Chapter 18: Mirso Village
"As the source of your power, I, the Sword Hero, command you, decipher the law of nature and give me strength to defeat my enemies! Erste Might!"
A fresh wave of magical energy swept through his body, and EMIYA felt his body become lighter and stronger. Farrie beamed seeing his expression.
"You did it, sensei! You cast your first magic spell!"
EMIYA tried flexing his muscles. This world's magic was definitely different from the magecraft he knew back in his world. Not only more potent and powerful, the magic here was also way easier to use and utilize. His world's magecraft was incredibly complex and required a lot of talent in order to master, but that's not the case here; anyone who knew the correct incantation to shape and focus the magic power and possessed the required magical energy could use it, at least with the lower-level spells. In a way, it made things easier, but also more dangerous here.
Well, if someone like Yuki, basically a little kid about a month old in proper time and about ten years old if counting physical age, could fire out something like the barrage of ice bullets she was firing into the air right now with a carefree and happy face, it was incredibly dangerous. Granted, she was said to be naturally talented in the element itself, but still…
"The magic here is indeed formidable," he admitted. "But surely there is a way to counter it, isn't it?"
The cleric smiled. "Well, to be fair, there are ways to counter and neutralize magic. However, it is very difficult to completely neutralize a spell aiming at you. Anyone can cast a basic spell like the Erste Might spell you have just used, sensei, but only the people with the correct affinity for those types of spell can utilize them to their highest potential, as well as neutralize them. That is why when facing someone who is proficient in magic, people would just dodge or block their magic attacks rather than try to counter it with a counterspell, because most of the time when you manage to cast a counterspell, the enemy's spell might have already hit you in the face."
EMIYA couldn't argue with that.
There's something else he was wondering, though…
"Is it possible to stack more than one support spell on top of each other? I mean, to increase the potency of the boost?"
Everyone stared at him as if he had just grown a second head. "Seriously, sensei, that's just greedy," Tersia rolled her eyes. "If that were the case, everyone would be able to boost themselves to the level of gods just by casting support spells after support spells on themselves. Even a rookie adventurer would have been able to beat up a Seven Star Hero."
"Actually, if you use different types of boost spells, such as strength boost and speed boost altogether, you might be able to receive various different buffs from them, and I heard that there is even a mythical spell that is supposed to give all types of boost with just a single cast. But I've never heard of anyone who could stack more than one boost of the same type on top of each other," Farrie added helpfully.
So two boost spells of different types can stack… but if that's the case, how about two boost spells of the same types, but from different magic systems?
But before he could ask further, the voice of Berthold from outside the carriage rose.
"Everyone, we've arrived! Mirso Village!"
Mirso Village was the place they had planned to stay for about a day before crossing the custom gate to Zeltoble. It was a small village to the east of Melromarc, near the border of the country. From what Berthold told them, it would only take a few hours of riding to enter the land of Zeltoble from there, so they would have a lot of free time to prepare. Besides, they were all exhausted after two days straight of riding on the carriage; they needed a proper bed to sleep on and a good meal to eat.
Right now, everyone was sitting in the village tavern. And of course, just as usual, EMIYA had borrowed the place's kitchen to cook lunch for them.
"Mmm… this is heaven," Farrie moaned in bliss while bringing her spoon to her mouth.
"Yeah," Welt nodded. "There's nothing better than having sensei's food in a proper place to eat."
Tersia and the four bodyguards didn't say anything. Maybe because they didn't have anything to say, or maybe because they're still too busy stuffing their mouths with food to care about saying anything. Just like the three disciples and Yuki, the four demi-humans had all been smitten with EMIYA's cooking ever since they took their first bites of the food he made.
"Papa is the best cook ever!" Yuki cheered happily while munching on her favorite curry. EMIYA sighed with a smile and scratched her ears gently, which earned him a mewl of bliss from the little kitsune.
Sometimes, things like this made him feel glad that he was summoned to this place. This atmosphere reminded him about his time in Chaldea, where he had a worthy Master, as well as many companions whom he could put his trust on. He had been summoned to Chaldea to serve as a Servant with the duty to protect humanity, and in the end, it was more like Chaldea had become his family. And now, this small party had become his family, too.
He knew it was selfish, but sometimes he wished that it could last forever.
Not if they started calling him the Chef Hero or something like that, though. Seriously, the three teenagers had already been thinking about what they would do after the Waves were suppressed successfully. And opening a restaurant named Sword Cuisines…
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS EVERYTHING?!"
Everyone's heads snapped toward the direction of the voice. The person who had just bellowed those words was a twenty-year-old man wearing clothes suspiciously similar to a barbarian. Black, messy hair decorated his arrogant face, and standing behind him were two demi-human girls dressed in rag. Their faces looked full of sadness and fear. In front of him, on the table, was a heavy bag seemingly full of money, and the person who had just brought it there was trembling like crazy.
"Sir, but… this is already everything we have!" the old man protested weakly. "If you ask for more, there's no way we can… Ack!"
He couldn't finish his sentence, because the thug had kicked him in the face. The bastard stood over the old man haughtily and sneered in the most unpleasant voice they've ever heard.
"That's everything you have? Then just stay there and see your village destroyed by that dragon, fool!"
Tersia started to rise from her chair with anger clear on her face, but EMIYA glared at her. Don't; it's not our problem, his expression was clear.
The poor man's face crashed on the floor painfully. He crawled up from where he had fallen, holding his nose in pain. He shot a glare of hatred at the thug in front of him.
"You… bastard! If that's the case… then we don't need you! We'll find someone else to help us!"
The aforementioned bastard's nose pointed at the sky. "Ha! As if there's someone else who can do the dirty work for you! I'm the only one who can, because I am the Shield Hero!"
Suddenly the thug felt himself flying through the air. Something had just hit him in the left cheek with enough power to lift his whole body from the ground and launch it all the way towards the inn entrance. His back crashed painfully into the wooden door and smashed it apart, tossing him out of the building.
Everyone of Team EMIYA had now risen up from their table with the same furious expression on their faces. But the person who had just punched the imposter in the face wasn't EMIYA, or Tersia, or the four demi-human bodyguards. It was Welt.
"Why you little…!" The fake Shield Hero crawled up and glared at Welt angrily. He brandished the Small Shield on his arm. "Do you know who I am? I'm going to kill all of you with my demonic power! I will… eh?"
He couldn't finish his sentence before the arm wielding the shield was separated from his body and fell into the ground with a "thud". The cut was so fast and clean he didn't even feel the pain for exactly three seconds. At the fourth, an ear-piercing scream came out of his mouth, and he fell to the ground, rolling around in excruciating pain. Blood spurted out from the stump on his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" the archer said mockingly while pushing the tip of his sword at the imposter's face, drawing a line of blood on his cheek. "You are the Shield Hero, right? Aren't you supposed to be invincible?"
The imposter couldn't say anything. Maybe because he couldn't find any word to say, or maybe because he's too busy rolling around on the ground screaming his throat out from the agony. Welt towered over him, his left foot was grinding on the fallen man's chest; never before had anyone seen the archer with such a sadistic expression on his face.
"That's enough, Welt!"
Suddenly the young boy felt his arm holding the sword squeezed firmly by a strong hand. He looked up, and saw EMIYA glaring down at him with a look full of disappointment.
"What are you doing? I've never taught you to act like this."
Those words seemed to snap Welt out of his rage. He sheathed his sword and turned away, obviously ashamed that he got riled up so easily. EMIYA turned towards Farrie.
"Farrie, can you please heal that guy?"
The priestess glared at the thrashing man on the ground in disgust. "Do I need to, sensei?"
The Sword Hero just glared at her. Farrie rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine…"
She cast the spell, reattached the chopped arm to the imposter's body. Having his arm fixed, the bastard turned tail and ran away like a dog, not even daring to turn his head.
The old man who had just been tortured by the imposter stormed toward the team. But instead of showing gratitude, his face looked angry.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" he snapped at Welt. "You've just scared away the only person who could save our village! Now what are we supposed to do?"
"Wait, what?!" Welt's eyes widened in surprise and shock. "What did I even do?! Wasn't that bastard trying to rob you blind?"
"You imbecile!" The man bellowed at his face. "We're in need of the help of a Hero to save us from the terror we're suffering, and the Shield Hero was the only one who came! Now you've scared him away, how are we going to defeat that dragon to save our people?!"
"Now, easy there, old man," Tersia cut in. From the beginning of the fight, she was the only one in the team who hadn't said anything. "You said that your village is in danger, didn't you? Just tell us what happened; maybe we can do something to help?"
The man glared at her suspiciously. "We need someone as powerful as a Hero. What can mere travelers like you even do?"
The sword maiden shrugged. "Well, it depends on what kind of help you need. You haven't even told us anything, have you? Besides, I'm pretty sure that we could do better than whatever that fake Shield Hero could have done for you."
The old man's mouth went slack. "What… that Shield Hero is a fake? How did you know that? Just… who the hell are you people?"
"It seems you're in luck, old man!" Berthold, who had just walked out of the inn to see what's going on, answering him with a laugh. He patted EMIYA's arm. "This man here is actually the Sword Hero!"
Said man glared at him. "Do you really need to go around shouting things like that for everyone to hear?"
The old man blinked. "You… are the Sword Hero? Are you really?"
EMIYA rolled his eyes. "That's what everyone is calling me these days, yes. Is there something wrong with that?"
And he was startled when the old man suddenly dropped to the ground.
"Please, sir! If you really are the Sword Hero, please lend us your help!"
The Sword Hero groaned mentally. Great, here we go again…
Team EMIYA, as well as Berthold and his four bodyguards, were sitting in the living room of the old man's house, who turned out to be the Lord of Mirso Village.
"So basically… what you're saying is, your village is being terrorized by a vicious dragon, and you are in need of someone with the power to get rid of it. Am I correct?" EMIYA summarized after hearing the story of the village leader. The man nodded.
"Yes, sir. That dragon is incredibly powerful; we don't have the power to fight back against it. That's why we're looking for the help of the Heroes; we heard that they all wield incredible power and have just pushed back a Wave of Calamity."
"And that's why you asked for that fake Shield Hero's help," Welt guessed.
"Yes, sir," the lord nodded again. "He arrived at our village about half a month ago, after the Wave happened. We didn't have any other way, so we decided to ask for his help. But then he started giving us requests after requests, each of which was more and more ridiculous than the previous one. We're starting to lose hope here…"
EMIYA glanced at his four demi-human companions. "You four have been around here for quite a while. Is what he said true?"
The four bodyguards looked at each other awkwardly. "I'm… not sure, sir," Wotan admitted. "We've just… moved to this area about a week ago; we didn't have time to go check around for information. We might have heard the rumor about a dragon somewhere, but I'm not sure if it's the dragon terrorizing this place."
The Sword Hero looked at Berthold, but the merchant immediately waved his hands in dismissal. "Don't look at me, sir. I'm just a merchant; I don't usually care about the problems in places I don't have business in."
EMIYA's eyes narrowed. This meant outside of the village lord's words, there was no one he knew who could confirm this story. And from what the man had just said, something like this should have been happening for quite a while already. So…
"Why didn't you just ask the kingdom for assistance? You know, something like this should be a really urgent matter. Surely the government needs to send people to deal with it if they know about it. This is not something that can be ignored. And the king himself is a Hero, too, isn't he?"
The interesting reaction of the man upon that question attracted his attention. Why is he so flustered about that?
"Maybe because of the same reason that other people don't want to ask for their help," said Tersia snarkily. "You know, something about how the royal knights are useless corrupted bastards. And the king is not much better."
EMIYA rolled his eyes. It's so not easy to make this girl less hostile toward the kingdom, especially after seeing how they treated the people that she adored.
Really, she should watch her mouth around people, or else there would be a day when her neck would be hanged on the gallows for treasons.
"Very well then," finally, he decided. "But even if we accept, we cannot go today. We're all exhausted from our trip, and we still need to prepare if we are going to have such a big fight. You are the village leader; can you prepare somewhere for us to stay tonight?"
The village lord's face immediately brightened. "Of course, of course! All of you can stay here tonight if you want! My house has enough rooms for all of you to stay! I'll go prepare!"
When the man left the room, EMIYA also stood up from his seat.
"Where are you going, sir?"
EMIYA nodded at Berthold, who had just asked. "Prepare, of course. I'm gonna go around the village to see if I can find some more information about that dragon we're going to fight." He looked at his students. "Can you guys stay here and prepare for the night? I won't be out very long."
EMIYA walked alone along the streets of the village.
It's not like he didn't believe that there was a dragon near this village, and that the citizens of the village needed him to help them. However, something in the village lord's reaction when he talked about asking for the kingdom's help unnerved him. It felt like there was something behind this that the man was still hiding from him.
That was why the ex-Guardian was walking on the streets right now. Before leaving the house, he had changed out of the Champion's Garb into a normal adventurer outfit he secretly bought in Castle Town, and cast a simple disguising spell he had learned from Luvia before to turn his hair black and his skin untanned. He knew that if he went to the village as the Sword Hero, there's no way he would be able to gather truthful information from the villagers.
Usually, the ideal place to gather information when someone arrived at a town or a village would be the tavern. However, EMIYA deliberately avoided the place. The people there had probably remembered his face from the previous incident, and there's no guarantee that they would give him what he needed. Instead, he went to the next place where a lot of people would gather - the village square.
Arriving at the place, EMIYA felt even warier. The square didn't look anything like a place ravaged by a dragon; it was thriving with activities and conversations. And there were a lot of people gearing up in adventurer outfits. It was as if they were gathering here for some kind of event.
A hand grasped his shoulder from behind. He heard a slurred voice next to his ears as people started surrounding him.
"A new face, eh? Also here for the dragon, mate? You know, this is a place for adults, not for kids who wanna play heroes."
EMIYA didn't answer. He just shrugged the hand of the thug off his shoulder and walked away. With this kind of people, he knew better than to waste time with them. But the other man didn't want to let him go. Three other men immediately ran in front of the ex-Guardian, blocking his retreating way. At the same time, the thug from before, as well as two other men, advanced toward him from behind.
"Ay, you're not just gonna leave like that, eh? That sword you have there looks pretty good; It would be such a waste to leave it in the hand of a noob like you, so… how about giving it to us?"
EMIYA shot a glare at the arrogant thug. "You shouldn't do that if you know what's good for you."
The thug snarled. "Get him!"
Let's just say it took only five seconds to get the band of thugs running away crying for their mommies. EMIYA didn't even have to unsheathe the Legendary Sword on his back; the fight was just that effortless for him.
He sighed and turned away, only to meet another person walking toward him. Actually, saying that was a "person" would be a very big stretch. Even though it was obviously very rude, EMIYA couldn't call that person anything but a panda dressed in armor and walking on two legs.
"Very impressive show over there, handsome. Care to have a spar?"
When the panda started speaking, EMIYA realized the voice coming out was that of a woman. Her voice seemed much friendlier than that of those thugs from before, even though it still sounded very confident and strong, and she was giving him a smirk of interest. Based on the plate armor with a big chain across the chest area she was wearing, it was quite obvious she was a warrior – a mercenary, perhaps. EMIYA smiled slightly, and shook his head.
"No, thanks. I don't like fighting without a reason."
The panda girl chuckled. "What a shame. Fighting someone as strong as you would be a thrilling experience. Name is Larsazusa, by the way, but you can call me Larsa if you want."
She offered her hand, and EMIYA shook it. "Fujimaru Ritsuka. Nice to meet you." He introduced himself by the first name he could think about.
Larsa raised an eyebrow. "Strange name. Are you from Q'Ten Lo? Only that country has names like that."
Q'Ten Lo must be the equivalent of Japan in this world. "Something like that, yeah," EMIYA nodded. "By the way, do you know why so many adventurers are here? This place seems to be a strange place for an adventurer meeting, doesn't it?"
The panda girl blinked. "Hm? So you're not here for the dragon?"
"Those bastards from before also talked about a dragon," EMIYA noted. "I've never heard anything about that, though. I'm just here because I'm on my way to Zeltoble, and I need to buy some supplies."
Larsa shook his head. "That started about a few days ago. A rumor spread around that a Cardinal Hero was going to be here to slay a dragon, so of course a lot of adventurers would flock over here. Dragon bone and hide are some of the best and rarest materials used in forging and armor-making; someone wearing dragon scale armor and wielding weapons made of dragon bone is supposed to be invincible and possess the power of a hundred men. And a dragon's lair is said to hold a lot of invaluable treasures, too. But of course, normal adventurers have no chance against a dragon at all, no matter how many people they have, so when they hear about a Cardinal Hero coming here to slay it, of course they would flock over to see if they can get some leftovers after the Hero finishes with that dragon."
EMIYA smirked. "So you're here for that, too?"
Larsa laughed. "Well, if I had the time for that, then why not? But unfortunately, the Zeltoble Grand Tournament is going to start in three days, and I can't afford to stay here for long. I heard that this year even the Seven Star Axe Hero was going to join, so better prepare carefully if I want to win. Ten thousand gold coins is a much better reward than some mere dragon bones, you know. You're going to Zeltoble for that too, aren't you?"
"Well, who knows?" the ex-Guardian answered her with a grin. "Maybe we'll see each other again, in the tournament."
The panda girl laughed again. "Then I guess we're rivals now. You'd better not lose before you see me, handsome, because I'm so looking forward to fighting you. See ya, Fujimaru Ritsuka."
Then she walked away, waving at EMIYA flirtatiously in the process.
Being left alone, the Sword Hero walked around the village square for a while before starting his walk back to the village mansion. He had gathered a lot of useful information, and it seemed there was nothing else that he could get from this place anymore.
It seemed at least what the village leader said about having a dragon that they needed to slay was true. However, the reason they wanted that dragon to be killed was still unclear. From what he observed, it didn't look like the village was ravaged by the dragon at all. So why did the village lord need to lie to him about that? It must mean that he wanted to kill the dragon for another reason, something he couldn't afford to tell EMIYA, because he knew if he told the ex-Guardian, he would refuse to help immediately.
And the rumor about a Cardinal Hero going to be here to kill the dragon. EMIYA didn't think what Larsa told him was a lie; she's a weird one, but from their conversation, he could tell that she was sincere. She didn't have any reason to lie to him anyway; after all, they were just travelers who had just met each other for the first time. However, if that's the case, who would be the one spreading that rumor?
The "Cardinal Hero" mentioned in that rumor was probably the fake Shield Hero who they chased away before. However, that imposter must be an agent of the Church or the king sent to tarnish Naofumi's name, because EMIYA remembered quite clearly he said he was going to use his "demonic power". The Pope might look nice in appearance, but EMIYA knew that the Church hated the Shield Hero and demi-humans in general with a passion, and it's impossible to tell whether that holy man shared the same sentiment or not. And the king… well, everyone knew how much he despised Naofumi already. Maybe the village themselves spread that rumor in order to gather a lot of adventurers in this place, because the lord had just been trying to recruit that imposter to fight the dragon before. But if that's really the case, he still couldn't understand why they would do that; from what Larsa told him before, normal adventurers had no chance against a dragon. What did they need the adventurers around for?
Unless…
EMIYA's eyes suddenly widened at the thought. The theory he was thinking about sounded so hard to believe, but at the same time, it was so reasonable he couldn't find any way to deny it.
What if all of this was just a ploy?
His intention to go to Zeltoble wasn't something secret to the people in Castle Town. He had told some people, such as Erhard or Ecclesia, his intention to travel around to make allies, and it's entirely possible that some other people would know about it, too. And it's also entirely possible that the fake Shield Hero was not here by chance, but was actually assigned here to wait for him to arrive, and everything that happened at the inn was just an act to rope him into killing that dragon. Or getting killed while fighting that dragon. Or both.
He shook his head. Maybe it's just him being a paranoid nutjob who was around people like Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi for too long. Such a convoluted plan was absurd even for the most brilliant strategists.
Then again…
Erhard told him that the king was a genius strategist himself. He didn't know if the Church had someone smart enough to be able to think of a plan like this, but if what the blacksmith told him about how brilliant the King was as a strategist was right, then something like this wasn't going to be that farfetched.
And if that's the case, he must be ready. He's not going to satisfy them with his death that easily.
"SO, WHAT'S THE LESSON TODAY?"
"Never… huff… lose your head… huff… under… huff… any… situation…"
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! I CANNOT HEAR YOU!"
"NEVER… LOSE… YOUR HEAD… UNDER… ANY… ugh."
EMIYA sighed when Welt finally fainted from exhaustion. "Maybe fifty laps around the village were still too much for him. Farrie, please?"
The cleric shook her head. "You are the cruelest person ever existed in this world, sensei."
Finally, after fifteen minutes, Welt woke up. He looked half dead.
"Just… kill me…" he moaned in agony.
"So, have you learned your lesson?" EMIYA looked at Welt with a dangerously sweet smile on his face, and the boy let out a terrified "meep" in response.
"I think you should go easy on him a bit, Sir Sword Hero," Wotan, who was standing nearby watching the whole scene with a worried look, said nervously. "Aren't you going to fight a dragon tomorrow? If a member of your party falls over dead during the night, it will be a really big problem, you know."
The Sword Hero chuckled. "I guess you have a point. But you don't have to worry; it's just our normal training routine pushed up a little bit. He's not going to die from that."
The demi-human stared at him. "THAT is a normal training routine?!"
"Well, yeah," Tersia, standing next to him, nodded glumly. "Sensei is the biggest sadist I've ever seen in my life. Running laps around Castle Town everyday, swinging weapons thousands of times, and even mock battles against him without him holding anything back, we've all experienced. Near-death experiences are something we need to face almost everyday."
"How kind of you to mention that, Tersia. Maybe you should be the next one who takes part in Welt's training?" EMIYA smiled sweetly, earning him another "meep" of fear from the sword maiden.
The poor tiger demi-human looked mortified at that bit of information. The Sword Hero was not only a very skilled soldier, but also a ruthless drill sergeant. He shuddered thinking about a day when he would be put under the command of this monster of a man. He's probably gonna die within the first day.
"Speaking about which," EMIYA looked at Wotan, "tomorrow, you four and Berthold should go ahead to Zeltoble for his business first."
The tiger demi-human's eyes widened. "What? Aren't we going to assist you fighting that dragon?"
"The plan changed," EMIYA answered simply. "From what I heard, that dragon is very powerful and dangerous; going with a smaller team will minimize the casualties if that dragon suddenly decides to rampage around. Besides," suddenly he lowered his voice into a whisper before Wotan could open his mouth, "there's something fishy about this, and I need you guys to keep Berthold safe in case there's something happening to us. You four are the only people I can trust with this. Escort Berthold to Zeltoble first; it's just a few hours from here, isn't it? If nothing goes wrong, we'll rendezvous there."
Wotan was going to protest, but seeing EMIYA's face, he knew that the Sword Hero was serious. He was also a professional bodyguard, and he knew the kind of face the other man was showing him. There was something wrong happening, and as a bodyguard, he needed to take care of his new master in the best way possible. He nodded.
"I understand, sir. Then, please take care of yourself and your team."
A cloaked figure ran in the night. He moved very carefully, and occasionally he glanced around nervously, as if checking whether there was anyone following him.
His footsteps stopped in front of a small, dark alley at the far end of the village. After glancing around the last time, he dashed into the alley.
A voice came from the darkness of the place, a cold voice empty of any emotion. "Did anyone follow you?"
"Of course not, sir. I already checked very carefully," the cloaked figure shook his head. He lowered his hood, revealing the face of the Shield Hero imposter under it. "So, did I do well? Is my act satisfying enough?"
"You did well, indeed," the cold voice answered. "Your act was pretty convincing. Now the Sword Hero has been roped into killing that dragon, just as planned. You deserve a compliment."
"Really?" the imposter's voice turned giddy. "So where is my reward, sir? You promised that if I did well, the Church would reward me with things I wouldn't be able to imagine even in my wildest dreams! I nearly got my arm bisected for that! So what am I going to receive? Money? A fief? Or a position in the Church? Or…"
No one was able to hear what the last thing was, because the bastard's throat had been slitted before those words could even leave his mouth. He fell to the ground with a "thud", his eyes were blank and expressionless. The only sign of him ever being alive was the ghost of his last smile still etched on his face.
The Shadow who had just murdered the man without even a thought looked down at the corpse on the ground and said in the same cold voice from before, without any remorse.
"Farewell on your way to Heaven. The Church of the Three Heroes is going to remember your contribution to the greater goods."
"I think there's something weird about this, sensei."
Team EMIYA was on their way up the mountain. After saying farewell to Berthold and his four new bodyguards, they had departed since early dawn to avoid people following them. And right now, they were trekking on the small trail which the village leader told him that would lead to the dragon's lair.
EMIYA glanced at Farrie, who had just expressed her mind. "What's your opinion, Farrie?"
"The village leader said that the dragon was rampaging around, kidnapping children and destroying the village, didn't he?" the priestess pondered. "But if that's the case, there should be more signs of destruction here at least, as we're getting closer to its lair, shouldn't it? And yet, the village is booming with activities, and the forest and the mountain feel so quiet and serene. It didn't feel like the village was being terrorized at all. It… doesn't feel the same as what I felt in Lafan Village, with the lupine pack."
Just leave it to Farrie to always be the one who realizes the problem first.
"Are you saying that the villagers are lying to us?" Tersia stared at her friend. The priestess fidgeted nervously.
"I… didn't say that, but…"
"We haven't known if everything they told us were lies or not. There's at least one thing they told us the truth about, though."
The four children turned toward EMIYA. He wasn't looking at them. Instead, his eyes were focusing on something ahead.
"Which is…?" said Welt hesitantly. The Sword Hero answered him by pointing forward.
"The dragon. It's here."