"Trees, you say?" The mayor responded to Christa as she stares at her, the only person in their group who can see behind the dark.
Christa took a step forward, approaching the tree stumps with her every step. The villagers who are with them stared into each other while the mayor follows the girl in front. Doing so made the rest follow suit.
After reaching the right distance, the people along with the mayor finally sees a few of what Christa sees - Tree trunks that are left after their valuable part was cleaved by either an axe or other tools people use to cut woods.
The moment she saw it, the mayor already knew what was the cause.
"It's the damn illegal wood cutters again."
"There's more, mayor."
Christa responded to the mayor as she then asks her permission to allow her to use light for them to see. The mayor responded in approval and gives Christa the permission she needed. And so, using her flames, she lights up the area. Bright enough to reach the far corners of the darkness of the forest. Moreover, culled trees have increased their numbers as more of them gets exposed by Christa's flames.
"Seriously...?"
"There's so many of them."
"How far have they gone deep in the woods. Those illegal wood cutting bastards!"
The villagers spoke in an infuriating manner as they gaze at the horrible sight in front of them. While their attention was into the culled trees, Christa sees something that are lying alongside the tree stumps - Burned grass and other burned marks that are cluttered around the area where only trees have been cut, a few number of broken and dull looking weapons such as swords and spears are also lying on the ground.
Christa quickly pointed it out to everyone that each of them finally noticed. Shortly after, a group of villagers came with a news.
"Mayor! We've got a terrible news. The trees..."
"We know."
The mayor responded as she points her finger forward turning the group who arrived to look at what's in front of them.
"So they have messed things up here, too."
One by one, each group came and have gathered, each delivering the same news from the previous one, but was left speechless as the same thing they see from where they came from is also what's in front of them. But among all of them, one group came with something - A burned vampire boar's head.
"We found its body lying on the ground, it's skin was burned severely. And from the looks of it, it seems like it died by fire not too long ago." The man holding the head of the boar said as he shows everyone what he was holding with his two hands.
"Vampire boars and other creatures living here must've been disturbed and tried to fight them. Unfortunately, they must have ended up like this." The mayor responded to the man holding the head of the vampire boar.
Christa then cuts in and asks the mayor. "Hey, you said it was the wood cutters, right?"
"Yes. It was them that did this, those illegal wood cutters." The mayor responded to the black haired girl as she continues. "Those guys came out of nowhere cutting down trees without any permission at all. And they took almost all the trees which are in good shape, selling them illegally with their buyers at a high price."
The mayor slammed her fist on the tree beside her in frustration. "Those bastards...!"
Christa felt the mayor's anger with her words, perhaps there was more than just the illegal wood cutters ruining the woods where the monsters they hunt lives.
"It looks like something else had happened before that those wood cutters are involved."
"Yes. Those damn illegal wood cutters stole all the weapons that have been gathered in the storage room." The mayor replied to Christa. "Swords, spears, and bows. Those weapons are the ones we use to hunt vampire boars that we trade with things in the capital. Thanks to that, we can get the things we need, especially the materials for building a house for the people who are coming and moving here. But one day, those bastards arrived."
The day the illegal wood cutters decided to barged in in the village of Eisvel flashes back onto the mayor's eyes, it was only a few days ago when it happened. In the middle of the morning, when the burning sun was up in the cloudy sky, the unknown people came, suddenly wrecking havoc around the village. Destroying properties and such.
After taking a quick notice, the mayor gathered villagers to outnumber the people who seemed to be unarmed, thanks to their numbers, the villagers drove them away. Although they were succesful at driving the unknown crowd out of the village, the weapons that are stored in one storage room was stolen. It was then the mayor realized that the crowd who are wrecking havoc in the village were all but a distraction, giving the others the chance to steal the weapons away. And the weapons they use to hunt the beasts are now gone.
The next day aftee their weapons were taken, they decided to use the funds that the village gathered, and they were able to buy the same amount of weapons stolen from them to the sword maker in the kingdom of Reilaea.
On that same day, a few villagers were wandering around the woods, where they saw the people who stole the weapons in the village, seemingly taking their time cutting down wood. They immediately called the mayor and the rest of the villagers. And the confrontation between them and the people cutting wood began.
The villagers and the mayor overwhelmed the wood cutters once again. But ever since they found out that the crowd was actually an illegal group of wood cutters, those people kept coming back ever since. For days, the same thing happens, even until to the present.
"So that's why you bought weapons from the sword maker in capital, because those wood cutters stole the weapons you have." Christa spoke as the mayor's story of the past between them and the wood cutters ended.
"Yes. But those bastards are too stubborn, they never stop coming back even after we drive them away. They kept coming back, taking wood as they go." The mayor replied. "If this doesn't stop, this woods and creatures living in it will disappear. Especially the vampire boars. Worse, this woods might turn into a barren land."
"Well, if it's just driving them away completely, I should be able to do something about it."
"You will, Christa?"
"Yeah! I know a thing that will make them go away. So leave them to me." Christa grins. "For now, let's focus of getting all of us out of the woods safely. I don't think they'll let us pass easily, after all."
The villagers and the mayor were too absorbed at the wood cutters and the terrible sight in front of them that they forgot they were in the middle of the darkness deep in the woods, a territory of the vampire boars and other creatures.
And before they realized, vampire boars, wolves, cougars were surrounding them. All seemed to be growling in anger as the creatures slowly takes a few steps closer to the villagers.
"My fire must have attracted them, and it seemed like they were pissed." Christa spoke rather calmly and casually. "They must've thought that we might destroy their home like the wood cutters did."
"Shit! It's those damn wood cutters again!"
"We can't fight all of these beasts all at once. What should we do, mayor?!"
The villagers are starting to get worked up as they await the mayor for an answer. But just then, Christa speaks once again.
"You guys should be able to handle a few of the vampire boars, right? Then leave the rest and other creatures to me."
"That's dangerous!"
"It'll be all right." Christa confidently answers the villager. "Alright, let's go hunting!"
With that said, Christa leaps and goes to a distance away from the mayor and the villagers, in the area where trees have been cut. She makes her fire burn even more fiercely, getting most of the creatures attention on her.
"Come at me!"
The girl provokes, the creatures roared in anger, and the hunt finally begins. With the creatures running forward to Christa, their sharp claws, their fangs that can pierce deep and their charge that can pin their target. The vampire boars, wolves, and cougars attacked all at once, as if they are on a race which creature is going to get the head of the girl who provoked them. But in that instant, the creatures who are in front have started spilling out blood out of no where. Their eyes went blank as they fall on the ground with their lifeless bodies. The creatures behind them was rendered from moving forward after the ones in front have suddenly died.
They all look rather confused, seeing them suddenly spilling blood and fallin onto the ground without the girl even doing anything as she stood still in front of them. But what really happened was Christa sliced the creatures countless times, all in a split second. It was too fast that they couldn't see it.
However, instead of feeling threatened, the creatures only grows even more furious.
"Sorry, you guys are the ones who hunts at night in your territory but, this time you'll be the ones who will be hunted."
The creatures bellowed in agony and hatred, as if they understand the human mocking them face to face. And the creatures continued on their attacks agains't the lone Adventurer.
At the same time, the mayor and the villagers demonstrates their skill at hunting, fighting and slaying all the vampire who stayed and targeted them.
Their night hunt under the glowing moon went on and on, the blood of the creatures painted the ground in red, their swords of steel that shimmers from the moonlight was stained in blood, and the creatures shrieks in agony and pain with each strike the blades of the villagers pierced them.
After some time, the hunt and killing eventually ended. With that, some of the villagers who are tasked to bury the dead wolves and cougars deep enough so as to not cause another outbreak in the village, and with the other villagers carrying the boars back to back to the village along with Christa, by the time it all ended, the time was already passed midnight.