Drakengard Anomaly: The Tale of an Angel and an Intoner

Chapter 13 - To the Land of Forests

It was a busy day in the small village of Generisches Dorf; its inhabitants went about their day-to-day. Soon noon arrived and everyone went to his or her homes or to the tavern, to have lunch.

A person wearing strange clothes and with a backpack walked among the men and women in the streets, with his head down, hands in his coat pocket, and a hood covering his head.

The person received suspicious looks from the people around him, after all, he was a strange figure in the small village, but the person did not pay attention to it and just walked towards the tavern.

The sounds of conversation soon stopped when he opened the tavern door, all the men and women stopped talking and watched the stranger.

The stranger walked around the tavern, ignoring the stares sent at him, and sat down at a table in a dark corner with his back to the wall, but with a view to the tavern door.

The stranger placed his backpack on the floor next to his chair, and put both hands on the table with intertwined fingers and with his head down, the stranger then waited.

"Hello, good day! What will you have today?" A woman, a server at the tavern, asked politely the stranger.

"A bowl of soup, please." The stranger replied emotionlessly without raising his head.

"Leave it to me; your soup will be ready in a few minutes." The server replied before walking away.

After that interaction, the gazes of the tavern regulars left the stranger and everyone went back to their usual conversations. A few minutes later, the server returned with the stranger's soup.

"Here is it, a nice meal to you!"

"Thank you." The stranger replied.

As the server walked away, the stranger stirred his soup with the spoon, lifting his head slightly; the stranger removed the spoon from the bowl and brought the steaming soupspoon to his mouth, blowing it lightly.

However, before the stranger could eat his soup, someone kicked the tavern's doors, almost knocking it off its hinges.

It was a group of guards wearing leather armor with metal plates, there were five in total, and a better-equipped one led the group.

Everyone looked away, trying to look as small as possible while the leader of the group approached the counter of the tavern, sat down on a stool, and without saying anything, knocked on the counter.

The man on the other side of the counter, presumably the tavern owner, nervously handed a mug of ale to the leader of the group; the leader sipped it, looked around at the startled people in the tavern, and spoke.

"Wow, what silence! I wonder where all that excitement from before went. Well, it doesn't matter at the moment." The leader said with joyfully, and then he got up and walked around the tavern.

"I think you all must be wondering why my friends and I are here. Well, gentlemen, our dear Lords need your cooperation, starting today there will be an increase in taxes."

The eyes of everyone in the tavern widened and their mouths fell open, but no one dared to speak.

"I know; worrying news, but understand this is for your protection, with your tax money the Lords will be able to invest in your safety. Just imagine, more well-equipped guards walking the streets and protecting your homes and families from monsters and criminals!"

"You mean protection against you, that is!" One of the tavern customers exclaimed angrily and this encouraged the other customers.

"That's right! We already pay enough taxes!"