Ella's Point of View
As far back as I can remember, Berilla has always been my friend. In a small village like this, there was hardly any other possibility.
It was about ten years ago... Uncle Sermon's first years as village chief. We were around six years old.
My father and Sermon took us to the village church and orphanage. We met the orphaned children there and slowly started becoming friends with them.
Then we noticed a girl.
She was about our age and was being bullied by an older boy along with his group.
The leader of the bullies was Volgar.
The girl being bullied was Hira.
I walked over to stop the bullying, but the boys quickly started making fun of me too. Just as they were about to turn on me, Uncle Sermon and my father arrived.
While I was dealing with Volgar and his gang, Berilla had quickly thought things through and gone to call my father and hers.
That was the day Hira became our friend.
About three weeks after we befriended Hira, a new family moved into the village. It consisted of a father, a mother, and a daughter who was one year younger than us.
The mother was so beautiful that she was considered the most beautiful woman in the village the moment she arrived.
The father was a soldier who had lost one of his arms in war. He rarely spoke about his past, but it was obvious he was a good man. He was incredibly kind and was a Level 1 Do user, already very close to reaching Level 2. His name was Kravis.
Only a few weeks after Kravis arrived, Uncle Sermon appointed him as the leader of the Village Guardians.
Two months before Kravis had arrived, a junior priestess named Perianna had been assigned to our church.
After much insistence from Kravis, Perianna finally agreed to train the children and orphans of both the village and the church who wished to become Village Guardians, establishing a small academy in the process.
Around the same time, despite the Overseer's opposition, Perianna and Uncle Sermon also managed to launch the orphan and communal village farm program I told you about.
One of Kravis's very first groups of students was Volgar's age group.
As for Hira... I don't know if it was because she wanted to repay the kindness we had shown her, but she begged Kravis to train her as well.
Although he was reluctant, Kravis eventually agreed.
However, because he feared the villagers' reactions—especially Perianna's—he trained Hira in secret.
Hira would visit Kravis's house under the pretense of playing with his daughter, Luana.
Even though I call it an excuse, Hira truly loved Luana like a little sister, making the lie believable enough that no one ever suspected anything.
Nine years passed like that.
That brings us to one year ago.
By then, Volgar had reached the age to leave the church and officially joined the Village Guardians.
Hira no longer needed to hide her training with Kravis because she had reached the proper age to join the small academy herself.
The relationship between Volgar and Kravis was strangely distant.
Although Volgar had become less of a bully and more mature over the years, he never showed even the slightest gratitude toward the man who had trained him with the sword.
Kravis, meanwhile, always seemed somewhat wary of Volgar.
I remember once overhearing him talking with Uncle Sermon and my father.
He said that Volgar was constantly meeting with Overseer Salazon, and that Salazon himself was teaching him Do.
Kravis believed Salazon was corrupting Volgar.
Then... the bandit attacks began.
The gang was called the Rathak Gang.
Like most gangs, it took its name from its leader.
Although Rathak was officially a Level 2 Do user, Perianna believed he had reached Level 2 through dishonest means, making him only about as strong as someone at the peak of Level 1.
By himself, he wasn't an overwhelming threat.
After all, Perianna was there.
Even without her, it wasn't certain he could defeat Kravis in a fair fight.
The real problem was that Rathak had five Level 1 Do users under his command.
That was absurd for a mere bandit gang.
Normally, only the leader—and occasionally his second-in-command—could use Do.
That was what made them so dangerous.
Whenever they attacked, they avoided Salazon, Kravis, and Perianna, striking suddenly before stealing whatever they could and escaping.
One day, Kravis and Perianna laid a trap.
The bandits knew they could never defeat Perianna.
So their plan was simple.
Three Level 1 Do users, along with half of their men, would keep Perianna occupied.
Meanwhile, Rathak himself and the remaining two Level 1 Do users would kill Kravis.
Mira realized what was happening and immediately ran toward Kravis's house.
According to what she told us, she encountered Volgar along the way.
The two of them headed toward Kravis's home together.
When they arrived, they found Kravis's wife dead in front of the house.
His daughter had already fled, and the bandits were chasing her through the forest outside the village.
At that very moment...
I was in that same forest.
Volgar told Mira that he would go to help Kravis, while Mira needed to chase after Luana.
After thinking for only a moment, Mira agreed and rushed after her.
She searched for a long time before finally finding Luana.
The bandits had cornered her on the edge of a cliff.
I happened to be gathering firewood nearby.
The moment Luana saw us, the hopeless fear on her face turned into hope...
But only for a moment.
The ground beneath her collapsed.
She fell from the cliff.
Mira and I screamed as we ran through the stunned bandits after her.
It was one of the stupidest things we had ever done.
We reached the edge and looked down, but the cliff overlooked a dense forest.
We couldn't see anything.
On top of that, we had let the bandits surround us.
While Mira fought desperately to protect me, one of the bandits kicked me off the cliff.
Normally...
I should have died.
Instead, I merely lost consciousness.
At that exact moment, fate smiled upon me.
My Do awakened.
But Mira never saw me survive.
She believed I had died.
Enraged, she charged at the bandits without mercy.
She managed to kill three or four of them, but she was still just a girl whose Do hadn't even awakened yet.
Just as the bandits were about to kill her...
Volgar arrived.
He saved Mira.
That's where Mira's love for Volgar truly began.
But Volgar...
When he reached Kravis...
He claimed Kravis was already dead.
Perianna managed to drive away the remaining bandits.
By the end of the battle, three Level 1 Do users and countless Level 0 bandits had been killed.
But our village had lost one of its greatest strengths.
Numerically, it looked like we had won.
In reality...
We were the ones who lost.
End of Ella's Point of View
Erlik: Luana... Did you ever find her?
Ella slowly shook her head.
Ella: No... We never found her.
Erlik scratched his head in confusion.
Erlik: But that still doesn't explain why things became so bad between you and Mira.
Ella: After that incident, Salazon started tightening his grip on the village. He claimed it was all for our protection. He filled the void Kravis left with his own man, Volgar, and raised our taxes. They used to be fifteen silver. Now they're twenty-five.
Ella: We opposed them.
But by then...
Mira had already taken Volgar's side.
Erlik (thinking):On the surface, what Salazon did seems reasonable... but something about all of this feels deeply suspicious.
Erlik: Where was Salazon while all of this was happening?
Ella: They usually attacked whenever Salazon wasn't in the village.
Erlik (thinking):That's... strange. Very strange. Even in a medieval world, preparing for battle takes time. The same applies to bandits. Physical and mental preparation doesn't happen instantly. That's what makes surprise attacks effective.
Erlik (thinking):So how did they always know exactly when someone as unpredictable and self-indulgent as Salazon wouldn't be in the village...? Unless... someone inside was telling them.
Erlik's expression turned serious.
Erlik (thinking):Now I'm certain. There's at least one traitor in this village. Volgar is almost certainly one of them... But I still need to be sure about Salazon. Is he merely an opportunist... or is he actually working together with the Rathak Gang?
When Erlik finally returned to his senses, he noticed the sorrow on Ella's face.
Erlik (thinking):Remembering all of this must have been incredibly painful for her.
Without saying a word...
Erlik gently patted Ella on the head.
He said nothing.
Ella said nothing either.
After sitting together in silence for a while...
They each returned to their rooms.