Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 306: Chapter 10 The Mendicant Monk_2

“`

Gerard was so moved by these words that he couldn’t help but kneel to lift the hem of the mendicant friar’s robe to his lips, his eyes reddening as if he was on the verge of weeping right there and then.

Seeing this, Winters felt a chill and rolled his eyes involuntarily. He thought to himself, “Well now, if this old charlatan asked Mr. Michel to jump off a cliff, he’d probably do it without hesitation.”

Looking at the old charlatan before him, Winters’s irritation grew. He asked pointedly, “Brother Reed, the work of a copyist is quite demanding. I fear an elderly man like you couldn’t handle it?”

“Please be assured, Montaigne. Despite my age, my mind is still clear and my hands still capable,” the mendicant friar responded with an ever more kindly and gentle smile, “Copying manuscripts, counting money and keeping accounts are no trouble at all; as for medicine, both internal and external, and complex diseases, I have some understanding; celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, baptizing and blessing are my duties; even exorcisms, dream interpretations, divinations, and fortune-telling… I know a thing or two…”

The old mendicant friar went on and on, his litany leaving Winters and Gerard dumbfounded.

The more Brother Reed spoke, the more reverent and humble Gerard became.

But the more Winters listened, the less the old man before him seemed like a clergyman and more like a charlatan from the streets.

Winters looked dubiously at Priest Caman, who responded with an awkward smile.

With Winters and Caman at a loss for words and Gerard listening devoutly, and the old mendicant friar stroking his beard with a smile, silence fell upon the town hall.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and the panicked grocer brought bad news once again: “Sir! Beacon fires! Another beacon fire has been lit!”

“Beacon fires?” Gerard was both shocked and enraged, “Those wolves must be starving mad! How dare they come again?”

“I’ll go see what’s going on.” Winters immediately took his musket and ammunition and, without a moment to spare for farewells, ran to the backyard to fetch his horse.

Gerard Mitchell stayed in the town hall to receive Brother Reed and Father Caman.

It was not until Winters, mounted on his chestnut horse, had run out of the town center that he realized something was amiss—the direction of the rising smoke was from Dusa Village.

…

Old Sergei led Winters to the communal pasture where the young stable boy Anglu was kneeling beside a horse carcass, weeping bitterly.

Recognizing the blue mane, Winters identified the horse carcass on the ground.@@novelbin@@

It was Tess, the majestic blue horse, the leader, father, and protector of the herd.

“It must have happened this morning when the beast broke in and killed Tess, dragging him into the woods,” Sergei said with no sign of his usual smile, his expression grim, “Little Hook found a horse missing when he got up and called us to search. By the time we found it, its belly had been gutted.”

“Anglu!” Winters dismounted and walked over to the stable boy. “Did you see what did it?”

The stable boy wiped his tears and shook his head.

Seeing the stable boy kneeling beside the horse carcass and sobbing unrestrainedly, Winters grasped his collar and dragged him to his feet, “Stop crying! Don’t cry if you’re a man! This isn’t your fault, but you should channel the energy from your tears into seeking vengeance!”

After wiping the boy’s tears with his sleeve and remounting, Winters asked Sergei, “Were there any other casualties?”

“Rostov’s youngest son and Yuska’s daughter are also missing,” Sergei replied with an even grimmer demeanor. “That drunkard Rostov didn’t even realize his son sneaked out last night… Those kids are always up to mischief together; it’s hard to say if something’s happened to them…”

To dare go into the woods at this time for a tryst?!

Winters grew more anxious and angry, “When did they run off? Did anyone see where they went?”

“No,” Sergei replied in a subdued voice, shaking his head.

“Where was the horse found?”

“In the woods south of the village.”

“Call all the Dusacks; follow me!”

No rallying was needed, for the Dusacks’ anger and shock had reached a boiling point. Thus, all men who could still mount a horse, young and old, brought out their warhorses and armed themselves with spears and muskets, gathering in the village square.

In the eyes of the Dusacks, they were the predators, the ones who offered help and protection.

“`

No one thought that Dusa Village would be attacked—not the Dusacks, anyway. They didn’t even have beacon fires prepared.

It was this blind arrogance that made Dusa Village neglect its defense, allowing the young people to brave the forest for a tryst at such a time.

Now, it was too late for regrets.

After dispatching riders to notify Gerard and to assemble the militias from the other four villages, Winters led nearly a hundred Dusacks into the woodland, searching for the missing couple and traces of wild beasts in groups of three, in a dragnet-style operation.

In the deep and gloomy primeval forest, the riders scrutinized their surroundings with care, vanishing from view amongst the foliage as they bowed their heads.

The men used sticks and spears to beat the trunks, deterring wild beasts and using the sound to gauge the distance of their companions.

Winters was grouped with the Hunter Ralph and Sergei.

Seeing Winters’ grim face, Ralph cautiously offered consolation, “My lord, there’s no need to worry too much, those two kids will probably be fine, perhaps they just got carried away and forgot to return home.”

“Why?”

“Because wild beasts seldom kill for the sake of killing,” the Hunter explained cautiously. “Even if you throw a rabbit in front of them after they have had their fill, they won’t bother with it. Whatever killed the warhorse had its fill before abandoning the carcass, and unless provoked, it would likely not attack humans.”

Upon hearing the Hunter’s words, old Sergei’s expression softened a bit.

The old man slammed his stick against the trunk furiously, “First the wolves, now this thing. Why do these evil beasts seem like they’ve gone mad, running out of the woods?”

Ralph thought for a moment and then slowly answered, “The most likely reason is hunger. Unless they’ve tasted human blood, even the most ferocious beasts fear humans. Also, fierce creatures have their own territories. If an even more vicious creature takes over the territory, the original inhabitants can only flee. I think… it’s quite possible that the pack of wolves was driven out of the woods by whatever we are searching for.”

Winters’ mind stirred, asking the Hunter, “Are you suggesting that the territories of the wild beasts might fall like dominoes, one after the other?”

“That’s not exactly what I mean. If a wolf is driven into another bear’s territory by a bear, it still can’t defeat the bear,” Ralph said, vexed, scratching his head. “I don’t know… Ah, the secrets of this primeval forest are too many. I actually don’t know anything.”

Hey, what’s there to think about? It’s just a wolf disaster, isn’t it? Where have wild beasts not injured people?” Sergei scoffed with disdain. “Could it really be that someone exhausted the forest’s rabbits and deer, causing wolves and bears to run out because they have nothing to eat?”

The Hunter was about to say something when shouts came from the depths of the woods, out of sight, “Here! Over here!”

The three men immediately closed in on the source of the noise.

A Dusack had found fabric scraps hanging from the shrubbery… as well as bloodstains.

Following the blood, they found the bodies.

Two bodies.

One relatively intact male body, with everything above the neck bitten off, the head nowhere to be found.

Then there was the other body that was unrecognizable as either male or female, and could not even be called a “body” anymore.

Because all that was left were two legs, the rest torn to shreds, with organs and flesh scattered like rain across the forest floor.

Rostov was overcome with grief, clutching the cold body of his younger son, refusing to let go. For the first time, the man who regularly drowned his sorrows in liquor had sobered up, only to face the agony of losing a child.

The girl’s father, upon seeing this sight, fainted dead away.

Sergei clenched his fists, glaring at Ralph fiercely.

The old man said nothing, but the Hunter wouldn’t misunderstand that gaze, “You said it wasn’t dangerous, didn’t you? Didn’t you say that?!”

After examining the two bodies, Ralph spoke with difficulty, “The beast must have dragged off the girl first. The boy tried to rescue her, so he followed, and ended up being killed by the beast too.”

As the spread-out Dusacks heard the news, they all gathered around. People crowded around the remains; two young lives had vanished like that, leaving behind only endless grief and rage.

“Leave a few people to help the families bring back the bodies,” Winters suppressed his emotions, remounting his horse, “Everyone else, follow me!”

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