*Two Months Later*
The village of Oshka was a small farming community. With only a population of about thirty people, things were relatively quiet, but recently things changed. Farm animals were being killed, wildlife was being hunted down, and a group of people who were investigating the wildlife being killed suddenly disappeared in the woods. This concerned all of the people in the town, so the mayor of the town called for a town meeting.
"Good evening, everybody." The mayor said while standing up on the stage. "Now we all know why we've gathered here today. After the unfortunate disappearances of Cal, Stephen, John, and Sarah, there has been a growing concern among us about what is living out there in those woods. We believe some kind of monster is out there using us as its feeding ground."
"What will we do?!" A woman called out.
"I say we fucking kill it!" a middle-aged man yelled.
"Order! Calm down, everyone." The mayor said. "I know we're angry and scared; I am too. So I've made a call to the mercenary guild for support. They are sending one of their own here to investigate and kill whatever's out there."
"Do we even have the money to pay for it?" A younger woman asked.
"Honestly...no." The mayor said it reluctantly. "However, we cannot allow this to continue, so we'll pay however we can."
"What do you mean?" A man asked.
"We do what the mercenary wants. That's all." The mayor said this with his fists clutched. "If he wants to use one of our houses, we let him; we give him whatever he wants to eat, and if he... if he decides to take one of our women, we let him."
The last sentence caused outrage among the people.
"I am not giving myself over to a mercenary!" a woman yelled.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting my daughter be used for that!" A man yelled.
"I don't know what else to do!" The mayor yelled, crying. "We can't allow our people to continue being killed by the monster. This was the only solution I could think of."
The yelling continued until a loud crackle of lightning was heard from outside the building. Everyone turned around and saw a person wearing a mask and holding a foreign sword standing in front of the building's doors.
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in your woman."
"Who are you?" The mayor asked.
"I'm the mercenary you called." the masked person responded. "Look, I won't do anything untoward to you or your daughters. All I ask is to be paid."
"I, uh, we can't give you the full amount." The mayor said reluctantly.
"That's fine. Just give me a free room and board, and we'll call it even." The masked man said. "Now tell me, what do you know about these monsters?"
"Well..." The mayor quickly cleared his throat. "There have been animal killings for the past few weeks, which has caused a bit of a disturbance on our hunting grounds. We're usually self-sustaining, but now food is becoming more and more scarce. We rely on our harvest and what little meat we can find—squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc.—but a few days ago, a hunting party went out and...none of them came back. We sent a rescue party out, but they didn't find them."
"Hmm, I doubt it's goblins due to the fact your village hasn't been raided; sadly, there are still a lot of other possibilities. I'll head out in the morning to investigate. It's getting too dark now." The masked man said.
"Oh, okay...about your room and board. You can stay at my house; I have an extra room." The mayor said.
"Appreciate it." The masked man said.
Afterwards, the town meeting was dismissed, and everyone went home. The masked man followed the mayor to his house. Of course, it was the biggest of them all, but it still felt very empty in a way. The masked man kept walking around and saw a picture frame and the mayor and a young girl smiling while farming together.
"Who's this?' The masked man asked.
"Oh...that's..." The mayor sighed. "My daughter...Sarah."
"Your daughter is one of the missing people?" The masked man asked.
"Yeah...her boyfriend John was part of the hunting party, and she wanted to join him... I should've stopped her." The mayor said as he started crying.
"I promise. I'll look for her as well. If at the least just to give you closure." The masked man said.
"Thank you..." The mayor said. "Your room will be the second door on the right. I'll make up some dinner in the meantime."
The masked man nodded before he started to walk down the hallway.
"Hey..." The mayor called out. "What's your name? I don't want to call you "masked guy" all the time."
"My name...it's Alex."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Alex." The mayor said. "My name is Willem."
Alex nodded before walking into his room; it was a small room with a bed and a dresser. Alex took his mask off and laid down on the bed, quickly falling asleep, ready to face whatever would come his way the next day.
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