The Village's Taboo (2)

"... A man named Jonish then became the 4th elder, and that was the first time someone had proposed the concept of trading with other tribes and building a friendly relationship. Next…"

The longer the village elder continued the tedious story—everyone besides him found themselves unable to continue listening intently to his story. The words that came out of his mouth sounded monotonous.

Tain had long succumbed to the village elder's plain words—dozing quietly while sitting in a cross-legged position. Occasionally, he somehow managed to awaken from his slumber but those moments rarely came.

Alice on the hand silently slept besides her father—leaning her head on his bloated stomach. In contrast to Tain—not once did she ever aroused from her nap. But she did manage to stay awake for a longer period of time.

Andre was desperately clinging onto his consciousness—his eyes scarcely opening as he did his absolute best in order to not yield into his desires.

Albeit the state the three of them were within—Elena remained calm, collected and alerted. The sheer willpower she possessed allowed her to not be prey to the village elder's wearisome statements.

As time passed by—the village elder's comments became much more repetitive but was also nearing the end—yet Andre could no longer hold on as he slowly fell to his wishes—but was hurriedly brought back to reality from something or someone crashing into the front door.

The loud sound made Tain and Alice get a hold of themselves as well. All of them, excluding the village elder, instinctively turned their heads around. While it was hardly perceivable—they caught a glimpse of what appears to be a hand in contact with the old, yellow-tinted window.

"Stop." The village elder uttered before Andre could move in order to check the commotion occuring outside.

"As long as I haven't finished, no one can leave." He added.

"But elder…!"

"Andre. Listen…for what I'm going to say next is important. I really mean it."

"...Fine."

Hesitantly, Andre sat back down as he stared at the village elder.

"Now…after the 29th elder passed away, I was deemed to be a suitable candidate for this position. The day I became the village elder was when I was in my forties…35 to 40 years ago.

"I was…very incompetent back then as a village elder. Back then…people could leave the village."

The last sentence that escaped from the village elder's caused Andre's eyes to widen in disbelief. His jaw dropped as well as he found it unreal to be informed of the fact that back then—villagers were given permission to leave, and re-enter the village whenever they wanted to.

"W-Wait. They must need a pass like the one I had too, right?"

"No. They didn't."

"W-What…t-then, w-w-why…" Andre's voice started to crack as the trust he once held for the village elders declined exponentially.

"...Because of how foolish I was back then…I struck a deal with the devil. The devil just came to me one day so suddenly…and gave me an offer. A deal that seemed so good…my greed blinded me."

The banging on the village elder's door gradually grew—deafening everyone for a moment. Whatever situation was transpiring behind the walls petrified a few of them. Even so, the village elder looked unfazed—as if he had been predicting such an outcome. Without a warning, he continued his story.

"In return for being in absolute power, and having absolute control over everyone…most, if not all the villagers' memories would be wiped out except just for a few. Those few included you, Andre. Along with Lily, Jacob and Alice.

"But those who had their memories wiped out entirely…was manipulated like a lifeless husk, following orders from above."

"B-But during the day…!"

"Yes. Everyone looked so…human during the daytime. But have you never thought about it why…why no one called each other by their names? How the villagers is able to coexist with each other…and not have any problems? Well…at least not until Elena and Tain came around."

The sudden revelation from the village elder made Andre view his entire life as a lie. He is unsure on whether he can trust anyone ever again—even if it was himself. Was the village elder telling the truth? Is his daughter actually his? Is he himself even…human?

The thought of being nothing but a mere puppet forced to partake in an experiment with unspecified goals—distressed Andre greatly. How could he move forward now—knowing that the entire village is a mere puppet play to the devil.

Out of the blue, Andre pushed the village elder down to the floor and started to mercilessly pound him into oblivion.

"B-because of you…because of you…!!!" Undiluted rage dwelled within his eyes as the beating worsen for the village elder—blood trickling down his chin with every single hit.

"Because of you! You ruined my hometown! You killed everyone!"

Amidst Andre's burst of outrage—not once did the village elder attempted to dodge, or block Andre's fists. He recognized his fault and knew he would have to bear the price of his brainless decision.

Excruciating pain coursed through his entire figure with every strike that landed on his frail body. However, the beating promptly stopped as Alice, Elena and Tain held onto him—preventing Andre's onslaught to carry on.

"Let…go of me…!" Andre mustered every strength he had to escape from their grasp—but it was futile as Elena subdued him with ease.

"Loosen your anger, Andre. I have no intentions of hurting you, but should you continue to persist, I will not hesitate to use force." Elena said as she restrained Andre.

"But that fucker…!"

"I know you are enraged. I understand to a certain degree how much of a grudge you have for the village elder. However, your irrationality may harm those around you as well. Think of what your daughter may develop upon having seen your action."

Elena's words shook Andre as he glanced at his daughter. Alice had a scared expression etched onto her face having just observed his burst of outrage.

The reaction planted on his daughter's face was enough for Andre to acknowledge his faults as well.

But just before Andre could ask the village elder a few questions—the front door gave up at last as a horde of mindless villagers threw themselves into the house.

Reacting quickly—Elena rushed at the incoming crowd as she pushed, kicked and punched them in an attempt to buy time for the others to escape his horrific circumstances.

"Dodge!" The village elder shouted.

Instinctively, she followed his order and stepped to the side—only to be greeted by an explosion conjuring amongst the residents—blasting off their faces, arms and skin. A few of their bones visible as well.

Perplexed by what had been absorbed by her eyes—she turned her attention to the village elder. He was standing—holding his cane as if it was a weapon and pointing the end of his stick towards his people.

"This scent…gunpower?" Elena inquired

"I'll explain later. But right now, we need to escape. If not, we will all die."

…

"Hm…My lord. It appears some outsiders have invaded our experimental village." A female humanoid with obscured facial features reported to her owner.

"Is that so? Are they causing a lot of trouble?" Her master asked.

"I'm not sure. According to the reports of my subordinates, they are rather docile. That is all. Should I…check the situation myself?"

"Yes. I think…our enemy might have planted spies there. So go and see what's causing the disturbance. And kill those people if needed."

"Certainly."

…