In your heart shall burn- Male Reader x Yang Xiao Long (Vol. 5)

Prologue- The long road

No ones pov

Mistral, a usually quiet place when you're nowhere near the capital. That doesn't mean it would be a safe place, of course, many villages live in constant fear of being attacked by either Grimm or local bandits. The sun was starting to set, covering the land with a warm colour. Moving down a small dirt road, we reach a village, townspeople are seen wandering the streets back and forth while talking amongst each other. 

Male villager 1: Man, I can't wait to come home to my wife's home cooking. She said she's making something extra special tonight.

Male villager 2: Lucky you, my wife rarely cooks. 

Female villager: (stern) Maybe it's because you always say her cooking is terrible whenever she does try to cook you something.

Male village 2: (defensive) Well excuuuse me for worrying about my health. How about you come over for dinner someday and try eating rock-hard bread and watery soup?

the two villagers glare at each other as they walk across town. Suddenly, they come to a stop as they hear footsteps come running down the road towards town. 

Older male villager: (panicked) Bandits! Bandits down the road!!

The older male villager suddenly lets out a gasp as he falls over, the loud crack of a shot being fired soon echoing through the forest. One of the villagers walks over and looks down the road, widening his eyes at the sight of a party of bandits running down the road.

Male villager 1: (yelling) Everyone! Get into positions! Hide the kids and get ready to fight!

Younger female villager: (scared) What are we supposed to do?! We have no huntsman stationed here!

The villager starts to panic, some running towards their homes in fear while others gather whatever they can use to protect themselves. It didn't take long for the bandits to soon reach the village, some of them wearing the Branwen tribe tattoo while others seemed to have different bandit clan tattoos marking over their bodies.

Branwen Bandit: Burn this shit hole to the ground! Take whatever of value you can find.

One of the villagers let out a cry as he rushes the Branwen bandit with a makeshift spear. The bandit smirks and easily evades the attack, plunging his sword straight through the villager's chest.

Branwen Bandit: (grinning) And make sure to make them all suffer.

The bandits laugh in glee over being allowed to hurt the villagers, pulling out their weapons as they start their raid on the village, the sound of screams in terror are heard from buildings as the bandits start trying to break their way through the doors. Two bandits make their way to the larger house places in the back of the village, the doorway is decorated with two giant Goliath tusks. The larger of the two bandits slams his hammer into the door, making let out a cracking sound, but as he goes to go for another swing, the door is suddenly kicked from the inside, sending the door flying straight into the larger bandit while the other one looks in surprise.

Bandit 1: Wha- what the hell!?

The bandit goes to draw his weapon from his hip, only to see a large club come swinging towards him, slamming him straight into the wall with a hard smack. A large burly man with a long black beard and short black hair steps out of the doorway, his outfit mainly consists of a pair of baggy pants held up by a black belt, scars are seen covering most of his upper body, a clear sign that he's seen his fair share of battles. The pack of bandits turn at the sudden appearance of the man, clearly shocked at his large stature.

Bandit 2: (panicked) I thought you said they had no huntsman here!?

Bandits 3: I thought they didn't!