes meet and the two stared at each other for a while only ending when the Renne’s uncle lowered his head.
Rennel didn’t say anything, and only said goodbye to her uncle inside her heart. After knowing that she was soon to be sold to slavery, Rennel had emotionally distanced herself from them years ago.
Seeing the girl walking away, the group of men send by the village could only stare at her slowly disappearing figure as she walks farther and farther away.
***
It’s been several days since Chaos and Rennel ran away from the girl’s village. After days of travelling, the two finally reached the town of Robac. Since they were tired (actually only Rennel was tired), the two decided to stay in town for three days.
Of course the two didn’t waste their three days stay at Robac. While in town, they also sold the furs and meat of the animals Chaos caught as they travel. They used most of the money to afford lodging at the local inn and to buy some of the things they’re lacking for their journey.
The two actually bought quite a few things while in town. After all, the village that Rennel was from was extremely poor, and has nothing good to offer. Well, even if the village has anything to sell, Rennel didn’t have a penny on her so there’s that too.
Speaking of which, that was the first time the girl bought anything using her own money. Ever since she was born, everything she owned were handouts given by her aunt, and some of the kinder villager. As such, shopping was a new experience for her.
To ensure that the girl doesn’t embarrass herself too much, Chaos has to constantly remind her not to gawk at every new thing she saw which was unexpectedly more difficult than it should be due to the fact that many of things sold at shops and stalls are new to the girl.
Thankfully, her being from the boondocks didn’t attract too much attention or cause too much trouble. After buying everything they needed and having rested sufficiently, the two; a village girl and a mysterious creature left Robac for the next town on foot.
The town of Robac have carriages that the two could rent to get to the next town but in order to teach and train the girl, Chaos suggested that they travel by foot. Rennel having never ridden a carriage all her life have no problem with that.
Having cut off all ties with her old village, the girl no longer have to worry that people would constantly chase after her so there's no real hurry to get to their next destination. Besides, Rennel also wanted to take advantage of the situation to settle her emotions...
While traveling to the next town, the two did not follow the road that’ll lead them straight to the next town. Instead they took the long way and went into the woods.
Why the woods you ask?
It was so Chaos could teach the girl how to fight, how to procure her own food, and how to survive on her own. Having not left her village ever since she was born, Rennel was completely ignorant how the outside world works. If left alone on her own device, who knew what might have happened to her. This was especially true since she was a girl.
Chaos wasn't looking down at Rennel for being female. Unlike the modern worlds that Chaos had traveled to, Rennel’s world was considered a backwater world. Beliefs, ways of life, technology, and governance; all of them are still considered primitive.
And in a primitive world were the concept of equality has yet to be invented, women are considered inferior to men. Compared to men, women in this world have fewer rights.
If Rennel grew up in a “normal” peasant village, she would have been married early, bear children, work at the fields and lived her whole life following the will of her husband. She would not have a chance for education, be in position of power, or even decide what she wanted to do in life. And if she were to be sold to slavery, her fate could have been worse.
Even if she were to be born in nobility, her life still wouldn’t be in her control. Her education, marriage, and pretty much everything in her life would have been arranged for her. Although she didn’t have to worry about food, clothing and shelter, she would still have no freedom.
Having experienced and seen pretty much everything in life, Chaos would not allow the girl it had saved to remain ignorant her whole life. It would teach her everything she needed in order to have full control of her destiny. And as for how far she could go on the path she had chosen rely solely on her.
Chaos looked at the girl not too far away from it. Compared when she was still living in her old village, Rennel looked much healthier. She was also not as skinny as she once was. It's obvious from a glance that Chaos took really good care of her.
It also gave her a blessing with lots of effects. The effects of the blessings grants the girl great health that would prevent her from catching diseases or falling ill. It also grant her great comprehension, allow her to use magic, and so on.
With the blessings alone, the girl was set to walk the path of being able to control her destiny.
That said, before the girl could even think of controlling her own destiny, she must first get through the very first obstacle to that path: Catching a cute-looking rabbit…
To be continued...
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