The old villagers stared curiously at Zeke before whispering to one another because they could all tell that the man did not belong to Lewis Village.
“Whose relative is that young man? Why did he come?”
“I basically know everyone's relatives, but I've never seen him before. He's probably not here for his family.”
“Huh? If he's not looking for his family, why is he here? Could he be a thief?”
“I guess so. Why else would he come here?”
“Tell the others to guard the granary lest the thief steals from us.”
Zeke was amused when he noticed how narrow-minded the villagers were. Not even a thief would be interested in what little grain they have.
At the same time, the man felt guilty to see such a miserable village in Eurasia. The state of the place was due to his negligence.
Eventually, Zeke found a somewhat amicable elderly to talk to.
“Good morning, mister,” greeted Zeke before handing the villager a cigarette.
After glancing indifferently at Zeke, the old man accepted the offer. “Yeah?”
“Would you happen to know where Yannick and Yoshua live?” inquired Zeke.
In response, the old villager shook his head. “Why are you looking for them? Who are you to them?” questioned the elderly man suspiciously.
Zeke thought for a moment before replying, “I'm a relative of theirs.”
Relative! The old man got excited when he heard Zeke's answer. “You're finally here. My friends, Yannick and Yoshua's relative is here. Come out!”
Swoosh!
Immediately, countless villagers rushed out of their houses to form a mob and surround Zeke.
“You're finally here! You have no idea how long we've waited for you.”
“You'll pay what they owe us.”
“We're living in hell because of them. As their relative, you're obligated to compensate us.”
“What's going on here, mister? What is this about a debt?” inquired Zeke with furrowed eyebrows.
“To put it simply, the twins' family owes us money. It's only natural that you pay for them since you're their relative,” explained the old villager.
“You must be joking. They're the ones who owe you money, so go after them. What's that got to do with me?” asked Zeke rhetorically.
“You don't know, do you? The twins and their family got wiped out,” revealed the elderly man.
What? Zeke was shocked when he heard that. “They're all dead? How's that possible? I just saw them a few days ago.”
“They died a few days ago, so nothing strange about that.”
Zeke could immediately sense that something was off. “Tell me, mister. What happened to the twins and their family? I haven't reached out to them for some time, so I have no idea.”
“You want me to tell you? Sure, but you'll have to pay up first,” uttered the old man.
“That's right! Pay up!” chimed in the other villagers.
Zeke did not have the habit of keeping cash on hand, but he knew someone who did—Sole Wolf.
After buying off a large group last time, Sole Wolf witnessed how powerful a stack of cash could be. That was why the man had been carrying a significant amount on him since then, and he was right.
Zeke quickly contacted Sole Wolf. “Come to me. Bring some more cash.”
“Okay!”
Before long, Sole Wolf arrived at the scene and was furious to see the villagers surrounding the Great Marshal. “How dare you surround Zeke! You must all have a death wish!”
However, the villagers were not afraid since they outnumbered Zeke and Sole Wolf. Instead of backing off, they glared at Sole Wolf and began to rebuke him.
“Watch your mouth, young man.”
“Did your parents teach you to disrespect elders?”
“Are you going to hit us? Lay a finger on us, and I promise you won't be able to walk out of here.”
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