Meanwhile, Hajime was still hiding in the house, but could hear the people who attacked the village talking like they were close by.
"So, when are we going in?" He heard one of them asking as the eye that turned yellow glowed brighter, while his eyes started to shake without his knowing.
"I don't know, maybe after we've refilled our armor." He heard another one of them say as they sounded like they were moving when another said, "Nah... we're going in after the barrier that's surrounding the village is down."
"Wait... isn't it down yet?" Another one said, but it sounded like the first person he heard when these people started their conversation.
"Shut up, you two, if you talk about the barrier, some of the villagers who are close by might hear you." Another one said, but sounded like a woman who had a lot of pride.
"Come on... can't we have a little fun, and it's not like someone from the village has super hearing." Another one said, his footsteps sounded like he was walking towards someone, but in that moment, he suddenly stopped and added. "Let them talk about something other than just sitting there getting bored while we wait..."
Hajime tried covering his ears, but the more he bothered to cover them, the louder the people talking he could hear.
"...Make it stop..." He said as he continued to cover his eyes while his body started to move by itself, but it fell us it took one step forward.
"How are you doing?... Are you done yet setting up that magic of yours?" He heard another one of the people say, but this one sounded new.
"Not yet, you just wait until the twilight skies arise, and then the magic will be ready." Another one said, and this person also sounded new, but his voice had a cool demeanor, like he was righteous in another way.
"Until dusk. Then it might be a powerful spell you're conjuring up." The man who asked his friend said as the sound of a still pipe being left on the ground buzzed Hajime's ears. Then the man added that some other people who were near the man were laughing behind the scenes.
"I guess we have no choice but to wait until you're finished."
"...Make it stop, making it stop," Hajime said, lying still on the floor as tears were running down his cheeks while the yellow eye glowed even brighter than before, but Hajime still didn't notice it.
Close to where Reiko's house was, Reiko was still looking for Hajime as the baby dragon was sniffing down for Hajime's scent.
As they were looking, they stumbled upon the shop where Hajime had stopped earlier to ask about the sword the shop owner was throwing away in the trash.
"This place feels shady." Reiko thought while looking at the sign that was at the front of the shop, while the baby dragon kept smelling the area where Hajime had stood earlier when he was asking the man.
Reiko grabbed the baby dragon by the stomach and lifted it, putting it in her arms, then she started to move towards the shop's entrance.
Inside the shop, the shop owner was hiding under his counter table while holding a silver-plated dagger and with a scared look on his face.
"Is this it for the village?... Are we all going to die here?"
"No. am I going to die here..."
"Someone... please answer me..."
The man wondered as sweat ran down his face. and his body shaking with fear.
The man hid himself when he first heard some of the people in the village crying and screaming with fear, and the sound of people panicking outside.
"Hello, is someone in here?" Reiko said as she opened the door of the shop slowly, and before the door could fully open, her foot was already inside the shop.
The shop owner stayed quiet because he thought that it might be one of the people who were attacking the village earlier, and now that they were done, they were looking for survivors to capture and make them work as slaves.
suddenly, the baby dragon yawned.
It was tired of walking around, but the shop owner thought it was an older dragon because of the yawning sound the baby dragon produced, so he was startled bumping his head on the table and realized where he was hiding.
Reiko's attention turned to the table, and after a brief second, she went to approach the table. The man under the table did not touch his head because he had gotten more nervous that the people attacking the village had found him. Clouded in fear, the man's eyes started dripping with tears as his hands quivered uncontrollably.
Reiko reached the table and without wasting any time, she raised her right leg a little bit and kicked the table up chattering the roof sealing of the shop.
"You!" Reiko said, her voice sounded serious than usual.
The man turned slightly as Reiko was lowering her leg down while still holding the baby dragon in her arms.
"Pl, ple please... Don't kill me." The man mumbled as he dropped the silver-plated dagger on the floor.
Reiko, with a confused but yet serious face, asked, "And what makes you think I want to kill you?"
The man slowly looked at Reiko and immediately stopped shaking with fear after seeing her.
"...It's you." The man said while looking at Reiko. Then he added, "I thought you were someone else."
Reiko, puzzled, just kept looking at the man with a confused look as the man stood up from the floor.
"Wh, what brings you here?" The man asked while cleaning himself up with a waster he uses to clean his tools, which were in the shop with. And Reiko, after looking at what the man was doing, she asked as she faced away from the man, "Have you seen a boy with long white hair and crimson red eyes around?"
"A boy with white hair and red eyes?" The man uttered nervously as he squinted his eyes to try and remember something.
Then he immediately said, his tone still nervous, "I don't know about the red eyes, but I saw a kid with long white hair this morning."
"But his hair was not that long..." He added.
"You saw him? Then that's good." Reiko said as she turned to face the man again while making a smile. Then she continued, "Where did he head off to, after you saw him?"
And without wasting his breath, the man replied, "I saw him heading to town when I was throwing out some old stuff this morning."
Reiko stopped and thought to herself, "If Hajime was heading into town. That would mean he was going home." Then she turned to face the door and said, "Get out of here and hide at the training grounds."
"Huh?"
The man, confused, looked at Reiko as she left the shop. "Huh?" He uttered again and was left speechless as the door of the shop closed slowly.
Later, as Reiko was passing through town and heading to Hajime's house, some of the men who were looking for her so her walking by from a distance, and one of them called out to her.
"Hey, Reiko!"
She turned to see who was calling her and found that there were four men approaching her while in a hurry.
"We've been looking for you all over." One of the men came closer to her.
"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry, so make it quick," Reiko said with a serious face.
"The people are asking about what to do, since you are in charge and all?" The man said again while his friends stood behind him.
"About that, just tell everyone to meet at the training grounds and wait till I'm there." She said as she looked away from the men and started walking forward without looking back, while still carrying the baby dragon, which was asleep.
The men, confused, just watched as Reiko walked away and started looking at each other with confused faces. "Okay... That was strange..." One of them said as all of them continued looking at Reiko.
Meanwhile, at Hajime's house, Hajime was still down crying while covering his ears, his yellow eye dimmed a little bit, and he kept on saying the same thing as he was saying before.
"Make it stop..."
He continued to say so while the sound of the voices of the people who attacked the village grew louder.
[Men laughing from a distance.]
They laughed and laughed and laughed, and they never stopped laughing.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
It was Reiko, and she was standing outside the door knocking, but Hajime did not hear her knocking, so she opened the door since Hajime wasn't responding, and she wanted to make sure that he was really in the house.
"Hajime!" She called out while approaching the room where Hajime sleeps when he is at home. She saw him lying down and crying, she slowly and gently set the baby dragon down on the floor and rushed towards Hajime.
"Make it stop... Make it stop..."
Hajime continued crying out as Reiko approached him.
She quickly got to him and lifted him off the floor and started saying to him as he continued to mumble, "It's okay. Everything is okay. You can stop crying now. Everything is okay." With a comforting voice.
Hajime slowly started to stop crying and mumbling, "Make it stop," after hearing Reiko's voice.
On the borders of this village, the people who attacked the village were getting ready to begin their second raid of the village; the only difference was going to be that this time they were going to be directly inside the village.
"How many sand grains left till the barrier is down?" A woman wearing the armor of a knight said while looking at a young man who looked like he was casting a spell, while looking at the direction of the village.
"About one hundred grains." The young man replied.