After that incident, Heron went to the town mayor filled with rage.
"My son disappeared because of you!" he shouted, unable to contain his anger and hatred.
The townspeople heard this.
"Where's my husband!? He never came back!"
"Seven of our people didn't come back last night. Where are they, Heron!?"
They began to fight back. Even though they know the full story, they fought back.
Heron was in the middle of the crowd as they shout and some threw rocks.
"Your cursed family deserves it! Tell us, where are Dan and the others!"
Heron was shocked.
"So you all knew!? You all agreed to this!? Ugh!" as Heron shouts back, he was hit in the face by a flying pebble.
"If you don't bring them back, we'll imprison you!"
"Now that your son is gone, we can finally bring back our relationship to the city!"
"You deserve this! Do you know how many of us are suffering because of what you did!?"
Heron gritted his teeth. He had his own fault too.
'But is this really how you should treat us!? Why didn't I just die and disappear instead of my son!'
Unflinching from the stones and pebbles that are thrown at him, Heron silently cried as he clenched his fists.
"Go away! Go away! Go away!" the townspeople spoke in unison.
With no other choice, Heron turned his back around and came home, bleeding all over his body.
Seeing her husband come home with that, Lyssa dropped and cried.
"What are they thinking!? Did they forgot that if not for you, there wouldn't be a connection between the city and this town in the first place!? If you didn't bring me here, my father wouldn't even lay his eyes in this place! If you didn't work hard all these years, that relationship wouldn't be as strong when it was severed! Did they forgot that or do they don't want to acknowledge you!?"
"It's fine... Lyssa... and don't cry. Ellie is watching." Heron pulled her up.
Ellie was peeking from behind the door.
"Now that Elihim is not here, she will be lonely. Go, dear, keep her company. I will find our son. With his strength, nothing bad would happen to him."
"Okay, but... don't you want to rest first? Look at you, you're... bleeding."
"No, this is fine. This is normal for a hunter." Heron smiled, "Even at this state, I could go on for a day. Furthermore, we haven't had lunch yet. I'm sure you two are hungry. I'll go find dinner."
Seeing Heron smile, Lyssa nodded and kissed him before he left.
But after he was out of sight, he dropped onto the grass bed.
"Haaaa... I hate them. I hate them so much." the image of the townspeople flashed back to Heron's mind.
Remembering the sad faces of his wife and daughter made his heart clench. Tightening his fists once more, he told himself.
"I'm the man of the house! My job is to make them feel safe and secure! To feed them and let them live in comfort! Teach and discipline them! Guide them! Complaining is not a part of my job!"
Cleaning his wounds at the lakeshore, Heron was glad that none of the wounds were deep. It's not that the townspeople were strong nor the stones are sharp anyway.
He hurried, scared if there are alligators or even crocodiles around. Although they live there, they don't play around the lake nor do they hand around to see one.
Afterward, he looked around and shouted.
"Elihim! Where are you!?"
"Elihim!"
"If you don't show yourself, I'm going to leave!"
"Come on, son! You little sister needs you!"
"Elihim! Please!"
"If you really don't show up, I'm going to spank you, disobedient son!"
"..."
Heron drank the lake water from a water bottle. He looked drunk as he walked with weakened legs.
When the sky was turning yellowish, Heron cursed.
"Fuck! It's almost evening! I scared all the potential game with my shouting..." he sighed.
"I guess I have to give up for now."
There is a mountain blocking his straight path.
"I don't think Elihim will climb that with one arm."
Coo* Kucoo*
Heron looked up and wished he knows archery. The two pigeons that have been following him should've been their dinner.
"I don't have enough money to buy a net. Guess, I'll build one."
A few hours later, Heron laughed.
"Finally caught a chicken! Ha! I'm spent! I just need to get home and..." he stopped as he carried the net over his back.
Sweat glides over his cheek when he spotted a large reptile staring at him. Its four legs were resting and lying on its stomach. However, its large size didn't hide it behind the grass.
At that moment, Heron prayed that this reptile is not aggressive.
'But I'm already at the limit of my energy! I didn't even eat lunch and I gave my breakfast to Ellie! Shit!'
He was already feeling dizzy when the reptile stood up and slowly turned around to face him. Its reptilian eyes staring at the exhausted Heron.
"..."
"Shit!"
The crocodile jerked forward and creepily ran towards him with its mouth wide open.
Heron immediately ran the other way around.
"No! No! No!" he screamed
Coo Kucoo~*
Shick*
Hearing a strange sound, Heron turned around and saw that the reptile stopped on its tracks.
No, it struggled to move but its short limbs were unable to touch the ground.
"Haa..."
Heron raggedly breathed. He then noticed a thing that was piercing the reptile from underneath. It is as if this thing grew from the ground, piercing its stomach.
Without any more energy, he laid on his back on the swampy ground. As the sunsets, he just saw two birds encircling him from above.
That was when he lost his consciousness.
Back at their house, Lyssa was nervously biting her thumb.
"What time is it? It's already night... it is better if he's just cheating with another woman- wait, no! That's bad too! He should just die then! Wait, no!"
Lyssa was getting dizzy from hunger and her thoughts were eating her mind away when there was a knock on the door.
"Heron!"
Lyssa immediately opened the door to see a beast in front of her.
"Ah-!" she screamed but soon, she realized, "It's... it's dead."
After that, her eyes rolled, and noticed the unconscious Heron, leaning on the front wall.