The argument at the village gate had grown into something else by the time Lys arrived. Voices overlapped. Hands stayed close to weapons. The large wooden gate stood open just enough for the three men to stand just inside the threshold. The broad-shouldered boss still supported the unconscious man against the wall. And the one with the axe kept shifting his grip on the handle, looking between the arguing women like he was not sure whether to speak or stay quiet.
Even from far away, Lys could see Kaela stood closest to the gate, her body angled as if she was ready to block anyone from stepping farther in. The three village guards faced her in a loose line. Maen and Shilla stood a short distance behind Kaela, both looking tense. The atmosphere between them suggested that a fight might break out any second if someone didn't stop them.
Lys walked up with Selene and Mira close behind him, stopping a few steps short of the group and looking over the scene once.
"What is going on here?" he asked in a loud voice.
One of the village guards, the one with the short brown hair, turned toward him right away. She lowered her spear a little and spoke quickly, explaining the request from the three men to enter the village, and the disagreement that had started between the Fiora and the village guards.
Lys listened without interrupting, even though he had already learned about it in advance from the woman who had gone to get him. When she finished, he nodded once.
"So in other words," he said, "you three want to let these men in, and you three are saying not to. Am I understanding this correctly?"
The women all stopped talking at once. Every pair of eyes turned toward him. His voice stayed even, but there was a clear weight behind the words coming out of his mouth. The earlier shouting of theirs faded into a short silence as he finished speaking.
Kaela was the first to break the silence. She looked at Lys with clear irritation. "Look, kid. I know that woman Vessa placed you in charge here, but let me be honest. I do not think you understand the gravity of this situation."
The word "kid" coming out of Kaela landed harder than the rest of the sentence to Lys. For some reason, he felt a flash of anger rise in his chest, but he pushed it down and kept his face steady. Knowing he can't get angry at her now.
"Yeah, I get it," he said. "More than you might think. But let me be clear here. You are not to address me as a kid. You and I do not know each other that well yet. And until we get to know each other, you are to address me as the person in charge. Lys. Like everyone else does."
Hearing Lys speak up for himself like this, Kaela's eyes narrowed. The anger that had already been building in her from the earlier argument rose higher. Being corrected by someone clearly younger than her hit her pride hard. Her shoulders tensed, and her mouth opened like she was about to snap back.
But Lys did not give her the chance.
He spoke with that same tone, "And regarding this problem of letting someone from outside in or not," he continued adjusting his posture, "I think Vessa and even the whole village council already instructed everyone about what to do in this kind of situation. Letting the person in charge know about it was the instruction you all were given. As I remember it, at least. So what is the problem here? Why are you all squabbling like this, arguing among yourselves, without informing me or anyone else from the village council first?"
His heavy words settled over the group. The three village guards looked down or to the side. Even Maen and Shilla also shifted their gaze and the weight of their body, both looking uncomfortable, feeling guilty.
The only one who did not look ashamed was Kaela. Instead, her face stayed tight with anger, as if she had been called out in front of everyone by someone she clearly did not respect yet.
Not knowing what was going on in Kaela's mind, Lys turned toward the hunter woman who had come to fetch him earlier. She was still standing near the edge of the group, looking relieved that someone else was now handling the situation.
"Can you please go to the chapel where Priest John is?" Lys asked her. "Ask him to come here urgently. Tell him someone from outside arrived and needs help."
The hunter woman nodded quickly. She did not waste any time with questions. She turned and ran toward the center of the village, heading straight for the chapel.
While she was gone, Lys looked at the three men. The boss was still supporting the unconscious one, but both of them looked ready to collapse. The man with the axe leaned heavily on the wall, his breathing still uneven.
Lys glanced at Selene and Mira. "Help me with him."
All this while, both of them had been watching Lys with a mix of surprise and focus. Neither of them had seen him speak with that kind of firmness before. It took them a second to move as he called out, but they stepped forward right away when they realised Lys said that to them.
Together they eased the unconscious man off the boss's back and lowered him carefully to the ground just inside the gate. Selene knelt beside him at once. She placed both hands over the man's chest and closed her eyes. A soft, steady glow of divine magic began to gather under her palms as she mumbled some kind of spell. The light that was coming out of her hands was gentle, but it spread slowly across the man's body as if the spell she was using now was for healing the entire body.
The boss sat down heavily against the wall, watching Selene with tired eyes. The man with the axe stayed standing, but he no longer held his weapon quite as tightly, seeing his companion was finally being treated.
Seeing the scene, how everything was going against her, Kaela remained where she was, arms crossed, still looking furious. The other women stayed quiet now, waiting to see what would happen next.
Lys stayed close to Selene, keeping one eye on the injured man and the other on the open gate. The argument had stopped, but the tension had not fully left the air.
And after almost ten minutes passed by like this, Priest John finally arrived, along with someone else.
It was the Elder Verna.