The Unfriendly Villagers

The brown she-wolf took a vigilant step back, glanced at the luscious red apple before her, and then stared nervously once again at the coffin that had emitted the voice.

“Eat up, little one! No need to stand on ceremony.”

The cold voice contained a warmth that made the wolf, who had wanted to turn and flee, unconsciously stop in her tracks.

Did this strange fellow truly harbor no malice?

Thoughts raced rapidly through her small brain, but ultimately, they could not prevail against the fragrance of the apple and the burning hunger in her belly; she took a bite.

The crisp flesh and sweet juice traveled from her mouth down her throat and into her stomach, instantly extinguishing the burning pain of hunger.

“There’s more, don’t be shy.”

The person in the coffin seemed to see that the wolf hadn’t even spared the core, and thus, with a few more arcs through the air, fruits of various sizes appeared before the wolf, including a fainted rabbit nestled among them.

Having let down her guard, the wolf refused nothing and ate everything clean.

After finishing the food, the wolf licked her lips, walked slowly to the side of the black box, and affectionately rubbed her head against its mottled outer wall.

With a light chuckle, two slender hands made of black mist appeared again; one stroked her head along the fur, while the other gently scratched her chin.

The wolf narrowed her eyes comfortably, raised her head, and let out a satisfied low whine.

“You, oh you! Be careful in the future. Don’t get caught again; it’s very dangerous.”

The hand stroking her head gave her a gentle flick on the forehead, causing her to shake her head in slight dissatisfaction and break free from the caress of the two hands.

“Go on now. Just come back and visit when you have time.”

The ethereal hands suspended in the air waved, making a gesture of farewell to the wolf.

“Awoo~~”

Whether she understood Kovit’s words or not, the wolf eventually walked away from the black object that had saved her life, looking back every three steps.

“I never thought the day would come when I, the Crimson Slaughterer, would be soft-hearted. Heh.”

After the wolf he had saved wandered far away, a rather sentimental laugh emerged from the black coffin.

However, while Kovit was lamenting, he had no idea that in a neighboring village, an operation targeting him was about to unfold.

Then again, even if he knew, Kovit probably wouldn’t care, would he?

“Village Head! We found traces of a monster in Yoiz!”

In a brick house, one of the two hunters who had been scared off in the dark night was anxiously reporting their findings to an old man leaning on a cane.

“Oh? A monster? What did you see? It isn’t another ‘Monkey Incident’ like last time, is it?”

The old man stroked his long white beard, looking somewhat unconcerned.

“No! This time it’s absolutely true!”

The teased hunter flushed red and shook his head vigorously.

“I’m not trying to lecture you, John, but if your eyes are bad, don’t go hunting at night. Besides, you’re timid; you’ve mistaken animals for monsters at least five times if not three, haven’t you?”

The old man glanced sideways at the increasingly agitated hunter, John, and sneered.

“Village Head, this time it might really be true! I saw it very clearly. That unconscious wolf really crashed into a coffin that was locked shut!”

“Thomas! Did you really see it clearly? Was it that coffin that made the sound?”

Hearing the other hunter say the same thing, the Village Head finally frowned, straightened up properly, and began to discuss the matter with them.

“Exactly! There must be something terrible sealed inside that coffin!”

“Moreover, that coffin gave me a really bad feeling… as if it would invite disaster.”

The white-bearded old man thought carefully for a moment before finally making up his mind.

“Thomas! Go call ten hunters. John! Get your equipment ready and wait at the village entrance. Since it’s still early in the day, we’ll go take a look!”

“Yes!”

“Oh, finally, you believe me for once!”

Watching the two hunters leave his house, the Village Head rubbed his throbbing forehead and let out a long sigh.

‘Sigh, I hope it’s not a real demon… how troublesome!’

“Hurry up! We’re almost there!”

John slashed at the overgrown branches blocking the way with his knife, urging the slow-moving hunters behind him.

“What’s the rush? If it’s really as you say, that whatever-coffin won’t grow legs and run away!”

A voice of dissatisfaction came from the crowd.

“Exactly. And if it really is an evil demon, do you think you’ll be able to come back?”

“Isn’t it sealed? How could it come out!”

“Maybe what’s sealed inside is a great beauty, and he’s here to visit her today; we’re just tools to boost his courage!”

“Haha, you’re right!”

Listening to the sarcastic remarks spewing from these guys’ mouths, John, who was leading the team, almost exploded with anger, glaring at the guys in the squad making exaggerated expressions.

“Forget it, stop arguing! Let’s get to the place first.”

A calmer hunter in the group spoke up to stop the situation from spiraling out of control.

“Old Man White, what do you say we should do? Even if it is a sealed demon, there’s nothing us folks can do about it!”

“If we saw wrong, then fine. But if it really is an evil god, we’ll throw it far away, or dig a deep pit and bury it. After all, having a demon that brings disaster right next to the village is a very troublesome matter.”

The steady decision of the hunter with the speckled beard, known as Old Man White, finally extinguished the flames of discontent among the group.

The silent team continued their advance, and before long, they arrived at the forest clearing.

“Oh! There really is a coffin!”

“Yeah! The chains on this coffin are tied really tight!”

“This black thing won’t crack open in a bit, will it? Look at those chains; there are cracks on them!”

“My God! No way!”

The team, which had just fallen silent, became noisy again.

The hunters hesitated before the mottled black coffin covered in greenery, while John, who had been looked down upon earlier, held his head high, looking around at the hunters staring at the coffin in shock with a smug expression.

“Alright, everyone be quiet! John, Thomas, you said you heard a voice coming from this coffin last night?”

“Yes!”

“Absolutely true! I heard it with my own ears!”

Different words expressed the same meaning; White looked at the silent coffin and frowned.

White carefully asked the coffin in a soft voice.

“Lord Deity, can you hear us?”

“Ah, I hear you, I hear you. Do you fellows who disturbed my nap have business with me? Hmm, yawn~~”

He hadn’t expected a reply to his tentative question, and for a moment, White was dumbstruck.

The cold yet slightly groggy voice plunged the scene into a dead silence, followed by a ripple effect that caused gasps of uncontrollable shock to rise and fall across the forest clearing.

The hunters slowly backed away cautiously, staring in disbelief at the black coffin that had emitted the voice.

“I say, is there a need to be so afraid? It’s not like I’m going to eat you!”

(The Hunters: “Who knows if you’ll eat us or not!”)

“Truly a group of timid little fellows…”

Under the fearful gaze of the hunters, a large amount of black smoke emerged from the cracks of the bound black coffin.

This smoke swirled and converged, forming a somewhat illusory grey human shape.

This figure, with shoulder-length hair, was faintly visible; on its head, it wore a Victorian flat hat adorned with a silk scarf and three roses on the left side.

Around its neck was a scarf, over its shoulders a flaxen-colored shawl with patterned fringes, and draped over its body was a long hooded cloak, beneath which was a long black dress.

At this moment, this illusory figure was sitting on the coffin lid, sizing up these hunters who were panicked by its appearance.

“I say, do you have any business here?”

White looked at the illusory figure, who sat with hands crossed over the abdomen in a ladylike manner, and remained silent for a long while before finally forcing himself to ask ‘her’:

“O Respected Lord Deity, for what purpose have you descended upon this place?”

“You say respected, but actually, you’re wishing I would disappear quickly, aren’t you?”

“Haha, Lord Deity, you really know how to joke…”

The dry laugh didn’t attract the slightest attention from the figure on the coffin lid; ‘she’ continued speaking.

“Rest assured. Although I am not a deity, I will not bring about disaster. Besides, in another few months, I will leave this place.”

The speaking illusory figure tilted its head nonchalantly and added:

“Of course, I hope you won’t disturb me either… especially the one wearing the black vest. The malice in your soul is overflowing!”

The hunter in the vest, now receiving angry glares from everyone, trembled and hurriedly abandoned his ambition of “God-Slaying.”

“Alright then, that settles it. Although you didn’t come with good intentions, you didn’t cause any destruction either… Everyone, please return. Safe travels, I won’t see you off~~”

The figure on the coffin clapped her hands to attract attention, then bowed slightly to the hunters, making a gesture of dismissal.

“Ah, yes, goodbye, My Lord…”

The hunters stiffly returned the bow and fled in panic.

“What a boring bunch of people…”

Shaking her head as if sighing, the illusory figure turned back into smoke and vanished into the cracks of the coffin.

“But why did I subconsciously perform a curtsy? Could it be because I absorbed the soul fragments in this body?”

“Sally… is this the last joke you’re playing on me…”

After the hunters had left, in the forest clearing that had fallen silent once more, a long and deep sigh abruptly rang out.