388 Half Empty Village (1/2)

It took Zero and Truen ten days to finally reach Half Moon Village. While the walls were huge and still in construction, Zero could already sense the difference from outside. The village was a lot quieter than he remembered it to be. There were also lesser people on his minimap, indicating that it was half-empty.

Worried, he proceeded with caution. Truen also sensed the difference in the atmosphere. Usually, it would be bustling with activity and other times, it was festive. The village was constantly finding an excuse to celebrate something. Then again, Zenobia mentioned that many villagers had to be at different places so the ones who remained weren't many.

Zero entered the village's main square and saw that nobody was really around until he heard something swishing through the air heading for him at an extremely fast pace. Truen reacted faster than Zero and the archer threw up an arcane shield to deflect the arrow. There was no bloodlust but the hostile message was loud and clear.

”State your business and identity. Half Moon Village doesn't welcome strangers. Even if you are a friend of Zero's, we do not entertain guests that Zero didn't inform us about. The chieftess is not here, please bring your guest back another time.”

Zero grinned from under his hood. Crudgel was good with his arrow but his hostility was misplaced. The doctor removed his hood and beamed at the centaur.

”Hi, Crudgel! How has everyone been? The village is rather empty today, is everything alright?”

The centaur was slightly taken aback when the elven maiden called him by his name. He didn't know who she was. Could Truen be a traitor and shared their identities with her? Who was she?

Zero paused when Crudgel's frown became deeper and his glare more intense. Truen cleared his throat and reminded his friend that he was still in his healer vessel. Zero made a tiny oopsie action then went to his control panel to change it back to his default vessel. The long brown hair tied up in a ponytail at his nape and familiar brown eyes made the centaur's jaw drop.

”Z-Zero?”

The doctor grinned and gave him a victory sign. ”I learned how to use the transformation skill. How is this? Do I look better now?”

Crudgel couldn't speak and Truen rolled his eyes as Zero wandered off to meet everyone else. The wood elf simply tied the sand walkers near the entrance of the village and went to search for vegetables that he could feed them with. Zoe should be in the kitchen and he wanted to spoil the beasts a little before they had to carry them through the desert in a few weeks.

Zero became sidetracked when Crudgel gave Zero a report about everybody's situation. The village leader listened carefully to the report but was distracted by the gaudy decorations all over the village.