They positioned themselves on the ground within the warm, dim room, its interior supported by the faint glow of a single burning candle at the center. The terrified expressions on his wife and daughter's faces were enough for Jurgen to understand how severe the situation was.
"So I believe you've been brief before coming."
"Yes, we have."
The man exhaled deeply before continuing.
"So uh—we've been plagued by these criminals for quite some time now. They attack our village, take our foodstuffs, our clothings, and our women… they—they…"
His words faltered before he could finish. Tears streamed down his face as he glanced slightly at his wife, who cowered beside their daughter. Jurgen did not need to hear the rest to understand what he had meant to say.
"I don't know if you children can handle this bu—"
Before he could complete the sentence, Jurgen stood up. He had only needed a clearer understanding of the gravity they were facing before assessing the village further, which was why he had chosen to knock in the first place. More importantly, he had little interest in listening further to someone who was already on the verge of underestimating them, whether knowingly or not.
"Let's go," he ordered the others.
Outside, the night had grown darker, and the mist had thickened as it spread across the entire village, making visibility increasingly difficult.
Juergen paused briefly before turning and walking toward what appeared to be the outskirts. The others followed close behind, their attention shifting from left to right as they assessed their surroundings.
"Why are we heading to the outskirts?" Nguyen asked, peering deeper into the mist.
He could not shake the feeling that it was alive, and that they were moving toward what seemed to be its source.
"If you were a thief, and you intended to steal from someone's home… where would you normally go through?" Jurgen inquired.
"I don't know… I'm not a thief," Nguyen replied, his voice carrying a certain awkward foolishness, his brow adjusting slightly as he spoke with visible confusion.
"The back, you idiot," Arrow snapped in a lowered whisper.
Nguyen gave a reluctant hum, as though forcing himself into agreement. He wondered if he had said something foolish, and a faint hiss escaped him as he exaggerated the movement of his mouth.
Bubbles remained between the two as they walked, following Jurgen with a calm restraint, choosing not to involve himself in their exchange.
Jurgen's voice reached him as he looked back over his shoulder.
"Fatty, I'm gonna need that assist sooner or later."
Bubbles gave a sharp nod in response. He understood what Jurgen meant without needing further explanation, though a quiet doubt still lingered within him.
After a short stretch of silence, Nyugen spoke again.
"Psst… angry face."
"It's Jurgen… Vermin," Jurgen replied, his tone firm and carried with quiet authority.
Nguyen hissed once more, leaning back slightly before folding his arms like a displeased child.
"You never shut up, do you?" Arrow said, offering him a brief, annoyed glance.
"What?!"
They eventually arrived at the outskirts. Wooden fences marked the boundary of the village, and their attention shifted from the wide, open space that surrounded it to the dense line of trees ahead. The trees aligned evenly on both sides, stretching far enough that they obscured any view beyond.
Jurgen felt a quiet unease as he stared into the trees. After a brief moment, he gestured with one hand, pointing both left and right toward the fences.
Arrow and Nyugen understood immediately and moved without hesitation, each taking position.
Jurgen advanced alone. His eyes narrowed as he strained to see into the forest, as though he had noticed something within it, though he could not clearly discern what it was. An oppressive silence settled over the area, broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves, a stillness that seemed to sharpen his awareness of every movement around him.
He was pulled from his focus by Bubbles' trembling voice calling from behind, uncertain of where to go or what to do. The disbelief showed plainly on Jurgen's face as he gestured sharply for him to follow either Nyugen or Arrow.
He had not finished directing Bubbles when a spear suddenly tore out from the forest with a harsh, piercing sound.
He snapped his head back at the sound, his eyes locking onto the spear as he tracked its path. With a slight tilt of his neck, he shifted just enough to evade the deadly shaft. He pushed himself sideways and toward the rear with controlled force before coming to a halt.
The spear tore through the mist and whistled past Bubbles, who had been slightly off to the side behind Jurgen. If he had been aligned directly behind him, he would have lost his life.
As the spear struck the ground behind him, Bubbles broke into a heavy run, fear threading through his entire being as he moved to take position where Arrow hid.
The moment he reached it, a laugh came from within the trees, almost ethereal in quality. A man stepped forward from the forest, stopping just before crossing the boundary marked by the tree roots. The bright moonlight revealed a strange blue mark etched across his face, with a soft beard resting along the line of his jaw.
Behind him, countless eyes emerged from the shadows before the figures gradually stepped into the light. It became clear that they were reinforcements.
"What?… they're just kids. I thought Mercedes was wiser than this."
Another soft laugh followed, spreading through the others behind him.
Jurgen hissed quietly as he scanned them with caution. He had expected numbers, but not this many. Even the mist seemed to thicken further with their arrival.
A low scoff came from him as he locked eyes with the man.
"I guess you're the leader huh?" Jurgen asked.
He felt a different kind of pressure he had not experienced before, the pressure that came with facing reality itself, the recognition of a genuinely dangerous situation, similar to someone inexperienced being exposed to something entirely new and immediate.
"Doesn't take much to deduce, does it? The name's Thorner."
Jurgen could sense the impatience building in Nguyen, his body shifting slightly as though he intended to intervene, but stopping himself since doing so risked revealing their location.
He could only grind his teeth together as sweat trickled from his temple.
"Why not tell your comrades to come out." Thorner's voice carried certainty, edged with arrogance.
Jurgen's breath caught at the statement as he struggled to conceal his shock. It seemed impossible that Thorner had noticed them behind the fence. Still, he considered the possibility that they might have been seen when he instructed them to hide within the forest, although at that time he had not sensed their presence.
"What comrades are you talking about?" his voice wavered slightly.
Now his only intention was to stall, but even he understood that his pretense was a futile attempt.