"[Einfeld] was one of the most beautiful towns of the [Cinfreid] region. However, once a massive clan of nomadic Ogre settled by the town's borders, the place was ravaged by constant raids and pillaging. The local militia was defeated in a matter of days and to this day, the Ogres still remain, draining the place of it's resources until there is nothing left." Explained Franciska to Kaito, "So don't expect the same comfort as [Havirn]. Normally, these kinds of places would be avoided, but with such a big target on my head, we have to take a risk. Uh, Kaito?"
"Franciska, I appreciate the information." Replied Kaito, "But could you have told me this AFTER we got on this carriage?"
As Kaito said this, the entire carriage jerked upwards, as Kaito nearly fell over for the nth time.
"Where my ass didn't hurt so much that I'd actually pay attention?" Kaito finished, his voice wobbling from the shaking.
"Just get used to it." Replied Franciska, not even buffered by the sheer amount of shaking inside the carriage.
As the two looked out the window, small village houses started to appear one by one.
"Hey look, I think we're getting close." Said Kaito, "Fran? Is everything alright?"
Franciska, on the other hand, stared at the passing landscape with visible confusion.
"The lands here should have been razed clean by Ogres. How are they flourishing so well?" Asked Franciska.
As the luscious wheat fields became more and more prominent, Kaito took out this phone, quickly snapping a picture, his face full of wonder. However, in doing so, Franciska jolted back in shock.
"Kya! What is that thing?" Asked the young girl.
"Oh this? This is what we call a smartphone." Kaito replied, showing the piece of modern technology, "Almost every average citizen back in my world owns one."
Immediately, Franciska snatched the phone out of his hand like a curious child, examining it with intrigue.
"What an odd glass panel. It weights next to nothing, yet I'm still struggling to find the uses of this contraption." She said, looking at the device, examining it from all sides.
Kaito, finding her curiosity pretty cute, decided to give her some much needed directions.
"You're still in camera mode, Fran" Explained Kaito, "Say, point the at me, place two fingers on the screen and spread them."
Confused, Franciska pointed the "phone" at Kaito, following his directives. Her face then immediately lit up with amazement.
"Amazing, it's like a telescope! I can see you even closer now!" Said Franciska.
"That's but a mere smidgen of what this device is capable of." Said Kaito, leaning next to her, "Here, press that icon over there."
Upon pressing, Franciska nearly dropped the phone out of shock.
"Eh!? the Phone suddenly became a mirror!?" Exclaimed Franciska.
"And if we just press this red button, it will start recording." Kaito continued to explain, like here, see how I'm waving my hand?"
Kaito then demonstrated the camera's video feature.
"W-W-W-What is this!? That's me! that's you! You're telling me this mirror can use [Time Seer]?!" Exclaimed Franciska, "No no no, this is absurd, that spell can only be achieved by the of the strongest [Scalefolk] mages!"
"Amazing, isn't it, Fran?" Asked Kaito, "This is the power mankind can achieve given the time."
Franciska looked at Kaito with great interest, as she started to bombard him with questions.
"How does this work? What kind of magic powers it? how do you make these? How many can you..."
"We're here." A voice cut her off.
The two passengers turned to their right to see the carriage drive standing by their carriage's open door.
"We're here, this is your stop." The driver repeated, "Now please step out and pay, you two have been in there for 5 minutes already."
"S-Sorry." The two solemnly apologized, forced to pay 5 extra bronze pieces.
"So, this is [Einfeld]?" Asked Kaito, "I don't know what you were talking about this place, nothing so far looks ransacked. Sure, it's a noticeable downgrade to [Havirn], but I wouldn't call this place rundown by any stretch."
Franciska looked around, dumbfounded by what she was seeing.
"This isn't right. At this time of year, There should be signs of Ogre attacks still freshly prominent all over the place. Why? Why does this place look like they just had the most successful harvest in [Cinfreid]?" She said to herself.
"Hey look, there's even a Tavern." Said Kaito, pointing at a small building only a few feet away, "I dunno about you, that bumpy carriage ride sure gave my stomach some empty space, come, let's grab a bite."
"O-Okay..." Said Franciska, still confused at the state of the town.
Inside the Tavern, everyone was much louder and more lively than the tavern at [Harvirn]. Despite the town being mostly human ran, passing adventurers still took up about 20% of the partying crowd.
"Wow, people in this town seems really happy." Said Kaito, "A far cry from the miserable squabble you described this place to be. Fran? Franciska?"
Turning around, he noticed that Franciska wasn't there.
"Fran?"
Back outside, Franciska walked around town to investigate. To her, the idea that [Einfeld] was so suddenly freed from the clutches of the Ogres was simply unimaginable. The encampment of Ogres in the area was big enough to make it's extermination job an A in the danger rating, similar to that of a Griffin, yet there she was, in the same town, but Ogre free.
Looking around, the denizens looked especially cheerful, as if the Ogre's extermination was a recent event, which made the entire situation even more intriguing and baffling. Finally, she found a group that seemed relatively free.
"Excuse me, I'm an traveling merchant that found herself here, tell me, wasn't this place Ogre infested at one point?" Asked Franciska.
"Why yes it was milady." Replied the person, "In fact, just a little over a week ago, we were dreading this year's harvest, as the crops were so bountiful, we were expecting an all out attack. Just then, like guardian angel, 4 unknown adventurers came from the east and wiped out the entire encampment in the span of one night."
"What!?" Franciska exclaimed.
"Yes! It was hard to believe it ourselves! They claim to be part of a kingdom called Japen or Nipen or something, I'm terrible with names, but either way, they saved this town and we are forever indebted to them." Explained the man.
"Japen? That place sounds familiar somehow." Franciska muttered to herself, "So, where are they now?"
"They're staying at the town inn. We implored them to come celebrate with us, but they keep insisting that they need to "report this event back to headquarters" or something." The man continued.
"Headquarters?" She asked, "Are they part of a guild then?"
"Beats me." Replied the man, walking off.
"Headquarters... who could they be?" Thought Franciska.
"Yo! Fran!" Kaito called in the distance, "There you are, I've been looking all over for you!" Exclaimed Kaito from a distance.
"Kaito." Franciska replied, running up to him.
"Hey, Franciska, I managed to book an inn for the night, come, let's get going." Said Kaito.
"Uh, okay..." Replied Franciska, still caught up on what that man said to him.
On their way to the inn, Kaito decided to bring up what Franciska had told him prior to all this.
"So, Fran, about this town." He said, "Not sure what kind of terrible experiences you had here to make you hate this place so much, but I think it's a rather nice place."
"Yeah, it's nice now, but that's only because of recent events." Replied Franciska, "Apparently, some heroes came along and defeated all the trolls just a week ago."
"Oh really? Must be some very strong adventurers then." Replied Kaito.
"They were." Said Franciska, "And apparently, they were an organized group too."
"Well, I really hope we don't make enemies with whoever they are. I'm nearly out of ammo after our run-in with [Dagger]." Said Kaito, as they found their way at the inn.
"Yeah..." Franciska, thinking about what the man just said, "Hopefully."
Meanwhile, on the edge of town, the farmers had just finished unloading another cart full of hay bales. Giving the pile a look of pride, the farmer was filled with hope that, soon enough, [Einfeld] could return to it's former glory.
Just then, he heard rustling behind him. Weirded out, he picked up his pitchfork, advancing towards where he heard the noise. However, he didn't see much, as the sound came from a patch of wheat still unharvested.
Thinking it must've been a stray dog, the farmer decided to return to this stack of hay, ready to be transported off. Just then, back where he left his pile of harvest, the squeal of a dying animal was heard.
Startled, the farmer rushed to his cart, only to find it tipped over, and the [Ebony Mule] that was pulling it dead with several bites taken out of it. The farmer's hands trembled, terrified at the sight, as he quickly ran towards the town.
Just then, a dark shadow loomed over him, as, like a deer caught in headlights, he froze in fear. He didn't even need to turn around to know what was behind him. The stench of mud and sweat, the fresh smell of blood, the sound growls all gave away the identity of the monster that was behind him.
Just as his hopes for his town had returned, they vanished once more as the cold splash of reality dragged him back from his ecstatic high. Just then, the shadow, vaguely man shaped, raised it's right arm, revealing a massive wooden club.
The poor farmer didn't even get a chance to let out a scream or a cry for help, as his head was split open by a thunderous crack, and his body collapsed, limp. Standing before the farmer's corpse was a massive, blue skinned beast. It picked up the farmer's corpse, taking a bite out of it like a ripe apple, before tossing it's remains into the hay stack, and letting out a roar.
The Ogres were not done yet. On that night, they will stage one final charge and pick the village clean to it's last drop of water and piece of grain.