Ixa pranced around, relying on his newfound vision.
It was near the middle of night, the moon still illuminating the trees and the passing clouds, shadows stretching over Ixa and enclosure housing him.
In fact, things looked even brighter than when he looked through the eyes of the rabbit's body.
"Night vision?"
[ I don't doubt it, the eyes, body- all of it, is strange.]
"Almost everything I have come into contact with can be called strange System."
[ Right.]
System tactfully stopped talking as he added
Ixa looked around as he thought of what to do next.
"Any suggestions System...don't have many ideas to get through the night, we already tested out the range of my abilities, the limit of my intent, and the corpse transfor-"
[ Actually, we never actually finished the range test, we found Dua mid-way, and helped him out.
We recovered the knight's body and wound-up learning of the chrysalis process with your influence on the dead.]
"You already named it? Ignoring that, I guess we should just, explore?"
[ Yes, even if your unique sense can give us an overall layout of the area, with the evidence of the bunny, there are things that escape its perception, I feel it would be better if we personally scour and survey our surroundings.
While you do so, you can truly see how far you can detect.]
"Good plan."
Ixa split his mind into two, the knight picked itself up from the ground, and it, along with the rabbit started to exit the enclosure.
His senses currently lingered just beyond the area past the enclosure as it was passively taking in his surroundings, but it began to expand as Ixa actively started using it...
It expanded past the trees, the ground.
Leaves that got picked up by the cold wind were felt as they broke apart in the gentle breeze of the night, even a duo of two birds flying in the sky didn't escape his sight.
As Ixa's vision rushed forward like an invisible force, the bunny sped forward rapidly, bursting past it and only gaining more distance between the two.
Utilizing its speed, he directed it forwards, as far as it can go out of the forest.
As for the knight, as he didn't grasp how to run properly yet, he had it walk towards the same direction.
'Once both reached the edge, they would explore the edges of the forest, then start combing through it for anything.
Although...the knight is too slow, probably won't even be halfway there before the bunny would arrive, better to just let the rabbit circle the border of the dead forest for now if it can.'
Ixa was once again thankful for
Just then, the knight walked into a tree.
"...no time for wandering thoughts."
He refocused, even if he could control them straightforwardly, they still required constant management to do so correctly, this was his limit as of now.
His scope of senses were taking in the scenery at an extreme rate, and it was slowly nauseating him, but like before, he soldiered on.
At this point, the rabbit was closing in on the rim of the forest, forgetting that was the same direction Dua went.
• • • • • •
It was a chaotic night for the village Dua returned to.
"Unhand me this instant!"
Individuals, mothers and fathers, were getting out of their homes, the other partner staying inside to console their kids on why such a commotion was coming outside, some failing to stop their kids from reaching their windows.
Those kids in their pajamas that managed to gauge what was outside were stupefied by what they saw.
A wave of people was walking the wide streets of their village, some knowing this was already a quarter of the village and while others thought at first sight it was close to half the village.
"What the gods is going on!?"
A brave middle-aged woman walked to the person at the head of the mob.
There, two strong individuals in metal armor were holding a man by the arms, forcing him forward, it was the mayor of their village, Alexda.
Another man stood beside them...
It was Dua.
"We will announce everything at the Village Center, Ali."
Another man stood beside him, speaking for Dua.
Ali was not allowed to speak another word, and as the crowd began pushing past, before she could be swept up amongst them, she returned to her house, to tell her spouse something has happened, and it seemed big.
Neither thought to miss it, so they took their entire family with them, not daring to leave them alone at home, quickly getting changed for the cold night, a couple of families could afford to as they lived with extended family, them taking the charge of trying to get the young ones back to sleep despite the chaos of the outside making that a tall task.
As the crowd marched, more families joined, confused, and their only option was to become a part of the mob, and as they arrived at the center the village, a wood & stone structure stood.
As the crowd mixed, Dua & the man beside him climbed the raised platform with the captive mayor right behind them, others stood off to the sides of it, two separate groups, one had mixed faces of welcome surprise, astonishment, even joy & smugness, while the other were angry, fidgeting, even making motions to go up the platform and stop what was going on, however, both groups had men with armor and weapons, they kept each other in check, the former being slightly smaller than the latter.
The crowd asked each other what was going on, some seemed to be tight lipped, others, just as confused, while certain few were witnesses and seen the whole thing.
"They broke into the mayor's house and dragged him out!"
They spoke fervently how a crowd of people raided the mayor's house and forced him out, some even saying they heard the scream of his wife from inside.
"Is the internal conflict finally over?"
"I think it is."
"I really hope that is the case, this has been going on too long."
"Just what happened to make it solved in the dead of night?"
Everyone in town knew the problems that plagued them, how their mayor forced his greed upon them all...
There was nothing they could do, they weren't fighters.
The mayor had more people on his side than the ones who opposed him, even the minority that didn't involve themselves in the conflict usually gave in to when he would pressure them to do what he wants, be it relenting their ancestral valuables, shushing those who began to grow restless of the injustice, taxing them-
He even prevented people from leaving the village!
The walls that surrounded the village from all sides besides the forest were closed at night, and by day, it was patrolled.
Only Dua and a few select others had the privilege to, some under his strict control, by sending an 'escort' with them, keeping them in check, while Dua was the only one who knew his way through the forest as part of his job to scout.
With how the mayor threatened them and their families, seeing resisting fathers, or even mothers thrown in the dungeon without food for days, some even injured when they stood up against the guards, they grew so fearful to the point they rarely helped the other side that fought for their liberation, especially since they didn't resort to threats; they'd rather do nothing to not attract attention than make a stand like them.
Alexda was nearly 24/7 protected with his own patrol of knights, and they were the most experienced out of the ones in the entire village, as they actually originated from outside the village.
'I even got those lazy bastards to train the other guards...'
Everything was a blur for him, from sleeping soundly, to the sounds of swords clashing outside, lasting a few moments before things got quiet, and suddenly, sound was coming from everywhere as they swarmed in from every entrance, the doors, the back, one even jumped through the second-floor window, scaring his wife and him before they could even think of attempting escape.
That one was smiling and laughing as they crashed through, weirdly enough.
Once he was pulled outside, he found all his guards defeated, some wounded, others passed out, while the few conscious ones were tied up.
Looking around, he couldn't find Carl and his group anywhere among his defeated guards.
'Where in the hell are they? Are they being that slow with torturing him, down to his last breath?'
He had planned this night to eliminate Dua, fed up with how impactful he was, keeping the other side firm in their strength & will with him as the backup.
Every night he was out, if Alexda decided to try and uproot those that opposed him, he could run to the other villages and speak of his dictatorship over the village, bringing a much larger force to his doorstep with the bloodshed to prove it.
Knowing they would have their fun, he knew Carl and his group would not return immediately, especially with his 'unique' history with Dua, but they've been gone for too long.
He was left confused, only exclaiming in shock on being brought to Dua himself along with a man he knew very well, Xander, the leader of those set against his rule.
"You should be dead?! How are you-"
Before he could say anything else, he was gagged, held down to be bound at the hands with rope, and now, brought to his knees in front of nearly the entire village.
'What the hell went wrong with those idiots to where they are nowhere to be seen, while he's here without a single scratch on him!?'
Dua was now dressed in casual clothes, dark red leather pants with multiple rather baggy pockets, a black belt around his waist, a tucked-in black shirt with a pattern of grey bumps that start from the shoulders down to the base of the shirt, slowly forming the shape of an apron, almost as if it was a second layer to the basic shirt with how thick it became as it tapered off, separating from the shirt and going over the pants.
Xander was dressed in a dark blue jacket with a lighter blue shirt underneath with a horizontal white line strewn down the middle, plain grey pants, his face was very simple.
The cold breeze caused Alexda to shiver in his pajamas, the clouds parted as if the moon wished to see the show that was clearly about to unfold, two birds flew over the village from the dead forest, cawing as they pasted overhead.
"Everyone, please quiet down!"
Xander yelled into the crowd, their mutters disappearing as they shushed each other to listen.
"I'm sure all of you know what has been going on, this man here, Alexda Reninfold, our mayor, has been forcing all of our hands when no one could look, we chose to look away, yet we were never able to be fully ignorant of it, it was always just out of sight, forcing us to pay him fees for 'keeping us safe', be it in our valuables, our treasures pasted down from those before us, or even those we hold dearest to us."
He paused to let his words sink into the crowd, a good portion of the people were surprised, others not so as they held onto their loved ones, one of the guards holding Alexda down unconsciously strengthened his grip, hurting and causing him to squirm
"Wait, does he mean-", one of the random women in the crowd began to ask before being swiftly answered, not allowed to further delve into a topic she herself didn't think she wanted to be confirmed.
"Yes.", a man off to her side answered in a short whisper, cradling the woman besides him closer in a delicate manner, her shivering, despite being in warm clothing and company.
Those surrounding them not only began to grow incensed, but also frightened.
'That could've been me.'
'My wife could've been...oh-'
"That is not all."
Xander spoke again, gathering their attention once more, the crowd already realizing just how much they were in his hands to play with, or worse.
"Luckily, there have only been a couple here who have been forced to be a part of such horrendous acts, but an even higher number have been thrown into their dungeons, some we have seen with our own eyes, some we didn't even know of, for beginning to stand amongst us, of those who wanted this to end, seeing what was happening too quietly in their surroundings, but they were shushed for even beginning to see the truth...too many who didn't even understand why."
Before the crowd could try and comprehend what he meant by that last bit, he had nodded his head to the side, and inside the group to the left, a man walked up the podium, with some papers in his hands.
Alexda squinted to try and better see the paper, and upon recognizing it, began to move in a panicked rush, not wanting what was about to be revealed come out to the public.
In an official tone, the man began to speak.
"On this paper, are a list of people who have been secretly put in the dungeon, of those who have come to visit the village on the account of visiting family, or those that have previously volunteered to leave the village for various tasks before mayor Alexda Reninfold inherited the job, some after, to even those coming to the village for the first time, we have gotten them out, and they are currently being fed and monitored so they may start to recover, if you are a friend or family member that wish to see them, please step off to the side of the stand to be led to the house they are kept in.
"Alan Henderson, Jeb Khoffers, Qi Valen, Zack Uffurd, Leo Arando..."
As names slowly came out, people only flinched in recognition of names.
They had thought to hope, since they had left or simply weren't here, they could discover what was happening, and report it to one of the nearby villages, they just had to wait, however, they never seemed to come, no-one to help this tyranny cease, each family came to the same reasonable conclusion, some not quite accepting that they simply haven't decided to visit quite yet...
'He was...in the dungeon... how long?-'
'-How long have they been here, starving...how long was I hoping...? For them to arrive?'
Before the thoughts would consume them, keeping them still along with the cold, their feet started to move for them, mothers, fathers, and their kids who followed them in confusion, some understanding and were absentmindedly terrified, that was why they hadn't got a visit in some time...
They had.
As more and more families began to push forward, they were led in batches once he mentioned the house and those who recognized it sped there with the rest in tow, the knights still staying to make sure the other side didn't try anything.
Ali, mixed into the crowd, began to sweat, her heart starting to beat faster.
'Grandfather...wasn't he sent to collect herbs and spices?
When did he leave...I can't-'
Not able to handle it, the wave of anxiety erupting in her heart, she burst past those aside of her, her husband surprised, but seeing the alarm etched into her face, he grabbed the two kids behind him, hoisted them onto his shoulders, and did his best to follow behind.
"Herald Bernson! Is there a Bernson on the paper?!"
She couldn't stand to wait as she arrived in front of the man holding the paper.
Surprised to find one asking instead of waiting, he looked up, on seeing her concern strewn across her face and eyes, he looked down, scanning quickly.
"Herald, herald...-ah, yes! Follow the last group and you will end up at the house he's at, you could also wait for the next group if you'd li-"
She shot forward, not giving the time for him to finish, the father passing him did his best to bend forward a tad to say thanks before following.
He smiled for a moment before continuing to say the names.
As he did, more families began to move forward of their own volition, others were left unsure, however, by the end after time crawled forward enough, more than a third of the crowd had left.
Seeing this, Xander scanned the crowd, some shaking in realizing the potential danger they and even their family that wasn't even here was put in just by this one man.
"You all understand just why this came as a surprise? This man was cruel, and cunning enough to do this under all your noses! And none of you knew the wiser as you never stopped & talked to each other about what was going on! You went on with your days as if this wasn't even happening!
If even one of you even mentioned how none of your family had visited in a while, the other might've realized that it was odd, and began to ask around, if you thought they'd be done with their assignment by now and returned, and ask..."
The crowd began to grow restless, being accused of doing something wrong was one thing...but that accusation being right was another.
They had sat in their hope for so long that they were disregarding the now, and that had gotten a lot of people hurt, and it could've been just as easily their own family to get that short end of the stick.
They hadn't even tried to put a stop to it.
"All of that stops tonight however, as now, he'll be put in the same dungeon, serving the time he took, ending in banishment as his just punishment."
He looked over to the mayor's group, now looking up to him in dismay, fear, and nervousness.
"As we lack the strength to put you all in there with him, we will allow all of you to be free for now, however, be aware you aren't going to be together to protect each other forever, either you will join him now, or later...your free to run, and leave everything you have built here, we're sure to tell the other towns of what you've done, and the adventurers guild can have new bounties plastered on their boards across the lands; you'd be running for the rest of your lives till your caught for even bigger punishment...so-
What's it gonna be?"