"Our information about this village is very little, we don't even know who its chief is, or the real identity of those two guards." Ryota looked calm as he analyzed the situation: "Even, it is possible that we are exaggerating our concern and the guards' actions just to protect their village."
"But what makes me deny this, is the answer of the villagers when you asked them, Kotaro." Ryota was a little perplexed.
Then he was silent for a moment before deciding: "Here's what we're going to do."
"We will wait for nightfall, when everyone enters their homes, and at that time we will arrest the two guards and interrogate them."
"What do you think?" asked Ryota.
"Let it be," Akina agreed, while a sharp light flashed in Kotaro's eyes: "Yes, we will do as you said, and if they don't want to say what they know, we will kill them."
Akina: "..."
Just as the three waited and after a certain time, the sun began to set and a blanket of darkness began to form, as the villagers began to close their shops and dismantle their shopping tents.
And while the number of people in the streets has diminished little by little, the darkness of the night had swept the whole village, there were no lamps to aid the vision, and if anyone went out at this time, he could not see his hands unless he carried an oil lamp with him.
The scientific civilization outside Pace City was a little backward, because the Yamikara did not allow people to work at their convenience and always controlled the style and type of their work, and did not give them opportunities to develop and innovate.
They always ruled on the principle of 'submit or die'. If you are not a mage, you will be trampled upon, and even weak mages did not dare to oppose the Yamikara.
Only those who have reached the rank S or more, they will be able to create a place for themselves and be considered free.
Just when no one was left outside, and half an hour later, when Kotaro and everyone else wanted to move against the two guards, something strange happened, "Zoggh." The three heard the sound of opening the door of a nearby house, they looked at him and saw the man in the house taking a step outside, "Zoggh." This was the door of another house a little farther away, and a woman came out of it as well. Then the same thing happened in a third house and its owner also went out, then the fourth, the fifth, and every house in the village.
Everyone left their homes, and Kotaro, Ryota, and Akina all had the same idea: "Why did everyone leave after half an hour exactly and at this time of night and all at the same time?!".
It was really strange, but the strangest thing after that, when all the villagers began to walk towards the center of the village, in that place there was a rather large square and not surrounded by many houses, and the people took it as a place for annual festivals and small celebrations.
At this moment, Akina's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed as she discovered something else, Kotaro noticed her appearance and asked, "What is there Akina?"
"Oh, their eyes are closed!!" Akina shouted as Ryota and Kotaro had a complicated look, and at this time the three knew that there really was a dangerous plan going on here.
"It seems that they are under a hypnotic spell, and it is very likely that it was due to the strange tea." Ryota regained his composure as he explained.
"Bastards, it's good that we took our precautions." Kotaro frowned, they continued to watch, and after everyone's behavior surprised them, they backed out of Ryota's previous plan.
"What are we going to do then?"
The three were baffled and thought, and then the two mysterious guards also appeared in front of the great plaza, which the villagers had not yet reached.
"They came," Akena pointed to the two guards.
"I suppose they will do something." As Ryota expected, the man guard was advancing in front of one of the walls surrounding the large plaza, and among the gray stones that formed the wall, a distinct stone appeared even deeper, and the man reached out his hand and pressed the stone and it was moving inwards, at the same time and in the middle of the arena, a strong sound erupted followed by a slight vibration, suddenly the floor in that area started splitting and moving to the sides. Moments later, the shaking ended, and the sound disappeared, but part of the previous floor was not present, and in its place a secret tunnel was revealed that was linked to a long staircase that leads down.
"Are they going to take the villagers somewhere, through that tunnel?" Akina asked.
"Listen, I suggest we mix with the crowd and pretend we've been affected by tea and go into the tunnel too," Kotaro thought and said.
Ryota calmly stared around and then gave his opinion: "This is a risk but yeah, we'll probably find out everything there, and the village is small, so the two guards definitely remember our faces from last time, and if we don't show up now, they'll conclude that we haven't been affected by tea, and connect this to the magical energy they sensed previously, and discover that we are the actors.
"That makes sense, I agree." Akina straightened and she was ready.
"Akina, Ryota, watch out, if any of you sense something, don't hesitate, and kill the two guards immediately," Kotaro warned forcefully: "There is no need to show any mercy to these cowards."
The two nodded.
"Let's go".
The three walked out of the street they were hiding in, and merged with a group of people who were nearby.
They closed their eyes like the others and slowly walked towards the large plaza.