Juliet POV
I threw one of the shuriken right at the middle of the target.
“Yes! My first bull’s eye!”
I keep throwing them but none of them ever hit the middle again.
“Damnit! What should I do, old man?”
“It’s all in the wrist. You gotta know how to twist it on the right time when you throw it.”
“I’m not asking about the shuriken! I’m talking about Lucina!”
“How am I supposed to know that? You just came here and started throwing.”
“Wait. I didn’t tell you?”
“No. You just ran in here then started throwing.”
“Oh, sorry. I just had a lot in my mind.”
“Yeah, yeah. So, something bothering you about the kid?”
“Lucina’s been sulking. She almost burned the house down.”
“That bad? Did she find out?”
“Find out about what?”
“The thing with her parents.”
“Yeah. She did.”
The old man sighs.
“Poor kid. I never told her what happened.”
“Well, I think she already knows. She just never knew who did it.”
“No one did. A group of soldiers arrived here on that day.”
“Why are you suddenly talking like that? Are you getting senile?”
“I’m trying to tell you the story. Shut up and listen.”
“Kay.”
I stop throwing and take a seat.
“There wasn’t anything special on that day when soldiers suddenly arrived in our little town. They demanded that we hand over the genius child.”
“Genius child?”
“Yeah. At this time, her father was really proud of her. He kept boasting about it. We didn’t really have a reason to doubt so everyone was happy for him. We don’t really know how but some noble that was looking for gifted users of magic heard about it. That was the explanation we had at the time.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. We were proud but even back then, most of our folks weren’t really keen on outsiders. Also, her father wasn’t really present so most of the people here pretended to not know. Little did we know, they weren’t here peacefully.”
The old man stops for a bit and breathes. I wait for him to continue.
“After that, they forcefully seized all of the children and tested them. Any child that showed magic potential was taken. Her parent’s realized it early and ran away. In the end, both of them were killed and the kid disappeared.”
“How did you know?”
“Those soldiers asked us about them. We answered them truthfully but they didn’t believe us when we said we didn’t know where she was. So, a few of us were made as examples.”
“You never tried to figure out who it was?”
“No. We are weak villagers. We all decided to leave it alone and live our lives here. Most of the survivors left this place. Some to find their children and some to run away. The only ones left here are those too stubborn to leave. No one else likes to talk to outsiders. They keep to themselves and reject anyone. I’m the only one who interacts with people outside.”
“Why not leave, old man?”
“I was good friends with her parents. If she survived, I knew she was going to return here. That’s why I stayed. I made sure that she still has somewhere to return to.”
“GET OUT!”
While listening to the old man, we heard a commotion outside. I looked at the old man and both of us left his place. There was a crowd of people around the plaza. I can’t really see what’s going on. I tried jumping but I couldn’t get a clear view.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
The old man was the first to call out. One of the elders ran up to him and looked at me.
“Why is she still here? She was with the cur-“
“What is going on?”
The old man didn’t let him finish and cut him off.
“Right. These two came here from a carriage.”
“What kind of carriage?”
“We don’t know. It didn’t have anything else on it. It was blank.”
“Then?”
“We saw a maid push them out, throw their things on the ground and then leave.”
“So, why is this happening?”
“Its probably those people again We don’t get carriages here. That means that’s a noble’s carriage. We can’t let it happen again! Cast them out!”
The elder shouts at the old man. He holds his head.
“CALM DOWN! I’LL HANDLE THIS! ALL OF YOU GO HOME!”
As the old man shouts, most of them become quiet. Some still try to argue but he shuts all of them down. Eventually all of them leave and only us and whoever they are were left. Looking at them, they seem to be a mother and daughter. For some reason, they seem familiar but I can’t quite put a finger to it. Both of them were hugging each other and shaking.
“Please calm down, miss. Can you tell me your name?”
“C-can’t.”
The older woman answers while shaking. The old man asks a few questions but none of them were answered properly.
“What do we do?”
“What’s the problem?”
“Well, if a noble did throw them here. That means that they have been cast aside. The weird thing is why would they be alive? Sure, some nobles may just throw them out but there’s no reason to use a carriage to do it. This is a problem in many ways.”
“What’s the plan now, old man?”
“That is a good question. Let me guess, you cannot share any info about where you were.”
The older woman nods.
“I thought as much. They are being kept alive as long as they keep silent. Is another condition that you do not leave this place?”
She nods again.
“Damn. This is a problem. Everyone other than me will not help them. My place ain’t good either since I don’t have enough room.”
As both of us were having an issue. I hear a voice behind me.
“They can stay in my house.”
I turn around and see my broody best friend standing there.
