As night fell, the town guards dressed in black uniforms were patrolling in the streets and forced people who were sleeping outside their homes to go back in. They even went so far as to beat those who weren’t listening to them, starting with their legs. Even children weren’t spared. Some kids were especially stubborn, and they ran away from the guards, but after they got chased and beaten with sticks, they ran home, crying aloud.
A group of four guards were roaming in a street, and one of them saw Edgar casually resting on top of a branch. “Hey, you!” he called out. “What are you doing up there?”
The tone of the voice and that rashness dwelling in it reminded Edgar of the watchers back in Shushui, and his gaze darkened. “Mind your own business.” He didn’t even look as he responded in a cold manner.
“You bastard! You’re dead now!” the four of them rounded the tree, but they couldn’t climb the tree. “How did this punk get up there?” After struggling, they gave up on that idea and then started throwing stones at him. Edgar unsheathed his blades and kept blocking the stones with ease, further angering the guards. “You mugger! Get down, and let us beat you!”
Edgar then assumed a squatting position on the branch, looking icily at the guards. “Why are you guys barking like dogs? You think that’ll scare me? Or are you afraid that you can’t convince others without raising your voice?”
“Shut up, you fool!” the guards barked. “There is a curfew going on. One shouldn’t roam outside between eight to five in the morning.”
“So?” Edgar suddenly disappeared from their sight, and his voice then came from their backs, “You are going to bark your way through the locals?” The back of his blades was touching two of their throats, sending chills down their spines, and they swallowed dry saliva. “Those in authority should be more modest, kind, and respectful so they’ll set a good example to the commoners. But if you act like a big shot and think you can do whatever you want, then you’ll only be ruling people through fear. Nobody will actually listen to you from their hearts. Nobody will change for good.” He pulled the blades back and sheathed them. “So stop treating people like you own them.” He started to walk away. “There’s nothing wrong with disciplining a fool who disrespects your kindness, but if you always force them to obey you from the get-go, then sooner or later, blood will be shed. I know you guys might have a lot going with your jobs and all, but it doesn’t hurt to be kind to start things off with strangers. Like they say, a little bit of good can go a long way.”
The four guards were sweating, and they didn’t dare to stop him anymore.
At that moment, an old beggar with dirty pale blonde hair and a bent back was passing by. She was so old that most of her bones and veins showed up on her shriveled skin. Seeing her, they went and politely bowed and respectfully said, “Madam, there is a curfew going on. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, I’ve just arrived in this town, so I’m not aware of that,” she said in a shaky, quivering voice, most of her being supported by the walking stick. “But if I can’t stay outside, where else can this old soul rest? This place and its people have long forgotten my scent.”
“Don’t worry, there’s an old age home nearby. Let me guide you there. Though it requires you to make an initial payment, I’m sure they’ll have an extra bed for one night.”
“That sounds great. Let’s visit that place then,” she said. “Guide me.”
One of the guards showed her the way, while the other three stayed back to resume their patrolling. And after the interaction with the old woman, they felt a strange warmth in their hearts. Normally, they would’ve scolded the old woman or would’ve ignored her altogether as it would’ve been too tiring to let their voices reach her ears, but now, they acted differently. And that didn’t feel bad. Of course, not every person would listen to a smooth-talk, but starting the conversation with a smooth-talk didn’t seem bad at all. After all, if that didn’t work out, then they could always use their canes.
Meanwhile, Edgar came back to the inn, but the main door was locked. He knocked on it a few times.
“The inn is closed. Go elsewhere!” the innkeeper’s voice came from the inside.
“Hoy, I’m living here in one of your rooms!” Edgar shouted. “Open the door!”
“What?’ the innkeeper came to the door and peeked through a hole. After seeing Edgar, he snickered silently. He walked away from the door again on his toes before speaking aloud, “I don’t care! We don’t open the doors till morning!”
“What?” Edgar was stunned. “You gotta be kidding me!”
“No, I’m not! Blame the Beast Tide if you want to blame, but don’t disturb my sleep!” The innkeeper then happily rested on his bed that he arranged right next to the counter.
“Tch,” after pondering for a bit, Edgar got an idea. He went around the building and stopped at a spot and looked up. The windows to his room were closed, but the windows, but the neighboring room’s windows weren’t. “Hehe.” He ran and climbed the wall pretty easily and grasped the windowsill and hung by the window. He did an easy pull-up and slipped through the window.
The room was pretty dark because only a small candle was lit near the bed, where a woman was rolling around, struggling to get to sleep.
He stealthily went over and picked up the candle.
Just then she opened her eyes, and seeing a ghostly face in the candle light, she screamed in horror. “Kyaaaa!”
“Aaah!” Edgar, too, got startled by her and screamed in response.
Their cries briefly woke up Fabby, who was in the next room. "What was that?"
At the crack of dawn, the poor women and children were going to bathe in the streams, and the shepherds led out cattle to graze in the fields.The jingling bells tied around the cows, buffaloes, and sheep brought Edgar out of his sleep and yawn from atop a tree branch. “Is it morning already?” he untied the rope around his waist, which was tied to the tree, so he wouldn’t fall during the sleep.The previous night, he got freaked out after entering another’s room and the lady there freaked the hell out. He ran out through the window he had entered. Afterward, he chose a tree in the backyard to sleep because the tree where he regularly practiced pull-ups was on the front-end of the inn, so there was the possibility of the guards bothering him again.Currently, the innkeeper’s wife was sin
Having worked in the fields, Edgar and Fabby knew exactly what they were getting themselves into, so they went in prepared. Wearing towels above their heads, full-sleeved shirts, and footwear, they came prepared to the job. The ragged clothes they wore gave off a strange smell because they applied perfume to it. The little perfume cost them three bronze coins. It was just too pricey, but they had no other choice, as they didn’t want to dirty their new clothes. And the perfume would last a few days, so it was worth it.As Fabby and Edgar wondered what kind of plants would grow in the heat of the late summer, they were taken to the buckwheat fields, which had mature seed crops grown in just eight weeks, waiting for them to harvest. They had never seen crops growing during such heat, so it was a mystery to them, until other workers told them that both earth and water were manipulated to fit the ne
About ten days later, on June 28th.In the morning, Edgar was near the counter, talking with the innkeeper. “We might extend our stay depending on how we do when the beast tide comes. So, can you keep our room reserved till then?”“I appreciate that you’re asking two days before your reserved limit reaches,” the innkeeper indifferently said, “but I’m afraid there are just too many customers that keep asking for rooms.” He then smiled cheesily.Edgar squeezed his lips. “So there’s nothing you can do?”The innkeeper shook his head and then smiled again. “But it should be okay. There are plenty of other places to stay in this town.”Edgar didn’t
Just what was this Beast Tide?Why do the beasts come out of the woods and attack the town in such numbers? This wasn’t something that started recently, but it was a phenomenon that happened in numerous places in the world at different times of the year. However, the end of summer always stood out compared to others.People began to call this battle between humans and beasts as the Burden War, which was more than just a struggle for survival, more than just shedding blood.Many people had different theories as to what led to this war.With the scarcity of water, the beasts got distressed over the summer, and by the end of it, they would break mentally and seek the nearby communities for water.Summer was the time when t
Edgar’s heartbeat raised as he witnessed the cruelty and the wickedness of war. This no longer seemed like a simple war between mankind and beastkind. A violent, lawless war it was shaping to be.Even though he was yet to raise his sword and put it to use, a strange burden was already weighing his heart down.But that didn’t stop him from unsheathing his blades and arriving at the eight-limbed bear. His blade deflected an avalanche of claw attacks from its eight limbs.“Flowing Blade Floating Flower Arts…” to the shock of those who were watching, he slipped past its numerous attacks and got to its side.The big bear violently swept its arm at him.He hopped over its fast-moving arm, and a blinding swift horizontal swing of the blade followed
The sun almost sank down the horizon.A five-meter-tall elephant threatened to kill a group of defeated people by stomping over them, but Ashang appeared out of nowhere and landed on its neck and punched in its head with his cupped hands a few times, and the elephant crumpled to its feet and bled from its ears and moved no longer.“E-Even our spears couldn’t pierce that elephant’s skin, but he defeated it with his bare hands!”“As expected of one of the Four Masters, the First Master, Ashang! Thank you for saving our lives!”People tried to thank him but he roared in rage. “Shut up, you fools! You would’ve died if not for my interference. Don’t try to take on beasts that are out of your league! You didn’t come h
A flock of over a hundred sheep poured into the town.“Those damned sheep…” Harley, the head of town guards, was watching the battle from the skies, and he didn’t like what he was seeing. A sparrow came from the side, but just as it got close enough, he shot it and blew its head off. “Let’s go, Keecha. We should lead those things to their graves.”His pet crow, Keecha, descended and flew over the houses. He warned the guards of the incoming threat with hand signals and also told them to guide the sheep in the path he showed.The guards then stood in the streets and blasted their pistols in unison and forced the sheep to change their direction. But even after the sheep were taken care of, the guards had to fight with other beasts such as mongoose, squirrels, rats, cats, snak
A rather small beast compared to the rest was giving a hard time to Edgar. It kept clawing him from every direction, while using other people and beasts’ bodies as springboards.“I can see it, but I can’t keep up with it,” Edgar frowned, for he could spot that one-meter-tall jackrabbit, but whenever he swung his blades, it somersaulted over the metallic weapons, or even sprang on top of those moving blades at times and dealt him deep cuts even though his body was shielded by Drive.It was evident that this jackrabbit got its eyes on him. It didn’t even have glowing eyes, yet it was so fast and nimble.After repeated failure, Edgar gave up on the idea of fighting it in his usual fashion as it didn’t feel like the time to compete with it. He used the ring and brought the crocodile&r