Chapter 69: Trailing

As soon as the blizzard subsided, it was not the casualties of the storm that surprised the people of the village but the numerous unknown individuals looting their village. They were ripping houses apart and forcibly taking women out of their houses.

"Let go of me!"

Struggling was not the answer after being dragged outside of their houses, for one woman had her cheek smote, thus falling on her butt on the ground and immediately clutching on her swollen cheek.

"Kill every man! Take only the women! Even the older ones!"

Around 20 men had pillaged the village, taking every woman they saw, even Mr. Lagman's wife and daughter, Lui.

Xenia, Crowley, and Mr. Lagman were caught in the drama of a lunatic fellow villager when his wife died and the kids were taken.

"How come only my kids were taken?! Haha! I know! I will kill your kids! As for your wife, I saw her and your daughter being taken away!"

A sharp sickle was swung around by the crazy villager, aiming to kill both Crowley and Xenia. Mr. Lagman still hasn't yet completely recovered and was suffering from his wound. However, he did not let his fellow man hurt his kids.

It was not that long before Mrs. Lagman and Lui were taken away by the pillagers of war, so he was keen on wrapping things up with the problem in front of him to catch up. And somehow save his family.

Xenia holds a dangerous ability with him that might run wild if used once.

"I can turn him to ashes but I don't want anyone to see me use this kind of Gift."

[Reinforcement]

Out of all the Gifts he had, which he gathered before being the lone survivor of such a traumatic and cruel event of his life on the island, Xenia chose to enhance Mr. Lagman's physical condition, boosting his strength and speed.

"Whoa! Strange... My body suddenly feels light."

The pain temporarily went away and Mr. Lagman could freely move as he pleased without having to worry about his injury. But he has to remind himself that he can't overdo his actions because once the effectiveness of Reinforcement wears off, Mr. Lagman would then feel the pain after the fleeting power-up.

"Where are you looking?!"

The man charged with his sickle, haphazardly swinging his dangerous weapon towards Mr. Lagman but Crowley's father side-stepped every attack thrown at him even to the point of almost disarming the man.

Unluckily, Mr. Lagman tripped on a rock that was covered in snow and he fell face-first on the pile of snow.

"Haha! How stupid!"

"Dad, be careful!"

His face went numb from the chilling temperature of the snow. He immediately surged from his feet and faced the approaching man with his sickle.

But his reaction time was a bit late, thus resulting in him receiving a mild injury from the attacker wherein the sickle grazed Mr. Lagman's arm.

"Dad!"

It was a small price to pay in order for Mr. Lagman to catch his attacker and have him thrown on the ground. Thanks to his enhanced strength, lifting the man was not a problem at all.

"Ow! My back! It hurts!"

Not giving the man the time to recover, Mr. Lagman stepped on the attacker's arm to render him unable to fight anymore.

"I'll be taking this, Bart."

"Give it back! Damn you!"

"Man the hell up and take revenge on the people that ruined our village and took the lives of our loved ones!"

"W-What are you saying?! You didn't lose anyone! Stop saying things that you don't relate with!"

Until the very end, Bart struggled against Mr. Lagman. He grabbed onto Mr. Lagman's leg and bit on it as hard as he could, leaving Mr. Lagman no choice but to kick him in the face with his other foot.

"That hurts, Bart! You leave me no choice!"

Crowley looked around and saw an almost burned rope lying on the snowy ground. He gave it to his father and just noticed something.

"Where is Xenia?"

It turns out that when Xenia activated "Reinforcement" he also applied it to himself, which gave him the speed he needed to follow the pillagers before they could completely leave.

"Wasn't he with you?"

"He was! I was standing beside him just a minute ago and now he is gone!"

"Don't tell me..."

Mr. Lagman tightly tied both of Bart's arms and feet together under the cold temperature outside and sprinted off towards his house.

"W-Wait, Dad!"

Only a minute was left and the effects of [Reinforcement] would wear off; Mr. Lagman would once again experience the sharp pains he always has whenever he raggedly moves.

Upon arriving back, Mr. Lagman searched his whole house and saw no Lui or his wife.

Based on the tracks he found on the snow, multiple footprints leading on the southeastern part of the village to the nearest field, the pillagers were going to another nearby town that was about half an hour's walk away.

Minutes passed and Crowley arrived. He was out of breath after following his father with every energy he had left.

"W-Where are you... going, dad?"

"Going after the pillagers. Based on their footsteps, they are heading to the nearest town around. You stay here. I'll bring your mother and Lui back."

"What about, Xenia? Also, I can't just sit around and wait while you're risking your life, Dad!"

Mr. Lagman glanced at Crowley and a smile formed on his face.

"Of course, I'd bring Xenia back home too. After all, he's a part of our family."

"Then, I'm going with you, Dad!"

"No, you stay. Think of the risk you'll be putting in both of our lives. What can you do against them? Nothing. Neither do I..."

His last few words were said only to himself. Mr. Lagman was aware of his abilities. Going against experienced fighters basically means courting death.

Crowley might be stubborn but he does not go against his father's decision. He respects his father, so he decides to just stay and wait for them to come back.

***

From behind, Xenia was following the group he caught up to thanks to his Gift "Reinforcement." He was sneaking up behind the large group of pillagers with cages and being pulled horses through the receding pile of snow.

Three huge cages were being pulled in a wheeled wooden cart. Inside those three cages were the divided villagers the pillagers took with them.

"To think that such a small village would have this big haul, we're lucky!"

"It's not much compared to our last catch."

"Still, wartime really is the best time of our lives!"

Xenia was not so naive to just charge towards the large group. No matter how skilled you are, one wrong step against numerous enemies could go so much wrong.

Among the captured women, Xenia saw Mrs. Lagman and Lui together, clinging onto each other. Fright was written on their face, terrified of their well-being, for their fate at the hands of the pillagers was unknown.

~