Chapter 312: Chopped
As the group walked further, the people who seemed to be going about with their normal life paused and stared at them.
For some reason, Vritra found it all quite strange, like he was in some sort of a horror movie that was in the beginning phase.
After arriving at the entrance, the blonde guy turned around, then he looked at the others and spoke:
"Alright guys, I will show our guests inside, you don’t want to get scolded by Chief Chopper for crowding the place, right?"
The others grumbled while giving sideways looks to the eye-catching couple, and finally almost all of them walked away, leaving only the blonde guy and the girl with short hair.
"Ah, in the excitement of meeting you, we even skipped over the introductions."
The blonde guy said, tapping on his head, then he looked at Yennefer and spoke while extending his right hand: "I am Mark, may I know your names?"
"..." But the empress acted as if she hadn’t heard anything, standing beside Vritra and observing the surroundings.
"Hello, I am Ben Tennyson. And well, nice to meet you." Vritra said as he shook hands with the blonde guy, who had an awkward smile on his face.
"Hello Ben, I am Lisa, it’s always a pleasure meeting handsome guys." She smiled and extended her own hand before asking: "Are you two...?"
Vritra was about to speak when Yennefer interfered: "Yes, we are married, now can you bring us to this chief of yours?"
’What’s gotten into her all of a sudden? Sigh wifey, when are you waking up? I can’t understand this woman at all.’ Vritra sighed, wondering if she really started liking him or something.
"Oh alright, haha, let’s head inside." Mark said, sensing the tension in the air.
The group of four headed into the town hall.
As the wooden door was pushed open and they walked a little into the small building, the sound of screams came out from inside.
"Don’t mind that, handsome, not all people who come to this place are as peaceful as you two."
Lisa said, chuckling upon seeing the look of curiosity on Vritra’s face.
’Haa, he looks so good and innocent, I bet he hates violence, just look at those eyes... thank you god for sending him here.’ She thought while secretly glancing at him.
After arriving inside, Mark opened the door to a room and spoke:
"Hello chief, it seems you are going quite hard at your interrogation. Like I said, just let me handle those guys, I will make them speak in less than a day."
"Mark, how come you are already back, don’t tell me—" The voice of a man sounded from inside the room, and just from the heavy voice the man seemed to be a giant.
"Yes, we have gotten new guests, meet Ben and uh... his wife." Mark introduced as the group finally walked inside.
There were four men tied to the chairs in red clothes, their bodies bruised and battered, and they barely seemed conscious.
Beside them stood a man with nearly seven feet height, tools of torture in hand and wearing clothes dirty with blood.
’Oh that’s the Chief? No wonder people decided to follow him even in such a place.’
Vritra and Yennefer had the same thought. In a place with no mana or skills, he would definitely be the strongest.
"And this is our town chief, Chopper S. Riles." Mark added, pointing not at the giant man but somewhere behind him.
"Duffus, move out of the way, you are blocking me." The same heavy voice came from behind the giant, surprising Vritra and Yennefer.
"Oh haha, sorry chief." The giant called Duffus laughed dumbly before stepping aside as a man a bit over four feet in height walked out.
"That... is the chief?" Vritra asked in a surprised tone.
"Haha yes, that’s all of the chief. Oh, and don’t mind his height, since he is wearing high heels he might look a bit too tall." Lisa laughed at the expected reaction.
"Uhm... Hello Chief Chopped— I mean, Chief Chopper, I am Ben." Vritra said with a nod.
"Hmph, how rude Lisa, I am not wearing any heels right now. Anyway, welcome to the Abandoned Town. Since this is your first day here, there is a lot you need to know."
Even with his small height, the chief had a strong presence, his body was quite well-built and he seemed to be in his late forties.
’His name sounds a bit familiar...’ Yennefer thought, but she barely knew anything about the Topaz continent.
Gazing at the two, he asked further: "And who is she?"
"She is Yenni, my wife." Vritra replied, making the empress’s heart skip a beat hearing that cute nickname.
"Oh right, I forgot to introduce the guests that arrived here before you two.
This bunch of small dicks are from the BBC, and well, they were acting quite violent before, so now they are receiving their fix. Sigh, naming themselves BBC and having such small members." Mark spoke.
"Heh, you speak as if you have checked—" Vritra joked.
"Yes I did check it personally, you see I am into men, so if you want we do a comparing compet—"
Before Mark could finish, Vritra stepped to the other side of Yennefer and replied: "Don’t you dare even think, my wife here will beat your ass."
"Cough... So Ben and Yenni, let me introduce myself. I am Chopper S. Riles, the king of the White Kingdom."
Chopper spoke, then paused to see the slightly surprised expression of the two before continuing: "First of all, let me ask, how did you end up here? And what you used to do outside?"
"We were travelling together towards the White Kingdom, and all of a sudden it felt like we were swallowed by darkness.
Then we found ourselves in a train. And as you can see, I am a member of the Golden Moon." Vritra replied while pointing to his badge.
"Oh, so you are an agent. Well, I welcome you to this town. It is good that nice people came this time, otherwise only these bastards dressed in red have been arriving here lately."
Chopper said while pointing to the men in red.
"So what exactly is this place?" Yennefer spoke. She didn’t like being powerless one bit.
"All of us are trapped here. I arrived more than a month ago. There is little we know about this place, but our strength and skills are useless here.
All of us arrived the same way as you, and we haven’t been able to find a way out.
This place is too mysterious, and going into the forest to look for an exit is too dangerous." Chopper explained with a long sigh, then he added:
"There are a couple of rules that everyone must follow here, like not hurting or disturbing others, and do not leave the house after it gets dark."
"Why?" Vritra asked curiously.
"There are things here that come out at night, and if you meet one, you will die in a really, really miserable way."
Chopper said in a solemn tone, before continuing: "In just a month or so, I have already seen enough deaths, so I would be happy if you could survive here."
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Thanks for reading...