The night was already well advanced, and the entire village of Autarcie was sound asleep. Suddenly, howls echoed through every corner of the village. Autarcie was under attack by beings straight out of children's tales—hideous creatures, child-sized, armed with claws, clubs, and various other weapons. Later, Aniche would describe these beings as though they had emerged from a dungeon.
"Wake up, young master!"
It was Lore's voice, trying to rouse Keita.
"Ugh, I've already told you not to call me that, big sister."
"This is not the time for jokes. Come with me; we're in danger."
"What?"
Reluctantly, Keita began to follow Lore. As they reached the living room, he felt the greatest fear of his life. Despite being approximately his size, the creature before him was abominable, its eyes filled with malicious intent.
Keita's brother was also in the living room, close to their mother. In a few swift movements, Aniche defeated the monster and two others that had entered at the same time.
"Mother!"
"Don't worry, I'll protect you. After all, I am an experienced adventurer."
"Madam, where are you going?" Lore asked as she watched Aniche leave the room.
"The goblins are creatures that don't exist on the same plane as us; they shouldn't be able to emerge from the dungeons. But somehow, here they are outside. Their greatest strength lies in their numbers. In Kae-Zêl's absence, I am the strongest and the one with the most experience. I must protect the village."
"Then I'm coming with you, Mother."
At this declaration, Aniche smiled.
"You've grown strong, my son. Promise me you will look after your brother while I'm gone."
"Yes, I promise," Keita affirmed, wiping away a few tears. Deep down, he was still just a child.
"Hide somewhere in the house. I'll make sure they don't get in. Take care of your brothers, Lore. I'll be back soon."
"Yes, big sister."
Aniche smiled; it was probably the first time Lore had called her that, despite their closeness. With those encouraging words, she hurried towards the village, dressed lightly to enhance her mobility and armed with a slender sword. She looked like a heroine as she stepped through the door.
This arsenal had been hidden until now; it was the first time Lore and Keita had seen her like this—she appeared to be a different person.
From night until dawn, Keita and Lore kept watch, waiting for Aniche's return. Seeing Keita tremble, Lore tried to reassure him by holding him in her arms with Theos, who, even in this situation, showed no reaction as usual.
As morning progressed, Lore decided to take a look. Not seeing Aniche return, Keita clung to her, unwilling to be left behind. She resigned herself to taking Theos by the hand, followed by Keita.
Their house was a little distant from the other dwellings, but the distance wasn't so great that even a child couldn't make several round trips in a few minutes. They could see smoke rising, and anyone could guess what had happened, bringing back to Lore bad memories that made her shudder. Noticing the worry in Keita's eyes, she tried her best to regain her composure.
Together, they crossed the village in search of possible survivors. The houses lay in ruins; the fire might have subsided, but it had badly damaged the buildings. Keita glanced to his right and saw a roof collapse.
"Is anyone here?" Lore repeated several times. Finally, a little farther away, a voice responded.
"Over here."
Cautiously, Lore headed toward the voice. It seemed to belong to Mrs. Oboro's eldest son.
"Lore, is that you?"
"How are you?"
"Yes, I'm fine!"
"That's good news. I also see that Keita and his brother are well."
"Are there any other survivors, Mr. Krys?" Lore inquired.
Krys looked up at the sky with a sad and overwhelmed expression before giving his answer.
"Yes, we've found about fifteen people, including children. Come with me; we've gathered in the center of the village."
Lore took care to shield the corpses from her brothers' view with her hands, but this didn't stop Keita from catching a glimpse of this horrifying sight through the gaps between Lore's fingers.
"Mr. Krys, can you explain what happened?"
"As you might guess, we were attacked last night. They targeted the sentinels with arrows. Then they advanced on the village. They weren't very strong, but they were numerous. Caught by surprise, we were quickly overwhelmed. Without Lady Aniche's help, there likely wouldn't have been any survivors."
A silence settled along their walk. As they arrived, they could hear crying; several sheets lay on the ground, their contents all too evident.
Lore froze for a moment, then a question came to her mind, which she asked immediately.
"Where is my sister?"
Krys lowered his gaze and pointed to one of the sheets that was a bit farther away from the others.
Overcome with emotion, Lore hurried over and collapsed right in front of the sheet, leaving Keita confused.
"What's wrong, big sister? What happened to Mother?"
At this question, Lore felt terrible at the thought of showing this scene to her young brother. In the end, it was Keita who moved faster than Lore and pulled back the sheet.
There lay the lifeless body of Aniche. Keita broke down in tears, wishing fervently for his mother to return and awaken. Lore, disoriented, didn't know how to react.
Krys stepped back to give them some space; he, too, understood their pain, having lost loved ones as well.
Eventually, seeing her brother in tears, Lore held Keita in her arms to comfort him. It was seeing Theos's vacant stare in such a situation that made her start to cry as well.
Later that day, Keita calmed down and fell asleep. Lore then placed him out of sight, lying Theos down beside him and closing his eyes so that he could sleep too.
Krys approached her with some food rations, as the monsters had taken a large quantity of their provisions.
"Here, take this for you and your brothers."
"But what were those monsters?" Krys questioned. "I've never seen anything like it!"
"How did she die?"
"After hearing screams, I stepped out of my house and saw them. I grabbed my hunting gear, and we gathered with a few able men. They looked strange, but surprisingly weak. Their numbers and their average intelligence were their advantages. They overwhelmed us with their numbers and strategies. Lady Aniche arrived, and we can say she decimated all the monsters. But to save the old man Garban's daughter, who also perished, she let her guard down and was shot in the back by an arrow. Before she collapsed, a light escaped from a symbol in her eyes, and strangely, all the monsters fled toward the forest. I'm really sorry. If I had been stronger, I might have been able to do something other than just watch," Krys admitted, pitifully. "We all owe our lives to Lady Aniche."
Lore listened to Krys in silence from beginning to end; she felt unwell.
"We've decided to go to the capital. We don't know what these monsters are or when they'll return. Come with us!"
Such was Krys's proposal to Lore, who had regained her composure for the sake of her new family.
The remaining adults busied themselves searching for bodies, identifying the missing, digging graves for the dead, and gathering supplies. Lore joined in, wanting to finish as quickly as possible and leave the village.
She heard noise toward the entrance of the village and went to see who was discussing the arrival of someone—it could be an intruder or a visitor. In the distance, she spotted a galloping horse that, as it got closer, turned out to be ridden by a man in armor, the same two who had reached the entrance of the village. Lore finally recognized him—it was Zêl.
The horse stopped at the village entrance, and as Zêl dismounted, Lore collapsed at his feet, weeping.