"Haha. How cute. Don't worry. Just trust me. Oh, and your illusion is coming undone." Her illusion kept flickering back and forth between her real face and fake face. It wasn't long before it faded like purple gas evaporating into the air to reveal an exceptionally beautiful face.
"Ah?" She touched her face, as if to confirm, but quicky regained her composure, "That's not important here. We really need to leave." She chased after me, as I entered one of the homes. Most of everything had been left untouched, including supper. It was as if they had all been taken the moment they were about to have dinner.
[Pulse Life] I used a skill and searched the whole village. The skill sends out a circular wave of mana with me as the center to search for any signs of life. When used, the enemy would be able to detect if someone uses it. Note. It is not used for stealth detections. It is used by someone who wants to boldly announce their presence. If it was me, I would use its counter skill [Cancel Life] to dodge the [Pulse Life] search skill. Aside that, [Pulse Life] would find anyone in that radius no matter who it was. The radius also depended on the amount of mana pumped into it.
I slowly moved to one of the bedrooms and lifted the poorly made bed. "What are you doing?" Layla walked in after me and asked. I ignored her question and pulled open the wooden floors to reveal a six-year-old girl with her hand over her mouth and tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying. She had dirty blonde hair and an old dress worn out and patched dress on.
Layla gasped in shock. I knelt by the hole in the floor and smiled widely. "Hello. My name is Riggs. Wanna come out?" The little girl looked around scared, her hands still covering her mouth, terrified to take it off. She shook her head vigorously. "It's fine. I promise, no one will hurt you. Trust me." I let out a reassured smile and extended my hand to her. She flinched back at first, but slowly extended her little hand as well before grabbing my hand. I pulled her out of the hole in the floor.
She was shaking in fear even when she was out, and her left hand continued to cover her mouth. She looked like she was still terrified of whatever happened. "It's fine. You can speak. I promise no one will hurt you. Can you tell us your name?" Layle walked forward and knelt to the little girl's level. It looked like she had shut down her fear for the sake of the girl.
With her hands still over her mouth, she looked up at me and with a gentle smile, I nodded at her. She slowly took her hands off her mouth and spoke softly, as if she was still uncertain, "Nina." Layla smiled when Nina finally spoke her name.
"Can you tell us what happened here, little Nina?" Layla asked the trembling girl before us.
"They left." Her voice was low and barely audible. Her body was trembling as she spoke. "Mama and papa. They all followed the lady's voice" Layla frowned. I saw her body shake slightly. Clearly she was still afraid, but she wanted to put on a brave front in order not to scare Nina.
"What voice, Nina?" Layla continued to enquire.
"It…It came from outside. She told everyone to follow her. Mama, papa, everyone just followed her." A general was definitely powerful enough to use such a wide area ability that could affect everyone in the village. That confirmed it. We were up against a general, and Layla had realized it as well. "Mama." My attention was brought back to Nina. "Mama always said I should hide under the bed and be quiet when monsters come." Nina looked like she wanted to cry some more but held it in.
"Wait, how come she wasn't affected?" Layla asked in confusion, considering the general's skill was able to affect the entire village.
"Because of that. {Dark Warden's pendant}" I pointed to the grey bow shaped pendant around Nina's neck. After checking the item's stats with my [Appraise] skill, I became intrigued. How could such a powerful pendant appear in such a small village. Regardless, it is what saved the girl. Otherwise, how else would she be able to successfully evade a demon lord general's skill?
Layla looked slightly shocked and relieved at the revelation before realization dawned on her. "I think we should leave and report it to the guild. They can send reinforcement." Layla picked up Nina and looked at me with anxious expectations like she was packed and ready for our long-awaited trip.
"No. Mama, Papa. Are we leaving mama and papa behind?" Nina begun to panic as she asked what she dreaded most.
"Of course not. I'm going to bring them back." Before Layla could respond I beat her to it. I patted Nina on the head and walked out of the room and out of the house with both hands in my pocket.
I heard panicked footsteps from behind me. "What the hell are you doing, Riggs?!" Layla came out from behind me and yelled in my direction. For someone who was afraid of ghosts a few minutes ago, her voice sure is loud.
"What else? I'm going to see what happened to the villagers." Before I could take another step, Layla was already in front of me with her arms open wide, trying to prevent me from taking another step. Yeah, I never really understood that concept. Maybe it was the gesture? Thou shall not pass. Maybe.
"I'm not letting you go." I lifted a brow in confusion. No matter what, we had only just met today. There was absolutely no reason for her to act the way she was. "We need to go back and gather more platinum adventurers. Or, or we could tell my dad. Yes, he would come." I watched her frantic attempt to stop me from going.
"By then the villagers would all be dead, and the general would be long gone." She stayed quiet knowing I was right. I patted her head and walked past her, "Stay here and wait for me. I doubt they'll return but hide down there with Nina. I'll end things quickly and return." I should probably ask the reason for the sudden overreaction when I return.
"Stay hidden with Nina and stay close to her. No matter what, if they should return, the pendant should protect you both." With that, I disappeared in the woods leaving a sulking Layla and a frightened Nina behind.