The Village

The man went on to explain. "The village has suffered some monster and bandit attacks recently and the villagers are more on edge right now towards outsiders."

Mallory just accepted his explanation but she knew that there must have been more of a reason that what had been given to her.

She pushed her bike inside and followed the pointer on the compass which had lead her towards the fields but the pointer was turning in other directions occasionally.

Almura, Swaine and Franco had went to get settled in the village while Mallory wandered around the village and had inspected certain areas more closely.

Her actions seemed very strange to the villagers and there were some eyes that continued to follow her around.

Everything seemed fine on the surface but what Mallory had seen was not a pleasant sight.

Once she had came to greet the village head, they had sat opposite each other and Mallory spoke up first. "I have inspected the village and it does not meet the standards that the city lord has in mind. If you wish to maintain your position then you need to work with me to help fix these problems."

Mallory had been given such power to make decisions for the best of the village and the village head could easily be passed over to someone else with her say so.

Even if there were issues that were not the result of the village head's negligence, If he did not cooperate with her to fix them then he would only get in the way of her work and would prove that he was not fit for the role.

The village was the main source of grain and various other naturally grown resources for the city and there had been some problems with the recent supplies that were sent to the city.

When the village had problems then the city lord of Visa City would be responsible for sending people to protect the roads and to make sure that the people healthy and safe while the lands were safe to live on.

Each side had their own responsibilities and had to hold up their side of the deal but Visa City was on the more powerful side of the deal so they gained the most benefits.

The village head was unhappy that Mallory had brought it up and had challenged his authority but he knew that his position was not very stable. "Of course. I will cooperate with you but what is the problem exactly?"

He had made sure to try to stall her to make sure everything looked good to anyone that came to inspect.

He was certain that who ever came to inspect would take a quick look over the village and would then leave quickly after checking over the goods that needed to be sent to the city.

There had never been that big of a problem before even if there were minor problems that had been shown or there had been issues with the goods that were supplied to the city.

The village head did not feel that good and was feeling insulted due to the fact that a child had been sent to oversee the village and would have the power to change his fate. 'She says to cooperate but what can this kid possibly do to change things?'

He had no trust in Mallory and believed that she could not make any major changes during the time that she remained in the village.

The villagers were still under his control and Mallory could not possibly gain their trust so easily to gain their complete cooperation.

Any ongoing problems were ongoing issues that he had failed to solve even with their cooperation.

The villagers had already lost a lot of trust in those from the city so it would not be so easy to gain their support unless the village head had personally spoke up in her place.

The atmosphere between them was not very good and their conversation did not last very long as Mallory went on to point out a couple of small problems she intended to focus on first.

Once Mallory returned to the room she was staying in, she began sorting out her talismans and started to prepare for the problems that would be encountered the next day.

The next day came very quickly and their second meeting was not so pleasant as their greeting was just a silent acknowledgment to each other with a nod.

They found themselves in front of a patch of land which would be the first among many.

Mallory opened her eyes to see the surrounding auras ahead of her. "This is one location that needs to be dealt with first. I can fix this issue but the current things growing here need to be uprooted and new seeds need to be placed in their place."

There was a strange aura that was coming from within the soil and had surrounded anything that was growing there which was the source of the problem so Mallory pointed towards several directions. "Almura, Franco and Swaine.. you guys help place these and just do the usual routine once I give the signal."

The village head had crossed his arms and turned his head away as if he could not care about what she had to say and took her words as nonsense.

Almura, Franco and Swaine had ran out to the corners of the patch of land where there were crops growing and help out some talismans.

They were laid out on the ground and they all called out together with Mallory. "Purify!"

There was a wave of white light which had been sent out and seeped into the ground from the talismans.

The newer talismans were a grade higher and their effects were far greater on more than just a single person or a small area so they could be used to purify areas of a larger size.

The village head was previously sceptical and uncooperative with Mallory but then as he watched the light enter the ground and the dark and strange gas exit before dissipating, he watched on with is eyes and mouth wide open. "W..what is that?! What did you do?!"

There was a period of silence as Mallory had watched on and the purification of the land had been fully dealt with in every location and none had remained.

A crowd of villagers had gathered upon seeing the strange flash of white light and had heard the next words of Mallory. "These lands have been cursed.."

"Cursed?"

"What?"

"How can this be?"

"Who would do such a thing?"