Our destination was a farm in the town of Pruhbi. It was a small town located to the east of Gehorsam. Its main source of revenue was through farming. It was only about an hour of travel via carriage while several hours if on foot. Since I could not afford to spare any more money for transportation, I had to go with the latter. It was hot out but at least the unpaved road was peaceful.

We arrived at Pruhbi without any incidents, I was thankful for it. The place was not as active as Gehorsam but I could not say that it was sleepy either. I figured that every place would sort of look inferior when compared to the capital city.

I heard that there were a few towns that had pure hatred directed towards the Beastkin, Pruhbi was one of those. The town was one of the many that were ransacked by the Beastkins during the war therefore their resentment was not without reasons. Before we entered, I had Ovis put on a cloak so she could hide her beast features. It would be bad if we were caught in any trouble because of that.

Buildings were mainly made of wood and the ground was not covered in stone. Shops were set up in small stalls with wooden poles and cloth as roof. The place did not look bad at all in my opinion.

“Excuse me, can I ask you a question?” I approached a woman walking in the street.

“How may I help you, young man?” She replied with a smile.

“Do you know where I can find a man named Sergio?”

The woman’s expression darkened the moment she heard the name of my client for the quest. Her smile disappeared and her tone became slightly aggressive.

“See that house? That’s where you’ll find him.” The woman pointed at a small hut on the hill.

“Thank you.”

The woman did not respond and just walked away. Due to her reaction, I became kind of curious as to what kind of guy was Sergio. We went to the isolated hut. I had a bit of trouble walking through the steep road but Ovis did not seem to mind. It even looked like she was enjoying it. She was part sheep so it was not surprising if she liked high areas.

Finally, we reached the small hut at the top of the hill. Behind it was a huge plantation of a variety of vegetables. It was noticeable that the plots were not consistent. There was always a vacant spot between every few crops. I knocked on the door a few times before the door opened. I was greeted by a chubby man. He had a curly moustache and a significantly receding hairline.

“What is it?” said the man with a hint of annoyance.

“Hello, is the man named Sergio in?”

“That’s me, what do you want?” He frowned.

“I am Mest, I am an E rank tamer. I am here to get rid of the beasts raiding your farm.”

“That was quick, come in.” His tone suddenly became gentler.

Sergio invited us into his humble home. It was almost as small as mine, with a single common place but his place had three additional rooms instead of two. We sat by the small table and then food was served to us.

“You haven’t eaten yet, right? Help yourself.”

“Thank you.”

It was not anything fancy but it was free so I was genuinely thankful for it.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable in those clothes?” Sergio asked Ovis who was still all covered up.

Ovis looked at me, awaiting my command.

“It’s okay, you can take it off.”

The guy must already know that she was a Beastkin anyways since she was with a tamer. If in the case that he would not like Ovis’ presence in his house, I knew that he would keep it under control. Ovis removed her cloak and her fluffy hair and ears were exposed to light. The guy was stunned for a second as he looked at her.

“You’re quite a sight! You shouldn’t keep such beauty hidden!” said the guy.

“Th-thank you…”

For a moment there, I actually thought he was going to lash out. Due to his reaction, I started to doubt the rumors that the folks of the village had a lingering hate towards Beastkins. Ovis and I ate the food the man gave us. Sergio just sat with us and watched us as we finished our meal. After eating, I felt my energy returned, allowing me to be ready to do some business.

“Thanks for the food.” I said.

“Don’t mind it, that’s for the trouble for coming all the way here.”

“So, can you give us the details of your beast problem?”

“It has been a few weeks since I first noticed some of my crops were missing. At first the damage was negligible but as time goes by, the damage increases.”

“I see, so that’s why there were vacant plots.”

“Yes, it became a nuisance so about a week ago, I stood watch at night to see what was causing the damage. There were three small beasts eating away my crops.”

“So all we have to do is kill them.”

“Yes, but I believe there are more of them now.”

“That should not be a problem. A group of E rank beasts should be no match for us, right Ovis?” I acted all confident.

“Y-yes!”

“That’s very reassuring. The beasts come at night so you can feel at home here while waiting.”

“Thank you, will do.” I smiled.

The guy seemed grumpy at first but he definitely was not a bad person. Maybe if he could smile more then he would not give people a bad impression.

“Hey old man! I’m back!”

A young man with a scarf suddenly entered the house with a hoe in hand. But he was no ordinary boy, he was a Beastkin. He had beast like brown ears, line marks on his cheeks and a furry curled brown tail. If I was correct, it was a Squirrel type Rodkin. Beastkins with rodent like features were called as Rodkins. They were rare in Gehorsam since tamers did not favor them due to their lack in raw power.

“Welcome back, you must be hungry. Come join our guests.” Sergio said.

“Oh, we have guests? What’s up?” he glared at me.

“He is the tamer I requested to get rid of our beast infestation.”

“Hello.” I waved at the boy.

“You hired tamers for that? I told you to just let me get a go at them! I’ll knock ‘em silly!” The boy swung his arm in the air.

Sergio then hit the boy in the head.

“Ouch! What’s that for!?” The boy asked as he touched the part of his head that was hit.

“I already told you that it’s dangerous! Leave the beast stuff to those who know how to deal with them, understood?” Sergio shouted.

“But I can-“ The boy tried to protest but was met by Sergio’s body piercing glare. “Understood…”

“I’m glad I made myself clear.” Sergio crossed his arms

“Oh! I forgot about the fruits I picked a while ago! I’ll go get it first!” The boy was about to sprint back outside when Sergio grabbed the boy boy’s scarf.

“And where did you pick those?” Sergio asked as if a dark aura enshrouded him.

“I… can’t… breathe…” The boy struggled to speak as he tapped his scarf which tightened around his neck.

“I already told you not to go near the forest! It’s dangerous!” The man loosened his grip on the boy’s scarf and he was finally able to breathe again.

“I did not go deep! It is definitely safe there!”

Sergio’s annoyance was visible but instead of scolding the boy any longer, all he was able to do was breathe out.

“Fine, just be quick.”

Sergio went back to his seat by the table while the boy dropped his hoe beside the door. He readily vanished as soon as he stepped outside.

“Sorry about that boy. His name is Scurus and he is helping me with the farm.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m curious though, I heard a rumor that people here hates the Beastkins.” I inquired.

“That’s not a rumor, that’s a fact.”

“But you don’t look like you do, don’t you?”

“I actually did, but not anymore.”

Sergio then stood up and then gazed at the sky through a small window.

“Not only that they stole our food and resources, they also killed random villagers to instill fear in us. We couldn’t help but hate the Beastkins for it.” He explained with a sullen voice.

I looked at Ovis and she was just staring down with gloom painted in her face. It was as if the guilt for the action was all hers.

“But when I think of it thoroughly, we were not the only ones who suffered. The Beastkins must have suffered the same pain. War is such a cruel thing, common folks suffer the most.”

“That was unfortunate.”

“It was, I lost my wife and children in the war. Driven by rage, I grabbed a random pitchfork and rushed out without a destination in mind. Looking back, it was not like I actually wanted to exact revenge. It was more like I wanted to die.”

“…”

“It was raining heavily that day and I could still remember how narrow my vision was. But then, I saw a very young Beastkin boy. He was crying. Blood was all over his clothes yet he was not wounded himself.” Sergio then paused for a while, filling the room with an awkward silence. It took about a minute or two before he resumed talking. “I had my pitchfork pointed at the boy’s face but I was not able to move it any closer. He lost someone too, that’s what I thought. He was not the one who claimed my family’s lives so who was I to claim his?”

“And that boy was Scurus?”

“Yes, I took him in out of pity. I used to think I was betraying my family by doing so. But I also knew that I could not abandon such a young boy. Because of my encounter with the boy, I was able to forget my rage and I am still alive now.”

Sergio then looked at us with a smile.

“I just wished everyone would understand that just like Humans, not all Beastkins are the same.”

“…”

“I’m sorry for talking about such drama to someone who I just met.” He chuckled.

It was just about time you he realized that. He actually told us his whole life story. It was partially my fault for poking at things that escalated to that though.

Ovis stood up then held Sergio’s hand. Her sudden action took me and Sergio by surprise.

 “I-I completely agree!” Ovis said with a serious face.

“I’m glad you do, young girl.” Sergio also held Ovis’ hand back. “You must really have kind heart if that’s what you think at a very young age.”

Scurus appeared by the door holding a bunch of fruits by his arms.

“I’m ba-“ Due to his shock, he loosened his grip and the fruits fell down to the floor.

“What are you doing, old geezer? Why are you flirting with the guest?” Scurus shouted.

Sergio pulled his hands away from Ovis.

“Nothing like that is happening!”

“That girl must just be only a few years older than me! I did not know you were such a pe-.”

“I am not!”

Sergio grabbed an empty pot and threw it at the boy. The pot hit his forehead directly, knocking him down as he twitched. They might be fighting as of current but I could tell that they were really close. I knew that I needed to solve the beast issue fast so these good folks could go back to their everyday lives.