"I'm the village chief!" The old man raised his hand.
Nathan and Selena immediately approached him. "We are from the Frexia Academy, taking on the mission you've posted. There are two more people with us, but it looks like we need to do something else first."
"Yes. We've been struck by the Mountain God's anger."
"I have a familiar that can heal. But I need your permission to summon him inside this village."
"What? You have such a familiar?" The village chief was shocked. He immediately nodded his head and said, "In that case, please do it!"
Nathan nodded. He immediately summoned Anubis, which startled everyone.
The people were confused, but the only thing they could see was a jackal. Some were shocked, but most local people were confused. This was the first time they saw a non-humanoid familiar.
"Is that the rumored Unique Summoner Nathan?"
Since this place was popular among tourists, it wouldn't be weird for some nobles to find this place and recognize him. Nevertheless, Nathan ignored all of them and immediately headed to the clinics.
"Anubis. I'm counting on you!"
The doctor was confused. "Who are you? Village Chief!"
Fortunately, the village chief came with them as he immediately explained. "There's no time. They're from the Frexia Academy, and this person here has a familiar with healing abilities."
Anubis nodded in acknowledgement while saying, "Show me the person that needs my ability the most. We'll work from there."
The doctor was confused, but if there was indeed such a familiar, the situation could be solved pretty easily. "I understand. Follow me."
The doctor guided them to the first patient, whose leg was amputated due to serious injury. Unfortunately, Anubis' healing ability hadn't reached the level of regrowing one's limb, so he could only stop the bleeding and regenerate the dead cell, including on the wound.
The skin gradually covered the wound, which saved him from the brink of death due to blood loss or other causes.
They continued to the next person and began to heal them one by one.
In the meantime, Nathan asked the village chief. "Village chief. I know this is hard right now, but if possible, I would like to ask you several things."
"Yes. Please. What do you want to know?"
"Do you understand what this 'anger' is?"
"No. Actually, we don't know a single thing. The only thing I know is that the earth is shaking."
"Shaking, huh?" Nathan frowned. "Is the volcano still active?"
"Yes. However, it hasn't erupted in the last 500 years. And to be honest, I'm not sure about the current situation as well. I use that term because I don't know any better.
"Hmm…" Nathan's expression turned serious. "I guess this is a natural disaster."
"Natural disaster?" The village chief widened his eyes.
"Yes. The earth itself is moving, but it's not anybody's fault or power. How do I explain this?"
"You don't have to explain it to me. All I want to know is whether it's possible to stop it or not."
"If that's your question, it's impossible." Nathan shook his head.
"But…" The village chief looked disappointed. He requested their help because he thought they could be of some help.
Nathan sighed. "Do you know that a legendary summoner can actually destroy a mountain in a single hit?"
"Yes." The village chief nodded. "I have heard some old legends."
"Well, you probably need a million times stronger than that to actually have an equal strength in the current disaster." Nathan thought for a moment. "And the situation is most likely caused by a volcano that is about to erupt."
"Now that I think about it, I have heard about an old legend of this village. Back then, the Mountain God was angry and released molten rock from its belly and engulfed the village."
"So, there's a history about them…" Nathan nodded. "Is there any person from the Blacksmith Guild here?"
"No? Blacksmith Guild? What are they doing here?"
"That's weird." If this volcano was about to erupt, the Blacksmith Guild would definitely check it out, believing that this was the cause of the earthquake.
But because they didn't, there might be something he was missing.
'Is it not this volcano? Then, what volcano?' Nathan looked around. "For the time being, this is just my speculation. Hence, I would like to check around the volcano and other places to confirm my suspicion. Is that alright with you?"
The village chief looked hesitant, but there was no other way.
When Nathan nodded, the doctor suddenly came to him.
"Sir… Sir…" The doctor panted a few times before asking, "Can you help the people below as well?"
"The people below?" Nathan frowned. "Who are you talking about?"
"Ah!" The village chief almost forgot about them. "He is talking about the village not far from here."
"I've heard of them from the inn's staff. They say that their manager is going down there."
"Yes. Actually, the main doctor of the village is dispatched there. The village is in a poor condition. I've heard that there are a lot of casualties over there.
"Can you help them as well? I can pay for it." The village chief lowered his head. "Please. We have two villages because sometimes we're tired of dealing with tourists, so the second village is a place to rest for us. In addition, it's also where we're creating the merchandise. If you're worried about the payment, I will definitely pay."
Nathan shook his head. "You should have told me sooner. Payment or whatever is secondary. We're talking about a lot of lives here."
Nathan turned to the clinic. "It shouldn't take too long for Anubis to finish. I will head there right after. Someone should go with me, since I don't know the way."
"In that case, I will go with you." The village chief volunteered. "I believe I can still provide you with some information on the way."
"All right." Nathan agreed. He couldn't help but think, 'We end up facing this kind of problem right off the bat. I feel happened before. Was it the mine? The earthquake struck when we arrived back then. In that case, it's better to go around the area to gather as much information as possible, so even if something unexpected comes, I'm prepared."
Little did Nathan know, the thing he would experience in this village would be so big that it surpassed even Nathan's wildest imagination as a reader who had read a lot of books.