When Hilda heard what Ren said she wanted to stop the fool, but seeing that determined face of his she knew that it would be impossible. She was sure that Lara would side with Ren no matter what his decision was. So knowing that it was useless, Hilda had no choice but to let Ren do what he wants to do.
"Fine, do whatever you want." Seeing the ever serious Hilda pouting made Ren chuckle, It was nice to see how cute she was being at the moment.
Ren didn't respond and simply chuckled as he headed towards the village. Of course Lara immediately followed, while Hilda had a face full of reluctance before she too followed.
...
Since it was already night time, the trek back down the mountain was a bit hard. Still the three had safely returned to the village entrance. The moment they returned they noticed that the village was eerily quiet.
Ren couldn't sense anything in the village, he then asked Silika.
"Silika is there anyone in the village?"
"No master, there is no one."
When Ren heard Silika's reply he was went into full alert. If Silika couldn't sense them, that would mean they all disappeared, or someone powerful was hiding them. Ren knew that the former is the most probable thing that happened, but he really wish that the latter was the one happening right now.
Still no matter how long the three of them stood there waiting for someone to appear no one came.
Hilda who was on hight alert, lowered her guard and spoke to Ren.
"So what do we do now? We can't ask the villagers anything, seeing as they aren't here. Do you still think we should do this by ourselves? Whoever is pulling the strings behind this operation, obviously knows that we know about the dead bodies, so whoever it is would most probably have something ready to deal with us."
Ren didn't bother to listen to Hilda since she was just saying things that he already knew. Instead Ren spoke with Silika.
"Silika can you increase the range of your search?" At his current state Ren could only search in a limited distance. So the fastest way is to let Silika do it, since her senses were better than his.
"I could, but I would need get a bit of blood from you master."
"It doesn't matter just do it."
When Ren agreed, the sword shape needles came out of his tattoo and once they were out they pierced into his skin. Silika took a bit of Ren's blood, which strengthened her. The moment Silika powered up a bit, her ability increased. She started to search the area, and found out that underneath the village elder's house mana was gathering.
"There's something going on, underneath the village elder's house. I'm sure the villagers are down there as well."
The moment Ren heard what Silika said he sprinted towards the village elder's house, seeing Ren suddenly moving the two girls with him followed as well.
...
"What's happening?" Hilda asked Ren, when they reached the village elder's house. Ren didn't reply and just kicked the door open. Seeing as Ren wasn't going to reply to her, Hilda was irritated, but making a scene now wasn't to her advantage. So she just sucked it up and followed Ren.
She didn't like this feeling that he was allowing Ren to do whatever he wanted, but at the same time she didn't think what he was doing was wrong. Even though Ren didn't say anything Hilda could pretty much guess what was happening. Still it would've been nice if he actually said something instead of just acting out and making her guess what's next.
The three entered the house, and headed straight to the basement.
...
Ren who was now in the basement saw nothing weird, but he could now somehow feel a fluctuation of mana gathering underneath the house.
"There is something going on underground. I need you two to search this room, and see if there is a switch, a lever, a secret path or something."
Silika turned into her human form and started to search for a way to go underground. Ren could've destroyed the floor with magic but if he did, some trap of sorts might activate, or he might make a mistake and accidentally crush his allies as well since the only earth spell he can use at the moment for this situation was [Crush] an earth spell that could literally crush the ground beneath him like a piece of paper. This spell was usually used to seal opponents, but if done properly it could be used in so many different ways.
Yet with Ren's current skill level in regards to earth magic, he wasn't able to use it properly. While he was thinking about what to do next, he heard something moving. A part of the floor opened up showing a staircase going down.
Hilda had found a switch, hidden inside one of the wooden boxes. Ren looked at her and spoke teasingly. "Good job Hilda, so you are good for something."
Before Hilda could reply in anger, Ren and Lara already headed down. Hilda's frustration was building up as she followed the two downward.
...
As Ren and company were about to learn the secrets of the village, in the western district, a boy wearing a cloak was passing by from street to street looking for something. This boy was none other than Alastair Saulon the one Ren defeated just recently.
He was in the western district trying to find the strongest assassin Gregory. After being defeated by Ren in such a humiliating way, one of the servants with him, headed to the main house to report the situation. Alastair was sure his family would do something to elevate his shame, but he in turn would be punished for the failure.
Still Alastair wanted to do something on his own, before his family intervenes. He wanted Ren, Valdel, and Lara dead. He wanted Ren dead because of the shame he bestowed upon him. He wanted Valdel dead because of all the attention he was gaining, even though he was nothing more than a commoner. Finally he wanted to Lara to die simply because he was related to the two.
Alastair's hate even extended towards the family members of the three. Once he finds out more information about them, and locates their family members he will ask his father to annihilate their families. Seeing as they're nothing more than commoners no one would notice or help them once they're gone.
While walking around the western district Alastair finally found the place he was looking for. He knocked on the building five times. He waited for a bit and someone asked.
"What is it you want?"
"I want a shadowy blade that I left here." Alastair responded with the password stating that he was a customer. After saying the password, the wooden door opened.
...
The inside of the building was just one room with two chairs a table, and a candle.
"Take a seat." From within the darkness somebody spoke, Alastair couldn't see nor sense the person who was talking, but still he took his seat.
"Who do you want to be killed?" Alastair then told Gregory everything he knew about Ren, Valdel, and Lara. When Gregory heard the description of the targets, he stopped Alastair from saying anymore.
"I cannot do this job. Let me give you some free advise, do not mess with these three. You might be the one and only heir of the house of Saulon, but even your family will not be able to save you from those three if you decide to mess with them."
Once Gregory was done saying what he wanted to say, the candle light was put out and the room was now in total darkness.
...
Alastair who left the western district was furious.
'What best assassin of the kingdom?! That was just a coward! He even dares to tell me a noble son what to do! Does he think he's the only assassin around? I'll just get another group to deal with my problem.'