Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight! novel Chapter 194

Chapter 194: ’Outsiders’

The hush that had settled over the village was shattered by the sharp crunch of boots against dirt. A small group of figures pushed forward from the gathering crowd, their movements slow but deliberate.

Florian could see it in their eyes—the barely restrained hostility, the way their hands clenched at their sides as if grasping weapons that weren’t there. Their faces were gaunt, skin stretched too thin over sharp bones, their eyes sunken into hollow sockets. Yet, despite their clear exhaustion, there was something dangerous in the way they carried themselves. A quiet, simmering anger.

"Outsiders," one of them spat, his voice like gravel scraping against stone, grated raw from either the cold or something deeper. His lips curled back, revealing teeth worn down by time and hardship. "You are disrupting the peace of our village."

’Peace?’ Florian’s stomach twisted. ’Everyone here looks like they’re barely clinging to life...’

His gaze flickered across the haggard faces surrounding them—the way their hollowed cheeks cast deep shadows in the dim light, the way their clothes sagged against skeletal frames, more threadbare than whole.

The air was thick, almost suffocating, charged with something unspoken. Suspicion. Desperation. The kind of quiet tension that came before something snapped.

He stiffened. He didn’t need to look at Heinz to know this was quickly unraveling.

A slow step forward.

Heinz moved with the same controlled grace he always did, posture deceptively relaxed, though Florian could feel the irritation curling off of him like the smoldering embers of a dying fire.

"Like I said, we’re travelers—wanderers, if you may," Heinz said smoothly, his voice an unsettling calm against the rising tension. "We heard rumors of this place and wished to see it for ourselves."

A ripple of distrust passed through the gathered villagers. The man who had spoken snarled, stepping closer.

"Lies," he hissed. His fingers twitched, like he was fighting the urge to grab Florian again. "No one just wanders into this place. And especially not before dawn."

Murmurs of agreement spread through the crowd, a low, uneasy sound that made the hair on the back of Florian’s neck rise. The villagers were shifting now—bodies pressing closer, dark eyes gleaming with something volatile.

Florian swallowed hard.

’This is bad.’

Heinz, however, remained composed.

"Do we look like we plan on stealing or raiding your village?" he asked, his tone as smooth as ever. But Florian saw it—the subtle shifts in Heinz’s posture, the tightening of his jaw, the slight twitch of his fingers at his sides.

He was losing patience.

’He’s about to snap. Damn it.’

The villagers hesitated. Heinz had a point. They had said it themselves—there was nothing to steal.

"Still, we do not like outsiders here," the man growled. "You bring nothing but trouble. We can’t risk our village becoming worse than it already is!"

"Yeah!" Another voice piped up, followed by more murmurs of agreement.

The tension thickened, the air pressing in like an invisible weight. Florian’s pulse pounded in his ears.

And then—

Heat.

A low, seething warmth curled beneath his cloak, radiating from his shoulder.

Florian stiffened.

Azure.

The tiny blue lizard hidden beneath his cloak trembled against him, his small body vibrating with barely contained fury. Florian could feel the way his claws flexed against the fabric, the way his breath hitched in sharp, short bursts.

Then—the heat spiked.

Not quite fire, not yet. But close.

’Oh, no.’ Florian’s mind raced. ’If he transforms now—’

Who knew what could happen?

He had to stop this.

He had to calm the villagers down.

And he had to do it now.

Florian inhaled sharply, forcing himself to steady his voice.

"I just need to find Levi’s sister—" His breath hitched. His thoughts snapped into place, sharp and sudden.

Levi.

This was a small village. They all seemed to know each other. If Levi had lived here, then they had to know him.

Right?

Florian swallowed, stepping forward before Heinz could take another breath.

"Florian."

Florian’s fingers twitched at his sides. ’Do they know Levi? Was I right?’

Whatever he saw—or perhaps, didn’t see—in Heinz’s expression made his lips press into a thin line.

’Careful.’