The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

"Isaac, let's get going!"

Johan's voice broke Isaac out of his reverie. He realised that they had to leave, but there was a problem. He originally planned to give Abbie his Snowshoe Anima, but the village roads didn't have any snow on them. She couldn't move well, so somebody needed to carry her until they left the village. Naturally, that responsibility fell to the most physically fit person on the team: Isaac.

He took his bag off and gave it to Johan. Then he picked Abbie up in much the same way Eva had carried her: like a backpack, holding a leg under each of his arms. It was slightly awkward, but neither of them said a word.

When everybody was ready, the team set off.

They moved through the village alleys and made their way to the western gate. The same group of guards were on patrol, so they recognised Isaac and his team. Isaac had a few words with the guard leader, then she opened the gate and let them through.

Now the group was on the so-called 'path of death', except... the wild beast which gave the path its name was also dead. The route wasn't dangerous anymore and Isaac could safely follow it to Kukkula Village.

Now that they'd left Kirk Village, Isaac put Abbie down. Then a translucent spirit flew out of his feet. The spirit, which looked like a mound of snow, flew straight into Abbie's body.

"Just lean forwards slightly and put your weight on the ball of your foot. Don't try to turn or lean forwards too much."

Isaac gave Abbie some basic instructions on using the Anima, then they were good to go. Moving forwards at a slow pace was not difficult to do, so Abbie quickly got the hang of things. Everybody else found the 2-hour trip boring, but Abbie had some fun getting to grips with the Snowshoe Anima. She'd already grown to like the Anima by the time they reached Kukkula Village.

In fact, she felt reluctant to give it back to Isaac when they reached their destination. Unfortunately, she had no choice. The Anima flew out of her body and back towards Isaac the moment he commanded it to.

The guards at Kukkula Village saw the spirit fly between them and were shocked. Then Isaac introduced himself,

"My name is Isaac Dahl. I am a cultivator from the Full Moon Sect and these are my colleagues."

That was all he needed to say and the gate opened. These people didn't doubt his identity since they'd vaguely seen his Anima. Most of the guards wouldn't recognise Anima, but a few had surely read about them. One of the guards who recognised Isaac's Anima ran to tell the village head, while the other guards hurried to serve Isaac's team.

It was a similar scenario to when they first entered Kirk Village, except these guards were far more competent. None of them stammered when they talked and they all seemed well-trained. They stayed composed even when talking to a cultivator,

"Greetings sir," the guard leader gave a shallow bow, "We've sent a messenger to the village head already. She will be here shortly; would you like us to arrange a place to rest, or would you prefer to wait here?"

Isaac cast a glance at Abbie who was injured and needed rest,

"Find us somewhere to stay."

"Very well."

The guard nodded, then introduced one of his subordinates,

"Jón will assist you throughout your stay. Please don't hesitate to command him as if he were your own subordinate."

"My name is Jón. It's a pleasure to serve esteemed cultivators such as yourselves; I will do my best to attend to you, so you are free to give any orders you might have. If anything dissatisfies you, please let me know."

Jón led the group away from the gate and towards a nearby set of residences. He got out a key and unlocked the door of a small house,

"This is my home. I hope it will suffice until the village head arrives. After that, we will arrange proper residences for you."

"We would prefer one large residence, thank you."

Isaac and the others went inside. The interior was cosy but somewhat cramped – it was a home for one person, not 5 after all. Isaac and the others settled down, and Abbie found a pile of blankets to lie on. Meanwhile, Jón read the mood very well,

"Well, I'll leave you be. I'll be next door, so please knock if you want anything."

The guard politely showed himself out, leaving Isaac's team alone in the house. As soon as he left, Isaac positioned himself in a corner of the room and began cultivating. Eva and Johan saw him, then decided to follow suit.

Abbie continued to lie on her tower of blankets. She cast a glance over at the meditating trio, then sighed. Even if she tried to meditate, the pain from her back would keep waking her up. She decided to stand watch while the others cultivated...

An hour passed in the blink of an eye. The trio were still cultivating when a sudden knock on the door disrupted their focus. Isaac woke up first, then the other 2 slowly came to after him. By the time they were fully awake, Isaac was already opening the front door.

The visitor was a woman with pale blond hair who looked in her early forties. Her full, azure eyes shone like sapphires or blue moons. Her gaze swept over Isaac from head to toe, lingering on the badge pinned to his coat. She recognised the badge – how could she not? It was a silver full moon with 3 black claws protruding from the bottom right corner. It was the Full Moon Sect's insignia, and all disciples wore this badge.

After confirming the badge's authenticity, she offered a solemn greeting,

"I welcome the visitors from the sect. My name is Anna – I am the leader of Kukkula Village. I apologise for our shabby hospitality; I did not realise we would have esteemed guests from the sect! Might I enquire why you are visiting us?"

"There has been some suspicious activity in the area and we needed to ask you some questions. Could we find a place to talk privately?"

Isaac got straight to the point. His directness surprised Anna, but she responded aptly,

"Of course. We can return to my residence and speak there. Guards," she called to the 4 people behind her, "you're all dismissed."

2 of the guards objected,

"Village head, who will protect you?"

"Head, you remember the incident from one month ago. What if they try to assassinate you?!"

"I will be in the company of four brave warriors from the sect. Who would dare to attack me? Even if they did, could you do a better job of protecting me than our esteemed guests?"

The guards wore expressions like children who had been scolded. Meanwhile, Isaac coughed harshly; they were not there to protect or serve the village head. It seemed she was getting a little ahead of herself.

"Village head, we are not here to serve you. Nor are we here to watch while you discipline your subordinates. Let's stop wasting time and get going."

Isaac's rudeness didn't annoy Anna. Even the highest-ranking commoner had to bow down before a cultivator; this was common sense in the world of cultivation, where only strength mattered. Isaac was powerful enough to reap Anna's life in a second, so she had to obey him.

This was an unspoken law on Terra: commoners had to respect cultivators. It was the first thing every commoner learnt as a child. It was drilled into them as a rule of survival: the day they spoke up against a cultivator would probably be the day they died.

Therefore, it was common sense for Anna to obey Isaac. She wasn't as wise or crafty as Leon and didn't have as much experience dealing with cultivators. Therefore, she meekly followed Isaac's words.

She walked out of the house with the team in tow. They walked some distance through the streets, letting Isaac estimate the village's size. By his workings, it was noticeably larger than Kirk Village and might become a town within 50 years. Of course, that was only if it kept growing.

There was plenty of space for a suspect to hide if they were staying here. It would take forever to search the village or investigate each person, so Isaac just stuck to the most likely hypothesis: if someone from Kukkula Village had manipulated the Sarcevic Wolf, it was probably one of the village higher-ups. In fact, it was probably the village head.

Isaac cast a suspicious glance towards the woman in front of him. Her long golden hair swayed behind her as she walked, and most people would find her figure graceful. However, Isaac couldn't help remembering her smart, calculating gaze. She struck him as a capable woman: a woman capable of committing a crime.