Special Chapter XXI - Mayena Village (part 2)

We all walked back to the 'village', with me bringing the deer on my shoulder. The two male hunters asked me to give the deer to them, probably because they felt bad relying on me lifting the deer. So I dropped the deer on the ground, but when they tried to pick it up, they immediately regretted asking.

I ended up picking the deer back up again, leaving those two being laughed at by the female.

We arrived in the village after ten minutes of walking. Everyone was already preparing the campfire, and they all looked very shocked seeing the dead deer on my shoulder.

"You are back from the dead, and now you are bringing back deers??"

Somehow this felt like a deja vu…

Lyona shouted at me while I tried my best to drink my medicine that the doctor gave me. The medicine tasted like actual crap, but I had to drink it, or else Lyona is going to get even more pissed.

I left the deer to the professional cook, and they all began working on it for tonight's dinner.

Oh… my eyes are watery just imagining tonight's dinner.

The night finally came. Everyone gathered around the large bonfire in front of the town hall, and the chefs are bringing out the meal for everyone. Tonight's special occasion will be deer meat. 

A very high class meat.

Everyone was quite lively. They all cheered with their drinks and chewed on the meat.

Thankfully, everyone received a share. I was worried that some of the villagers didn't get to eat, but somehow everyone received their share, and the chefs even have some spares.

Aside from food, there were also drinks like rum. I rejected the rum because I have no intention of getting drunk, but everyone else doesn't seem to hesitate even a bit. 

Kirene came up to me, saying she can use magic energy now while being heavily drunk. She quickly did some actions using magic energy, and destroyed the ground thanks to her heavy stomp.

Some of the boys led her away, afterwards. I'm not sure what punishment they will throw at her, but I don't think they will give a heavy one.

Lyona also didn't get drunk. She was still underage, and there is technically no age limit for drinking, but as a noble, she was taught better.

I gave her a thumbs up for following the rules, but Eva also didn't drink. She never liked going drunk, when asked why. Apparently she had some bad experience in getting drunk, back before she became a knight. Ever since that day, she never drank again.

The captain and his knights are already going crazy. They are all singing and stuff, making the night even louder. 

Whatever, I'm not joining.

"Tonight seemed to be more lively than before."

Gajah said as he came and sat next to me on the wooden bench, around the large bonfire that was lit in front of us.

"It's probably because of the deer."

I joked, but he took it seriously.

"What do you mean? It's all thanks to you."

He took a sip on his drink after he said that. When I asked whether or not that's alcohol, he said it's just tea. He said he can't handle getting drunk, because he will fall asleep as soon as he touches alcohol.

"Say... what exactly happened right after the battle?"

I asked him seriously, this time. Knowing that this is a serious question, he placed his tea down on the ground and took a deep breath.

"There was… an explosion."

"Explosion?"

"Yes. The people called it the Sun's Collapse."

Gajah began telling me about the events that happened right after the battle. No, more like events that happened during the battle, as well as the ones that happened after.

During the battle with Prym, I lost my mind and casted an incredibly huge magic technique to try and kill him. The magic was guessed to be some sort of explosive fire magic. Hearing that it's an explosive fire magic, I knew immediately what I made.

Firebomb. A very large one, apparently.

The super firebomb exploded, and it ate away nearly a kilometre of forest and mountains. The result of the explosion was a really large black cloud on the sky, and the huge crater which soon became a lake that was connected to the ocean.

"The kingdom made it into a recreational area. It's called the Sun's Collapse Lake."

"Huh… Weird name."

"Well, you would understand if you saw the explosion."

He describes the day with incredible detail, after all, he was there at all the events. 

After beating Merida (who was still awake for some reason), the group went to the top and searched for me. But they stopped once they saw a blinding light that came from where Prym and I were fighting. 

They all ran away from the blinding light that eats everything and hid back inside the cave. Luckily, nobody got hurt or killed by the explosion, but it was a close call.

"It's like the sun had come down to earth and exploded. That's why it's called the sun's collapse by everyone."

"I... see..."

I don't recall any of this… I only remembered how angry I was and how scared Prym was. That was it. 

And somehow I blanked out and got thrown to the ocean. Was this how it felt to have amnesia?

"Was... anyone hurt...?"

I meant from the other side of the crater. Anyone from the beach, for example. It was quite far from the beach, but if the explosion was truly big, then it might be possible that someone got hurt or something.

"According to the kingdom's newspaper, no one was killed or got hurt. The crater didn't touch the beach at all. In fact, it was a little bit away from the beach."

"I see. And the trio?"

"The trio... were disbanded. Prym was okay, but he decided to quit being a ranker. Merida was announced to have a mental health issue and was stripped off her rank. Elbrado is the only one okay, though he lost quite a few teeth."

Hearing that Prym is still alive, I became quite pissed. Losing myself at that time really made me lose my ability to stay rational. I could have probably killed Prym easily, and yet I didn't.

But at least, the trio of destruction was no more.

"Looks like the kingdom had lost a lot of their power."

"Yes… though, they still had more rank."

"I'm not going to find out any further, thank you."

Gajah laughed hearing that reply. He stood up and walked away, leaving our conversation at that. 

After he left, I chuckled and turned to the sky.

Exactly what happened to me when I was fighting…? How did I lose control like that?

But my thought was stopped, because a person called for me from the side.

"Yo, Rize!"

The captain came walking at me. From the way he walks, and how reeks he smelled, I can tell easily that he is drunk.

"We are going home the day after tomorrow, now that you are up. Just want to notify you."

"Thank you for notifying me… And are you sure you want to leave so quickly?"

"Well, we have been in the village for two weeks. It's time for us to come back to the kingdom and... Hik! Excuse me... And we have to start doing our work again."

The captain had a hiccup in the middle of his sentence, making him sound funny despite the serious tone he tried to make.

"I... see... What about Lyona and Eva?"

"Eva... will most likely retire from being a knight. Losing a hand will definitely affect one's combat ability, but let's see how she wants it."

The knight captain glared at Eva who sat far away and talked with the village's females, along with Lyona. She had never left Lyona's side at all, ever since coming to the village.

"And… Lyona?"

"Well, now that her mission somehow succeeded, her family will definitely get a lot of fame. Her noble rank might be promoted."

"I see. That's great then."

"Heh. You should have asked what will happen to us, knights."

The captain proudly presented himself. I chuckled and tried guessing.

"Let me guess. Promotions?"

"Hell with promotions! Well yeah, promotions, but that's not all! We aided with the subjugation of the undead conjurer! We are going to get rich!"

"Oh, really? Where's the proof of that?"

"One of the trio, the big bald guy, said that to the press."

"H-He did that?"

The captain coughed to remove his hiccup, but it didn't go away.

"Well, I'm not sure either. That... Elbrado must have something in his mind."

"He must have respected you for being able to harm him. A random knight captain caused a great deal of damage to him. It takes a strong person to recognize other strong people, you know?"

My words somehow made him see the beauty of the skies. He turned his gaze to the skies above us and nodded.

"Yeah... Yeah, you're right."

I took a sip from my mineral water on my glass. That's when a question came to my mind.

I looked around, searching for Gajah. I found him near the campfire, talking with a female.

I stood up and left the captain to go approach him.

"I'm going to go talk with Gajah again."

"All right. Get prepared... We are leaving in two days... Hik!!"

The captain was still unable to get rid of his hiccup. I ignored him and continued walking to Gajah.

"Gajah!"

Gajah was chatting with that certain female (who seemed to be his lover or something). He excused himself for a moment and followed me to the beach.

"Tell me. Does the kingdom know anything about what caused the crater?"

Gajah pondered over for a moment about what to answer. But then he remembered a certain detail that he forgot to mention, and quickly told me.

"Ah! I forgot to say. Before Prym left, he... sent out a warning to the people."

"A warning?"

"Yeah. All the questions that were asked to him, he only answered one sentence and one sentence only."

Gajah stopped and took a deep breath.

"He kept on saying, 'Watch out for the masked devil'."