Chapter 210: Act 144 – Gentle Hope (6) (Second Update)
The bodies of the deceased were laid out in the central square of the village, in front of the statue of the mountain goddess Niya, covered with a layer of leaves. The square was quiet, and the elderly priest was chanting prayers for the souls of the departed, while men and women alike watched silently.
Ever since a few centuries ago.
Suffering had become a part of life for the Sainya people, who, being powerless to resist, had chosen to further hide within the forests. But life in the Black Forest was not always sweet; the cold, hunger, and monster attacks cast a shadow of death.
Everyone looked to the eldest among them—their elder. For the Sainya, the eldest meant rich experience and a natural leader. In times of hardship, they often led their people out of difficulties. But this time, even this wise elder seemed powerless, his brows lowered in despair.
The elder clutched his staff, each wrinkle on his face etched with shadows of heaviness. He sighed, and the middle-aged man beside him with dark, sun-tanned skin and a short beard clenched his teeth and turned to leave.
“Uncle Bolten, where are you going?”
The tall young man on the elder’s other side immediately called out to stop him.
The middle-aged man stopped, not turning around, and answered in a deep voice, “I’m going to rescue Funiya!”
“Stay calm!” the young man said, “Uncle Bolten, what can you do alone? Go to your death?”
“I promised Sally… Even if it means death, I must go!” the middle-aged man replied stubbornly.
But he realized this was merely bravado, unable to help but turn away, his fists clenched tightly as every muscle in his body tensed.
“Uncle Bolten, stay calm,” the elder holding the staff finally spoke, sighing. “Sally is my daughter, and Funiya is also my granddaughter… After winter, we’ll return to the forest.”
The middle-aged man turned back, red-eyed, looking at everyone, “And what about Funiya? And the revenge for the others, will we just let it go?”
Everyone fell silent, bowing their heads in silence.
The middle-aged man gave a cold snort and turned to leave. The elder watched his back, sighing once more, knowing that the other wouldn’t truly go out to cause trouble for the noble knights; in this community, every man bore responsibility to the group.
This was their responsibility.
But no matter what, Bolten’s departure caused a lull in the crowd. What could they do? The village’s strongest was their Silver-ranked warrior, and there was no way he could be a match for that terrifying noble lord.
But the silence didn’t last long; the ritual had to continue. Just as this moment, everyone saw a figure stumble into the village from outside.
It was Yoel, who was on guard outside the village.
Everyone recognized the familiar figure and couldn’t help but tense up instinctively. Could those ruthless noble knights have returned?
But hadn’t they already taken Funiya?
“Yoel, what is it?” The elder paused momentarily but quickly asked. As their leader, he maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, but his hand was already gripping his walking stick tightly out of anxiety.
“Funiya… Funiya is…” Yoel finally reached them, breathless, as if he had seen a ghost.
“Funiya?” The elder was startled, his expression changing as he immediately asked, “What about Funiya?”
“Funiya has been rescued and brought back…”
“What?”
…
The news that the little girl had been rescued spread quickly through the isolated forest village.
But Brendel felt somewhat uncomfortable about his current situation. He had not expected such a cold reception from this group. He had never expected gratitude for any specific act, yet, hadn’t they brought the little girl, Funiya, back to the village?
Yet every person they encountered seemed more suspicious and fearful than grateful. Eyes followed them with wariness as they rode past, every single one.
The first to greet them was Yoel, who led them to a large house in the village and informed them that the elder would come soon. Then, with a cautious, complicated look, he closed the door and left.
Once the door closed, the Grey Wolf mercenaries couldn’t help but let out their frustrations.
“Pft, what an attitude—!”
“That’s right, we shouldn’t have come.”
Though they knew this was mere venting, as the young lord had already made it clear that this was their destination. Though they didn’t understand why they had to come to this backwater and couldn’t help but direct their questioning eyes to Brendel.
Brendel could only offer a bitter smile.
Especially since Antinna was looking at him with reproachful eyes.
“Being less judgmental might make your time here easier,” the young lord responded.
“But they did flee during the war, my lord,” the younger of the Wild Elves couldn’t help but ask in her clear, bright voice. In recent times, this young girl had taken to following Brendel around because she found that this young lord might have the ability to answer all her endless questions.
Even her sister couldn’t do that.
So she couldn’t help but ask, though she had been scolded by her sister many times in private. But just like now, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“Tiya!” Her sister clenched her teeth, wishing she could strangle her dear sister who always caused trouble. Then she looked at Brendel carefully, relieved to find that the young lord didn’t seem perturbed.
Antinna shook her head, “I’m not worried about this, but my lord…”
“Yes, I understand. Reputation,” Brendel nodded.
“My lord knows…”
But Brendel shook his head again, “But so do I.”
“My lord!”
Brendel shook his head, just as the knocking on the door echoed.
Everyone was startled, and a mercenary immediately approached cautiously with a hand on his weapon, carefully opening the door—
The door opened, but no one was outside.
“My lord?”
The mercenary was slightly taken aback.
“What’s wrong?”
The mercenary, with a puzzled expression, stepped aside, revealing a basket of berries outside the door. These fruits looked recently plucked from the forest, still dripping with morning dew and bearing leaves.
Everyone was puzzled, then looked at each other in silence.
Brendel sighed softly inside. While suspicion still lingered, there was also gratitude. But the misunderstanding between the people of Erluin and the Sainya had run deep, deeply embedded.
“What should we do, my lord?” the mercenary asked.
“Put it away,” Brendel replied.
Even after saying so, his gaze couldn’t help but move past the door outside to the square – the Village of Viridien was indeed very different from what he remembered. Among the memories of the village, overgrown with weeds amidst broken walls, now, despite just having experienced a brutal attack with signs of fighting and blood everywhere, it still retained a sense of human life.
He looked at the tall wooden statue of Nyia in the center of the village, the patron goddess of the Sainya people sculpted vividly – the spirited mountain goddess in fur robes, holding a short bow, with hands raised high with baskets filled of game and fruit – symbolizing hunting rewards and agricultural bounties in mountain culture.
And his gaze shifted to notice that the Sainya still resided in cone-shaped houses built of stone and wood and not the tents as rumored as a nomadic people. Their culture had long been lost in the vast forests, and what once was the Sainya ‘Nightwalkers’ existed now only in legend.
But their ties with the Druids remained as close as ever in these past several centuries.
As he thought of this, the mercenary closed the door. The grumbling had ceased, even among those Grey Wolf mercenaries from Rendener who looked down on the Sainya, now silenced in a new contemplation of the relationship between these two peoples.
However, this state didn’t last long, as the knock on the door sounded again.
But this time, it wasn’t fresh fruit that came through the door, but someone Brendel had been waiting for—
An elder with a wooden staff, whom the young man immediately recognized as likely the elder of the village, deeply knowledgeable about Sainya customs. And the tanned middle-aged man at his side with Funiya snuggling against him—surely this was Funiya’s father.
“Thank you ever so much, our esteemed visitors.”
Before Brendel could respond, the elder bowed deeply, extending his gratitude.
The young man furrowed his brow slightly, “There’s no need for such formalities. It was a small favor,” but he paused briefly and then stated clearly, “Besides, I’ve a matter to ask for your assistance…”
The elder exchanged a glance with the middle-aged man beside him and then nodded, “Master’s request has already been told to us by Yoel. It’s not too much trouble for us.”
Brendel heard this, looked up at him again. He knew the other was lying; entering the Black Forest at any time was dangerous, including for their group, requiring thorough preparation, let alone for ordinary people like these, who venturing deep into the forest was practically a death sentence.
But the elder of the Sainya began with a lie.
“Who do you plan to send?” he raised an eyebrow, unable to resist asking.
“I will go,” the middle-aged man looked at his daughter, then at them, answering firmly.
“Pizos?” (Father?)
The little girl immediately looked up, astonished, asking.
…(To be continued. For more information, please log in, more chapters are available. Support the author, support legal reading!)
