Chapter 110: Colson, the Eccentric Youth

Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Colson, the Eccentric Youth

"Uhm... okay..."

Dane sniffled but earnestly obeyed his captain. "So, when do we leave?"

Vili thought for a moment. "We’ll set out for Stone Village at dawn tomorrow."

"Yes, Captain."

After a few more brief words with Vili, Dane left the office. He hurried to the records room, preparing to review the entire case file on the missing poultry.

...

「South of Diamond Town, Stone Village.」

To avoid attracting too much attention, Vili and Dane simply wore their Guards uniforms and rode to Stone Village.

Before they even entered the village, they saw a boy with a basket on his back walking toward them. He was thin, his face was smudged with soot, and his faded cotton jacket was covered in patches. He looked to be living a very hard life.

"Sirs, are you heading to Stone Village?"

Vili and Dane hadn’t planned on paying the boy any mind, but he had taken the initiative to greet them.

In this day and age, commoners, especially country villagers, were expected to shrink away from people like them—the claws and fangs of the nobility. They would never initiate a greeting unless they had something important to report.

So, the boy’s proactive greeting came as quite a surprise to Vili.

"Yes, we are indeed heading to Stone Village. Are you from here?"

Vili reined in his horse, and Dane stopped as well.

"Yes, sir, I’m from Stone Village..." The boy showed no hint of fear. "No, wait, I’m only half from Stone Village, you could say. My father was a villager here, but when he was young, he was all alone, ugly, and had a limp. He couldn’t find a wife, so he had to marry a vagrant woman from outside. Um, she’s my mother..."

The boy suddenly launched into a rambling monologue, completely ignoring the bewildered looks on Vili and Dane’s faces. "Then the two of them had me, and I slowly grew up... Speaking of which, I have to say, my childhood was just so miserable. Every time I think about it, I..."

"Wait."

Vili quickly stopped the boy from continuing. He and Dane had been completely baffled. They never expected that a random village boy would stop them on the road just to chat them up about his life. As the new elite of Diamond Town, countless merchants and officials schemed for a chance to exchange even a few words with them, yet here they were, a captive audience for this country boy. It was a little absurd.

"What is it, sir...?" the boy asked, seeing Vili’s expression gradually turn serious. He tried to stop his own rambling. "I know, I’m being too talkative. I’m sorry, sir. It’s just... I haven’t spoken to anyone in so long. I..."

"Do you know where Laukel’s house is?"

Vili cut the boy off directly.

’Since coming to this world, this boy was the strangest person he’d ever met. It was a good thing he himself was relatively good-tempered. If it had been someone else, like Morion for example, they would have beaten the boy half to death.’

"Oh, Uncle Laukel! Of course I know him. He’s a cranky but timid man, always arguing with people..."

Seeing the murderous glint in Vili and Dane’s eyes, the boy pursed his lips. "Alright, his house is on the easternmost edge of Stone Village. I can take you there."

"Thank you, then."

Vili thought for a second and accepted the boy’s help. It would save them some time asking for directions.

"Don’t mention it. I’m a helpful person..."

"While you’re leading the way, could you please shut up?"

Dane’s expression was now quite hostile. His hand was gripping his Cross Sword so tightly it seemed he might draw it and strike the boy at any moment.

"Er..." The boy knew he’d be in for it if he kept talking, so he quickly added, "Right, my name is Colson. Okay, I’ll shut up now."

Vili and Dane both seemed to let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

Led by Colson, Vili and Dane passed through the village.

As they made their way through the village, they encountered a few other villagers. But upon seeing Vili and Dane, they all instinctively shied away. During this time, Vili noticed a subtle shift in the villagers’ expressions. They would look at him and Dane with awe and fear, but the moment their gaze fell upon Colson, their expressions would instantly change to ones of extreme exclusion and disgust.

Colson, however, seemed completely oblivious. He continued to enthusiastically call out to everyone by name and greet them. Of course, he received no response from anyone.

Vili watched all this from horseback, his eyes narrowing slightly, but he said nothing.

After about ten minutes, Colson led Vili and Dane to a courtyard in front of a house with peeling walls.

"This is it. This is Uncle Laukel’s house."

Colson said, turning to Vili.

Vili nodded and dismounted along with Dane. But before he could even step into the courtyard, he heard a man shouting from within.

"I’m telling the truth! I didn’t lie to you! Why won’t you believe me?"

Laukel felt like he was going crazy.

One night, just before the new year, he had seen his chickens and ducks wake up all at once. Without making a single sound, they had marched out of the courtyard in an orderly fashion under the ghastly moonlight. The blank, dark image was still seared into his memory.

He immediately went to Diamond Town to report it, but the investigation yielded no results. Not only that, but his strange story also earned him the scorn of his neighbors and family. Everyone thought Laukel had gone mad. Some even said that he’d spotted a thief while keeping watch at night but had been too cowardly to stop them, so he made up a lie to hide his own cowardice.

Hearing these rumors, Laukel was both furious and miserable. He was telling the truth, yet not a single person believed him. Instead, they accused him of being a coward. Who could possibly endure such an injustice?

But the indifference from everyone around him eventually made Laukel give in. He could only seal away the memory of that night, telling himself it had all been just a dream.

Everything had seemingly gone back to normal, but then last night, Laukel, having had too much to drink, got up in the middle of the night to relieve himself and saw the same scene all over again.

The sight sobered Laukel up instantly. He gritted his teeth and decided to throw caution to the wind and follow the birds to get to the bottom of it. But just as he stepped out of his room, he saw all the chickens and ducks stop in their tracks and turn their heads mechanically, like puppets on a string.

Even now, recalling the scene sent a chill down Laukel’s spine. Pair after pair of lifeless eyes staring at him, not making a sound, their synchronized movements unnervingly bizarre.

In the end, Laukel was too terrified. He could only watch helplessly as they escaped from his courtyard once again.