The three of us twitched in sheer anxiety and confusion when a fully-grown man presented in front of us with a bunny mask in his face.
"WAHAHAHA! Well done in finding the identity of the mask, slim boy! Also welcome, our departed brethren of the west!!! It has certainly been a while since I've seen one of your kind for years! It gives me back those tender memories, you know?!! Huhuhuhuh! *sniff*"
The large and obese-looking man started with a warm welcome and fell in a creepy weeping in seconds while halfway in his words. Seeing this situation unfold in front of us, we cannot help but stare at each other.
"HOOOOO… My name is Boitesy Dû Halcyon and I am the appointed head of this very village that you have just visited! I know we cannot offer much due to the stature of our people, but I hope that you enjoy your visitation here!"
The large man that is aptly named Boitesy bowed gently at us with his weird introduction while the bunny ears of his mask fell because of the inevitable pulls of the gravity.
We sat on the chairs prepared by the ragged man and we somehow calmly introduced ourselves at him. We told the story of how we knew about the troubles they are experiencing because of the monster, the request of his subordinate, and the current stature of the village.
"OH? Did you just say that you will help? Did you truly say that you will help?!! WAHHHHH- Wonderful! Fantastic! Simply divine!!! AHHH-" the boss shouted out of nowhere.
I-Is this guy mentally challenged, or something?
Fearing that terrific reaction, Malthur tugged the leather ends of my attire while trembling in his arms.
I might burst out in laughing because of the funny reaction that this git is presenting, but right now, I just cannot blame him-
Because right now, the boss danced around the room in a silly manner while shouting the same phrase- his creepy mask waving in his every movement.
Look, even Roy cannot maintain his defiant expression!
Ah- he's about to say something!
"E-Excuse me, Sir Halcyon! But we need a proper briefing about the n-nature of this monster we'll face…"
"HO? Briefing? I love those!!! AHAHAHA! -"
After raising his trembling right hand, Roy inquired the boss about the nature of the quest and in return, he quickly turned himself in front of us and spoke extremely closely to him:
"But, mind I ask if you already asked for my permission, first and foremost?"
Contrasted in his out-of-this-world and cheery demeanor, in an instant, the boss said those words in a piercingly-serious manner.
"Ofuuk!!!"
When I turned to Malthur, it was as if he's about to cry. Similarly, due to the close contact of their faces, Roy cannot speak too.
I guess we have no choice. So that our quest can have a sense of direction, even in an expense of my happy memories, I will ask him!
"Excuse me boss, but we don't have to dawdle with idle chitchats. The three of us came here in your village with a one and only motive and that is to help you eliminate this monster that terrorizes your village. So please, with all due respect, I do not think we have the leisure of the time to talk to you in a… well… distinguished manner!" I said in one breath.
But sharps! I messed up that last line of mine while staring in his bunny mask!
"HMMM? You are different, child. What was your name again if I may re-inquire?" shifting his line of sight to mine, the boss curiously asked.
"Oh, it is Astoria. Astoria Naeva Justocia, boss. But I would rather prefer being called as 'Tori'." I respectfully replied.
"Hmmm. Justocia, huh…" he pondered in his own.
…
…
…
"AH! JUSTOCIA?!! You mean… you mean-"
Suddenly, after giving it a little sink in his thoughts, the boss shot up in his stature and repeated my family name.
"ARE YOU THE DAUGHTER OF SAMSON?!" he finally said, his enthusiasm in his voice approaching in its climax.
"Y-Yes, sir… but… how do you know my Pops?" I asked out of my curiosity.
The boss finally sat with us again and gave a formal posture while sited in his high quality-looking chair.
"Ha? Are you jesting? Your father and I are comrades in our younger days! No wonder, I immediately sensed an aura of familiarity to your presence once you entered in my room!"
Well, would you look at that! This shady-looking man is acquainted with my Pops! What are the odds? Truly, this world is undoubtedly miniscule!
"Oh! This changes everything! Normally, if the three of you are just a bunch of rag-tags of swordsmen, I will not even bother trying to appeal for your help! But since you are acquainted with him, I will gladly accept your help!"
Hoi. You are somehow illogical here. Are you trying to say that you won't allow outsiders to help you even if your entire village is in peril? Just because we are coincidentally connected with my Pops, you are somehow willing to accept us now?
Perhaps, this man is mentally challenged, after all.
"Well then, as the three of you may know, indeed, our little village is being ravaged by an unforeseeable monster that rarely appears at broad daylight, but surely comes at midnight. Some unsuspecting victims reported their tragic encounter with this monster as something that is vicious, unforgiving, and cruel when interrupted in its sleep or hunt for its food. Oddly enough though, this monster will only eat crops and greenish vegetables- a plentiful produce of this village is known for and as a result, we are having a crisis on its midnight-to-midnight snatches."
Hmmm. Based on his wordy report, indeed, this monster is troublesome.
"Now then, if you are willing to participate the eviction of this monster, I will gladly accept your offer. There are no exact ways to surely capture this invisible monster as it is difficult to perceive and predict its movements, but we devised a plan to lure it quite easily without even hiring pesky adventurers and swordsfolk outside…"
That is why I tell you, your village is already suffering for a long time now and yet, it took you this long to actually acknowledge someone to ask for help!
"This plan… well, you see… it has something to do with the people outside related on their attire and well, my attire right now…"
*GASP*
The three of us gasped for air relentlessly when we heard his words.
Do not tell me- no, you must be joking.
The boss then signaled the ragged man to retrieve something and when he came back, the ragged man presented three objects in front of us and dropped it in our table.
"Here are the town mask that the villagers created amidst our hopes to lure this fearsome beast. I will leave your creative imagination as to what these mask might allude to, but these images are deemed to attract the said monster." The boss said, while pointing at the three mask lying in the table.
Even without using my 'creative imagination', I effortlessly found the images behind these mask.
An onion stalk mask.
A cat mask.
And a cooked chicken meat mask.
…
A-Are you expecting us to wear this?
"AH-!"
Suddenly, while still standing in a stiff and refined manner, the raggedy-man let-out a shocked expression.
"Hm? What's the matter, Cardamon?" hearing his utterance, the boss inquired the ragged man.
"Forgive me for misunderstanding but... these masks are actualy not for a silly festival right?" he asked, his sweat slowly falling in his forehead.
"Ha? Of course not! It is still early for our Mascara festival and just as I said earler, these masks are worn by the villagers in order to attract the monster!" Boss explained.
"Huh... so uh, all of you are not just playing around, huh? Like I..."
The ragged-man slowly fell in a strange realization in his words as his expression lowered in embarrassment.
If I will continue your phrase, you meant:
"All of you are not just playing around, like I suspected, huh?"
Ooof. I feel bad for you, raggedy-man.
"Hey, weird boss, are you expecting us to put this in our faces?" without warning, Malthur said my early sentiments in these masks.
"Well, yes! You will just simply patrol around the village while wearing those mask and when the monster finally arrived, the three of you will help us to exterminate it." he replied at the words of Malthur.
The three of us awkwardly took the masks and stared at them blankly while listening at the boss' words of encouragement.
Suddenly, the voice of Malthur shot up once again:
"If you don't mind me asking weird boss, what will be our compensation if we manage to capture this beast?"
"AH- Yes! Compensations! Of course you three will be well-compensated in this quest! Let us see, well, Evees as a reward is definitely out of the list since we are extremely devastated in the crisis thanks to this monster. We also cannot afford to give you our first-born children as your bride or groom! We love our children-"
What are you talking about?!
"Well, we have no choice! How about getting the half of our prized productions of sweet potatoes this month! I tell you, they are a real-getter this season!"
"We do not want that." x3
"What? Well I guess you leave me no choice!"
The boss sat in a relaxed manner and spoke quietly.
"How about I teach you the ways of your given swords as a compensation?" he said while placing his hands in the table.
"B-But- Sir Halcyon, how can you teach us some sword-related knowledge if you are coming from the Swordless faction?" Roy asked.
Well, true. He is correct.
"Haa??? Did you just say that, lad? Really, the kind of your breed should know a lot of your history!" boss said while raising his right eyebrow.
"If a person is a Swordless, it doesn't mean that they never used or handled a sword in the first place! Remember, even us Swordless became swordsfolk in the past!" he continued.
Are you now? You do not seem to look like it.
"Well, given the way I behave right now, I won't be shocked if you think that I am not cut out to educate you. In which I tell you, people nowadays should definitely not look at something or someone in their face-value!"
Boss then proceeded to remove his bunny mask and what emerged in front of us beneath it, was a smiling face.
"After all, I am also a Myrmidon in my time. Others called me: 'The Sword Hermit'!"
...
The three of us wore a face that explicitly spells an expression of 'Ha?'.
In this life, there will always be a group of people who will judge first than actually finding out the real essence of something. Nowadays, it is far more easy to say what you think than actually have the effort to stop and inspect that 'thing' you have stumbled upon.
I am part of these people.
The three of us- the newly-appointed Myrmidons, stared in disbelief and astonishment from the sudden reveal of the ridiculously-looking man in front of us.
This man… he is also a Myrmidon… just like us!
"Hmmm? What seems to be the matter? You still do not believe me in my words? Hah… I get that a lot…"
We looked at the Boss of this village for a long second and due to that, he uttered something in order to dispel the silence.
Without his strangely-looking mask, he is rather handsome in his looks as his face is ornamented with gentle-looking eyes that are tinged in white gray. His head is flowing with an ample volume of gray hair that swivels when he makes a minute movement.
Even with the sound in his confusion, he still wears that gentle-yet-bashful smile.
"Ah! Forgive us, Sir Halcyon! To be frank, I too did not believe that you are a Myrmidon in your past life." Roy said, stuttering.
"Hahhhh. Youths nowadays… they just love to see using their eyes than see with the 'essence'."
Essence? You mean the connection of a sword to its wielder? That essence?
"Very well then, in order to dissipate that cloud of skepticism in your minds, allow me to demonstrate of what I am as a Myrmidon!" he said majestically.
He stood up with a playful grin in his face and the ragged man- his subordinate, followed him.
"Well, come! Let us go to a private area to show you what I am truly capable of!"
We followed him in a large area of green pastures on his backyard. Thankfully, there are no villagers around as he suspected so he can show what he was talking about earlier in our introduction.
"You there, yes, the red-haired boy! Would you allow me to barrow that sword of yours?"
Oddly enough, the boss selected the Flamberge of Roy as a tool to present his prowess to us. Roy hesitated a bit, but it seems he gave away anyway after realizing the horror he had experienced from this man.
Wait a second… that sword. The Flamberge of Roy.
It is a sword that has an affinity to the fire element! Is he… is he going to use this sword to the green pastures?!
Hey, I need to say something!
"Hey, boss, I think using this sword-" I tried to tell the boss but…
"Psssssttt!!! The boss is about to present his otherworldly powers as a Myrmidon, so shush!!!"
I was reprimanded right away by the ragged man in my right when I was about to say my concerns.
Really, raggedy man? You are my client, right?
Well, there goes my attempt to stop catastrophes. I guess I could just watch how things will play out in this instant.
Thinking about it, he did say that he is a Myrmidon so, perhaps he can control the powers of Roy's Flamberge! Yes, that must be the case.
In the end, I just let my curiosity take the pedals and watched the boss in his presentation.
"Well then! Here it goes. Oh! So this is your sword eh, Redhead? Hmmm… so this one is an Espada, hmm? It has been a while since I got my hands in such a sword." Boss said as he rummaged his hands in the blade.
Pointing out the immediate classification of Roy's sword without a Balãni stone, huh? Hmm… perhaps this man is well-versed in swords after all…
"Let us see… ah! So you have two now in your disposal!" he then continued.
Huh? What two? What is he talking about?
"Hey Redhead, since when did you receive this sword?" he asked while facing Roy.
"Huh? Oh… for about two months, sir…" Roy answered.
"Hmmm… that makes sense. Very well, then! I will choose this one!"
Hearing him do his contextless monologue while handling a sword in front of us makes me want to sleep a bit.
Without a warning, he raised the Flamberge sword aloft the orange-tinged sky and bellowed a familiar set of words:
"I beckon thee: Ahura!!! Atash slash!"
The sword was enveloped in a familiar-looking flames tinged in white and exploded to heighten the tip of the sword itself. In his motion, he swung the sword downward and with the blazes of the sword (amplified by the gravity), the embers of the white flames touched the green pastures and enveloped itself into it. In summary, the pastures burned down in an instant because of the Flamberge sword.
No, that is incorrect, it is because of this 'Myrmidon' in front of us.
I believe that this is the perfect time to say the phrase 'I told you so' but, since I was cut off by the raggedy man, I will just let the opportunity pass.
"Oh no! Boss, I think this fire will consume the majority of the pastures if we do not act fast about it!!!" shocked in the effects of his Flamberge, Roy shouted at Boss with his outmost concern.
"Yah! I still got the flare! Hahahaha!!! Well? Do you acknowledge my swordsmanship now?" the boss said with an aura of triumph in his voice.
He stood there, posing with a big smile plastered in his face while the ragged man applauded him cheerfully.
"Wahhhh!!! As expected from the one-and-only boss!!!" he said as he intensified his claps.
"Now, now! Do not get too immersed to the spectacle of my display! I am a human being, after all. Ho-ho!" the boss said obnoxiously.
Right. Before taking this request, I made an impression in my mind that he will become troublesome when we will meet him. This scenario in front of us proves it!
First impressions last after all! They also prove the nature of a person!
The two of them smiled cheerfully in the face of the swirling sounds of the white flames that is slowly but surely approaching the entirety of the pastures. Suddenly, because of the rising sounds of the flames, the other villagers appeared in the vicinity of the place!
"Yahhhh!!! Fire!"
"Who could have done this tragedy?!"
"Oh, someone!!! Save us!"
Voices of terrified and startled villagers emerged in the pastures and made their best to stabilize the ever-growing white flames.
The three of us looked at each other in the stupidity and direness of the matter while the boss and his subordinate stood there, still looking and observing the unexpected tragedy unfold in their faces.
Suddenly, the boss shouted in the pasture enough for everyone to hear his words:
"EVERYONE! HERE ARE THE CULPRITS!!! THEY STARTED THIS FIRE!!!"
T-This idiot!!!
With the swiftness in our reflexes, both Malthur and I hit the head of the boss with the scabbards of our sword!