rune hunter

Chapter 10 Ugly Human Nature

Tiana, Tiana...

A soft call came from the ear, and the girl lying under the tree slowly opened her eyes.The sun was already westward in the blue sky, the golden sunlight shone on her body, and the gentle breeze blew the pages of the book on her lap.

Tiana closed the book in her hand without standing up, quietly enjoying the peace and quiet at the moment.

"Tiana! You are hiding and reading by yourself again!"

A pair of beautiful red leather shoes appeared in front of her eyes, and the snow-white floral pleated skirt wrapped her slender legs. Even without looking up, one could imagine that she must be a lively and lovely girl.

"As a guest, you are really rude." The girl put her hands on her hips, pretending to be angry.

Tiana didn't speak or look up, she knew that no matter how she reacted, the dream would continue irreversibly.The good memory only stays at this moment, and there is only a short moment for her to linger on.

The sun faded from the gardens, the sky was clouded with haze, and a freezing cold wind howled.The snow-white skirt was stained red with blood, and the girl's body was rotting in the wind at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Tiana, help me..."

The fingers holding the book lost their color due to too much force, Tiana clenched her lips tightly, turning a blind eye to the pleadings of the girl beside her, letting her cry in pain and turn into a dry bone.

Even in a dream, the spell caster would remain lucid to a certain extent. After countless failed rescues, she realized that this was an unsolvable nightmare, the deepest nightmare in her heart.

What is gone is irretrievable after all, and those who are still alive can only move on with heavy grief.

The color of the world gradually faded, and the surroundings turned into a dark and cold cage.Tiana held the book and raised her head to look up at the sky. In the endless darkness, there was only a faint light left.Although it looks flickering, almost swallowed by darkness, it still exists tenaciously.

Tiana stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the ray of light, but suddenly her body shook, and her consciousness fell into a distorted blur.

When she woke up from the dream, the first thing she saw was a pair of bright eyes.Immediately, the sharp pains in every part of her body made her confirm the fact that she was alive.

"You're finally awake." El rubbed his temples, finally heaving a sigh of relief.

The injury on the girl's body was very serious. The torrent of elements scorched her hands and left a large area of ​​burn marks on her face.The vicious curse hovered in the body, causing great damage to the internal organs.Tiana felt her hands and face being bandaged, some sort of cooling herb applied, relieving the burning sting on her skin.She wanted to speak, but what came out of her mouth was salty blood foam, and something blocked her throat, making it difficult to even breathe.

"Don't talk, just take the medicine." El took a bowl of green juice squeezed out of herbs from the bedside. Although he had never studied orthodox pharmacy, he wanted to talk about simply healing injuries and wandering in the jungle. Hunters naturally have unique secret recipes.

The fresh concoction was bitter in the mouth, but it also had a refreshing herbal fragrance. After only a few spoonfuls, Tiana felt that her breathing became much smoother, and the pain in her body seemed to have eased a bit.

"No, thanks."

After regaining her composure, Tiana shook her head lightly to express her refusal. This herbal medicine has a slight anesthetic component, which will affect the recovery speed of her mental power just like alcohol.

El understood the reason after thinking about it. He withdrew his hand expressionlessly, took out a bag of white powder and poured it into the bowl in front of Tiana, stirred it casually, and then roughly pinched the girl's chin, He poured down a bowl of concoction.

Tiana opened her eyes wide and struggled in horror, but the little strength she had left could not resist El's brutality at all, she just kicked her feet on the bed a few times indiscriminately.It was a pack of drug that was enough to overwhelm an elephant, and after drinking it for a few seconds, the girl completely lost consciousness.

"If you don't take care of your body, then don't blame me for not taking pity on your body."

Al put down the bowl angrily, and rearranged the bandages on her face again.The burns on the girl's face were very serious, and if she didn't treat them carefully, she might be disfigured.

"It's not good! El!" Tika rushed into the bedroom in embarrassment. The little maid who was frightened in the morning seemed to have recovered. It seemed that as long as El was by her side, she would have a backbone.

"What's the matter? In a panic?" Al frowned, and covered Tiana's body with the quilt.Through the broken window, he also vaguely heard the noise outside.

"It's the people in the village, they said... they said they want to drive you away." Tika danced and gestured emotionally: "Someone saw her killing people in the morning... and saw you fighting monsters, they said yes You have brought disaster! No one will listen to my explanation."

El's face sank, he stood up and looked out the window.The scene of the battle between the girl and the cursed priest was clearly visible. The cursed spells shot around left spots on the walls, and the ground was covered with bluish-black splashes of dirty blood.The fragmented body of the cursed priest lay at the gate, with a distorted blankness on his lifeless face.Not far from his corpse, a broken gargoyle fell on the courtyard wall with all four feet in the sky, and the gem-studded head hung on the doorway and smoked.

The villagers gathered around in twos and threes, but they didn't dare to get too close.The weird corpse smell emanating from the cursed priests aroused their fear of the plague, and when the fear was suppressed to the limit, it would sometimes evolve into unreasonable anger.

"This is a disaster, this is a disaster!" Aunt Maggie, wearing a scarf, was holding a rolling pin, and the three circles of fat on her body were shaking every time she took a step. The fat woman couldn't stop talking while she was terrified.

"I saw it with my own eyes! That little girl was sitting on that person, slashing at him one after another! She is simply a monster! Tika also said that it was the eldest lady brought back from the city by El, hehe, Can't tell who it is. What decent girl kills like a pig?"

"This man wears a long robe, so he has status. If someone is killed, the city master will definitely track him down. El is in trouble this time." Someone echoed in a low voice.

"In any case, the body must be burned quickly..."

"I also saw Al fight with that big monster, and his eyes were shining blue."

"El has also become a monster? I said why is he the only one who is not afraid of the plague, and the only one who dares to enter the city."

The villagers held hoes and dung forks in their hands, and their words became more and more excessive as they encouraged each other.In fact, they didn't really doubt El, they just vented their emotions in fear.

The gate of the lord's mansion was kicked open, and the noisy voices suddenly fell silent.Al strode out, looking around.None of the villagers dared to look at him, and all bowed their heads back under his gaze.

It is one of the most common inferiorities of human beings to speak ill of people behind their backs. Aunt Maggie only dared to point fingers at the dead, but when facing El, she did not regain her arrogance just now.If Tiana really appeared in front of her, she would just run away screaming.

El sadly saw that everyone's face was full of timidity and numbness.

They are all uneducated mountain people who don't care about the changes in the outside world. They only care about themselves and habitually obey the power.

When his adoptive father died, no one shed tears for him, and no one expressed concern for El, only blind obedience and reliance on him.

When they got the potion for curing diseases, no one cared where the potion came from, and no one asked about the status quo of Queensland City. They only desperately fought for it knowing that the share was not enough.

Tika collects the corpses of the dead, but they are isolated as the sick.Tiana eliminated the cursed priest who could really bring disaster, but was treated as an evil murderer instead.

Is it true that no one can see the truth?Or simply because they want to vent their fear, they indiscriminately point the finger at the weak who cannot resist?
El knew that as long as he stood here and said a few words, all problems could be solved.A person in a state of confusion and fear chooses unconditionally to believe in authority, and he is authority now.As long as he opens his mouth to say that Tiana is your benefactor, these villagers will immediately change their attitudes and show expressions of gratitude.

They believed what El said, not what was said.No matter what the truth is, it's good to make yourself feel at ease.

Even if he protected Tika and Tiana now, it wouldn't be long before these people would pick another scapegoat behind their backs.

Al once had a sense of responsibility for the village, but now he feels extremely disappointed.

"That woman is a wanted criminal who ran out of the city. I brought her back to collect a bounty. This dead man is her accomplice and a bad guy."

He told the villagers that this explanation was reasonable and did not exceed the imagination of the villagers, so they all showed relieved expressions.

"Let me just say, it must be like this, that's right, that dead man doesn't look like a good man."

"Yes, yes, El is still brave and resourceful. If there is a bounty, the situation in our village can be improved."

Hearing that there was a bounty, Aunt Maggie's eyes lit up immediately. She wanted to ask more questions, but El gave her a cold look and choked back her words.

Just like her, other villagers started to care about the bounty issue. In their view, El was a member of the village, and the murder happened in the village, so the bounty would naturally have a share from the village.Maybe Cross, who already had a lunch box, had the right idea. A little gold coin can make these fools kneel down and be a dog.

El's heart was cold, and he turned and went back to the house, only to see Tikka blocking the door where Tiana was resting with a puffy face.

"She was seriously injured." The little maid blushed, opened her hands like a little hen protecting her cubs, and begged in her eyes: "El, don't do this. Didn't you say it's dangerous outside? She looks like this It's easy to get sick."

"But she almost hurt you this morning." Al asked in surprise.

"Well... I'm not hurt again." Tika scratched her head and smiled nonchalantly: "She's a good person, she told me to hide after saving me. And the guy outside looked like a villain. .”

"It's not so easy to tell the good from the bad." El was amused by Tika's words, and he rubbed the girl's head. There was something warm about her, which made him very relieved.

"Pack up your things and go with me." Al whispered in her ear.

(End of this chapter)