I'm not a Witcher anymore.

After Masha was helped away, the village entrance was finally less chaotic than before.

The elderly man with gray hair then walked up to the group.

"I'm sorry you had to run into this situation as soon as you arrived."

His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't slept well in a long time.

"I am an elder of Kawaki Village. Masha's daughter, along with several other girls from the village, were kidnapped by goblins yesterday morning."

"She's been crying since last night, and she's almost at her breaking point. What she did just now wasn't intentionally directed at you."

Valeria looked at him and nodded slightly.

"I see."

She paused, then asked directly:

"How many were taken away in total?"

The elder's throat bobbed.

"Including the one from Martha's family, there are five in total."

When the number was announced, even the faces of several villagers nearby turned paler.

The elder wiped his face before continuing:

"It's hard to explain from outside. Come with me."

He turned around and led the way.

The crowd followed him into the village.

The road wasn't long, but the village was eerily quiet.

The ground beneath my feet was dry soil and gravel, and all I could hear was the soft rustling of my boots.

Most of the houses on both sides had their doors closed, with only one or two occasionally peeking out from inside.

When those gazes fell upon the adventurers, they lit up for a moment, but were quickly suppressed by a deeper fear.

The elder led them to a longhouse at the back of the village.

This house was more spacious than the surrounding wooden houses. It was built on a stone foundation and had wooden walls that had been weathered by wind and rain. Chopped firewood was neatly piled up next to the door.

It's clear that this place is usually where the village holds meetings and entertains guests.

The elder pushed open the door, about to invite the person in, but Zig stopped first.

"Captain, go inside and listen to what the elder has to say."

He glanced back at the village, his voice low.

"I'll ask around among other people."

Valeria paused, turning to the side.

"Don't go too far."

"Understood." Zieg nodded.

Lucy spoke softly as well.

"I'll stay. There are other people with Martha who need looking after as well."

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon the few women who were still crying softly not far away, clearly indicating that it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Hill withdrew his hand from the cane.

"I'm with her."

Ravenna looked around, intending to follow them inside, but before she could speak, Valeria stopped her.

She looked at Ravenna, her tone not harsh, but carrying an undeniable air of authority.

"You stay outside and get a clear picture of the situation in the village. Don't do anything without me by your side."

"Why is it me again—"

Ravenna instinctively replied, but didn't dare to speak loudly.

The crying in the village hadn't subsided yet, and no matter how much she wanted to cause trouble, she knew this wasn't the time to talk nonsense.

Valeria said nothing more and followed the elder into the house.

It's warmer inside the longhouse than outside.

Once the door was closed, most of the sounds of the wind and crying were blocked out, leaving only the occasional soft popping of the fire in the stove.

The room was simply furnished with a wooden table, a few polished chairs, and a few farm tools leaning against the wall.

An old woman was standing by the stove. When she saw someone come in, she silently brought over a pot of hot water and a few wooden cups, then went back to add firewood without saying a word.

The elder invited Valeria to sit down, while he himself stood by the table, his hand on the back of the chair, as if to calm himself down before finally exhaling the breath that had been stuck in his chest.

"The village has been quite unsettled lately."

His voice was hoarse from years of working so hard.

"At first, we only saw footprints on the mountainside. Then it turned out that a hunter went into the mountains and never came back. Later, even people who went to the stream to fetch water almost died outside. But the last time a person was actually dragged away was yesterday morning."

"Martha's daughter, and several other young women, were all lost around that time. To this day, none of them have been found."

outside the house.

Lucy went to Martha's place first.

Martha was crying so hard she could barely breathe, and there were two or three other women around her with equally red eyes.

Lucy knelt down to help her catch her breath, then leaned over to ask if her chest felt tight, if she felt dizzy, and if she had hurt herself anywhere when she fell.

Martha answered haltingly, and the people next to her couldn't help but chime in.

Some people said they saw the girls by the river yesterday morning, while others said it was too late when they heard the screams. Still others mentioned that several men from the village almost went up the mountain with machetes last night, but were stopped by someone.

In an instant, a jumble of words rushed in.

Lucy didn't panic.

As she listened, she gently comforted them, calming the most distraught individuals and helping them catch their breath.

She speaks softly and in a low voice, but it is precisely at times like these that people unconsciously slow down their breathing along with her.

Hill stood a little behind Lucy, and waited until the jumbled words finally subsided before asking a few of the most important questions.

"Was the last time you saw them by the river?"

"Besides screams, did you hear anything else?"

"Which way are the drag marks going?"

She asked questions slowly and deliberately.

The villagers who were originally only focused on crying and cursing were able to explain things more clearly little by little after she led them along.

Ravenna stood there for a while, feeling as if the whole village was suffocating her.

She had originally wanted to join Lucy's conversation, but after listening for a few moments, she realized that she wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise.

She wrinkled her nose, glanced around, and then realized that Zig had somehow wandered to the old tree in the center of the village.

There were a few men squatting over there.

Zig was also squatting down, holding a thin twig he had picked up, drawing something on the muddy ground.

Several villagers stood around, looking very focused, clearly having been talking for a while.

Ravenna's eyes lit up, and she immediately headed in that direction.

"The village is here."

Zig drew a small circle on the muddy ground with a twig, then dragged a curved line to the side.

"The river flows through this side."

Further up, there is a thin line that slopes diagonally into the mountains.

"What about the path up the mountain?"

Several villagers standing nearby pointed to him, some saying it was a bit to the left, others saying it should be half a step higher.

Zig listened and meticulously corrected the positions stroke by stroke. The rough drawing on the muddy ground gradually took shape.

Ravenna tiptoed over, wanting to say something, but seeing the increasingly grim expressions on their faces, she swallowed her words.

She sat a little behind Zig, stared at the picture on the muddy ground for a couple of seconds, and then whispered a reminder:

"A little more to the left."

"When the captain was showing the map yesterday, I remember that the ridge here cuts at an angle."

Zig raised his hand and moved the line slightly to the left. Without turning around, he simply hummed softly.

Seeing that he had taken her to heart, Ravenna quieted down and blinked as she continued to stare at the ground.