The moon started to lose its red shade and the sun started to rise again. This time, there were no hens to wake up the village, nor were there any villagers left. Everything was abandoned, every house was turned into a pile of rubble and ash.
CLOPP CLOPP
A mounted soldier was performing recon to see if there were any dangers ahead. When he saw the state the village was left in, he still checked for any hidden monster that could be roaming around. Deciding there weren't any signs of life he returned to his party.
Deeper into the woods was a group of soldiers marching towards the village. Two people were on horseback while the other twenty or so men had to match their speed on foot. The soldiers looked a bit tired and on edge, sometimes peering into the woods.
"Sir mage, I have to thank you again for last night's assistance, I don't think my men would have survived such an attack."
"Don't think anything of it Liam, those goblins and hobgoblins had to be killed anyway."
The captain of the party, Liam, was a knight conscripted by the local baron to escort the mage to the surrounding villages. He did not know the name of the mage, because he was never told, he only knew that the baron was very friendly with him. As the baron's knight it was obvious to have a respectful attitude against him. Even if he wasn't a knight from the baron, it would be in his best interest to respect the strong. Nevertheless, he was still a bit suspicious of this unknown mage, especially since his attitude against all the soldiers was trash.
"Sir, I don't think the Calmwater Village, or any village for that matter, will have survived the Scarlet Moon, most are unequipped to fight back against those monsters."
"This will be our final stop, Havi asked that I check the surrounding villages, and this is one of them, is it not?" The mage said with a bit of disdain.
'How insulting, calling the baron with his name!'
"Yes sir, but then we will have to hurry back, we don't have enough food to last and my men are tired.", the monsters didn't hurt many of the soldiers, but the food supply was an entirely different story.
The mage didn't bother answering, he was too deep in thought.
'Always so annoying, talking with these weak commoners, hopefully, there will be at least someone alive there or I'll have to look in the slave market'
"Tell me Liam, what was the purpose of this village?" the mage said out of boredom.
"The baron was investing a bit of money in this village so that he could get some men to go and work for him in the mines. There were multiple villages like this, but this was one of the latest ones."
The mage looked at Liam for the first time during their trip with a questioning look.
"Aren't those overrun by the Steel Spiders?", the mage was questioning what the point was of having workers in a monster-infested place.
"Yes, but the baron was planning on having them fight with my platoon.", then it dawned on him.
"Aha, so you needed cannon fodder basically? Then this village was indeed worth the investment."
The captain didn't know what to say anymore, but he was relieved that he saw his trusty scout return.
The scout was the third person on horseback because he needed to be capable of retreating at a fast pace if he were in danger. "Captain sir, the village is burnt to the ground, I did not see any signs of human or monster activity in the area. They should have returned back to their nests."
The captain wanted to say the scout did a good job, but the mage was a tad faster. "Alright, lead us to it, I'm tired of waiting it out. Also, did you really not see any signs of human life?"
"I didn't check every building if that's what you're wondering about sir. A detailed search might result in finding someone, but I personally don't think anyone would have survived."
"Then do a detailed search or whatever, just get it over with!"
The scout was starting to look angry, but he couldn't voice it. If the mage decided he should be dead there's no one who would be capable of stopping him, and the baron wouldn't even blink.
The captain had a serious face, but even he was starting to get annoyed. Calming himself down, he addressed his soldiers: "MEN! We're almost at the village, when we arrive I want everyone to check the buildings to look for survivors. Leave no stone unturned!"
"YES, SIR!"
They arrived and the soldiers started to spread out. The mage and captain stayed on their horses near the entrance, or what's left of it anyway. The scout was busy circling the village so that they wouldn't be ambushed.
Waiting for the soldiers to find something the captain was thinking about their purpose here. 'Originally, this was meant to be an investigation of dark magic, why are we looking for survivors in this mess? Does he think the only people who can survive this mess are dark mages?'
The captain didn't hate the common villager, at one point he even was one. He simply couldn't understand what the mage wanted to achieve. In all the other villages, the mage gathered all the townsfolk to then dismiss them again.
'Why would a mage who hates commoners try to save one?'