Yanz was walking back to the village. When he had come to the library, he made a small mark on the ground outside the building so he could know which direction to return to. It wasn't the most accurate method, but it was the only thing he could do. He went off in the direction the mark had pointed to. He had walked for quite a long time now, but he couldn't see the village. When he was going to the library, it didn't take long, but now it was taking way longer.
"I think we're lost,"
Yanz said with a nervous, embarrassed tone to Hazel.
"Squeak squeak kiuk"
Hazel said, making gestures that it was fine and not to worry about it.
"Haha, thanks,"
Yanz replied. Since Yanz was still weak, he had to rest from time to time to catch his breath and give his thin legs a break.
"Kiuk! Kiuk!"
Hazel said, jumping on Yanz's head and pointing somewhere. Yanz turned to see the village. There were some small wooden houses in the distance, further than he had thought. They were further away than expected, but at least now they knew which direction to go.
Yanz turned in the direction and started walking.
"You're really intelligent, Hazel. Come to think of it, how do you even understand what I'm saying?"
"Squeak squeak kiulk squeak."
"Never mind, I don't even understand what you're trying to say."
After a long walk and resting from time to time, they finally arrived at the village. When they were resting, Yanz played and talked with Hazel, sitting down and eating the jerky. Yanz hadn't given it much attention when he was in the village because he was in a hurry, but now that he gave it a good look, the village was really run down. All the houses were made of wood with tiny holes, cracks, and moss. Some houses were missing a whole wall, some didn't have a door. The population was quite high, but the people were thin. It was more like a slum than a village. Kids were crying, and people had dead eyes.
It was past midday. He walked around a bit and saw nice farms in the distance. It was almost as if it was in a completely different place. Such nice farms in these slums—Yanz found this strange. He saw people, men and women both, harvesting the farms. A lot of people were there. Yanz only saw kids and old people in the village, not including the farm, because the young ones were in the farms. A kid around the age of about 13 holding a wooden stick came up to Yanz. Yanz smelled trouble so he put Hazel down and gestured to her to go away.
The kid said,
"Who are you? Never seen you around."
Yanz had thought of an excuse.
"Hi, I'm Yanz."
"Yanz? Never heard that name. That's a weird name."
"..."
Yanz had a 'what do I talk about now' look on his face.
"Oi, tell me who you are. You look suspicious... Are you a spy of the Sky People!?"
"The Sky People?"
"Stop acting dumb, I figured out your identity. I'll have to kill you to take revenge!"
"I'm not 'Sky People' or whatever it is. My parents lived outside this village and they told me stories about this village. A couple of days ago they died and I didn't have anywhere to go, so I came here today."
The kid wasn't listening to him.
"Quit making excuses when it's time for your death!!"
He struck the stick with a vertical slash, aiming for Yanz's head. Yanz blocked the attack with his arms reflexively. It didn't hurt that bad because the kid was too weak and Yanz's body was sturdier than his, though the difference wasn't that big. The kid struck him again vertically, hitting Yanz in the ribs. He dropped to the floor.
"Hahahaha, I have taken revenge for many of us. How does it feel to die by the hands of someone you all killed!!"
Yanz used his healing magic sneakily and acted like he was dead. The kid walked up to him, completely losing his guard, poking his 'dead body' with his stick while sitting down right in front of him. Yanz quickly got up and snatched the stick away. The kid got jump-scared and fell back. Yanz stood up with the stick in his hand, pointing at the kid.
"Now you'll answer my questions."
The kid was about to cry.
"W...what do you want from me, I don't have anything."
Scared to his death, all the confidence he had moments ago was completely gone.
"Like I said, I'm going to ask questions and you're going to answer."
"P.. Please leave me alone, I'll answer anything b..but don't kill me"