Chapter 87 - Sacred Domain

The man pointed at the blue door in front of them with his hand.

"It's his house. I'll tell his wife to guide you from now on."

The man moved his hand to knock on the door but team leader Dains grabbed his arm and stopped the man from doing so.

"There is no need to do that. We can wait for him to come back."

The man that was surprised by the team leader's sudden action looked between him and the house for a moment. 

"Are you sure? It may take a while for him to come back."

Team leader Dains released the man's arm with a smile.

"It's fine. We can wait for him. Ah, he said he wanted to talk with the old man... Is the old man his father?"

The man chuckled at his words. 

"No no. He is the village chief. Everyone calls him old man in the village."

"I see."

'Is he the same old man that they were talking about while discussing the ruin?'

Kairen could clearly remember what they said about the ruin.

-This place is destroyed. Do you get what it means?

-You still believe whatever bullshit that old man says about this ruin?

One couldn't conclude something from those few sentences, but it was still obvious that the 'old man' had said something about the ruin. 

It may only be their misunderstanding or only some local talk without any meaning behind it, but they still needed to find out about it. For this group, who had zero information about the three ruins and the painting, finding out anything would be helpful even if it was some old local tales. 

The first two ruins were far away from any cities or villages so there was no way to ask the people nearby about them, but there was a small village near the third. Even if the villagers didn't know about the history of the structure, they probably knew things that might have happened to it in recent years. They would know if there were any people who had visited this place before, this way the group could find out if Philomns had searched these places before them or not.

Team leader Dains nodded his head again with a smile and looked around.

"We appreciate your hospitality so much. We don't want to bother you so much so we'll wait here till he comes back. Your village is also too beautiful. We can get to know others in the meantime."

The man dubiously looked between the house and the group, then nodded his head.

"Okay. I'll go then. Rest well. Call me if you need anything."

"Yes, thank you."

The man then turned around and walked away. 

They looked at the departing man's back till he disappeared from sight. After they made sure he was completely gone, the team leader turned to Darren and said in a quiet voice.

"Look for that old man, the village chief. See if you can listen to their conversation."

Darren looked at team leader Dains with tired eyes and an expression screaming 'I don't want to, why don't you let me rest?', yet he nodded his head.

"...Okay."

Darren moved back stealthily and vanished from sight in a second without leaving any trace behind.

"What will the other group do? Don't we need to inform them?"

Rai asked that while looking at Darren's back. He was talking about the people who were left in the second ruin to install devices and spells.

"I've told them to go back to the headquarters once they are done."

He then took out something from his watch. 

"Separate in groups and talk to people. I'll report the monster to the headquarters and join you."

"Yes."

The unit separated themselves into groups of two and started to casually wander around the village. 

Obviously, they wanted to talk to the locals and ask them about the ruin. They still pretended to be tired hunters from Crimson Blade and went around the village, talking to people.

There weren't many villagers who were willing to talk to them. Most of them were busy with work and some just didn't like to talk to strangers. 

While aimlessly walking around, Kairen and Reyan heard an old voice calling for them.

"Oh? What are you kids doing here?"

An old woman, sitting on the stairs in front of her house and feeding a dog, looked at Kairen and Reyan and asked that.

"Aren't you that child's guests?"

She looked at them from head to toe. She examined their torn clothes and tired faces with a sympathetic gaze as if she was looking at her own grandchildren.

"Yes, he said we could use his house to rest. He went to talk to the old man so we thought we could look around the village until he comes back. You have a pretty village."

Reyan answered her politely. She smiled even more and nodded her head, making her snow-white hair waver around her head.

"I see. I heard some noises from the distance, so it was you."

"Yes. We were fighting with a monster not too far away. That man said he would let us rest in his place for a while."

The woman put down the empty bowl that once contained dog food and rummaged through her pockets. After a few seconds, she took out something from her pocket.

"Come closer."

She called them to come closer. Once they walked close enough, she grabbed their hands and put something in their palms.

"Here."

The two youths looked at the pink candy in their palms with puzzled faces. The old woman smiled while looking at their faces.

"You've worked hard. I don't have anything much so accept this from me as a sign of gratitude."

"...."

"...."

Kairen was hungry after fighting with the monster. He picked up the candy and put it into his mouth. It was sweet and sour. The sour taste of the candy made his sleepiness go away a little bit. He smiled and thanked the old woman.

"Thank you, granny."

"I have a lot of them, do you want some more?"

"No no."

The old woman smiled at him and looked down at the dog that was wagging its tail happily while eating its food.

"It's weird. Monsters never appear around that place."

Reyan looked at the old woman with a fake, innocent face.

"Around that place? Do you mean that old building?"

"Yes. Monsters do appear at other locations like the other hill that a lot of our farms are located, but that place has always been peaceful."

"Ah!"

Reyan looked at the old woman before hesitantly opening his mouth.

"That building..."

"Hmm?"

The old woman gently raised her head.

"The monster destroyed it completely."

"Pardon?"

The old woman raised her head, her eyes widened and her lips parted a little bit. 

"T-the... The sacred domain is destroyed?"

The old woman stuttered, her voice trembling and her pupils shaking as if she couldn't believe what she heard just now.

"Sacred domain?"

Reyan asked back, but the old woman didn't answer him.

"Goddess..."

She muttered that under her lips while looking at the sky. 

Reyan turned his head to look at Kairen. Kairen knew what he wanted to say. 

'Did she just call that ruin 'sacred domain' ?'

That was new. They had never heard of that name before. They looked at them once more and then looked at the old woman that seemed to be lost in thought.

They waited for the old woman to think about whatever she wanted before asking again.

"Ms, why do you call that place sacred domain? I've never heard of such a name before."

The old woman raised her head a little bit. She seemed sad. Sad and worried. 

The dog, seeing the change in its owner's face stuck its fluffy body to the old woman's legs and started to make noises. She gently patted the dog's head and looked at the two youths. They were looking at her with curious eyes. 

The old woman closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. After she opened her eyes, the sadness and worry were completely gone as if she had calmed down.

She continued to pat the dog while answering Reyan's question.

"That place... That place is sacred... The sacred domain... It has protected our lives until now..."

She then raised her head and looked at the sky.

"It's now allowed to tell about it to the outsiders, but I'll tell you since you are hunters yourselves. I guess it won't matter much if you know about it or not. You've also helped us by killing the monster so... Well, not that people would believe it even if we told them..."

She then looked back at their eyes.

"That place is sacred. It is blessed by gods. Monsters don't dare to approach this plain because of that building. That's why this land is so peaceful.. That sacred domain has always blessed us with its protection."