Chapter 573 – The Stricken Village
Inside the village that had issued the request—
Some villagers stood frozen in place, captivated by illusions cast through enchantment magic. Others, though shaken by false visions, retained their senses and gripped hoes and hatchets, desperately trying to protect the entranced.
Even when Tauro’s party appeared, some couldn’t tell whether they were real or merely another illusion. So Tauro, Aeris, and Zion immediately cast status ailment recovery magic to dispel the enchantment.
As the spell lifted, the villagers came to their senses. They were relieved to know that Tauro and the others are real.
“A-are you adventurers…?”
An older man—likely the village chief—stepped forward cautiously. Seeing such a young team with two children among them made him understandably wary.
“Yes. The two monsters that attacked earlier have already been defeated by my golems, so you can rest easy.”
Tauro gestured forward, presenting Seth, Adam, and Eve.
“Oh! A puppeteer! In that case, please defeat the remaining monsters as well!”
“…huh? Remaining?”
“Yes. We believe so. We’ve been gathering information to report to the Adventurers’ Guild. From the shared illusions—and the fact that every villager saw at least five figures appear—we concluded there must be at least five monsters in total.”
“Five…”
The chief had not simply cowered in fear these past months. They had tried to deduce the enemy’s nature on their own.
With adventurers who came to help repeatedly failing and retreating, the village’s survival itself had been in jeopardy.
“That information is very helpful. Then let’s reinforce the village perimeter and repair the fence while preparing for the remaining monsters.”
“That would be a great help! Ever since the fence was broken, we’ve had no time to repair it due to other monsters attacking …”
“Other monsters?”
“Kobolds and the like. Creatures we can usually drive off together—but repeated night raids have pushed us to our limits.”
“That must have been exhausting… Aeris, can you handle it?”
“okay. I’ll set up a barrier to ward off monsters around the village.”
Without needing further explanation, Aeris deployed a protective ward.
“Set—take Adam and Eve and stand watch outside the barrier. We’ll repair the fence in the meantime.”
Set nodded and dashed out with Adam and Eve.
“This is the second time I’ve seen a puppeteer, but your doll moves so naturally—almost like a person with a will of its own.” the village chief remarked while watching Set move.
“Oh? What was the other puppeteer like?”
Tauro found himself curious.
“About half a year ago, a traveling man passed through. He had a talking doll. The villagers were delighted and paid generously to watch.”
…That sounds like ventriloquism.
Tauro suppressed an internal retort—but the idea sparked something. Perhaps he could embed a mechanism using magic stones to convert Set’s thoughts into speech?
Tauro transported logs using his magic storage. Zion sliced them to length with magic hand strikes. Ankh sharpened the tips using wind magic. And Ragune shaped the ground with earth magic to set the posts firmly.
In this way, each of them exerted their strength in their area of expertise and easily completed the repair of the broken fence.
“…Are you really adventurers?”
“You’re more skilled than our lumberjacks!”
“My pride’s wounded!”
The villagers stared in disbelief.
“Haha. We just have good teamwork,” Tauro said proudly.
That night—
“…Set? Hold on. I’ll share your vision.”
Sleeping in an empty house the village had lent them, Tauro awoke to Set’s telepathic call.
“This is Adam’s vision… It’s dark and I can’t see very well … but—is that the same type of monster as the Bloodsucking Wolves from earlier? …Yes. One large one and three normal-sized ones. We’ll intercept them. Set, cut off the monster’s from behind so that they can’t escape …Right. I’m counting on you.”
After coordinating silently, Tauro turned to the others.
“Everyone, wake up. Set reports the remaining monsters are approaching. They’re still some distance away—let’s prepare and meet them head-on.”
Aeris and the others were instantly alert at Tauro’s words.
“…got it. We intercept outside the village. We don’t want the villagers falling victim to illusion magic again.”
Though slightly groggy, Aeris immediately talks up a strategy that is considerate of the village.
“…Yeah. These people have lived with nightmares for months. Let’s at least give them one peaceful night,” Ankh agreed.
Ragune and Zion nodded in solidarity.
“Alright. Let’s move.”
With Tauro’s command, the team sprang from the house and into the night, ready to confront the approaching threat.