“She was the Chief before me.”
“…What!?”
Eugene’s legs almost gave out from what he heard, “…How could that even be possible? She’s a barbarian!”
“…No,” the Chief let out a short sigh as he shook his head, “She was one of us.”
“W… what? But how could she–“
“Let’s go before they notice us. I will tell you all the details later,” Chief’s eyes did not leave Boss even for a second as he beckoned for his people to move out.
And soon, the Locals all left one by one, their faces filled with confusion. They thought that they would attack tonight and have readied themselves and even said their farewells to their wives and children. But now, they went back home prematurely, without even losing a sweat.
Of course, the one that held the most perplexed expression was Eugene, he hurried his steps, stirred by the Chief’s revelation.
***
Back in the Encampment, the stifled and nervous laugh of the man from the City whispered through the air. As none of his expected comrades rushed to his aid, his feet slowly backed away from the Prisoners and into the darkness.
“I… I am just checking if you people are living well,” he stuttered.
“Heh,” Grant could not help but let out a tiny chuckle as he cast an earth disc, quickly throwing it towards the man, “You’re not going anywhere, pretty!”
Rick, as well as Reed, also rushed towards the man. But as their attacks reached the man, they found themselves alone, their skills and spells attacking nothing but air.
“!!!”
“Where is he!?”
“Find him!”
The three scampered and turned their heads towards the darkness where the man came from, but then they all turned their heads behind them as they heard the noise of someone croaking.
Stuttered and loud gasps also entered their ears as they stared at their uninvited guest, which was now kneeling and groveling in front of Boss. And behind him, was Van.
“…”
“Ho…” Boss slightly leaned down to check on the man before looking at Van directly in the eyes, her large bosom swaying along with her body, “You’re really trying to get on my good side, aren’t you?” She said as she licked her lips.
“Solomon!” She then moved back as she called for Solomon.
“Ghk!”
The man, who still had no idea what happened to him, gritted his teeth in pain as Solomon carelessly grabbed him from the ground. He tried to struggle, but the more he did so, the more pain he felt.
“Judging by your clothes…” Boss trailed her fingers across the pained face of the man, “You must be from the City?”
“W… what!?” The man’s pained expression quickly disappeared, replaced by utmost confusion, “How… how can savages like you know of the City!?”
“…Seriously?” Boss burst out in laughter as soon as she heard the man’s words, “You come here without even knowing who I am? What are they feeding you in the City? And here I thought you guys finally had the guts to finish me off.”
Van, who was the closest to Boss besides Solomon, tried to lean in closer to hear what the two were talking about more clearly. But before he could do so, he felt a nudge on the side as Reed lightly pushed him back.
Reed then stood beside Boss, his eyes squinted as he looked down at Van. Van only scoffed in response before returning back to Nisha and the others.
“…Just how fast are you?”
And as soon as he got back to their side, Nisha couldn’t help but ask him a question. The first time she met him, he rushed towards her thinking she was an arachne because of how beautiful she is.
She wasn’t able to react that much then, but now… she couldn’t even see him move. It was like a blur or a sort of distortion or a speck of dust in her eyes.
“How fast?”
“Yes, how much is your AGI?”
“…I have no idea.” Van paused for a while before answering.
“I will tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
“…Okay.”
“I have 44,” Nisha whispered without any hesitation.
“I have… 45.”
“That’s obviously a lie!” Nisha could not help but twitch an eye from Van’s response, “I told you mine!”
“…Then I have no idea, it’s a question mark.”
“Ugh… I give up,” Nisha grunted before turning her attention back towards Boss and their uninvited guest.
“Now… what are we going to do with you?” Boss’ seductive voice and slightly coquettish tone whispered through the night as she continued to interrogate their guest.
“N… nothing! You will do nothing, you hear! Unhand me at once!” The man struggled to get away from Solomon’s grasp, but alas, the only thing he could do was budge Solomon’s fingers by an inch, “You seem to know about us… so you know how many of us are out there! We can destroy you in a single night!”
Once again, hearing the man’s words, Boss’ laughter echoed through the night, “Seriously? You really don’t know who I am… do you?”
Boss then slowly placed her palm towards the man’s head, covering his face entirely.
Feeling his whole face being grasped, the man could not help but let out a panic moan, “W… what are you doing!? What arg jui–“
Before the man could finish his words, his head quickly turned cherry, expanding and bloating through different places.
And then…
…It exploded.
Van could not help but blink a couple of times as he looked at Boss, who started laughing menacingly as the blood of the man showered on her face.
A Healer?
…What kind of Healer is this?
***
“So… who is she, Chief?”
Eugene and the rest of the Locals were now back in their village, with Eugene and the Chief hurriedly going inside the office to talk. The Chief seemed careful, checking every corner of the room and closing every window to ensure that nobody was listening in on them.
“…”
“…She was the Chief before me.”
After checking if everything was clear, the Chief started telling his story once more, “And as far as I am aware of, she was and is the only one of us that was sent inside the Wall for her crimes.”
“What!? Why… why didn’t they just kill her or locked her up inside the City!? When did all of this even happen!?”
“Hm…” The Chief beckoned for Eugene to sit down and calm himself, “All of these happened about 60 years ago,” The Chief said as he looked to nowhere, in particular, stroking his old white beard as he squinted his eyes.
“I am unclear of all the events that have happened. But the last Culling, she was the one that led it.” The Chief let out a long and deep sigh as his memories came back flooding into him, “I remember most of it, I was younger than you are now… But I clearly remember her face when she got back… she was different.”
“…Different?”
“Hm,” The Chief nodded, “Same as my father’s, who was also part of the Culling. She kept telling us that there was another world out there.”
“You mean… the White Gate?”
“Yes…” The Chief let out a long and deep sigh, “She, my father, and the other people part of the Culling rushed to the City not a week after.”
“The City… But we’re not allowed there!”
“She was the only one to come back here,” once again, the Chief let out a sorrowful sigh, “My father and the others were nowhere to be found. And she… Chief Latanya… was dragged back here in the Village with all of her limbs cut off.”
“!!!”
“I could still remember it clearly. They had her tied up, what remained of her limbs wriggled in the air… and they threw her to the other side of the Wall.”
“That…”
“The people from the City then told us that she and her group massacred some of the people in the city in a delusional rampage and that the barbarians in the Wall have infected them with sickness.”
“…”
“They said they all lost their minds… but before they threw Latanya to the Wall, she still kept repeating the same words she had been saying since she left…
…There’s another world out there.”
“…Is there?” Eugene could not help but gulp as he looked straight at the Chief’s faltering eyes.
The Chief, however, shook his head, “I do not know who to believe… and I have learned not to ask.”
“But… if the previous Chief is right and there is a world out there that we don’t know of… Doesn’t that mean that we can be free as well?”
Eugene let out a stuttered breath as he imagined a life away from the Village. This was all he knew, but he had heard of tales and stories from the City… he heard stories of the Adventurers, how they go on quests. He had even heard that there were other Cities out there, one larger than the next.
And if there really is an ever more vast world out there, he wanted to see it. The Cities were as much a myth to him as the world inside the Gate.
“Maybe… we can make a–“
“Do you want the City to kill you with that nonsense!?” The Chief stomped his foot on the mud floor, creating small cracks on it, “With how fast they knew of our rescue operation, they obviously have someone here in the Village.”
“That… Wait, if there is then…” Eugene widened his eyes as he looked at the Chief, “Wouldn’t they know that we left one of them for dead inside the Wall!?”
Hearing Eugene’s words, the Chief could not help but let out a long and sordid sigh as he sat back in his chair. “…Yes, he said, “The responsibility would all be mine. I did what I thought was best for us, and that was to not antagonize the previous Chief… I just hope the City could see that as well. If not…
…Then even if you are not ready, you will have to replace me as the new Chief.”
***
Back to the Encampment, the Prisoners all went on their ways after Boss anticlimactically killed their uninvited guest. They thought they would be able to see a fun show, but alas, it ended before it even began.
Van was now staring at the corpse of the unnamed man and poking it. But no matter how much he moved it, a Soul could not be found– just like with the other Locals.
So… what was it then?
Do the Locals have no Soul? Or does he need to be the one to kill them? He wanted to be the one to kill the man, but alas, everything happened so fast.
“…What a waste,” Van whispered.
“Boy… oi… Van! Boy!”
“Hm?”
“I have been calling you for a minute now, why are you playing around with the corpse!?”
Van quickly stood up as Boss stomped her way towards him, her bosom once again swaying in the air as if they had a life of their own.
“Come with me, I have something I need to talk with you about,” Boss said as she stood right in front of Van.
“…I am too young for this,” Van monotonously said as Boss’ huge bosoms jiggled directly in front of him.
“…Not that!” Boss lightly snarled as she looked at Van, “Follow me. Reed, clean up this mess with Solomon.”
“But, Boss–“
Reed, who was about to follow the two, could not help but let out a tone of frustration as Boss told her to stay.
“This is private,” Boss said before turning around and walking away, not even giving another glance back at Reed.
“O… okay.”
Reed could only bite his lip as he stared at Boss’ back, he then turned his eyes towards Van, who was looking at him while shrugging his shoulders.
“Kakaka. Guess you’re being replaced, ladyboy.” Grant, who saw everything unfold from the side, let out a cackle as he patted Reed’s back a couple of times.
“Get your hands off me, you maniac.”
“Oho… and here I was…
…about to offer you my help.”
