We arrived at the Flower Harpy village, but it was deserted and had a strange atmosphere.
At Philiana’s word, we were allowed to stay in an empty house. It was nice to be able to sleep in a bed, but I didn’t know if I could be happy about it, as we didn’t know when those Hunter Harpies would show up.
“……Haa, so? What are you going to do? You’re not going to say you’ll help, are you?”
Cecilia sat down on the bed, crossed her arms, and glares at Philiana.
“No, that’s not what I mean. Instead, I plan to do something I can do in return for your hospitality.”
“Oh, whatever. Do as you please then.”
With that said, Cecilia left the room.
For the time being, we decided to ask the man from before what was happening. When we left the house, he was outside tidying up his tools.
“Excuse me, if it’s not too much trouble, could you tell us what’s going on?”
“If there’s anything we can do to help, please tell us.”
The man slowly turned to us at our voices.
“Ah, yes. In that case, please follow me.”
The man then led us to the basement of his house.
There, in the dim light, several girls were huddled together. They all had tired faces.
“The whole village is like this. Everyone is hiding their daughters. Those over there are neighborhood children. Even so, I’m the village chief, so I know I have to do something… but look at this mess.”
Judging from the atmosphere of the village, it seemed like there was no one accustomed to fighting. That’s why they had no choice but to hide.
Then, an older woman emerged from the back. She appeared to be the village chief’s wife.
“Oh, guests. I’m so sorry about our current situation. But are you alright? Especially you.”
She said, looking at Piyo. The one addressed was blankly staring.
“You need to be careful too. You’re an outsider. They don’t care about that.”
“Outsider? Piyo, you’re a Flower Harpy?”
“Eh? Piyo is a Flower Harpy?”
The person being warned was the most surprised. Indeed, the Harpies in this village had beautiful colored feathers, just like Piyo and her family.
The girls who had been looking gloomy giggled at Piyo’s dazed expression.
“Could you please tell us more about those Hunter Harpies?”
At Philiana’s words, the couple’s faces stiffened.
“We had a good relationship with them. Our village has many farmers, so we sold vegetables, and they often bought meat from us. Sometimes they even came to sell things. But things became strange after the leader changed. They stole our village’s daughters as hostages, almost through threats.”
“All we can do now is hide like this. It’s pathetic, truly pathetic, and I’m so sorry…”
The wife choked back tears and began to cry.
“The village chief’s child was taken hostage,” one of the hiding girls mumbled.
