Chapter 69: Do You Refuse Too?
Ren and the others turned their heads toward the source of the sound.
"Stop! Please, no more fighting!" Bernard rushed toward Ren and Axel with an anxious expression.
"This is..." The villagers were stunned when they saw the condition of the house.
Sure, it was still standing, but it was not livable anymore. Half of the roof had been destroyed, and the floor was filled with holes.
Even the rambutan tree in the front yard was not safe from their fight.
Anyone who saw the house would immediately know how crazy their battle was since almost everything was destroyed.
"Why are you fighting again? Is it because of yesterday’s events?" Bernard tried to calm them down.
"We were not the ones who started it. It was them!" Axel pointed his right index finger at Ren and his group.
"That’s right!" Rian added. "They attacked us out of the blue. Look at our friend! He is injured quite badly."
"Us? It was you, not us!" Lily would not let Axel and his group slander them.
"What happened? Why did you attack them?" Bernard wanted to hear Ren’s side of the story first.
"They trapped Zara and almost killed her." Ren began to explain what had happened to Virelia.
"Lies!" Luka didn’t admit it. "Where is the proof that it was our doing? Don’t accuse us without any evidence!"
"Yeah!" Jax backed Luka up. "Anyone can make up stories, but without proof, it’s just nonsense."
Ren turned to the villagers and said, "Tomas, Milo, come here and tell them everything."
One by one, they shifted their gaze to Tomas and Milo.
At this moment, Axel and his group felt uneasy, especially Jax. After all, he was the one who met them.
’You didn’t make a single mistake, right?’
Axel asked Jax through his gaze.
Jax shook his head slightly.
"Tomas, Milo, what exactly happened?" Bernard asked.
"Someone pretended to be Ren and met us this morning," Tomas replied. "He told us to pass a message to Zara, saying Ren would be waiting for her by the river. It turned out to be a trap to kill her using the magical beasts’ strength."
"We didn’t know it wasn’t the real Ren at first," Milo explained to avoid misunderstanding. "We only found out when we saw Ren near their guest house."
"Yeah," Tomas nodded. "His appearance and voice are the same as Ren’s. It was like he used magic or an artifact to become Ren."
"Village head, you now understand our actions, right?" Ren believed that was a strong reason to suspect Axel and his lackeys.
"Village Chief, they are the only awakeners besides us. If it’s not them, then who else?" Lily was sure that their suspicions about them were not wrong.
"Just because we are the only awakeners besides your group, then you suspect us as you please? Did your tiny brain forget that anyone can buy an artifact online?" Axel insulted her.
"Where do you think we are? There is no signal here and do you think artifacts are cheap? Even my tiny brain can understand that. Did your big brain stop working, or were you always this dumb?" Lily shot back.
"Lily, how can you expect anything from someone like him? His brain is only for decoration, so that is too much for him to understand." David joined in mocking Axel.
"You!" Axel gritted his teeth in anger.
"You what?! Do you want me to punch your face again?" David raised his fist.
"Do you think I’m afraid of you?" Rage flowed through Axel like lava since someone like David dared to look down on him.
"Great! Then, I will hit your ugly face again!" Just as David was about to attack Axel, he was stopped by the villagers.
"David, please stop. Don’t fight anymore." They pulled David and Axel away from each other.
"So, do you still think we are the wrong ones, village head?" Ren asked.
Bernard didn’t answer immediately.
Actually, their reason made sense, but it was not wise to blame Axel and his group since they still didn’t have any real evidence.
"How about we stop here for now? I will help you investigate this case later." Bernard decided to mediate and calm them down first.
"No!" Luka refused instantly. "They have injured Vito. We won’t stop until they suffer the same as Vito did."
"That’s right! We don’t want to stop!" Lily had the same thought. "We are still not satisfied. They need more beating for their actions."
"I agree!" David supported Lily’s decision. "Zara could have lost her life if Ren hadn’t saved her. They deserve more beating!"
Bernard’s expression turned panicked when he saw their burning anger.
’What should I do now?’
He forced his mind to think of the solution, but could not come up with one.
Coincidentally, Julia came with five young people.
These people were the only awakeners they had in their village. Their names were Edwin, Gilbert, Victor, Mira, and Clara.
Bernard turned his head when he noticed them.
’Thank God!’
He let out a sigh of relief as the solution to stop Ren and the others from fighting again appeared.
"Village Chief, I’ve come with our awakeners." Julia greeted him.
"We are back, Village Head." Edwin and his friends said in unison.
’Are they from the Pillar Organizations?’
They looked at Ren and the others.
’But what’s going on here? Why is this place destroyed?’
Several questions popped up in their minds, but they kept it to themselves.
"Village Chief, we’ve finished our investigation," Clara said.
Bernard nodded before shifting his gaze. "Honored guests, can we go to my house and discuss our plan to eliminate the magical creatures?"
"What about our friend?" Jax yelled angrily. "Do you want us to just forget what they did?"
Mira and her friends were enraged with the way Jax treated Bernard.
But even so, none of them said a word.
They knew how powerful the members of the Pillar Organizations were because, in the past, they had tried to take the test and failed.
"That’s not it." Bernard shook his head and replied calmly. "We can think of a solution together later."
"I don’t want to!" Rian refused instantly. "You must decide their punishment first. Only then will we agree to discuss the monster subjugation plan with you."
Bernard almost lost control of himself when he heard his response. "Honored guests, isn’t the purpose of your arrival to complete the quest you have taken? Why do you refuse to discuss a plan with us now?"
"What is the meaning of this, old man? Are you questioning our decision?" Axel’s voice was filled with rage.
Bernard clenched his fist and suppressed his anger.
"What about you? Do you refuse too?" Bernard asked Ren and his group.
Lily, David, and Elara moved closer to Ren.
They would let him decide it.
"No. We agree." Even though flames of anger still burned within him, Ren didn’t forget their original goal.
And it was also related to the reputation of their organization, so he was willing to put their revenge aside for now.
Bernard was relieved. "Then, let’s head to my house now."
Ren and his group nodded.
While they were leaving together, Rian turned to Axel.
"What should we do now, Axel?" Rian asked.
