"Hey, adventurer. Thanks for clearing the field wolves, big help man! Huh? About the Witch? Hmmm… I don't have much to share honestly. Just that she is always present in the deep forest, living there without much to do. Strange if you ask me."
"Afternoon, Kid. Can you help me move these boxes? Gee thanks! Hmmm? The Witch in the forest? I don't know much. Just that a long time ago she used to be a human before she turned to the dark side. Pretty nasty stuff, you know?"
"Hey! Would you like to taste the berry pie I made? No, huh? That's sad. Hmmm? About the Witch? I think the elder might know more about it. He seemed to be pretty worried about the situation."
"Afternoon, boy! How is the hunt for the zombies going? Good good! About the Witch? She is a cruel being who used to kidnap children from the settlement. If not for a protection charm that a fellow priest has placed on the settlement, this entire settlement might have vanished a long time ago. Sigh. Please free us from this madness… I am counting on you."
Stepping out of the Elder's house, into the grassy pathway, I began pondering about the whole quest once again. As of this moment, except for Lloyd whom I will be meeting in the evening and Tierra whom I decided to visit at last when I will be logging off, I have met all the people present in the village.
And yet, the information I had received on the quest hasn't changed. Surprisingly, I didn't even get any side quests which I had been expecting. My slow steps towards the settlement's exit, towards the forest as I kept pondering about the wasted three hours since morning. All I can do is hope that at least one of the two will give me some information regarding the situation.
The side quests are essentially based on the timeline of the game. Compared to the past when I arrived here three years later, things were much more chaotic than they are now, hence the side-quests were all abundant.
Lost in my thoughts, on the path towards the exit of the settlement near the forest, I soon reached the empty area at the edge of the village. The bright grass there was properly trimmed at a low length, and the mud seemed much more whitish than what was within the settlement. At the edges of this somewhat neat and clean area were yellow and pink flowers that seemed to be blossoming in their prime.
Though what really attracted me wasn't the plane itself but the two children playing in that area. The girl's laugh echoed as she chased the boy all around the area, while the boy skillfully dodged her with a cheerful and smug laugh on his face. Sadly, looking at their laughing face, I didn't fail to be happy. Nope, not at all. Instead, I was confused.
Wasn't there the fear of the witch? Why are the children being left to their own devices? I found the situation a bit complex. Given the nature of the things around, and the monsters around, the children should mostly stay within the room. Even if they were to play, they should be doing so in the presence of a supervising adult.
Could this be a quest? I entertained this idea as I moved closer to them.
"Hey, kids. Can I join in the fun?" I asked, trying to get closer to them, and they stopped and turned towards me. And then sheepishly stood side by side with their hands behind them, politely bowing to me.
"Haha, it's all right. Though is it okay for you kids to be here? Aren't you afraid of the monsters?" I tried to gain information, but they kept their silence without saying anything.
Were they mute? I questioned them before looking at their status.
[Name: Lila
Race: Human
Class: None
Level: 2
Mana Points: 50/50
Health Points: 250/250
Remarks: A young shy girl from Inara Village. Likes to play with Aerie]
[Name: Aerie
Race: Human
Class: None
Level: 2
Mana Points: 50/50
Health Points: 250/250
Remarks: A young shy boy from Inara Village. Likes to play with Lila]
Well, nothing remarkable there. I sighed before pondering about it for a few more seconds and then asking,
"How about your mother? Do you know where she is? I have something I wanted to talk to her about."
I didn't expect them to answer anything this time, and after this, I was going to continue my way to the forest as well. But surprisingly enough, I really got an answer.
"Inside the forest."
Lila spoke with slight hesitation before, and I politely nodded at her.
Tierra is in the forest? What's with all the NPCs being so carefree even with the zombie invasion? I grew a bit confused as I began sensing something was wrong with the situation
Being a realistic game, there was a low chance that there were any loopholes in the story. At least, I didn't find anything in my past 10 years of playing this game. Then, if we consider that everything should make sense then…
What if? Suddenly I had a certain thought.
"Have you kids heard about the witch? Know anything about it?" For some reason, I asked this with twice as much seriousness as I had done so with the other NPCs.
Oddly enough, the children made a confused expression. The boy then pondered it before speaking,
"Why are you asking that, sir? The Witch-"
"Lila! Avarie!" Cutting off the boy's words, a voice came as Tierra came hastily running towards us. Though instead of the direction of the forest, she was coming out from within the settlement.
Didn't the kids say that she was in the forest? Could they be confused? I was a bit perplexed as I saw Tierra reaching closer to the kids.
"How many times have I told you both not to play out here? Come back with me to the inn, you both are grounded for a week now!" She spoke in an urgent tone as she held them both by their hands and dragged them away from here.
"Miss Porti! I was-"
"Ah! Young adventurer! Sorry, but I am in a bit of a hurry. Come back to the inn later if you want to talk about anything!" She spoke in the same hurried manner as before as she dragged the children back into the settlement before she disappeared in the distance.
At this point, it is pretty much obvious that there is more to the story than what I did last time. I really rushed it the last time to just go and kill the witch, huh? I sighed at that thought before wondering if I should go and ask Tierra about the Witch but then decided against it.
My gut feeling told me to ask Lloyd about it first.
"Let's go for a hunt, first," I mumbled as I turned to move deeper into the forest, hoping to hunt a bunch of zombies and level up.
Though as soon as I entered the forest…
"RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! ZOMBIES ARE COMING!"
A panicked voice, loud and clear, rang into my ears. Its source was an orange-haired player running away from the zombies with tears in his eyes. Above his head, a white coloured [Blaze Level 3] floated denoting his nickname and level.
With him were two more, a raven-haired girl dressed in black and a blonde man who seemed to be cursing on every step that he was taking away from the zombies.
4 Zombies. 3 level 5 and one Level 6. I calculated before moving closer to them. I wanted to know if anyone of them was a healer or a priest but…
"Let's take care of this mess, first."