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Chapter 78: A Pitfall
Chapter 78: A Pitfall
Chita was carried back to the village by a Swift Crab from the Rift. Due to the severity of his injuries, Rod had the crab slow down to avoid any additional jostling.
By the time they reached the village, Chita's wounds had been treated with the bandages and hemostatic medicine Rod had on hand. A cleaned wolf pelt was also draped over his waist for modesty. Neither Rod nor Natsu had brought extra clothes, so this was the best they could do. The only downside was that the weather was rather warm, but fortunately, the village was not far away.
As they entered the village, they were immediately surrounded by curious onlookers. Chita was the village's best hunter, and everyone had assumed he was dead. No one could believe he had been saved!
Rod spotted a familiar face in the crowd and quickly called out, "Mr. Mastiff, is there a doctor in the village? Please take us to him. His injuries are severe."
"Ah, of course!" Mastiff immediately found someone to watch his door and led them to the doctor's house. "This way, please!"
Someone else was sent to inform the village chief.
...
The doctor carefully treated Chita's wounds and arranged for him to be carried home with care. He would visit daily to change the bandages. As one of the most respected elders in the village, the old doctor had never seen such a chaotic array of injuries in his decades of practice. There were wounds from wild animal bites, cuts and punctures from sharp weapons, bruises from blunt force, and burns from flames. Each type of injury was severe, and it was a mystery how Chita had survived at all.
The doctor wondered if Chita had gone up the mountain to hunt or to test weapons. Rod and Natsu, who had been present at the scene, looked at the ceiling. It wasn't that they had hit him too hard; it was that he needed a wake-up call. Chita's survival was largely due to the strong physical attributes and resilience he had gained from the Beast King. Conversely, if he hadn't been so strong, he wouldn't have survived such severe injuries.
It was a dead end, and he could only blame his bad luck.
Chita woke up as evening approached. Natsu and Rod were in the village chief's courtyard, practicing combat techniques (or rather, fighting). Rod preferred to talk more and fight less, but Natsu wasn't very good at verbal instruction. So, after agreeing not to use magic, they ended up in a chaotic fight in the courtyard.
Happi and Worm were sitting by the door, munching on snacks and watching the commotion.
"Snacks are so good."
"Snore~~"
"But I want fish."
"Huh?"
"Love, fish is the best."
The two adorable creatures chattered back and forth, and it was hard for anyone else to understand their conversation.
At one point, Rod and Natsu stopped fighting simultaneously, having heard a sound from inside the house.
"Dad!" Claudy's joyful cry.
"Dear, you're finally awake!" Sino's voice was filled with relief and tears.
Thump! Panser used his cane to tap the floor and grunted through his nose. He was a bit of a stubborn old man.
The family, who had nearly experienced a life-and-death ordeal, were reunited in a touching moment that no one wanted to disturb. They waited at the door for a while until Panser asked, "Do you remember what happened?"
Only then did Rod and Natsu knock on the door and enter after receiving a response.
"Thank you, mages, thank you so much..."
They had heard these words many times at the doctor's house, and Rod quickly helped the village chief sit down, assuring him there was no need for formalities. Natsu ruffled Claudy's hair and sent her to her father's side.
Rod noticed that Natsu seemed to be quite good with children.
"We actually wanted to learn more about Mr. Chita's experience, as it is related to the recent beast rampage in the village. We apologize for the intrusion at such a time."
Rod remained polite and courteous.
"Please don't say that. If it weren't for you, my clumsy son might not have come back."
The village chief was even more courteous but quickly changed his demeanor when addressing his son. "Hurry up and tell your story!"
"Yes." Chita, still shaken by the recent events, did not argue with his father and began to recount his experience. "That day, I had an argument with my father. In a fit of anger, I took my weapons and went up the mountain alone, where I found the Beast King.
"I didn't dare act rashly and waited until it fell asleep before shooting it with my bow.
"The arrow hit its back, and if it were a regular beast, it would have died quickly. But the Beast King...
"His skin is very tough. The arrow only pierced the tip, and instead of killing it, it only enraged it. It immediately pounced on me...
"It broke my bow in the first attack, and I drew my hunting knife to fight it, but it knocked the knife away.
"Then it knocked me down and tried to bite my throat..."
At this point, Chita still felt a lingering fear.
Pansel's face remained calm, but his hand gripped the head of his cane tightly.
Shino and Claudie hugged each other, as if they could see the scene unfolding before them.
"Then I blacked out, feeling like I was in a dream.
"I dreamed that I had become the Beast King. When I was thirsty, I drank from the mountain stream, and when I was hungry, I hunted beasts.
"At that time, I couldn't think clearly. A voice kept telling me to fight, kill, and destroy.
"I didn't know what to fight or destroy, and thinking about it gave me a headache.
"But the voice kept nagging, and I kept thinking, which made my head hurt repeatedly. After several bouts of pain, I suddenly remembered that I needed to protect the village and kill the Beast King.
"At that time, I didn't know what a village or a Beast King was, so I kept searching for the Beast King on the mountain.
"To kill the Beast King, I hunted any solitary beasts I came across and targeted the strongest one in any wolf pack I encountered..."
Natsu, Happy, and the Shino family were a bit moved.
But the village chief and Rod looked at Chita differently.
This man, even when he lost his reason, remembered to protect the village and hunt the Beast King, proving that he had a good heart.
His actions, however, were a bit reckless.
It turned out that the wild beasts that had been rampaging down the mountain, destroying fields, and attacking the village over the past few days were all driven down by Chita!
No wonder when Rod sent the crabs to patrol, they found many beasts simply passing by the village, only to move on to find new habitats.
It seemed that the beasts could no longer survive on that mountain and whether they came to the village depended on whether they took the main road or the side roads.
In other words, before Chita went up the mountain, the beast attacks were due to some beasts being squeezed out of their living space by the Beast King, so they occasionally ventured down to the village for a chance at survival.
After Chita went up the mountain, the Beast King went on a killing spree, and the targeted beasts had no choice but to flee down the mountain.
And due to Chita's efforts, the number of fleeing beasts was terrifyingly high.
"Dad is so amazing!" Claudie felt that her father, who had hunted so many beasts alone, was incredibly strong.
"Ha ha ha..." Chita basked in his daughter's admiring gaze, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Pansel felt an itch in his hand, and the cane he held seemed to want to lash out at something.
No, no, I can't do that. Our saviors are here, and I can't be impolite. Besides, the child is still recovering. I'll wait until he's fully healed.
(End of Chapter)
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