As they got closer, the caravanners also recognized their group. Gerald asked, "Where are you guys going?"
Their group looked at each other for a while before a chubby merchant with a cracked monocle spoke out. "Truly, I didn't expect to see you again. Bandits turned out to be stronger than you thought, huh boy?"
"What do you mean? Look at my clothes, the fight's already over. We won!" Gerald held his shirt out to emphasize the cuts in the fabric.
"Alright, alright, no need to boast, you'll get people killed for lying about something like this. Just head back to the village and wait. I gathered every able-bodied man and woman to go and look for help."
The chubby merchant waved his hand to signal the group to continue moving. Gerald scanned the group of caravanners and didn't see the women Detan had saved from the bandits.
"What about the women we saved from the bandits?"
"Oh, those women? I did say every able-bodied person. Those women are paralyzed in fear just from looking at another man. We wanted to bring them with us but they wouldn't even come out of the tent, so we left them in the care of the village elder."
"You just left them behind?!"
The man smirked at Gerald's self righteousness. In his eyes he was doing a good thing. He was leading everyone that he could to safety. He doesn't have to answer to this brat.
"Well, now you're here. You can look after them... We really have to hurry though, so excuse me for cutting our chat short."
Without waiting for a response, the merchant turned and continued down the road. Gerald couldn't understand it. His clothes were shredded and he came back alive, but they still didn't believe him. They wanted to go get help? By the time they got to the nearest city it would have been fat too late! They were leaving the women in the village to die!
Lith put a hand on Gerald's shoulder. "Just let them go, they're just scared. No matter what you say they would never believe it."
Jaycee scoffed. "They're a bunch of cowards, leaving the women behind like that. We should go check on them."
"...right" Gerald exhaled. The people he was hired to protect actually turned out to be so spineless. He couldn't help but feel sorry for all the guards that layed down their lives to protect them. Then he remembered the guard captain! His daughter was standing right behind him. As one of the last guards it was his duty to look after her.
He turned around ready to console her, but was met with her back view. She followed along beside Detan as they talked. From the small side of her face, he could see that she was smiling.
Gerald gave a small chuckle as he came to a realization. She never cared about those people. They didn't mean anything to her.
His eyes brightened. 'That's right.' The only people that should matter to him were the four standing next to him. 'Detan, Jaycee, Mina, Lith.' He vowed in his heart to never have them feel the same emotion he was feeling toward those caravanners.
He would never be a coward.
He would never betray them.
He followed behind them leaving the caravanners behind as they moved toward the village.
"The chubby man said the women were really scared, do you have a plan?"
"Of course. The best way to deal with a situation like this is to get them relaxed first. Then, give them a direction to work in." Detan already had a plan. With all the divinity he gained from killing that rabbit god, he could afford to splurge a bit.
They reached the village and entered the village elder's house. The old man was sitting near the fireplace sipping tea when they entered. "You're back! H-how did it go?"
"They've been dealt with. How are the women?" Detan asked.
"Oh! They're frightened but otherwise fine. I put them in the same room that the young girl was in before. You've gotten rid of the bandits? You've really done it?"
"Yeah." Detan asked Mina and Jaycee to go check on them while he sat next to the old man.
"This is great! Truly great! I always knew someone like you would definitely be able to do it! Once I tell everyone, we will surely be able to gather up a reward."
Detan felt the old man was acting weird this time. He was too enthusiastic. "Has something happened? There's no need to flatter me, just say what's on your mind."
"Before I say it, let me go get you some tea. Surely you've worked up a thirst after what you've done."
The old man left and came back with a steaming cup of tea. He handed it over to Detan, then sat back down. "The truth is... well, I've talked to a few of the villagers and we mostly agree. The way that young girl made the bandits fly in the air with just a swing of her fan, and the way the followers of yours treat you. We think that your talk of being a god, might actually be true."
The old man wiped his hands on his pants. He looked at Detan earnestly before continuing. "We agreed that I would give you... um, something... if you were actually able to take out the bandits."
Detan could see where this was going. He took a sip of the tea before asking, "What exactly did you want to give me?"
"The village."
"The village?"
He nodded. "Yes. Well, we mostly worship the god of farming but it hasn't helped much. The crops we grow are not healthy even with her blessing. So we thought converting to you would have greater benefits for the village."
"For the good of the village huh? You don't even know what kind of blessing I give, but you're willing to follow me anyway?"
"The blessing we are given right now amounts to almost nothing. So as long as your blessing is more affective than nothing, then we will not regret it. Also I've seen how strong your follower is, so I'm sure we're making the correct decision."
The old man got out of his chair and fell to his knees. He put his palms and forehead against the ground as he pleaded, "Please take this village under your care!"
Detan accepted and helped the old man up. He nearly flooded the room with his tears. The old man composed himself and went to call a village meeting to announce the good news.
Jaycee and Mina came out of the guest bedroom. "It's not good." Jaycee said. "They're just sitting in there too scared to come out, I don't know what to do."
Mina looked up at Detan hopefully. "Detan said he already had a plan, so everything will be fine!"
Detan patted her head as they heard a bell start ringing from outside. Mina moved over to the window and saw the old village elder swinging a rope attached to a bell in the center of the village.
"What's he doing?" She asked.
"Let's go take a look." Jaycee said. Detan followed them out as people came from all corners of the village and started to gather. They kept whispering and sneaking looks at Detan.
The two girls noticed this and thought that they were finally noticing his handsomeness. They moved in front of him to block him from the crowd.
Once most of the villagers arrived the village elder cleared his throat and began the announcement.
"You all should know why I have called you here. The bandits have been cleared out and will no longer harass our village or affect our trade. As we have agreed earlier, ownership of the village will now be passed over to our new god Detan! God of the System!"
The villagers had all agreed on this and were not shocked at the announcement. They knelt down on the ground to offer Detan their first prayer. As they did so, connections were made one after another.
The villagers opened their eyes from prayer to find a large black square covering their vision. The crowd let out sounds of confusion. Only high ranked priests should be greatly affected by a god's blessings. Having only just converted they thought the blessing they would receive would be only slightly better than the god of farming's blessing.
What surprised them even more was that they could control the black square with their minds, and it had information on their bodies! Any pain and ailments they were suffering from were all listed.
At this point they all though in unison. 'We might have gotten a better deal than we bargained for!'