Chapter 62: Mr. Ralf!

Chapter 62: Mr. Ralf! "Elder, please raise your head." Ken first said. And then, only after the elder raised his head, did Ken speak. "In truth, we are sent by the Spirit Mountain sect." Ken stated, raising eyebrows and making Darek, Alex, and Marwa turn towards him. Ken then brought out the mission token and put it on the table. ’Is he already away of the contractor?’ Darek thought to himself as he saw Ken act already. The same question ran within the minds of the other two, but Ken didn’t explain himself yet. Within the room, there were only them, the village head, and the middle-aged man, whom they knew was his eldest son and future village head. "As you may have suspected, this isn’t a mere plague. Something more sinister is going on." Ken explained. The village head nodded, his eyes focused. "A demon is roaming in your village." Ken dropped the bomb. "I see..." The village head looked at the token and then at Ken before a small smile of relief broke out. "So we haven’t been forsaken, then." He said. Ken nodded. It seems the old man was more aware of the situation than he let on. "For now, we’re a bunch of travelers who are trying to help you, but we promise to free you from the devil’s grasp and its contractor." "A contractor?" the village head repeated. "Yes, a devil cannot be summoned without a contractor, but for your own safety, I will not disclose who that is." Ken explained. "..." The village head remained silent, probably thinking of possible culprits. But Ken knew that the village head wouldn’t be able to guess. The culprit was smart... very smart. But he was already aware of who it was, and he didn’t plan on dilly-dallying around it. "For now, act as if we’re what I just said, and once we get this done with, we’ll take our leave." Ken then stopped, waiting for the old man’s reply. "Very well, esteemed sirs." The elder tried bowing once again, but Ken stopped him. "Please do not bow to us, elder. This is our duty as humans... to take care of one another." With these words said, Ken and his group were assigned rooms within the village head’s estate before they walked out. Each has his own mission. But mostly, they planned on helping around; Darek went to the doctor, and Alex and Marwa went around the village, trying to strike conversations with the villagers and easing the tension. Their main goal was collecting information. And Ken... He followed the middle-aged son. "I’m sorry for having you follow me around, esteemed sir." The middle-aged man spoke in a calm, deep voice, his face facing forward and his hands holding a few buckets filled with water, and Ken held bags of food. "No worries, we have to help." Ken replied. "My father is already old, but he’s forced to take care of many families now that their parents have died, but if he doesn’t, the responsibility falls on the eldest’s shoulder, and... we can’t have young men shouldering entire families when they’re so young." The middle-aged man’s eyes squinted as he spoke, slight fury visible on his face. "Not on our watch." He added. More than being worried about those who face a similar situation to him, whom he can relate to, Ken felt that he was more angry at the fact that there was something, someone, within their own village who was causing all of this. "I understand." Ken nodded. "Mr. Ralf, you’re an honorable man." Without a shred of filters, Ken stated words he brought from the bottom of his heart. The man remained silent, and so did Ken. They went from door to door, putting large buckets of water and a bag full of food within houses with no parents to shoulder it. The children there looked depressed, and they had to look after each one of them to lighten their mood. Ken watched as the middle-aged man softened his tone, caressed the heads of the orphans, and joked around with them, even going as far as sitting to tell them some stories. Ken watched all of this while helping around. He was quickly liked by the children for some reason, making even the middle-aged man surprised. The toddlers especially liked him, going around him and jumping over his shoulders as they shouted. "Mister, you have a weird face!" The older children only watched from afar, some far too hurt by the loss of their parents to talk much, but with the familiar face of Ralf they could be at ease. Ralf was like the village’s older brother. Fathers, mothers, and children of all ages knew him and loved him beyond belief. And Ken respected this man too. He had the kind of selflessness that would make you weep. It was more like he was living for others than living for himself, and Ken believed that this was the very reason the old man made him follow around and even chose him as the next heir. With the help he provided around the village, Ken had the best view he could possibly have. Entering ten houses out of the 50 or so who had lost their pillars, and seeing the situation not from an outsider’s or surface point of view, he started shaping a solid idea of the future casualties this future may have. What was lost now or tomorrow in Ken’s eyes wasn’t truly a casualty. If he was just a tiny bit careless, he could easily get this matter done with the next day, but it could have some unforeseen consequences. But the true losses were those that already happened while they were on their way. No matter how fast they got here, families had already lost more than they could afford. The devil, however, seemed principled. A twisted sense of principle where he didn’t attack children, the elderly, or even pregnant women. But they took the lives of any man or woman in their prime, not caring for anything else. Some had upwards of 5 children. In such a village where life was laid-back and little could be done, such things were normal. It was all to slowly harvest the vitality of the victims. But what Ken was most furious about... Was the reason it took so long for the victims to die. ------End------