2 Days ago, inside the Village of Demiria—
"You can place that one there." A man wearing black clothing was ordering a group of men who were carrying wooden logs.
Infront of them was an incomplete structure of a house, with only a few cobblestone walls and wooden stick attached in it. The man in black clothing seems to be the leader or the man in charge of the construction, while the group of men who were carrying logs were the workers.
One of the worker in that place was Hargal, Syla's father. After Demiria grew into a proper village, almost every of their supply was imported from Direwell, they've given them food and many more necessities that they wouldn't have gotten in the past, and because of that, Hargal and the rest of the hunting squad felt there was no longer any reason for the hunting squad to exist.
Their retirement also influenced by the spike of visits from adventurers who were interested with their village, be it to enter the cave mine or to search for monsters that they can sell at the adventurer's guild.
In the past, the hunting squad was the only group that handled the village's protection, but now, there's more than 30 people who vowed to be Demiria's guardian.
One by one, the members of the hunting squad left and they began to work together with the new residents of the village, Hargal decided to help with the house construction, while his other friends went onto became the village's guard.
At that time, the sun was about to set, and Hargal, having worked from sunrise, was finally allowed to go home, he bid goodbyes to his work colleagues and boss before heading home, where he would be greeted by his wife.
.
.
Creakk!
"Im back." Hargal said as he opened the front door of his house.
"Ah, welcome back." His wife Yulia greeted Hargal back with a smile, she was cleaning the bookshelf in the living room when he entered. "I already filled the bathtub with water, you should wash yourself before dinner."
"Thank you Yulia." Hargal said, almost forgetting the fact that he was sweating from head to toe.
Hargal then walked into the living room, planning to go to the back of their house to wash himself when his wife suddenly spoke when she was right beside him.
"It's quiet isn't it, no one will read these books anymore." She said as she stared into the dozens of neatly placed books in the shelves.
"You're still on it?" Hargal responded before falling into silence. "—Yeah you're right.. But i don't think it'll be the last time those books will be read, who knows, maybe in the distant future, another child might see those countless books and said 'I want to read it'– Again."
Hargal then continued his walk, passing by Yulia as they remembered their wandering daughter.
"Mhm, i think so too.." Yulia whispered after Hargal left.
But knowing demihumans, he most likely heard it from the back of the house.
.
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Tomorrow, 11:00AM—
Hargal was at the construction site from yesterday, carrying large wood logs which he then placed at the place where it was gathered in a pile, ready to be cut into smooth rectangles.
"Don't forget to check if there's woodworms in it!" The same man in black clothing from yesterday was seen standing sternly at the side of the pile of logs.
He was holding a few sheets of paper and is analyzing the house structure, if it were just a bit off from what the paper says, then it'd be a failure.
Thankfully, Hargal's job was only ro bring the newly cut logs to the construction site, he didn't took part in the building itself.
And after an hour of repeating the same process over and over again, it was time for a short break. Hargal sat behind the partly completed walls, hiding himself from the sun along with the other workers who had thought the same, some of them ate their lunch, some played games with each other, and others.. Took a short nap.
While Hargal was in the middle of his break, he suddenly saw a bunch of people gathering at a spot on the side of the street, they seemed to be looking at something, and Hargal, being a demihuman with enhanced hearing, could hear the chant of a merchant offering for goods to the crowds.
"Oh? There's a merchant there, do you want to take a look?" One of the worker beside Hargal spoke to him, inviting him to see what the merchant was selling.
"Not that interested.. I think i'll pass." Hargal said, he initially refused, but when he accidentally heard what the merchant said next, he suddenly stood up in shock.
"I also bring you the latest news from Direwell!" The merchant said in the distance. "Did you know? two days ago.. The mayor of Direwell gave every adventurer in his town an urgent quest, it turns out, there was a series of kidnapping that has been a series of missing person over the past few days, and they were unable to capture the kidnapper!—
"And from what i could gather, this kidnapper was trying to sell his captives into the slave market, and do you know what happened next?—
"The criminal was caught by a demihuman, and not to mention she was a girl!"
"What!?.." Hargal's eyes quickly opened as wide as he could.
"Oh man.. You really never knew who's strong or weak in this world.." The man beside him said.
"Hey, let's go meet that merchant.." Hargal said to his colleague.
"Huh? But you said you don't want to?" The man was confused by Hargal's sudden change of heart.
"Just shut up and follow me." Hargal then forcefully grabbed the man's hand and pulled him towards the merchant as he walked.
'Syla– she was heading towards Direwell at that time.. And the time of that incident was after her arrival.. Is she okay!?' Hargal thought, worried for the life of his daughter.
The two of them arrived at the merchant, however they were blocked by the crowds who was trying to buy the stuff that he was selling, steel sword in good condition, clothes that looked fancy yet cheap, jewelry that shines brightly, and even fruits that the people of Demiria never seen before.
"Sir! I'll take this necklace!" A random woman said as she grabbed the necklace that was being displayed.
"I'll take this shirt!"
"How much for this ring!?"
"How much for the steel sword!?"
"What kind of fruit is this!?"
Questions after questions was being throw at the merchant nonstop, the amount of buyer was way too many for him, and within just 10 minutes, all of his items were sold out.
Hundreds of coins were being thrown into him, and at the end, he ended up with 152 Silvers and 80 coppers. That's 160 Silvers combined and 16 Gold Coins if converted.
Once every one of his customers had left his temporary stall, the merchant was met with the last two, which is Hargal and his colleague. The merchant looked at the two demihuman and was confused as to why they were still standing infront of him.
"Sorry, but its all sold out." The merchant said.
"Can you tell me more about what happened in Direwell." Hargal said with a stern face.
"Huh?" The merchant didn't quite heard what Hargal said, but after focusing for a few more seconds, he soon understood what he was saying and smirked. "Well, are you interested? I do know more, but that'll cost you money."
"How much?" Hargal instantly replied.
"Heh, no hesitation huh.. I guess you're intrigued– Then how about 5 silvers?" The merchant half-jokingly said.
'Let's see what you do next.' He thought.
And just as the merchant had predicted, Hargal accepted his price and he grabbed exactly 5 silvers from his pocket, that silvers was supposed to be his allowance for the day, however he clearly had bigger priorities in his mind than buying food.
"A- ahh, well.. Thank you good sir." The merchant smiled as he took the payment and stored it inside his pocket. "Well, what do you want to know?"
'This guy is way too easy!'
"Do you know who got kidnapped by that criminal?" Hargal asked.
"Hey Hargal, is there something you need to know? I don't think spending 5 silvers on an information is worth it.." His colleagues said while steadily watching.
"Hmm, i remembered there was 7 people that were found in the criminal's base, 4 of them was an adventurer while the other 3 was a normal civilian." The merchant said while rubbing his chin.
"Is one of the adventurers a demihuman?" Hargal asked again.
"Hmm– Ah, i remember it now, yes, one of them was a demihuman, and that demihuman was also the one that managed to capture the criminal, it seems like she managed to break free and fought with the criminal." The merchant answered.
"Then.. Do you know who that demihuman is!?" Hargal asked yet again.
"Calm down now, aren't you asking a bit too much?" The merchant was a bit hesitant to answer since Hargal had been asking too many questions. "–Well, now don't give me that look.. Im not sure either, i wasn't at the location at that time, but i do have a friend that was there, and he was also the one that gave me all of this info– I remembered he said the demihuman that was found inside the criminal's base was a girl– And she has white hair i think, ah and she's also naked when they found her, although she was immediately rescued."
"WHAT!?" Hargal abruptly screamed upon hearing the merchant's words.