Unexpected Guests I: Feast

Neigh~ Neigh~

The clatter of steps followed a series of neighs. A group of horses could be seen slowly walking across the pale dirt road that was currently coated by the moonlight.

Riding the horses were a group of people dressed in robes that were mainly black in colour. Leading the group was a middle-aged-looking man with a sharp goatee, dressed in a matte black robe with a black hat with red highlights.

"Halt!" he suddenly spoke out.

Immediately, the whole unit stopped to a halt.

"What's happening father?" a voice called out from behind the carriage that was trailing the middle-aged man.

"I'm telling you! He probably needs the toilet again!" an unruly and unrestrained voice suddenly called out from the same direction as the first voice.

"Peeing is crucial to staying healthy…" another voice spoke out, this time being a little more quiet and calm.

Following this, three male figures appeared as they made their way towards the man.

"What is it now father?" the source of the unruly voice asked. He was a strong-looking man who looked to have just reached adulthood, he had short black hair and a uniquely handsome face that looked to resemble a brawler as a confident smile plastered on his face. He wore a black robe that had red endings on the cloth.

"We are about fifteen kilometres away from the village that we are going to rest up tonight at," the man spoke out before turning towards the three of them and letting out a tired sigh, "Okay… I'm feeling a little tired so one of you go and lead the group to the village."

After he said this, he simply made his way to the back of the unit and walked into the carriage that was containing all their equipment and supplies.

"Haha! I got this!" the unruly young adult laughed as he brought his horse to the front, "Okay guys! Follow me, I got this!"

However, just as he had travelled a few metres ahead, he turned around and made his way back to the group who were still rooted on the spot…

A sheepish expression appeared on the man's face as he suddenly gained confidence again and declared, "But first! We must make a U-turn."

"Nen… You forgot the path didn't you…" another man who looked to be the same age as him spoke out in disappointment. He was wearing brown robes with a trail of green at the ends. And was just as handsome as Nen but the aura that he exuded was more calm and collected.

Hearing this, Nen's face completely dropped as his whole frame seemed to shrink by twenty per cent but in a few seconds, his whole face lit up once again as he shouted, "Of course I did! The last time I looked at the stupid map was like three hours ago!"

"There's no way that anyone would remembe-"

"Sigh… It's fine, brother. We'll arrive too late if you look at the map now. I'll just lead us," another voice spoke up in a helpless tone as a young male who looked to be a little younger than Nen made his way forward and headed straight into the forest. And almost immediately, the whole unit began to move, following the younger male who was dressed in a black robe with white trails on the end.

Seeing this, all of Nen's confidence seemed to suddenly dissipate into the atmosphere and his whole figure seemed to slouch forward in defeat. He had just lost to his younger brother once again.

"It's fine, Nen. To be completely honest, Yasu's memory is a lot better than yours," the brown-robed man pat Nen's back, comforting him.

A complicated expression appeared on Nen's face as he desperately tried to defend himself, "No… it's that, Akito. It's- never mind… Let's just follow him."

"Everyone! The meat is ready to eat!" The village hunter happily shouted to the crowd that was waiting eagerly and was met with a huge shout of cheering from the villagers

Following the hunter's declaration, all the kids ran up to the hunter and began to queue up patiently with small wooden plates in their hands as their eyes could be seen almost already dissecting the huge animal that lay there, for all of the village to eat.

Meanwhile, near the village centre, a small empty wagon could be seen having been just placed on the side of the street. Next to it, a teen and a child could be seen making their way into the village centre with a large striped hyena next to them.

"Looks like we made it just in time," Isao told Riku as the two of them were greeted by the sight of the kids all lining up for food.

"Phew… I thought that we were going to miss fresh tiger meat," Riku commented in a relieved tone.

"You should go line up, they're all eating," said Isao as he pointed at the kids.

This earned an annoyed expression from Riku, "How dare you! I'm thirteen! That makes me a teenager! I'm going to eat with you!"

"Suit yourself then…" Isao gave up trying to convince Riku after seeing the determination in his eyes, "Let's go to the cooked boar, Ui is probably starving."

The instant he completed that sentence, Ui immediately let out a series of laughter and charged forward to the boar that was laid out next to the village elder's house on a large wooden dish plate.

Seeing the great hyena run to its already prepared meal, everyone in the village knew that the two burying crew were back.

"You better have brought my carriage back safe and sound!" an old grumpy voice sounded, coming from the village elder as he looked around before locating Isao and Riku.

"Your father is an absolute masterchef at cooking meat…" Isao commented passively as he caught a whiff of the tiger meat that was currently being dissected by a large carving knife, completely dismissing the elder's statement.

"How's your ribs doing old man? Shouting at such a volume could actually cause another rib to crack, you know?" Isao spoke out as he greeted the elder and he then turned to greet Shoma who was currently talking to the elder's daughter.

Seeing them, Isao and Riku both sent out a bombastic side eye to the village elder.

The old man stared back at them in response and cautioned, "Don't you dare disturb them…"

"Damn, Shoma's already got the father-in-law's permission…" Isao commented in surprise.

"Indeed, big bro Isao. It seems that old Sato wants to get rid of his daughter as soon as possible," Riku commented.

Ack!

Suddenly, Riku was hit by a flying sandal and almost fell flat on his face. He immediately rubbed his head which was quickly swelling and turned back angrily as he shouted, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU OLD MAN!"

"HAHAHA! Don't you dare spout such spineless words," the old man, Haruto Sato, replied, "Hell no, he does not have my perm-"

The old man's sentence was immediately cut off as fear seemed to flash in his eyes for a fraction of a second and in that instant, an intensely strong atmosphere befell the area around them.