Old Hansen, Kieran, and Mio booked two rooms at an inn in Jormund village. They got a break after dinner at the inn was over.

"Are you sick? I feel like you've been a little weird ever since you entered this village," Kieran said to Mio. The Kitsune wagged its tail slowly. She seemed a little quieter than usual.

Mio replied quietly, "I just feel uncomfortable."

Kieran turned his attention; he opened the bedroom window to breathe fresh air. For a moment, he saw the view of Jormund Village. After a while, he then closed and locked the window.

"Why would they create a village in a place like this? When it rains or a snowstorm occurred, they were practically cut off from other humans. Furthermore, the possibility of being attacked by beasts and monsters in this place was pretty high. This place was not the ideal place to make a settlement."

"I don't know, I'm also curious. But I guess it's best not to think about it too much, tomorrow we will also leave this place," Mio replied to Kieran's mumbling. The girl then jumped onto the bed and lay down comfortably. She wrapped her tail around herself.

"Oy, why are you lying there, that's my place, you should sleep on the floor," Kieran snapped.

"Huh? No no, the floor is so cold, I'll get sick if I sleep on the floor. You're the one sleeping who should sleep on the floor, aren't you a man? You better give up and give me this comfortable bed." Mio hugged the bolster tightly, ignoring Kieran's presence.

"I paid for this room, so I am the one who has the righteousness to sleep on the bed, Kitsune!" Kieran shouted.

Mio suddenly went silent, Kieran felt uncomfortable, did he go too far? Mio then said in a low voice. "Then just sleep on the bed. This bed is big enough for both of us."

Kieran remembered that the two of them had slept hugging each other, but at that time, Mio was in an unstable state. However, he had never thought of doing anything.

"That is a good idea." Kieran immediately jumped onto the right side of the bed, while Mio was on the left. Mio put a bolster as a barrier. Soon they both fell asleep in a dream.

After escaping from Ryx's pursuit, they were finally able to get some quality rest.

The long night slowly passed.

Mio woke up from her sleep, she woke up lazily and stretched her body.

"Kieran?" she spoke, surprised when she saw that there was no Kieran figure beside her. She heard a rumbling sound from outside. Mio approached the window and opened it slowly.

It was raining so heavily that the whole village of Jormund was drenched. The sky was so dark even though the morning had come. Black clouds adorn and blocked the sun. The residents did not move when they were seeing the weather was so bad.

“Looks like the trip will have to be postponed again,” Mio muttered. She then left her room and walked towards the bar, which was on the bottom floor of the inn. She saw at one of the tables Kieran, Old Hansen, and a man were talking.

Kieran noticed Mio's arrival. However, he immediately glared at Mio after seeing Mio forget to wear a robe to cover her identity. Noticing Kieran's gaze, Mio also realized her mistake.

"N-no, this isn't—"

"Relax, your secret is safe here. I knew your identity from the start," Old Hansen said, calming Mio and Kieran.

"Kitsune huh, it's very rare, but I've seen one even rarer than beastman," said the man next to Old Hansen. He was the owner of this inn Mr. Roden.

Hearing that, Mio and Kieran were relieved. Mio then sat down beside Kieran.

"Old Hansen, are we going to postpone your trip for today?" asked Mr. Roden.

Hansen nodded resignedly, "Is that so, it can't be helped the weather is not favorable."

"I didn't think it would rain today either, I thought the rainy season was over."

Kieran interrupted Roden's chat with Hansen, "Mr. Roden, may I know why you live in this forest? Why don't you move to Amantha?"

From yesterday, he had been feeling very curious. Although this village was a resting place for merchants who used shortcuts, still, from his point of view, this village was lacking safety.

Kieran saw that Mr. Roden was silent awkwardly, he then whispered to Kieran and Mio, "There are several things that make us stay in this village, these are related to the secrets of this village, so you shouldn't ask other people that question."

Kieran wanted to ask further, but just then Mister Roden's wife came with food for breakfast.

***

While Old Hansen was selling the merchandise he had brought to the villagers, Kieran and Mio decided to go around after the rain had stopped. By the way, even though the rain had let up a bit, the short road to be taken was still muddy and wet, so Hansen decided to continue the journey this afternoon.

There were about a thousand inhabitants of the village of Jormund living here. Almost all families have plantations and farms that need to be taken care of. Of course, it was because there were no landowners in the forest like this, so they were quite free. It's just that, from the information Kieran got, the villager's plantation area was limited to a distance of one kilometer from the settlement here.

While the parents were going to work, the children often gather in the field to study under the guidance of the village head's daughter named Evelyn. Mio and Kieran decided to stand on the sidelines and watch Evelyn, who was teaching the children.

"Did you notice that every villager seems to have tattoos on their necks," Mio said in a low voice.

Kieran nodded, after walking around for a while he found strange things in this village.

"Maybe it's culture? I also found every house seems to have a wolf statue hanging on their doorstep."

While Mio and Kieran were talking, Evelyn allowed the children to play catch-up. Then, she walked over to Mio and Kieran.

"Are you going to Deborah City?" Evelyn asked.

Kieran nodded, "We are indeed going there, have you ever been there?"

Evelyn wore a sour expression, "I've heard of that City a lot. There are many caravans of merchants passing by that intend to go to Deborah City. There's a lot of good stuff in that City. Too bad, I might never be able to go there."

"What do you mean?" Kieran wondered if Evelyn was forbidden to leave the village or something.

Evelyn was silent for a while, she then whispered to Kieran and Mio, "This village is cursed, no one from Jormund Village is allowed to leave the village territory."

"Cursed!?" Kieran raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What kind of curse is that—"

"Evelyn, what are you doing there, those kids need you." A voice interrupted their conversation. Kieran and the others saw a middle-aged man staring intently at Evelyn. From the features of the man, Kieran knew that he was the head of the village.

"Sorry, dad!" after saying that, Evelyn immediately left Kieran and Mio.

Mio tugged at Kieran's shirt and looked uncomfortably at the head of Jormund Village.