ᴇᴜᴘʜᴏʀɪᴀ •• ғᴀɪʀʏ ᴛᴀɪʟ¹ ✓

126

A few days later, the group finally made their arrival at Magnolia only to shockingly find it being rampaged by a skeletal Dragon. The Dragon belonged to Blue Skull and the town was wasting away. They went to a forest nearby to pinpoint their base as they may have other hideouts besides Kardia Cathedral. Getting info was their first order of business. Blaire breathed in the fresh woody scent, feeling calm and ease washed her soul-drowning in the morning air.

She walked with Mavis and Zera ahead and some rustling sound caught her ears. It's a just a regular little bird and the older girl raised her hand to wave at it. That place had an abundance of nature and she liked it. Small animals were running around and somehow her feet suddenly dragged her to an opened place. There's a big puddle,said Yuri which was a lake under the sunlight and it's such a wonderful spot with the air blew gently.

The trees were picturesque and the lake had an air of mystery. Just looking at it made them felt peaceful. Blaire sensed something special there and it seemed the light blonde girl thought the same as well. "Well, now that you mention it, I do feel kind of refreshed. Why don't we make a vacation home here?" Yuri grinned hugely and everyone nodded, agreeing with him. Blaire stared at the cliff and suddenly, an image of some building appeared in her head.

Home.

She saw a place where she could be herself.

"Help!"

The group snapped out of it and went after the voice, only to see a woman with a little girl were running away from three men. They hid behind a tree and Blaire recognized the emblem on those men as Blue Skull. "If you want someone as target practice for your magic, let it be me. But please, leave my child alone!" A man was about to attack the woman but a huge eagle growled at them and chased after them.

Blaire ran to the victims and asked if they were alright. They backed away in fright and the girl put her hands up to prove her innocence. Mavis told them that the eagle was only an illusion, introducing herself. "You saved us. Thank you." The woman bowed slightly and Yuri asked her about Blue Skull. She then said it's better for them to talk somewhere else before those men came back.

She brought the group to her house and Blaire raised an eyebrow at the old bakery. Her house used to be a thriving shop and there were once a lot of travelers coming and going and many shops all in a row. Plenty of people from other towns would gather there for the annual harvest festival. And Blue Skull just destroyed it-one day they just suddenly appeared, against a gang of wizards who attacked with magic, ordinary people like them had no way to defend themselves.

The town was overtaken in no time. Before long, they seized distribution of food and medicine, imposed heavy tax liabilities and every time people got behind with those impossible payments, they punished them with violence. And if someone showed them even a glimmer of a rebellious attitude, they'd make an example of them. They murdered her husband. Blaire stared at a picture of the family and Miko, the little girl told them that her father made that bread-in the picture-for her birthday.

"It's very cute."

"It's not only cute, but also really yummy! He always made all kinds of bread as presents for my birthday. In the shape of forest animals and tree leaves." Miko told them happily then talked about her was going to make bread as a present for her father's next birthday but he was gone. The membership of Blue Skull increased day by day and had became a huge guild that had an iron grip on everything. The woman suggested them to leave the town as soon as possible.

The crew only nodded at her words and headed back before Miko called after them to wait up. "Thank you for saving us. I baked these myself." The child gave Blaire some breads, shaped like animals. The beauty smiled softly and thanked her for the lovely presents-showing it to Mavis who was having stars in her eyes. As they were walking in the town, Blaire wondered to herself. She had to save the town. She couldn't just let people there suffered forever.