In the nameless rural village surrounded by sufficient needs—rich soil and untainted source of marine life—to live comfortably without relying on external intervention, around a hundred or so villagers were rounded up, their knees on the very ground they had treasured and protected.
"What should we do? It’s already been due, but you failed to meet the schedule to pay your taxes." A man in silver armor with engraved insignia depicting that of a [spire] with a protruding [cross] atop it looked at the village elder, whose expression was filled with apprehension and confusion.
"Wh-what’s the meaning of this?!" Mustering the courage to speak up, the village elder questioned the actions of the pillagers—whose uniforms carried a very known crest of House Othenwald.
It’s safe to say that they were soldiers of Othenwald County.
The leader of the pillagers scratched his head, unable to understand the village elder’s reaction. After all, should these peasants already struggle or beg for their lives?
"I don’t understand old man. I said pay up... unless you can handle the consequences."
Approaching the village elder, this man then unsheathed his blade and pointed it at the old man’s neck, which prompted reactions of horror and gasps from other villagers who only wanted to live ordinary lives.
However, the village elder steeled his resolve, unable to stand the oppression—even if his action was utterly foolish.
"We have already paid our dues, and... we do not belong to the territory of Count Othenwald! What you’re doing is illegal—it’s not different from those unprincipled bandits!"
It was then that the pillagers’ leader’s eyes suddenly lit up as if he finally realized the meaning behind the confusion drawn into the village elder’s face.
"Ah...? Did we make a mistake?" He momentarily turned his head to look at his companions, who only laughed it off due to his sarcastic tone.
Noticing the unusual reactions of these unwanted guests, the village elder and the villagers sensed something ominous, causing involuntary gulps as their expressions paled.
"Y-you band of thieves—!"
The words of realization of the village elder echoed. However, as unfortunate as it could be, those were his last.
His head fell and rolled, and a fountain of crimson blood spurted, tainting the precious land.
Screams of terror followed, and the panic instantly settled in the villagers’ hearts, consequently clouding their minds as everybody clumsily ran for their own lives.
The night then fell. The moon overshadowed the sun as the blanket of starry sky upturned the afternoon veil, and the river of blood eventually assimilated into the darkness.
The screams dissipated, the cries stopped, and only the breaths of exhausting soldiers pervaded the previously peaceful land.
Nobody was spared—elderly and children, male and female—as the bodies’ dismembered limbs were gathered to be burned, leaving the only trace of the once secluded life to oblivion.
"Captain, is this truly okay?"
In the midst of the celebration for securing goods, as everyone was satisfying their hunger, one of the captain’s trusted subordinates asked a pressing question.
"We have no choice... That son of a bitch Count that we served cut us off like a lizard’s tail..."
"Even with his overflowing resources and gold, that damn greedy fucker dares to...!"
The captain clenched his fists, knowing that they were merely playing at the hands of Count Othenwald, who severed numerous soldiers he deemed worthless just for the sake of saving one more bread and gold coin.
The subordinate remained silent as he continued to listen to the logical burst of emotion he, too, should have as an abandoned soldier.
"Count Othenwald knew that we would clean up the surrounding villages... that’s why he starved us up. The only difference is that we wouldn’t get paid for our work and that he would get our service for free... Damn it!"
Resonating with the captain, the subordinate chimed in, "If not for our families living in Othenwald County... We would have already defected to nearby territories..."
Then, as if remembering something, the subordinate added, "The former Eshu County’s ruler was known for his abundant generosity... But I wonder what happened to them now, to what remained of it, after being abandoned just to satisfy Count Othenwald’s sadistic nature."
These soldiers participated in the territorial war between Count Othenwald and the late Count of Eshu. Even though they were stationed in another front, the news of what happened to the heart of Eshu County reached their ears.
The captain casually responded, "They’re probably dead by now. If not from taking their own lives, then it’s from eating each other’s flesh just to survive."
The subordinate nodded in agreement before asking, "But what about Sir Rasmus? It seems he’s already dead. It’s been more than a month since he went separate ways from us."
The captain’s previous right-hand man, an ambitious and shrewd soldier, Rasmus—left to his own devices to pursue an opportunity.
"That deceitful bastard probably went to the Eshu County. Even with remaining soldiers stationed there, he could handle it, especially the morale of everybody in that place already hit the pits of hell..."
Just as the two continued to converse, a scream echoed within the nearby bushes, just outside the fragile wooden walls of the village.
"No, if it’s a monster, the land and water nearby would already have been contaminated..."
"But it’s a possibility."
As the other soldiers talked, the captain ordered a few men.
"You, and you... Check it. Those are children’s voices! Bring them here- no, just get rid of those annoying pests."
The 10 soldiers who received the order sprung into action without asking, though reluctance was felt in their footsteps.
Fully geared up from head to toe, numerous soldiers gradually vanished from their view.
After an indefinite amount of time, the same number of soldiers returned, some of their weapons filled with blood—perhaps from whatever and whoever they had encountered within the forest.
Entering the crowd of still celebrating men, as the soldiers settled down before being bombarded by questions, the harrowing scream again reverberated.
"Wh-what? Hey, I thought you already took care of it...?"
"What the hell happened?"
However, before these curious soldiers received the answers to their queries, they sensed their necks and chests simultaneously being pierced by the very weapons they considered their lives in the wilderness.
It happened so fast—the soldiers who returned from the bushes opened the visors of their armor helms, revealing new identities that they didn’t know.
Before they could scream or make any sounds that would signify they were being intruded, a man with a pair of cold amethyst eyes shouted wholeheartedly,
Disruption spread like a virus.
The captain of these pillagers, the former soldiers of Othenwald County, had his mind in turmoil at the sudden ensuing chaos from several different campfires.
However, before he could properly assess the situation, dozens of footsteps and numerous silhouettes jumped from the bushes and rushed forward with a calm demeanor—as though their only goal was to take vengeance for the previous inhabitants of this place.
Trying to regain his composure, the captain shouted, "Take up your weapons and defend! Assemble Formation O!
-until he sensed that there was something wrong with his balance.
Only for him to realize that one of his feet was already cut off.