Oswald, with his two eyes looking at the sky, said. "Traps... You'll have them over your head if you keep working this hard Adelmo, don't push yourself."
Sure, he did his best to be on the man's nerves. He did a great job at it. Tina's laugh was soft, while his was nervous. 'I'm sure they don't know yet.'
It took him two hours to finish his job in the village, when he visited Simon, the man was glad to see Oswald in a healthy state of mind.
"After what happened, I expected you do not show yourself for a while." The tanner said, shrugging.
"It seems money is always a good motive. I've got you more work to do. How good are the affairs?" Oswald asked.
"Better than usual, since I don't reek beer, customers tend to come by themselves."
The boy was surprised to not have any question coming from Simon, breaking into one's house, even during winter wasn't regarded as a light crime. "Come back when you need to." Said Simon while putting the new skins to boil.
A feminine voice rose among the numerous ones in the village. Of all the parasitic noises that invaded Oswald's ears, it made him react strongly. At the other side of Revel, a woman, standing on a pile of buckets, talked to the village's population and bystanders, she had a handmade wooden cross in her hand, with a small effigy on it.
"Revel is targeted by evil! Our children's life are in danger! Repent, measly villagers, the devil has come to your front door during the night. Come and pray for their safety as long as you can, protect them. Protect yourself as well! The wolves will come anew and the lord's defenceless lambs will be the first to die!"
Oswald recognised Ruth's mother, he came in front of the little crowd to ask.
"Why are you saying such nonsense? Wolves have always been man-eating animals, why in the world would they suddenly come here because your lord decides so?"
Daniela became red in anger, the petite woman tightened her grip on the thick book she brought with her all the way down the village, she rebuked with spite. "It's not the great lord's doing! It's because of the devil you moron!"
She seemed to gain in popularity as more people came close to her. She added. "I'm here to prevent all of this, the holy bible will help you repent! Confess your sins, villagers! Avoid another disaster by praying for the lord to protect your home." Her hands held each other and touched her forehead.
Tens of people chose to part ways when she mentioned they had to work to avoid the wolves. "She's rambling, we have more important to do than listening to that crazy woman." One said.
"One second, she may have more to say..." Said another. The mitigated crowd wanted to hear more of the appealing man's arguments.
"Standing where you are, you're still shorter than your husband, why do you fear anything besides him? Don't undertake villagers into your fairytale, it is nothing that can solve their problems."
He knew Daniela couldn't talk about what she saw without looking like a madwoman. But she could always reply. "You know nothing about the great lord, little Bendis, you're taking everything for granted, but you'll be the first to suffer the consequences." She said with a smirk, pretty sure of herself.
All her life was dedicated to her religion. Not a day did she miss her daily ritual. The fact the gift from god, her daughter, was tormented by the devil, had her plan multiple actions to protect her.
Adelmo was listening to the ruckus. He thought he'd do great at making Oswald's life more miserable. First, more traps. Then, his herd. Now that the kid knew how to hunt though, it was harder to nip the bud.
"Are you insane? What did he do to you? Eight traps are enough to disturb his hunting sessions, you don't have to go that far against a kid!" Tina scolder her husband. The many times Oswald appeared strange never bothered her, it was more or less affection, friendship.
"That guy is abnormal! First time I met him, I swear to you, he could only touch my chin with his forehead. A month ago! If Ugo pulls up the same trick, amid the villagers, it won't have the same effect. Have you observed the guy?" Adelmo asked his wife, agitated.
Tina chuckled "You are exaggerating it, come on."
"No! He's got muscles, yes, but he brings twice what I can drag in the forest all by myself. He shown us, he can barely reach ten meters with his throwing knives, while I have a bow! You can't even approach a kitten this close without it running away."
His wife checked if he had fever before pointing at the cleaned carcass on the table. "Look at its legs, the bone is broken and blood gushed out of it. He probably collected what the steel wolf traps caught tonight, silly."
Now Adelmo's sole objective was to put traps closer to Oswald's barn, to have him wounded, if not dead. Not only did he identify himself as the king of the fools, but he eased his soon-to-be-rival's hunts, he was furious.
In the Bendis' farm, Meryl checked her son's face, to be sure it really was him. She did not utter a word in front of him. The other night, when she saw the monstrous creature that looked like the one who beheaded her, she was shook to the bones. There was no way for her to recover from seeing it in her house again.
In contrast, the mysterious being that satisfied her carnal desires was accepted, in every corner of the room. She was taught many things, the funniest one being, crows could mimic human voice.
Day and night, she spared the still meaty bones in her dinners and gave them to the crows, from time to time, she would talk to them.
Often, it was plain rumbling. "Oswald. Oswald feeds you. And I, I love you."
But most of the time she had a precise goal. She mimicked a baby crying. Sobbing, and a high pitched laugh.