9: The Village Report (II)

As the group arrived at the mayor's house, they were met with a mixture of surprise and confusion in the mayor's eyes. His jaw dropped slightly, taken aback by the presence of several young adventurers before him. For a moment, he looked speechless, struggling to comprehend the situation unfolding before him.

The adventurers exchanged puzzled looks, trying to hide their awkwardness at the mayor's confused state. As they entered the house, the mayor fumbled, trying to regain his composure as he led them inside.

"Thanks for having us, Mayor. We heard about the disappearances in the village and came as quickly as possible to help," Adam said respectfully.

"Yes, yes, of course. It's just... I hoped... well, never mind. The important thing is that you are here now. Well..." the mayor stammered nervously.

Seeing the mayor's confusion, Charlotte immediately asked, "We came for the mission, we don't know who requested it, so we thought you might be the most recommended person to guide us through what is happening."

"Ah yes, the emergency mission. Okay, okay... Well, things have been a little rough these last few days. It's been a while since people disappeared in the forest, which is normal. Monsters can appear all the time, this world is very dangerous for unskilled and reckless adventurers. But the thing is, they weren't coming back anymore. We sent search parties, but they found nothing. Everything seemed normal within its limits... until that happened..." the mayor explained hesitantly.

The man fell silent, almost as if he didn't want to continue the speech. Charlotte then broke the ice, speaking with tenderness in her voice, "Don't worry, you can trust us. We are here to solve this!"

The mayor took a deep breath after nodding his head and continued, "Right. Until my poor Evangeline was gone too. She went for a walk in the woods, not afraid of what might happen. After that, we didn't hear from her until two days ago. We found her in a... horrible state."

"Mayor, can you tell us more about what happened to your daughter? Any clues or strange occurrences before she disappeared?" Chloe asked sympathetically.

"There were no signs, no warnings. She went out for a walk with her friends and when she came back... she was different. Acting like... like something else had taken control of her," the mayor's voice shook as he struggled to find the right words.

The raw emotion in the mayor's voice weighed heavily on the group's hearts. They exchanged a worried look, silently communicating their shared determination to find the truth.

"We'll do everything in our power to help, Mayor. First, can we see your daughter? We need to better understand the situation to come up with a plan," Adam said, nodding.

"Yeah, sure. Follow me." the mayor responded, leading them to see his daughter.

The mayor led them to his daughter's room. As they entered, the sight before them was disturbing. The girl was huddled in a corner, wrapped in blankets, her eyes wide with fear. She looked at the new arrivals, her expression a mixture of terror and confusion.

"Who... who are you?" Evangeline whispered, her voice shaking.

"We're monster hunters, we're here to find out what happened to you. Can you tell us anything about what you remember?" Adam said calmly, trying to ease her fear.

The girl's eyes darted nervously between Adam and Chloe, uncertainty evident in her expression.

"WHO ARE YOU??" Evangeline cried out in pain.

The two were startled by the sudden scream, but Chole decided to invest a little more in the hope of calming the girl down. "It's like he said, you can trust us. If you collaborate, we can solve your problem and everyone else's."

But that was like talking to a wall, the words just wouldn't go through the brain. The young lady was scared, her body trembling and sweating, shaking as her breathing grew stronger.

It was then, after another roar, she began to spasm and toss and turn in bed, screaming meaningless words.

"Cave! Light! Flash! Take the light away from me, TAKE THE LIGHT AWAY FROM ME!"

Chloe's mouth flexed, as if she was going to say something, but the woman's screams paralyzed any sense of action. At that, the two exited the room and closed the door, their eyes transfixed as if they had been frozen in that very moment.

Everyone was astonished, and the mayor, leaning against a wall, continued his speech with pain in your voice.

"Since she came back, my poor Eva acts like an animal. She barely eats, has an aversion to all lights, and doesn't talk well to anyone. Please, I beg you, bring my daughter back to me! I don't know what kind of darkness came over her, but I can't bear to see her like this."

When he finished speaking, the man broke down in tears, his eyes could no longer contain the torrent. The group looked at each other, trying to find a way to act, but any wrong word could make the situation even worse.

However, one of them went to the mayor and broke the ice.

"Calm down, sir. By the way, what's your name?" Leonard Flint asked firmly.

"My name is… Marcus," the mayor replied, his voice choked with emotion.

"Calm down, Marcus. We won't stop until we find a solution to this. We'll understand what happened and solve everything! No one will need to suffer again. Just trust us, okay?" Leonard reassured him with determination.

The distraught gentleman could, for a moment, breathe a sigh of relief. Comforted by Leonard's words, he regained his composure.

"Excuse my posture." Marcus said, wiping away his tears.

"Everything is fine. Just before we left, where did you find your daughter again?" Leonard asked, trying to gather more information.

"On the trail past the lake." Marcus replied.

"We're going to investigate now, right? We'll let you know if we find anything else. Looks like we'll have a lot of work to do." Leonard said as the group prepared to leave.

The mayor nodded, and just like that, the group left the house more motivated than ever. They knew the challenges lay ahead, but they were determined to understand what was happening and put an end to the situation.