After enduring tough training for two years, the three finally emerged from the forest.
Now they will take the first step to achieve justice and avenge Kotaro's mother.
"Guys we have a problem, where are we going and from where?" Akina asked.
"Don't worry, a year ago Uncle Cesar gave me a detailed map of the world and explained it to me, regarding this matter, just count on me." Ryota smiled conceitedly.
"Okay, I'll guard us while you lead the way," Kotaro said to Ryota.
Next, Ryota wanted: "Archive Magic: Binary World." By saying that, a rectangular panel appeared, floating in front of Ryota. It was semi-transparent but could be seen. A map appeared on the panel on which he wrote a phrase in incomprehensible letters. Ryota then tapped his finger on a button beside the screen. In front of him, the appearance on the board changed and a magnified part of the map appeared, in the enlarged part there was a dot radiating green light.
"This point is where we are now. I will see if there is a village or a city near us," Ryota explained and then began to scan the map.
Moments later, he found their destination: "The closest place to here is the village of Winds in the west. If we hurry, we will arrive in less than thirty minutes."
"It's decided, we will go there." Kotaro grabbed his right fist with his left hand in front of his chest.
The three walked towards the village as the map showed, there was no road so they had no choice but to cross the cornfield.
"Your magic is really useful, Ryota. If not, we would have lost our way in this field." Akina walked, removing the corn stalks in front of her.
After traveling a long distance, after a long distance, the cornfield was traversed, and it turned out that it was a muddy road surrounded by pine trees, most likely leading to the village of winds, so Kotaro and the rest decided to cross it.
There was no obstruction, so minutes later the three finally arrived in front of the entrance to the village.
"What's going on here?" The view of the village was not what they thought, for some reason all the paths and huts were flooded with water, only the roofs of some high huts and the top of a tower hung an emergency bell inside, the strange thing was that the water did not fall or drift but was floating and devouring the village inside it.
"Where are the villagers?" They didn't see any human inside either, it was normal, who is the fool who will remain here after this disaster.
While they were wondering, an old man passed near the village, who was carrying some pieces of wood in a basket hanging on his back.
The old man was a bit far from Kotaro's location, his eyes glimpsed their three characters and he knew they weren't from the village, he didn't want to get involved so he continued his way away from them.
Unfortunately for him, Kotaro noticed him and called out, "Hey old man, wait."
The old man did not reply and continued walking in the opposite direction.
"Old man, please listen to me. Are you from the village? If you are, tell us what happened here." Kotaro asked again, then the old man stopped and turned toward them: "Hey boys, I'm sorry, I thought you were one of Ken's men."
"hmm, who is this?" Akina asked.
"Don't worry, come with me, I'll take you to the cave, the village is no longer habitable." The old man's face was frowning and upset.
The old man led the companions to a nearby cave that the villagers had taken as a temporary residence.
"How long have you been staying here?" After they reached the cave, Kotaro saw the miserable condition of the villagers and couldn't help but ask: "How did the village become like that?"
"Come, I will introduce you to the village chief, he is a good man and he will explain to you what happened," the old man said.
After meeting the chief of the village and its inhabitants, he explained the whole story to them: "It all began a month ago, when the men of Kain came."
"Who is this Ken?" Ryota asked.
"He is one of the bastards who were appointed two years ago. Every month his men collect taxes from the people of the village in exchange for an excuse to protect us from bandits, and whoever does not pay is killed."
"On that day, it was the end of the month, so his men came to collect taxes as usual. After they finished, they headed towards the lake behind the village to fish. Because of this lake, we do not suffer from any shortage of food or drink," the leader continued.
"But inside it lives the kraken monster, and although the kraken does not oppose our fishing in his area, on that day he revolted and began to destroy everything before he drowned the village with his magical attack.
"After the village sank into the lake, we had no choice but to leave here."
"On the second day, after we settled in the cave, one of the village men came to me, he was my brother, and explained to me the reason for the sudden agitation of the kraken. I will call him and he will do the rest."
The village chief called his brother, and the latter explained what happened: "Hello, on that day, as the village chief told you, the ken men went to the lake to fish, as they told us. I did not believe what they said, so I watched them secretly, and as I expected, they did not go there to fish, but rather to hunt the Kraken monster.
"The kraken was such a strong beast that they couldn't hunt it, and they took themselves up and ran away."
"But since this beast was an animal without a mind, it could not differentiate between us and those who tried to hunt it, so it healed its madness by destroying the village, and there are even those who were injured by its attacks and are now unconscious inside the cave," the village chief's brother explained everything.
"Akina" Kotaro finally spoke after hearing the whole story.
"Yes," Akina replied.
"Treat the injured, I will go back to the village," Kotaro said with a serious and angry face.
"And also Ryota, stay here to guard the village in case something happens."
"Don't worry, I will handle it." Akina turned and headed into the cave accompanied by the village chief: "Uncle, take me to the injured from your village, I will treat them."
"Are you a doctor?" the leader asked.
"No, we're magicians," Akina replied.
The leader was surprised without saying another word.
The old man they met earlier saw that Kotaro was returning to the village and asked, "Boy, where are you going?"
"To the lake, if I defeat the kraken, the waters that surround the village will disappear, right?" Kotaro replied.
"Are you crazy or what? We won't be able to defeat that monster even if all the villagers cooperate?" The old man started shouting and questioning Kotaro's ability and at the same time he said, "Why do you want to risk your life for a people you just met?"
Kotaro looked with stern eyes and replied, "I don't know why, but if I back down today after hearing your story as if nothing had happened, I know that I will not forgive myself later, because on the path I am pursuing, I want to advance towards my goal without any moment of regret or hesitation, without involving those who have nothing to do with it and without harming the lives of the innocent."