I had a very strange and very long dream. It was as if I was awake and asleep at the same time.
At first, I felt like I wasn't acting like myself, but that didn't last long.
After a while, the "me" in the dream felt very much like me, although she did not go to play with the village children and instead just walked around the streets.
Then people I didn't know appeared. One was a beautiful female knight while the other was a man with a very scruffy beard.
The knight's name was Olivia and the man's name was Teo. They seemed like good people.
We had a little chat and then "I" started asking them questions.
Finally, my mother walked through the door and brought us bad news. Something bad had happened, she was scared.
The last thing I remember is that she hugged me before the "me" in the dream fell asleep.
. . .
Suddenly, as if it were not a dream, I woke up.
My mother was still hugging me from behind and she was in the corner of the safest room in the house.
I was amazed. Wasn't it a dream?
So why couldn't I move like I wanted until now?
Who was the one that controlled my body?
I do not know. The sounds of a screaming goblin stole my attention and the doubts and questions I had were slowly pushed to the back of my head.
'Yes, it was not a dream. It was too realistic to be one. The one in the dream was really me after all ... ' (Mary)
I told my mother that I was okay and that we should check what was going on outside the room.
"You are right, dear. We must be prepared to escape in case a goblin sees us ... " (Ellen)
Thinking like this, we slowly opened the door so as not to make any noise and poked our heads out to see what was going on outside.
I saw it there. A goblin screaming while clutching his head. He looked hurt like he was fighting himself.
After a few moments, he stopped crying and dropped his head as if everything was fine now.
'He is weird.' (Mary)
First, he started going through his equipment as if he didn't already know.
Then, he looked into the air, his eyes reminding me of Usagi's in some way ...
It can not be true? Usagi is dead ... there's no way he's a goblin now ...
My suspicions grew stronger when I saw him looking over here. His eyes were sad as if he was apologizing to us.
'Usagi?' (Mary)
I wanted to scream his name, but couldn't. If it truly is Usagi, I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to be by his side.
But, if it's not Usagi, wouldn't I be telling a dangerous goblin about our location?
I fought the emotions in my head but decided not to when I felt my mother shake.
I can't take any chances, my mother is the type of person who would sacrifice herself to save me.
So all I could do was look at him in wonder. Is he Usagi? Or is he not?
It looked like he wanted to come here, but his feet weren't moving.
In the end, he just went away. He looked very lonely ...
. . .
Time passed and eventually, Teo returned with my father by his side. My father was injured. I immediately ran into his arms.
Sob! "Father!" (Mary)
He seemed to be in pain, but he still managed to catch me.
"My beloved girl, I am glad that you are safe and sound!" (Richard)
I saw him smile and hugged him even tighter.
"Ouch. Every day you get stronger, my daughter." (Richard)
It wasn't true, he was too hurt. There is no way that my strong father felt pain with my little strength.
I let go of him and we went to my mother's side. Her trembling had already subsided, but she was still pale.
We all hugged together to share our warmth and forget the fear we all felt for not knowing if someone was okay or not.
After a few moments like this, Teo suddenly spoke with a serious expression on his face.
"Richard, I know you missed your family and it's still dark outside, but you need to comfort your people and start cleaning up the aftermath of this mess." (Teo)
Olivia, who came back without us noticing, looked at him with a scary expression, but Teo just shrugged.
"If you do nothing as the owner of this village, the people will despair even more." (Teo)
Teo's words changed my father's expression and he stopped hugging us with an apologetic smile.
My mother Ellen and I smiled back. We know he had a job to do. My father nodded and said.
"You're right. I should talk to them and apologize. After all, they are my people." (Richard)
. . .
When the sun came up, my father had managed to calm the desperate villagers somewhat.
They were scared. They didn't want to lose their dear family and friends anymore.
He promised to bring in more people from White Town to help rebuild the village, compensate any families that lost their members and send the children with nowhere to go to our town's orphanage.
My mother and I have already bathed with the help of our maid, who survived along with our butler by escaping through the back door of the house when she saw a goblin coming.
My parents weren't mad at them because our servants aren't as strong as our bodyguards. They have the right to escape and fight to survive.
When my father's speech ended, we wanted to eat a delicious meal with him by our side, but Teo intervened again.
I was starting to hate him.
"Richard, we need to talk." (Teo)
His face was serious. They seemed to have important adult things to talk about. Olivia was the same.
"I know. There is a secret meeting room in the village chief's house. People won't be able to hear us there." (Richard)
I was very curious about their conversation, so after telling my mother that I wanted to go see my friends, I went to where my father, Teo, and Olivia went.
Certainly, I wanted to know if the children in this town were okay, but my curiosity got the better of me.
First, I got to the chief's house, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"So there really is a secret room ... " (Mary)
I once read a book about detectives who serve the royalty of this kingdom. It portrayed different famous cases of arrests of corrupt nobles.
Many people, both victims, and perpetrators, tended to be hiding in secret rooms and hard-to-find passageways.
The victims were held captive in those rooms while the perpetrators used the passages to escape persecution.
With that information in mind, I began to look around.
"Not here ... Not there ... Why is it so difficult?" (Mary)
There was no button behind a statue or a hatch under a rug.
When I was about to give up, I saw a large shelf with many books.
I felt like I was in heaven.
Sparkle! "Books! A lot of books!" (Mary)
I hurried to the front of the shelf and started looking for any interesting books. Some were too old or in poor condition.
Others were especially boring since they were mostly diaries of people living normal lives.
Drowsiness began to invade my mind and I already wanted to go home. I have not slept since yesterday.
Yawn. "So sleepy ... " (Mary)
That's when I found it.
Its cover was remarkably ordinary, but its title caught my attention.
'Secret Meeting Spot ... Isn't this too obvious?' (Mary)
I tried to pull it out and, as expected, the spot I was in spun along with me and the entire bookshelf.
Sigh. 'Whoever designed this secret room was pretty stupid ... ' (Mary)
Anyway, I followed the stairs down and found myself in front of a dilapidated wooden door.
Through the cracks in it, I saw a dimly lit room.
'My father should invest more money in things like this ... ' (Mary)
I was barely going to open the door when I realized that it was already opening slowly. I got scared for some reason and tried to escape, but it was too late ...
A hand came out of the darkness and grabbed my shoulder.
I felt that my life was no longer in my hands and I was scared. When I thought it was all over, I heard a voice.
" ... Young lady?" (???)
It was Teo's voice.
. . .
"Richard, I know you want your daughter to remain cute and innocent, but she's smarter than you think. It will be better if she listens to our conversation." (Teo)
Teo's words made my father think.
Olivia was silent but looked at me with a pitying expression as if young people like me shouldn't bear such heavy loads.
Sigh. " ... You're right. My beautiful girl will be the viscountess of this territory one day. Also, she managed to find this very well hidden secret room ... " (Richard)
My father had a reluctant expression on his face, but he still asserted.
I wanted to reply that this room was not so secret, but I decided to remain silent. I'll tell him later.
Teo nodded and kept talking.
"Young lady, we were talking about the recent "incidents" in this town." (Teo)
Then he started telling me about a group called "Dark Cult". From my mother's teachings, I knew where this was going.
There have always been groups that wanted to change the royalty of this kingdom or the way they rule. Obviously, they have always failed.
Good and strong people became friends with the king, while bad people were killed or exiled according to their wrong deeds.
"Olivia and I were following their tracks to this town. Unfortunately, we had no money once we arrived, so we accepted Richard's suggestion to be your bodyguards." (Teo)
Apparently, they are part of the secret forces of this kingdom, and being adventurers was just a facade. My father told me to keep this fact hidden from others.
After that, the unexpected goblin invasion occurred and we arrived at the current situation. It's what Teo said.
"My lady, at that moment I thought you were dead. I was unable to protect the main entrance of the house and a strong Elite Goblin managed to enter ... " (Olivia)
My father's face paled at his words. He ran to my side and gave me a big hug. He always worries about things.
"Mary! I'm sorry I wasn't there! Your father is a failure of a parent!" (Richard)
His hug was too strong and I started hitting his back. After a few moments, he finally released me. My dress is now a mess thanks to him. Humph.
"So that's what happened back then ... But that wasn't all, was it, Olivia?" (Teo)
Olivia's face clouded over and she began to speak with an unsure expression.
"Yes, that is correct. The goblin that entered the house suddenly came back outside and began killing his own." (Olivia)
My father and Teo were confused. A monster killing its kind? Weren't they allies?
"I see ... That was certainly unusual ... Good thing noblewomen are fine. Right, Richard?" (Teo)
My father almost passed out on the spot but managed to regain his composure a bit after hugging me again.
"You're right ... I'm glad they're both alive ... " (Richard)
It looked like he would cry at any moment, but he didn't. As expected of my father, he is always strong in many ways.
Olivia continued talking about what happened once my father calmed down.
"In the end, the goblin left. He had a chance to kill me, but he didn't ... Even though he killed so many people before ... " (Olivia)
Olivia had a complicated expression. Her face was filled with hatred, but other emotions also mixed in her like her joy at having survived.
Then I thought.
'Isn't that goblin a lot like Usagi? Usagi fought an enemy stronger than him to protect me ... My mother says things like this don't happen often in nature.' (Mary)
My suspicions about the identity of that goblin grew even more and I told them what I knew. About Usagi, how he saved me and his mysterious death.
Also, the strange actions and things the goblin did before leaving the house.
They thought I was crazy because I thought these events were related, but they nodded at the suggestion I made.
I smiled widely. I'm very happy.
Giggle! 'Hope we meet again, Usagi!' (Mary)
. . .
It was later decided that this nameless village would be called "Rabbit Village" in memory of Usagi, the rabbit.
It would also serve as a beacon if "he" ever came back here.
Also, if "Usagi" was next to Mary at the time, he could have seen these messages, since he was the only one who could see them.