Reaching The Village

Arsh and Rena reached the village. They were loving the greenery around them and the silence in the outskirts. It was also a perfect place to live if you don't want to live in crowded towns.

"Heh, the scenery is no nice," Arsh said while looking around.

"Yes, it is. It can also be a nice place to stay," Rena replied.

They had to meet the person who sent the job request. They were waiting for the man near a sacred giant tree in the village.

"Where is he?" Arsh asked, holding his waist from both of his hands.

Rena didn't answer and continued waiting for the man. The people of the village were staring at them when they passed by them. They both were finding it quite weird.

After a while, Arsh spotted an old man with a bald head, droopy eyes and runny nose heading towards them.

"I think he is the one," Arsh said to Rena, pointing towards the old man.

The man came and greeted both of them. "Welcome to our village. Thank you for coming here to help us to get rid of our problems."

"It's our job. No need to thank us," Arsh replied.

The old man looked at Rena with a side glance which Arsh found weird.

"Is this girl a hunter as well?" The old man asked with a frown. Arsh didn't know why was he asking this.

He just replied, "Yes, she is." The old man nodded slightly with a frown whare still taking a side glance at her.

They started following the old man after he told them to do so. He was told then about the village and the surrounding areas.

Arsh and Rena had left their horse in a nearby town so that the horse won't have to deal with the wolf.

The old man told them that the main occupation of the village is agriculture. They even sell livestock products like the wool of the sheep, the milk from the cows, etc.

He showed them a grassy plain in the outskirts of the village. The animals tend to graze in those plains. They encountered the wolf mostly in that grassy plain.

The sheepherders even got wounded dealing with the wolf. They tried to trap it or bait it out but it didn't work.

Lastly, they had no choice but to send a request to the guilds for this job request.

Arsh and Rena understood that this job was important. The livelihood of the village people was dependent on their livestock, and that wolf was attacking their livelihood.

Sometimes, that wolf even attacked the animals at the places the herders use to keep them.

Arsh was ready to trap the wolf again. He doubted that it would be trapped but still, he had to try.

He and Rena were treated by the villagers for their help. One thing Arsh was getting pissed at was that they were talking behind their backs. They were speaking weird stuff about Rena.

They were saying the same stuff the hunters at the guild said. He understood that the world was not so nice as he thought. He wanted to feel good by knowing this, but for some reason, he was getting pissed off.

While they were having food the villagers offered them, Arsh asked Rena, "Why are the people like this?"

"What do you mean?" She couldn't understand what he was trying to ask.

"I mean… you must have heard what they are behind our backs. Don't you feel bad?" He asked.

She started at the ground with a sad face for a few seconds. She then turned to him and smiled. "I have become used to it. I don't care what they say," She replied.

One thing Arsh noticed that he wasn't seeing the women outside of the houses in the village. He did see some of them having a quarrel with their husbands and listening to cusses in return.

He chewed the food and thought about the trap to catch the wolf. He had to work in the dark as the wolf was most active in the night.

When it got dark, they took off to hunt the wolf. They went to the grassy plain and tired a sheep at the center of the plain. They hid behind the bushes and kept watch in wait of the wolf.

The sheep was bleating and was making noises. It was perfect to bait out the wolf. They waited for a few hours but the wolf didn't arrive. They started getting bored but they could do nothing but wait.

"How long do we have to wait?" Arsh asked, getting bored while waiting.

The villagers had no answer to this. It was the wolf's choice to arrive and eat the sheep or not.

"We don't know. It should have arrived by now," The old man with droopy eyes answered.

All the villagers had weapons in their hands like axes, rods, knives, etc. Whatever they had available with them. Arsh was getting scared a bit as he had never dealt with a wolf. He was only expert in dealing with wild cats.

They waited for hours but there was no trace of a wolf around. Arsh stood up and walked out of the bushes.

"Let's try again tomorrow," He said, heading towards the sheep to unite it.

"Wait, I will come too," Rena said and followed him.

The villagers were whispering among themselves.

"What if the wolf had caught our scent? That's why it didn't come here," One of the villagers said.

"Do you really think that… that wolf fears us?" Another one of the villagers countered.

Arsh untied the sheep and was about to walk away with it. Suddenly…

Grrr… He heard some groans of an animal. Ran a and the villagers heard it too.

Arsh started feeling numb just after hearing it. Although, he had a spear in his hand to deal with the creature.

"It's here!" One of the villagers shouted.

Arsh somehow turned while shaking in fear and saw blood red eyes peeking through the darkness. He gulped.