Wrath, fear!
These were the feelings of the incompetent man at this moment.
Waking up in the morning, he found that their family's 'commodity' was gone. That was an expensive item worth a thousand gold, and he had already found a buyer and received their deposit in advance.
"Damn it! Didn't I tell you to watch her?!"
The man yelled at the woman huddled in the corner.
She was a dark-skinned woman, her skin tanned from labor, her eyes empty and evasive, and there were signs of violence on her face.
"How am I supposed to explain this to the Noble Lord?!"
The man smashed the furniture.
Occasionally, when his anger flared up,
he would resort to violence against his wife.
The woman's screams were loud.
Villagers occasionally passing by outside did not dare to enter.
It wasn't until the Village Chief received the news and rushed over...
...that the man was finally stopped in time.
Otherwise, with the way the man was fighting, he likely would have beaten the woman to death. Their son hid on the bed, shivering as he watched the scene, not fully understanding what was happening.
After the man's explanation...
...the Village Chief and the other villagers finally understood what had occurred. For a moment, their faces were filled with gloom. Although this was the man's private family matter, it now involved the city's nobility.
The nobles might very well take their anger out on the village. For such powerful figures, destroying a weak village like theirs would take little effort. They had to find a way to resolve this.
Some villagers were full of complaints about what the man had done.
"You shouldn't have gone looking for those big shots!"
Even if he wanted to sell his daughter...
...he should have looked for The Merchant.
Not a noble.
Because a noble could wipe them out with a single word.
But The Merchant didn't have that kind of power.
If it were The Merchant...
...as long as the deposit was returned...
...the matter would be resolved.
But once the nobility was involved, the problem was no longer so simple.
It could very well bring about the destruction of the entire village.
"Those bloodsucking bastards wouldn't have given me this price!"
The man shouted.
The price the noble offered was much higher than The Merchant's.
That was why he chose to sell to the noble.
To a noble, this was a trivial matter.
Precisely because they didn't want too much trouble...
...they dealt directly with the man.
It didn't even matter if the man's price was higher than The Merchant's; what mattered was whether the 'merchandise' was worth the price.
But now the man had messed up.
The merchandise was gone.
For a noble...
...money wasn't the issue.
What mattered was the merchandise.
So this situation was going to become very troublesome.
The Merchant cared about nothing but money.
But there was a high chance the noble wouldn't want the deposit back; he wanted that merchandise. If the man couldn't complete the agreed-upon transaction, the consequences could be severe.
"Everyone, help look for her."
"A child shouldn't be able to run far."
In the end, it was the Village Chief who organized the villagers to conduct a search.
But they were destined to return empty-handed.
Although Si did not know how to hide her tracks...
...she had entered the dangerous mountains.
That was a perilous place the villagers didn't dare to enter lightly.
This world was extremely dangerous.
Because of the existence of monsters and demons.
Aside from Adventurers and soldiers...
...villagers with little combat ability simply didn't dare enter the forests where Magical Beasts lived. Although there were hunters in the village, even they wouldn't risk going in to find someone.
Hunters possessed a certain degree of martial prowess.
Their status in the village wasn't low either.
If the noble lord came to blame them, they could flee in advance.
Unlike the villagers who wouldn't know how to survive once they left the village, the hunters had no reason to risk their lives for this. If that man were willing to hand over the deposit and the bulk of the final payment, then he might consider it.
But the man wouldn't agree.
Because the hunter didn't guarantee he could find her.
Under these circumstances, asking him to hand over the deposit was impossible. If the hunter took the money and didn't work hard, he would have no way to deal with him. Only a fool would agree to such terms!
"In that case, we have no choice but to go and ask that noble lord for forgiveness."
The Village Chief's face was clouded with worry.
The other villagers glared at the man with gritted teeth.
The man felt a bit frightened seeing this.
In his heart, he didn't want the Village Chief to help resolve this, because even if the Village Chief convinced the noble not to hold the village responsible, he would still be finished. He didn't think the villagers would let him off then; he would surely be made to compensate for the village's losses.
Things having come to this...
...he had no way out.
"My family's business is none of your concern!"
With a roar...
...the man shoved the others aside.
He rushed into the mountains.
The villagers watched this scene coldly.
"Come on, let's go back."
Led by the Village Chief...
...they returned to the front of the man's house.
Then, the group went inside and began a rough search.
The terrified mother and son didn't dare to resist at all.
"Where is the money?!"
They searched the whole house...
...but the villagers couldn't find the deposit the man had hidden.
It wasn't a small amount.
Even if the Village Chief wanted to resolve this matter...
...this money had to be found.
He couldn't possibly pay it on the man's behalf.
Nor could he organize the other villagers to raise the funds.
That was unrealistic.
Besides, for such a large sum of money...
...they couldn't produce it for the time being.
The woman shook her head, trembling.
"I don't know."
The man had never even brought that money out.
The expressions of the Village Chief and the villagers became very ugly.
If they had known, they would have chased that guy back just now.
"Could that bastard have run off with the money on purpose?"
"He can't run. The nobles won't let him go."
Although the Village Chief and the villagers were full of suppressed rage...
...in the end, they didn't make things too difficult for the mother and son. It was pointless; the woman was so dirty you couldn't even see her face, and she was touched in the head, and the son was just as ugly. Even if they sold them, they wouldn't be worth much.
Furthermore, the most urgent thing was to go and apologize to the noble. Until the noble lord's orders came down, no one could touch them, as they were property to be handled by the noble lord.
The Village Chief had people guard the mother and son...
...and then took a few men and hurried toward the city.
Meanwhile, in the mountains.
The man was tracking the child's footprints.
Si didn't know how to hide herself.
And these villagers had plenty of experience.
Tracking Si's obvious footprints wasn't difficult.
Besides, this area wasn't on the main road into the mountains.
People rarely went in this direction.
So the tracks Si left last night were easy to find.
This shouldn't have been a problem.
After all, Si had a whole night's head start.
And she had chosen such a dangerous place.
In Si's escape plan, she hadn't considered the possibility of the villagers catching up at all, because she didn't think any of them would dare to enter. She had underestimated this man.
"Just wait until I find you, you'll be sorry!"
The man's face was twisted with malice.
Fear and Wrath gnawed at his heart like ants.
His mental state was on the verge of collapse.