The Village Chief was kind enough to bring their breakfast into their room. "It's the least I could do to our saviors," said old man Deen with a gentle smile on his face.
It was two pieces of stale bread and a glass of milk. The Chief was worried that he might offend the Magick Knights with such plain food, but Jules and Numa didn't mind at all. Both men were used to eating simple food like that.
"So, what is this 'Pallwyrm' that you talked about earlier?" asked Jules while munching his bread.
Numa took a sip of the milk and began his explanation. "My family and I live at the Southernmost territory of the Empire, in a small town called Ironwood, right at the border with the Kingdom of Caldris." He tore a piece of bread, soaked it in the milk, and started chewing. "In case you don't know, sir, the border between Arkhain and Caldris was a massive mountain range with dense and lush forest."
"I knew that one. The Elderwild forest, right," said Jules, already on his second piece of bread. "Isn't that forest full of mystical and dangerous creatures?"
"You are correct, sir," said Numa, still hadn't finished his first piece of bread. "That's why nobody dared to enter that forest. That being said, the monsters usually kept to themselves. As long as we don't enter their territory, they won't bare their fangs at us."
"Are you gonna eat that?" asked Jules, pointing toward Numa's second piece of bread. The young man shook his head. "Ok, thanks!"
"Anyway, the monsters rarely attacked humans unprovoked. There are, however, several monsters who would wander to our town from time to time. One of them is the Fog Giant. Well, we called them the Fog Giant, but its official name is Pallwyrm."
Jules drank the last drop of his milk. "Fog Giant? So it's a monster that only appears during fog?"
"No, sir. The fog is part of itself," explained Numa. "We don't know how, but a Pallwyrm could somehow cover an entire area with fog. It is its way to mark that territory as its hunting ground. And just like what we've seen yesterday, the fog also helped Pallwyrm hunt."
"They're already invisible, so why do they need to create fog?" asked Jules while rubbing his belly.
"If I'm not mistaken, my father said that it is actually the fog that allowed them to be invisible."
"I see. So if we could drag that monster out of the fog, it'll be easier to fight them?" Jules let out a mischievous smirk.
"Yes, Sir. I believe that was how my father and the other hunters in our town defeated the Pallwyrm," replied Numa. "But please be careful, sir. You saw that mummified hand, right? Pallwyrm doesn't eat its victims. It drains their life essence instead, leaving mummified corpses in their wake. So getting too close to them is incredibly dangerous."
"So, do you know what they look like?"
"Unfortunately, no, sir. I was just a little boy at the time, so I was away from the fight. But my father said that it looks like a tall, thin human, with four arms, two legs, and ashen skin. He didn't really like to talk about it because he lost a lot of friends in that fight. So that's all I know about the Pallwyrm."
"It's okay. Good job for noticing and remembering crucial about this monster." Jules felt proud of his new junior. He also felt proud of himself for noticing such a young and talented individual. "But man, what a nasty creature!"
"Indeed, sir. Nasty and dangerous."
Jules stood up and stretched his arms and shoulders. "Oh well, we'll find a way. And now, the order of business for today. As you know, the village Chief said that there are some people who wished to talk to us, and I also need to tell them about the monster, and some safety precaution when we eventually fight it." Jules scratched his head. "This means I won't be able to move around for a while. So can I leave it to you to go around this village and investigate this Pallwyrm?"
Numa stood up, put his right hand on his chest, and said, "Certainly, sir. You can count on me."
"Alright then, let's get to work."
By the time both of them entered the Chief's living room, about a dozen villagers already waiting there. Numa bid farewell to Jules and the Chief, and began his investigation.
"Sir Knight, please take this young man with you," said old man Deen to Numa. "He will show you around and answer any questions you might have about this village."
"I see, thank you, Chief. What's your name, boy?" asked Numa.
"Jean, sir Knight," answered the boy.
"Call me Numa. Now, show me the way to the field where you guys found the first victims."
"Yes, sir, uh, I mean, Numa, sir. This way."
The field in question was pretty close to the Chief's home. It was empty now, but according to Jean, when the monster attacked, this field was filled with wheat.
"Show me where you guys found the body."
Jean pointed to three different places on the field. The first one was on the left side of the field, under a big oak tree. The second one was near the center, and the last one was on the far-right side of the field.
"Was there any blood on the ground?"
"I believe two of the victims, the ones that were found on the left and right sides of the field didn't shed any blood. Just mummified," said Jean as he pointed to the two opposite sides of the field. "But the second one shed some blood. We found a rather deep wound on his chest."
Numa paused for a second. He felt as if something was watching him from the fog. Even the fog itself suddenly felt denser. But he had a job, so he brushed it off.
"Okay, was there any other victims?"
"Yes, sir, this way."
Jean took Numa to an abandoned house on the outskirt of the village. The wooden door was already shattered. The stone walls were covered in slashes. Numa touched the scarred walls and noticed that some slashes were deeper and longer than the other.
"Was the victim found inside the house?"
"One of them found outside the house, near that tree," he said, pointing towards the three in front of the house, "while the other one was found dead inside the house," explained Jean. "We believed she managed to run into the house to escape, but the monster sliced through the house until it could eventually reach her."
"No blood?"
"No, sir. Just mummified remains," answered Jean. He paused for a while and then asked, "Do you want to see the other places where the monster attacked?"
"Yeah, but before that, was there anybody who witness any of these attacks?"
"Actually, the old man who lived there," Jean pointed toward a house across the street, "he said he saw the two people here getting killed by the monster. Do you want to talk to him?"
"Yeah, let's go."
The two walked to the old man house. Jean was the one who knocked on the door. "Mr. Flint, a Magick Knight wants to talk to you about the Falin couple."
An old man, maybe about 70 years of age, opened the door. "What do you want?" he said with hoarse voice. He looked like a man who had lost everything and seemed to have given up on life.
"Excuse me, sir. My name is Numa. I'm a Magick Knight. Can I ask you a few questions about what you saw when the monster killed the two people across the street?"
The old man began to sob uncontrollably. His face was filled with fear. "Yes, I saw them. I saw them and I couldn't do anything to help them," his voice cracking, his whole-body trembling. "They were so good to me. Jim and Kate. But I was frozen. I was so scared that the monster would see me and kill me too. So I kept quiet and let it killed and devour those two." The old man fell to the ground. "Oh Gods, I'm sorry. I'm such a coward."
"Calm down, sir. Please take a deep breath." Numa held the old man by his shoulders. "I know it's hard, but I need you to answer something for me. Did you have a good look at that monster?
"No..no..no..!" he screamed. "It is a demon. A demon, I tell you. It was as tall as a house and its body is pitch black. It was a creature from nightmare." Mr. Flint gasped for air. "I was so scared. I looked away. I was afraid it would notice me. So I hide. But their scream. Jim and Kate's scream. I could still hear it in my head. Oh Gods, forgive me!!!"
"Sir, it was not a demon. That creature was called a Pallwyrm," said Numa, trying to be as calm as possible. "I know it's difficult, but sir, please remember, was there only one of them?"
"Ah..." the old man's eyes widened. He stopped sobbing, paused for a bit, and then said, "Now that you mentioned it, I did see two tall silhouettes that day. I thought my eyes played a trick on me, but maybe...."
"Ah, shit. I knew it." Numa instinctively let out a quiet curse. "Sir Jules won't be able to take them down by himself." He carefully helped the old man sit on the floor and said, "Thank you, sir. I'm sorry for making you remember about such a terrible thing." Numa quickly got up. "Jean, please stay with Mr. Flint until he calms down."
"Ok, sir. What about you?"
"I need to get to Sir Jules and tell him about-"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM
A loud explosion echoed from the direction of the Village Chief's house. Numa immediately ran to that direction. As he ran, he felt a little twitch on his head.
"Numa, this is Jules. Where are you? The monster attacked Chief's house." Jules' voice filled Numa's head.
"I'm on my way to you, sir," said Numa as he rushed toward the village Chief's house. "And, sir?"
"What? I'm busy right now!"
"There are two of them."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir."
Jules let out a big sigh, "....shit!"