Runes - A Tale Of The Abyss 49 Chapter 44 - Onwards!

'Definitely not what I was expecting for when I came here to just chase a few wolves away.'

[Pssh. Small details. I'm out of that h.e.l.l hole and that's all that matters.]

'To you, yes.'

Caphriel snickered through Griff's head. The brothers had been outside dealing with the aftermath of said incident in the meantime. The villagers took the demi-human girl somewhere Griff had no clue about, but now was definitely the time to find out.

"Oi! Griff you awake? The elders want to see you again!"

Galvain could be heard getting closer to the small brick building.

'Well that's my cue.'

"Yeah! I'm coming!"

A few minutes later Griff was walking through the village once more. The air around the villagers had seemed to relaxed slightly compared to the first time he got here when all the able bodied men were training.

"Hey Griff! The elder's are inside."

Danyell greeted him on the courtyard looking at the village elder's home.

"Yup, let's get this over with."

Griff walked into the house once more.

"Good. You're back."

Said the elder in the middle. The other two were simply looking at him, not showing any intention to talk.

"First of all, your reward. 2 silver and 54 bronze coins."

That was...

'Much less than what I was expecting after fighting a demi-human...'

"But. That would have been if you only chased off the wolves. We were uncertain... but there was a rabid demi-human. Our suspicions were true..."

's.h.i.+t this old geezer actually set me up? I knew something was fishy when there was some missing info on the request...'

[Sucks to be you.]

'You. Shut up.'

[You want me to burst you open with my chains?? There are a lot of humans here who can be my host.]

'...'

[Great!]

"Your reward is... 5 pieces of silver and 30 bronze coins. However, we will have to confiscate one silver coin for the slight damage you caused to the forest. We shall inform the guild on you performing better than expected."

'd.a.m.n. Well, better than nothing. Gotta thank those two for putting out the fire after I disappeared...'

The elder to the right took out a bag of coins, and the left one raised his hands, levitating the bag to Griff.

[Psshh. Some s.h.i.+tty Shaman you are, trying to show off.]

Griff slightly giggled internally. He was scared of these elders, but Caphriel simply pa.s.sed them off as showing off.

'You know. Maybe I should start taking you more seriously.'

[Unless you want to die, yes.]

'Duly noted.'

"You may now leave..."

Griff instinctively turned around to leave, but suddenly something crossed his mind.

"What will happen to that demi-human? Has she woken up?"

"...she has woken up... for disturbing our village's daily life and putting so many of us in danger, we shall make her one with nature again."

Griff looked puzzled.

[He means kill dumba.s.s. That's how Shaman's refer to death.]

Griff's eyes widened in realization.

"Wait wait! Is it that necessary? "

"...it indeed is."

"Well. What if I say that I'll take her away from here? She's also a human, doesn't she have rights?"

"Child. I do not know where you are coming from. Kulva is not on very good terms with the Beast Nation, she is our enemy by all means."

Griff was at a loss. How could he turn the tide.

'It's not like... I owe that girl anything anyways. Why should I even save her?'

[Indeed. Why did you even save her back in the ruins. ]

'I want to find that out too.'

"Elders. Can I talk with her then?"

The three elders turned to look at each other and nodded.

"We don't see this as a problem. She is below this floor. A few of the villagers are standing guard there."

The elder in the middle raised his hand and pointed at a staircase leading downstairs.

Griff hurriedly walked downstairs without another word. It was simply a storage, but a few of the trained villagers were standing guard over a cage, and inside was the wolf-girl.

"I just want to talk to her."

The villagers moved without another word, standing at the sides.

Griff crouched in front of her and waved his hand to see if she could see him... because she had a look that wasn't like her furious side in the battle.

"Hey. You remember me? You and I just fought. I just want to ask why you... terrorized this village."

The girl didn't answer at first.

"Sheesh. After all that trouble I had saving you from that cliff not even a bit of grat.i.tude?"

Hearing the word 'cliff' the girl looked up at Griff and spoke with a slightly mature and harsh tone. Her voice would be considered serene if not for her current snarky tone.

"What I did is none of your concern..."

"Hey... you're not some random beast now. I don't want to simply walk away."

"You should have done so... I'm going to die anyhow, so why did you even bother with me in the first place..."

"..."

The girl looked irritated.

"No answer? Some guy you are."

"...impulse."

"What?"

"I did it on impulse..."

He looked at her with steeled eyes.

"I had no intention of saving you after you tried to kill me... but I acted before I knew why..."

She slightly laughed at that.

"What kind of an idiot are you? Saving your enemy by impulse? What if I woke up randomly and attacked you? Not that it matters anymore..."

"...I don't know and I guess I won't."

"Yeah, you won't."

"..."

After a few moments of silence Griff spoke up again.

"Now, tell me why you did all that."

[Hey brat. Why are you even bothering with this girl... she's more useful to us dead than alive. I had to pull HER down as well remember?]

Griff sighed internally.

'I really don't know why I'm doing this and I know it defies all the logic and common sense I learnt over the last few months, but... I feel like she's similar to me.'

[No one else is a mistake like you are brat.]

'Not in that way. She's alone. If I hadn't met up with James after I left a certain place, I think... no I know I'd end up like her.'

[James? The h.e.l.l is he?]

'A good guy.'

The girl sighed in front of him.

"I had no choice. Beastmen aren't welcome around here, and I had no one to trust. All I could do was live with the wolves and hunt. It's not like I could have gone to a settlement here, and hey, I survived so if you're trying to find anything I regret, you're not going to find anything."

'Yeah... I definitely would have ended like her.'

"It's not bad to want to live. I know it all too well."

"Psh. Like h.e.l.l you went through what I did, you don't even know me."

"And you don't know me."

"Fair point..."

Griff turned to the villagers who were getting impatient, leaning on their spears.

"I'm going to speak to the elder's again. I'll be back."

He quickly scaled the stairs and in mere seconds he was standing in front of the elders again.

"Are you satisfied? You may take your leave now."

"Sorry, but no..."

"Oh?"

"I... I want to buy her off of your hands. Is that okay? I think it would be a waste for her to die..."

"Hmm... Then there will be no reward for you."

"...I can live with that."

[Why did they even agree this fast...]

"You're definitely wondering if there are any strings attached to this, child. No, there aren't. No one truly died... that is enough for us to even consider a deal like this."

Griff looked with widened eyes. He actually pulled this off?

"However, never let us see her again."

"You have my word!"

Griff tossed back the coin bag. So much for his first self claimed reward.

A few minutes later the villagers brought up the cage outside. Griff quickly rose to his feet.

"Oh? You're my executioner. This is ironic. Just get it over with."

Griff payed her no heed and simply nudged the villagers to open the cage, which they did so reluctantly.

"Okay, you can come out now."

"Huh?"

"I said come out you dumb wolf!"

The girl jolted and got out of the cage in confusion.

"The h.e.l.l is wrong with you?"

The villagers quickly interrupted them.

"Kid! The elder said he doesn't want the girl to be near the village in half an hour. Get a move on."

Griff simply nodded.

"Well, come on let's get out of here."

"...you're seriously-"

"I'll answer all your questions when we leave this place."

The girl sighed in defeat.

"Fine have it your way you weirdo."

They'd reached the gates of the village where Danyell and Galvain were waiting for them with Griff's horse.

"It was short, but I'm glad I got to know someone as crazy as you Griff."

Danyell stated smiling.

"It wasn't bad..."

Galvain said nonchalantly.

Griff simply grinned.

"I'll miss you two too. Who knows, our path might cross again."

The two simply shook their heads.

"An adventurer's road is rocky. It's very hard."

Griff petted his horse as the girl was standing behind him still confused.

"That's not for us to decide. Come, dumb wolf let's go."

"If you call me dumb wolf again I swear I'll stab you in the back."

However, the girl, reluctantly, started to tail behind him as Griff started to walk away from the gate without another word.

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"You wanted to go, didn't you brother..."

Galvain spoke up.

Danyell could be seen sitting on the ground in front of the gate. Griff and the girl had already disappeared and the sun was about to down.

"...it's not like I'd be any help."

Danyell looked up at the sky, clenching his fist.

"Yeah, I always wanted an adventure... but I'm not cut out for it like he is."

Galvain sighed.

"Food will be ready in a few minutes, stop brooding already."

"I'll pa.s.s..."

Galvain shrugged and walked back into the small brick house. Danyell looked down in frustration.

"I guess that's it for my dream... and the beginning of his."