Day Eight #4

"Village head!"

"He is moving!"

"Ah.. this is such a relief."

Many tired and relieved voices came from many locations as the eyes of the old village head had begun to open and his body had started to move. "Wha.. cough..cough.. water."

He felt that his throat was sore and dry after he had woken up to find himself in such a state so he couldn't help but ask for some water before asking anything else.

He was an old man with a weaker heart so the overall shock of what had happened had been too much for him to handle.

His son had ran quickly to fetch him some water then returned with it, the village head had sat there quietly taking a drink before speaking up again. "What happened to me?"

His son had looked towards the others to let him speak then explained. "You fainted after finding many of our supplies being gone. Father… you need to remain calm so this does not affect your health."

The village head shook his head before turning to look his son in the eyes. "This is not something that can be solved so easily. Follow my advice from now on if you want this village to remain."

He spoke in a grave tone as he coldly looked towards those who were still in the room. "I want some time with my son. Please leave."

Once everyone had seen that he had woke up, there was less of a need for them to remain inside so once they had been ordered to leave, they had all left while leaving their final words. "I am glad you have recovered."

"Get well soon."

Once they had been seen out of the home of the village head, the village head had looked towards his son. "It is about time that I tell you the story of our village and many others like it.."

His son had sat there quietly and listened. "Hmm.."

He coughed a little before continuing. "You might as well call our village and many others like it outcasts or criminals. We may not be but I am certain that our ancestors were once pushed out from the protection of the larger human colonies.

Back when the human colonies were still just rebuilding and in development were where there were many conflicts and problems that could not be dealt with by using the past methods.

Some people were pushed out of the human colonies while others that had been known as criminals were exiled so they had to survive on their own. The lucky and talented ones were able to survive by building their own colony or developing their own training methods.

Those people went on to have their own city or larger influence but may have later been destroyed for being a hinderance to those above. The rest of us had learned to stay low and comply with those above so that we could survive.

Several villages like this one had formed various pacts with each other throughout the long time that has passed while some have been broken and enmities have arisen but there is one thing we have in common.

I do not know when it started exactly but our villages started having contact with the larger colonies once again and in exchange for providing them with certain resources, they are willing to overlook our existences and even provide a little aid.

They see us as dogs that are satisfied with their leftovers that are willing to work for them but it is very easy for them to grow dissatisfied with us and nobody would notice if we one day died.

To those people… we are just useful pawns that are at the very bottom of their interests and priorities. You must be wondering why I am telling you all of this my son?"

His son had nodded slowly before asking. "What does this have to do with our current situation?"

The village head sighed. "The other villages that exist could be a threat just like the monsters but there is a much bigger threat out there if we continue to show failure. There is no telling if this village will last once other find out about the loss of so many important items.."

He massaged the space between his brows and continued. "Only the village heads should be aware of our past since we have agreed in the past to pass down this information to the next village head or our own bloodline.

Most others are ignorant of the details but there are some perks that they have benefited from like gaining some helpful supplies needed or even allowing the occasional person or family to return to one of the smaller human colonies to seek out a livelihood.

We cannot look weak in front of our allies or enemies at this time and we need to come up with a solution to the problem. If we do nothing then I am afraid that we will be thrown into that place for the rest of our lives… and our descendants too."

The son paled upon hearing his father's words. "You mean.."

The village head nodded. "Yes.. it is that place. It is the place that has helped many of the villages survive and gain support but it is also our prison in a way."

In normal circumstances, what Inis had done to them would have made their lives more difficult but they could have still found a way to survive but she had not taken into account their past and their current circumstances that surrounded them.

It was not that Inis had no interest towards them but there was no way for her to find it out unless she tried to get it out of them by spying on them or through other methods.

Most others in the village were more ignorant towards how the wider world worked so the only people that could have been helpful towards gaining valuable intel would have been those like the village head.

There was not just a danger from the monsters outside the walls due to there being internal problems and external problems that had been created by other humans in the present or the past which still plagued them.

Very few of the villagers had the chance to live a life different from the one they were living while the rest were struggling to survive and were taking on the dangers and hardships in order to satisfy outside forces that they could not go against.

There was no telling when one of the villages could be swallowed up by another when they had shown weakness and it most of the villagers would be the ones to suffer hardships so the village head was busy thinking to himself.

He came to a decision after some time. "Get everyone to remain silent about what has happened to stop any of this reaching the ears of others. Send someone trustworthy to visit the stone village to propose marriage."

The son had froze suddenly. "You… you were against it before. You said they were not suitable and would not treat her well."