Rowan sat inside his room with a contemplative expression, deep in thought.
He was aware that the people had already gathered at the village square, awaiting him. However, at this moment, he needed to pull himself together before going to help fix the crumbling emotional state of the others.
Usually, he arrived at the village square and made up his speech on the spot with no difficulty.
However, that was only possible because his mind was in the right state, unlike now.
Rowan heaved a sigh, stood up, had a quick bath, changed into new robes, and then strolled out of the house.
The streets were deserted as the people were at the village square.
Rowan walked down the street.
He was heading towards the village square when he spotted Brandon approaching from the opposite direction.
"Lord Rowan," Brandon greeted.
Rowan nodded in response.
Brandon observed Rowan's calmness; he could tell it was just a façade to cover his true emotions. He had been with Rowan for a long time and knew when he was actually calm and when he was pretending.
"The deaths are getting serious and becoming more than mere coincidences. What do you think is happening?" Brandon opened a conversation to lighten the awkward silence.
"We are being attacked by extraordinary bastards," Rowan replied.
"We are being attacked? Extraordinary bastards? Are you talking about evil spirits?" Brandon found this pretty strange.
"Yeah, something similar."
While Rowan replied coldly and tried to end the conversation as soon as he could, Brandon ensured to keep it going.
They continued in this pattern for a few minutes before arriving at the village square.
Rowan was greeted by the large number of people and the murmurs going around.
The villagers at the back noticed him first; they greeted him, and he replied casually while making his way to the front.
Walking through the crowd, the sad, devastated, and worried faces of the villagers were revealed to Rowan.
"Lord Rowan, the people are really worried and scared. What should be done about this?"
"Lord Rowan, are we going to die?"
"I am worried I will be next. Please do something about this, please."
Some of the villagers rushed to Rowan, leaving comments and remarks.
Rowan ignored them and continued making his way forward.
Some of the soldiers noticed this and rushed to control the crowd.
The captains left their previous positions and strolled towards him.
Roland left his wife and kid and rushed to meet him as well.
They could tell Rowan was not in the mood to speak, so they prevented the people from speaking with him.
Even with the soldiers helping, the people still voiced their worries, creating quite a bit of noise.
However, since they didn't approach him, he made it to his destination without stress.
He was greeted by the corpses of the babies and their crying parents.
Even though Rowan tried to stay calm, his heart ached.
Riela's gentle voice came from beside him. She had spotted him and walked up to check on him.
"Are you okay?" she asked gently.
Her eyes contained her deep feeling of empathy for Rowan.
"I am okay, just a bit tired of the shit going on right now," Rowan smiled at her.
Riela nodded and told him to calm down, that it would be alright very soon, to which he nodded.
The murmur of the crowd continued as Rowan climbed onto the platform.
He observed the faces of everyone once again before coughing. His cough drew the attention of everyone towards him.
"Lord Rowan, what is actually happening?"
Before he could even begin, someone in the crowd voiced the question everyone had in their minds.
Everyone looked at Rowan, waiting for an answer.
Rowan looked at them—usually, he would cover up such an important issue by lying to the crowd, but he decided against that this time. He would tell them the truth; how they handled it depended on them.
"We are under attack by dark creatures or supernatural beings, whatever they're called. They are almost impossible to capture or even defeat," Rowan revealed.
The crowd fell silent for a second before erupting as they began voicing their confusions.
"Supernatural beings? Dark creatures?"
"Why are they attacking us? What did we do to them?"
"We can't defeat them? Does that mean all of us are going to die one by one until the village is deserted?"
They asked lots of questions at the same time, making the area extremely noisy.
Rowan lifted his hands, and the crowd fell silent once again.
"I will answer every question, but when you scream out your questions so noisily, I'm not sure I'll be able to answer. So pick one amongst yourselves to come up and ask the questions."
The people agreed with his words and selected a speaker—Brandon.
Brandon stepped forward, standing a few meters in front of Rowan, facing him.
"Lord Rowan, what are these dark creatures, and how did you know it's them?"
"I am sure all of you know about evil spirits. The dark creatures are way more evil and powerful, and just like spirits, capturing and getting rid of them through physical means is almost impossible," Rowan answered the first question.
He also went ahead to explain how he knew and was sure it was them.
Brandon nodded slowly. "Why are they attacking us? What have we done to deserve this?"
"They don't need a reason like we do," Rowan replied casually. "They feed on fear and despair. Our village is just their latest target."
The crowd murmured in fear. Mothers held their children close, and fathers clenched their fists.
"How can we stop them?" Brandon asked, his voice steady but concerned.
"We can't stop them; they are powerful spiritual and magical creatures, and we are nothing but mere mortals. However, I will soon awaken my mana core and become a mage. Once I am able to awaken a specific affinity, I might be able to stop them."
The crowd had hopeful eyes after his last sentence.
"What can we do to help?" Brandon asked.
"Nothing, to be honest. All I need are your cooperation and prayers," Rowan replied.
Brandon asked many other questions, and Rowan did not hesitate to answer.
He did not hide the truth from the people this time.
Now that the people were aware of the cause of the deaths, he wouldn't have to waste extra time giving speeches, explaining the situation when the same incident occurred again.
After answering all the questions, Rowan looked at the crowd with a cold face.
"The evil monster has crossed a line by targeting innocent children. I will stop at nothing until I bring it down. To all those who lost their loved ones, rest assured that justice will be served on their behalf, as I, Rowan Winterseed, will avenge them."
After Rowan's speech, the crowd thundered his name and prayed for divine strength on his behalf.
The chanting went on for a minute before Rowan silenced it.
He gave a short speech that made the crowd emotional—it was the last speech before the deceased babies were buried.
He summoned Blaze, his faithful companion, and he did the needful—consuming the corpses of the babies in gentle flames that danced softly around them.
The solemn sound as flesh and bone burned filled the area.
The smoke floated and drifted towards the sky.
The crowd watched with silent eyes, sadness evident on their faces.
The cries of the babies' relatives increased as they knew they would never be able to see their little ones again, forever.
It was a pretty devastating scene.
After two hours, the villagers began leaving the village square one after the other.
The soldiers waited behind; they were aware today was the day of their second hunt.
After the two sad incidents, their will to step into the Dark Forest to slay monsters and become powerful intensified.
While they waited, Rowan had a pretty calm talk with Riela, who was extremely worried about how Rowan was faring with the whole situation.
She knew how hard it was for him.
The first time it happened, Rowan was asleep, and he still blamed himself for failing to prevent it.
However, this time, he was awake, and he even made it his job to patrol the village, and yet it occurred again.
She knew he would definitely feel guilty.
She didn't leave Rowan's side until she was assured he was okay, offering words of comfort and support.
After she left, Rowan gathered the soldiers and discussed their hunting schedule for the day.
Rowan had made up his mind that the hunt would be daily.
He couldn't stay away from the village for more than that, as he was afraid something devastating might occur again.
After he was done speaking with the soldiers, they gathered themselves and marched towards the Dark Forest, ready for whatsoever.
While this was ongoing in Winterseed, Alister and a group of fellow cultist could be seen in the deepest part of the dark forest, holding a meeting.