The Hollow Village

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, wondering if it was best to voice his thoughts, but he didn’t retract his words. After a brief pause, he continued.

“To be honest, I do not think this is directly related to the Demon King. However, I have a lingering, ominous feeling…. If more than half of you agree, I would like to stop by and investigate.”

“What is it that concerns you?”

Levi asked on behalf of everyone. Azrael nodded and gestured toward John. John stepped forward a few paces from behind Azrael and opened his mouth.

“We discovered a village that appears to be uninhabited. It is located about two or three hours south of here.”

John pointed to the map with the tip of his baton, tracing the route they had likely taken during today’s scouting from our current location. Then, he stopped abruptly and circled a specific spot on the map.

“Regarding the village in question, we spotted it while looking down from atop a large rock. It was quite well-concealed. Based on the map, it should be right around here.”

John picked up a small model of a house with his other hand and placed it on the map.

Saul looked at the map cautiously and offered a possibility.

“Could it be a den for bandits who raid nearby villages, or perhaps a village of slash-and-burn farmers who fled into the mountains to escape the war? It is not uncommon to find such places in large mountain ranges like this.”

John nodded at those words.

“Correct. That is what we thought at the time, which is why we passed it by initially.”

His baton moved away from the large rock toward the northeast. Judging by the map alone, this scouting trip seemed to have been quite long. I was glad there hadn’t been any major danger. I found myself instinctively checking Azrael’s appearance.

Naturally, there were no signs that he had sustained any injuries. Azrael, who had been focused on the map, must have felt my gaze; he looked up at me, his eyes widening slightly as if asking if something was wrong. When I gave a tiny shake of my head to indicate it was nothing, he flashed a brief smile before turning his attention back to the map.

“However, on our way back, the village caught my eye again…. And I noticed something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“There are absolutely no signs of anyone living there, yet the village itself is perfectly intact, as if it has suffered no damage at all.”

John lowered his baton, placing it beneath the map, and interlaced his fingers.

“If people were still living there, there would be traces of life. If they weren’t, there should be a reason for their absence, yet the village remains untouched. Does that not strike you as odd?”

Azrael spoke up following John’s explanation.

“We still do not know who summoned the Demon King, the reason behind it, or what sacrifices were offered for the summoning…. While stopping the Demon King is our top priority, if we can obtain even a single clue, would it not be helpful? Therefore, even if it causes a slight delay, I wish to investigate that village.”

He said this while looking slowly around at all of us.

“Of course, I will respect everyone’s opinion.”

I’m not sure what expressions the others were making. No matter how things turned out, I planned to follow Azrael around like a puppy anyway.

The knights took a moment to deliberate before deciding to settle the matter with a vote.

Levi noted that preventing the Demon King as soon as possible and securing potential information were both equally important, so debating would be fruitless. Everyone agreed.

Since the group consisted of only eight people, the voting ended quickly. The result: six votes in favor of investigating the suspicious village, and two against.

I blinked in surprise that there were so few opposing votes.

Reaching the village wasn’t difficult. This was thanks to the scouting team’s thorough check for monsters. Of course, we didn’t encounter zero monsters, but their levels were relatively low, so Azrael and the knights could handle them easily.

The place we eventually arrived at was an unnervingly peaceful village.

“……?”

No, let me correct that. Calling it a peaceful village felt wrong because there wasn’t a single sign of human presence…. Can you even call a place with no people a village?

Yet, the village looked peaceful and tidy, as if people had been there just moments ago.

The grass hadn’t grown thick enough to encroach upon the paths, and the houses didn’t have smashed doors or broken windows as if they had been abandoned for a long time. It was as if the people had simply been erased.

A normal village couldn’t possibly be like this.

Inside the village, a spine-chilling silence lingered.

“……I truly begin to think there might be a clue regarding the Demon King’s summoning here.”

I nodded in agreement at someone’s murmur.

“It might be a stretch, but is there any possibility they all just went out somewhere together?”

Simon asked. However, both he and the rest of us already knew the likelihood of such a simple explanation was low.

“It has been at least six hours since we first discovered this village. What reason would an entire village have to be gone for over six hours?”

I dismissed the possibility lightly. Everyone silently agreed with me.

“For instance, what if this entire village is a bandit den and they went to raid a nearby town?”

“That makes even less sense if they are bandits. Why would they leave their base completely empty to go on a raid?”

Levi spoke up calmly. His tone was close to telling Simon not to say stupid things. Undeterred by Levi’s reaction, Simon continued.

“What about the idea that they moved to another region because this area became dangerous due to the Demon King’s summoning?”

“The buildings are far too clean for that.”

“Whether they hid to avoid war or it’s a bandit den, it wouldn’t have been easy to leave behind a village so meticulously maintained…….”

“Perhaps if we wait, the people will return?”

“If we wait, for how long?”

Naturally, no one could answer that.

I let out a deep sigh and made a suggestion.

“Let’s split up for now and investigate the village.”

However, my suggestion was quickly rejected.

“That might be dangerous. Especially if this entire village is one giant trap.”

It was Raphael. Since it was the first time he had spoken up regarding the group’s direction, I looked back at him with a surprised face. Raphael didn’t react to my gaze; instead, he scanned the people around him.

“This village is certainly ‘unusual’…. but ‘unusual’ villages aren’t rare in these chaotic times.”

“What do you mean by that?”

It was a question I blurted out, but it sounded stupid even to my own ears. While everyone else nodded as if they understood something, I was the only one who couldn’t think of a single thing.

“In mountain regions like this, there are many villages that lure travelers into letting their guard down before stealing their belongings.”

Seeing that I didn’t seem to understand at all, John leaned in and whispered into my ear.

“……?”

“For example, they pretend to be a village that welcomes travelers, only to feed them food and wine laced with sleeping pills. Once the travelers are asleep, they steal all their valuables, compasses, and so on, before dumping them far away.”

“Ah…….”

I had seen this trope a few times in fantasy novels and manga. I nodded.

“So it could be that kind of trap village…….”

“There is no harm in being cautious.”

He was right. I understood why Raphael had bothered to speak up. He likely judged that if the group split up, his own safety could be compromised.

“Since it seems everyone agrees on investigating this village together, shall we decide where to start?”

Azrael settled the situation. The knights each voiced their opinions. Let’s start from the nearest point and head inward, Let’s focus on the main streets around the village square, Let’s circle the outskirts first then head to the center, and so on.

After a short while, everyone’s opinion converged on scouting the outskirts first.

“If we get surrounded in the center, it’ll be hard to avoid injuries.”

For that reason.

“Hmm…….”

“Hmph…….”

“Uuugh…….”

To start with the conclusion, we found nothing. After spending quite a bit of time investigating the outskirts and finding nothing unusual, we searched the entire village, including the surrounding areas.

But there was nothing special. Levi, a master of picking hidden locks, opened several doors, but there was no one inside the houses. Yet, there were no signs that they had moved elsewhere either. Living clothes were still hanging in the wardrobes, and blankets that weren’t perfectly tidy lay upon the beds. Kitchens, without exception, were still stocked with ingredients and spices.

Then what on earth is this village?