Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 309

The village was usually a great place to live. Each person treated their neighbor like family, and just like family most were very close to each other. That was why no one would ever want to be an outcast in the village. Everyone, and by that I mean everyone, would disregard an outcast. The thing about being surrounded by people who were as close as family members was, once you offended one of them, you offended them all.

“This is his house?” Arthur asked, very surprised to see the structure before him. In reality, the house he was looking at wasn’t bad at all. It even had a compound and was relatively large. It was a good place for any villager to live in – if they were common members of the village. But for a Predator, this wasn’t good enough.

First and foremost, the house was in a secluded part of the village, and almost bordered on its outskirts. Arthur had seen his master’s place before. In fact, he had gone to his master’s place several times to train. Plus whenever his master was away on missions, he was the one who tended to his master’s property and gardens. Frowning Tiger wasn’t the most powerful Tiger in the village, but his residence sure looked like it. It was a large house but not a story building because that was against the rules of the village. It had two huge gardens – an ornamental plants garden and a rock garden. It was well furnished and looked very neat and tidy. Plus it was located very close to the centre of the village. The only people who had better houses than the Tiger were the elders and Village Head Fan.

Secondly, the house they were standing in front of had several cracks in its walls. And the walls themselves looked very old and capable of falling apart any second now. It was very old in appearance, and definitely not befitting of a Predator.

Samoa furrowed his brows when he saw the state of Dan’s house. Village Head Fan said the elders didn’t like him, but from the looks of Dan’s residence dislike was an understatement of the emotion they felt for him. For them to place him in a dump like this showed how much they scorned him. Seeing the state of the house and its walls, Samoa started to feel that the elders were asking for much by even trying to keep him within their control when they had clearly been very unkind to Dan over the years. And the fact that Dan wasn’t even perturbed living here showed how much guilt he must have been feeling at the time.

“It is certainly not befitting of a man we want as our Guardian,” Village Head Fan furrowed his brows and turned to face one of the elders with a cold look. Over the years he had let their treatment of Dan slide because the man was a Cheetah and wasn’t under his command. But even he didn’t know that this was Dan’s place of residence. Even when the man was a Thrasher, he was living in far better conditions.

“We shall make sure that the place is cleaned and renovated,” Elder Light, the elder subjected to the sharp gaze of Village Head Fan calmly stated. He didn’t seem too perturbed by the cold look he received from Head Fan.

“A renovation? No, it isn’t good enough” Village Head Fan shook his head and stated blandly. His words caused Elder Light to finally look annoyed as the old man asked,

“Then what would you recommend, Head Fan?”

Village Head Fan ignored the sarcasm in Elder Light’s tone and replied, “A new residence.”

“You want to give him a new residence?” Elder Light gritted his teeth as rage filled his eyes.

His reaction surprised Samoa who thought that even if he didn’t like Dan, there was no need for him to express such a high degree of hate for the man. That was unless…

“He was the elder whose daughter died to save Sir Dan’s life,” Samoa thought. And judging by the silence of the other elders and their sympathetic looks, Samoa knew that there was a large chance that his thoughts were spot on.

“Yes,” Village Head Fan acted as if he couldn’t see the rage that filled Elder Light’s eyes. His response was just as casual as it could possibly be.

“After what he did?!” Elder Light screamed in rage.

“What did he do?” Village Head Fan turned calmly to face the elder he had known for years and asked.

“He…he…he…” Elder Light started, but that was all he could muster. No other words came out.

“That’s right. He did nothing. I don’t know what it feels like to lose one’s child. But I reckon it wouldn’t be a great experience.”

Village Head Fan’s words all but confirmed Samoa’s thoughts, and Arthur finally understood why Elder Light hated Dan so from his father’s words.

“But I remember how torn I was when I lost my wife. I looked for any means to draw my mind away from her death. I took on the most daunting of tasks, and killed as many Magical Beasts as I could find, almost as if they were responsible for her death.”

Arthur had a sad look on his face as he listened to his father recall the pain of losing his mother. Arthur was only 7 at the time, but he still remembered how broken his father became when his mother died. It wasn’t a memory he wanted to relive.

“I was so afraid of losing someone else close to me that I kept Arthur confined within the walls of this village. He was kept like a bird in a cage, not given any opportunities to extend his wings and soar.”

“I thought I was keeping him safe, but all I was doing was making myself feel better. You hate Dan and blame him for the death of your daughter. But was he the one who killed her? Or were the true culprits the Magical Beasts to whom both of them fell victim to”

Village Head Fan walked to Elder Light and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. The elder was shaking as he balled his fists. A few decades worth of emotional baggage was on his shoulders. But this wasn’t baggage he should be keeping.

“I imprisoned my son in a bid to make myself feel better. You did the same. You imprisoned someone who would have become your son if your daughter hadn’t died to make yourself feel better. You treated him poorly and vented on him to rid yourself of the pain you were feeling”

If Elder Light’s daughter was alive, she would have most likely married Dan because the two were already engaged. In fact, Elder Light had a good relationship with Dan before the incident. The two were very close, and anyone who saw them together would have thought that they were indeed father and son. But after her death, that love he had for Dan had turned into hate. That was how thin the lines between love and hate were – wafer thin.

“She died for him, Light. She died for him. And I know that if you were in her place, you would have done the same thing” Village Head Fan looked into Elder Light’s grief stricken eyes and said. Elder Light returned Head Fan’s gaze, his sorrowful eyes agreeing with his friend’s words. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he did consider Dan his son before the incident. And if it had been him with Dan when the beasts attacked, and not his daughter, he would have made the same decision.

Finally he sighed and nodded his head.

Village Head Fan nodded his head with a smile and patted his friend’s back. Then he took the lead and walked into Dan’s residence. The gate had long been torn off, so there was no need to knock.

“I was wondering when you would come in,” at the far end of the compound stood a handsome dark skinned man. Wearing only a small shorts and nothing else, he stood gallantly, like a fortress that had never fallen under its enemy’s siege. Dan’s gaze flitted past the people who had just arrived, his gaze lingering on Elder Light’s figure longest as a complicated expression flashed past his eyes.

“On behalf of everyone in the village whose life you saved, I would like to officially offer my thanks as the Village Head.”

Village Head Fan bowed slightly as he spoke. Arthur who was right next to him bowed as well, and went even further down than his father. For not only had Dan saved his life, he had rescued his master’s from the hands of the underworld too. Samoa bowed as well, and the reluctant elders also bowed. But when Elder Light tried to bow, he found that he was unable to. He commanded his body to bow, yet as though restrained by a strange force, his body refused to listen to him.

Stunned, he lifted his head, the only part of his body that listened to him and looked at Dan.

“I don’t deserve your bow Sir” Dan shook his head with a bitter smile. Looking at Dan’s expression, Elder Light felt a jolt in his heart. Although Dan was older now, he could still see the image of young man he loved when he looked at the clearly older Dan. He couldn’t help but ask himself whether he really hated the man like he said he did, or he was just running away.

“I will protect the village from any threats that would be beyond you” Dan stated calmly.

“How did you know?” Arthur blurted out. The others were just as surprised as the young man was. They had only discussed their decision amongst themselves, so how did Dan know? Unless there was someone amongst them who had already informed him.

“I see you got my message,” Village Head Fan stated, and settled the hearts of the elders who thought that one of their own had sold them out. Village Head Fan was no fool. He wanted Dan to be aware of everything so that they didn’t get on his bad side.

“I did. But I won’t be your lackey.” Dan added.

His words caused the faces of several of the elders to turn unsightly. They knew exactly what Dan was saying. He was essentially telling them that he would only protect their village, but wouldn’t go on any of their errands or missions. Basically, he was telling them that no one could control him in this village.

“And only the renovations would do. I don’t need a new residence. I quite like this place you know.” Dan stated, and the elders were stunned once more. If Village Head Fan was the one who told Dan about the plan of making him the Village Guardian, then no one told him this. They had literally just discussed the issue outside. So there was no way anyone would have been able to tip Dan off beforehand.

“You were quite loud,” Dan pointed to the area outside his house and explained.

“Even if you don’t want to move, you owe the village too much to blatantly say that you wouldn’t contribute anything,” Elder Bright stated. How could he and the elders be happy hearing that a powerful weapon wasn’t going to be under their control?

“Stand down Bright,” Village Head Fan ordered.

“Village Head Fan mustn’t stand up for this person who doesn’t know how to return the graces offered him in the past,” Elder Bright insulted.

“Did you not hear me,” Village Head Fan stated as his voice turned chilly. “Or have you forgotten who I am?”

Looking into Village Head Fan’s eyes, Elder Bright felt a chill go down his spine. Years of speaking to Village Head Fan in a setting of equals had caused him to grow forgetful. But seeing the cold eyes that stared into his soul and held his breathing captive, Elder Bright was reminded of whom it was he was speaking to.

Caliburn. A powerful man who had led the village for years and had proven today that he wasn’t any weaker than he was in his prime. This was a man who could easily squish him to death, and no one would say a word. He dared not antagonize this man.

“I haven’t forgotten what the village has done for me. But you also shouldn’t forget what I have done for the village. Even my contributions from before are more than enough to repay the good graces of the village. I owe you lot nothing. There is only one person amongst you who is qualified to ask anything of me” Dan stated with a smile. But none of the elders felt any warmth from his jovial expression. It was a chill that met their greed and froze it to stone.

“And it isn’t you,” Dan turned to gaze at Elder Bright, and the man started trembling all over. He had never been on a battlefield before, but he knew what that gaze meant.

“I have tolerated you for years,” Dan’s gaze said. “One more word and I would kill you!”

Looking at him for a few more seconds, Dan withdrew his gaze and said, “On behalf of Rash Tiger you would live to see another day.”

Dan wasn’t in a good mood. Blistering Cheetah had just told him some things that he was still struggling to process, and yet there were clowns who took themselves too highly disturbing his peace of mind. In his volatile mood, he was capable of killing any of them for any slight offense. They were lucky that he still retained a shred of his reasoning or he would have vented his frustrations on them.

“He seems upset,” Samoa and Village Head Fan picked up on that. They could see that there was something that was troubling Dan, and that staying any longer would be detrimental.

“Well, we wouldn’t waste any more of your time then,” Village Head Fan nodded and proceeded to leave.

“I would be leaving the village on a trip. Don’t know when I would return. Thought I should let you know.” Dan suddenly stated before they left. Village Head Fan was smart. He knew instantly that Dan wasn’t talking to him. So he held Arthur by the arm and left without a word. When the elders saw his actions, they immediately realised what was going on and left speedily as well. As for Samoa, he left even right after Village Head Fan.

There was only one man who remained from the large entourage that had arrived here. Elder Light looked at Dan with a complicated gaze and said,

“Come back”

Dan smiled brightly after hearing the man’s words. He burst into laughter as tears streamed down his face and replied.

“Yes Sir.”