(A/N: For convenience, all conversations have been translated into English through Inana's perspective only though she yet understands nothing due to which one may find a mixture of English and some Japanese slang when there should be only English if translated from the native language. Thus, the use of slang like san, chan, kun, onee, and nee doesn't indicate that the natives of New World use exact same connotation of respect or even use it at all in their normal conversations. It has been used as a better substitution for Mr, Mrs, etc)

Age of 3 Children range between 14-15 years old)

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"But that is absurd." Mynzaki Livelivahian, appalled by the elder's suggestion, rose abruptly from his seat.

"Yes. " The old man's eyes seemed to be barely open, wrinkles receding on his rough face, like small splinters but his voice was drunk with pure conviction and hardness. "Leading a pious life is always absurd to corrupted souls."

"Now, now." A man, much younger than the old man, put his hand around the latter's shoulder. "No need to be so harsh, Grandpa. I am sure Mynzaki-san means well but has simply failed to understand your wisdom. Now why don't we all just sit ourselves nice and well?"

The young man in question was Rynlick Waswa, a tall man with broad shoulders and a strong, well-defined jawline. His striking green curls fell just below his ears, which were adorned with miniature engravings in an unknown language. The navy blue ring on his index finger, seemed to create a light of its own, often drawing attention.

"Hff...." The old man scoffed, tapping his cane roughly, which creaked against the wooden flooring. "Back in my days, we used to unflinchingly listen to our respected elder, much less, question them."

It seemed as if the old man would remain unrelenting but then he sat down, obliging all the same, softly mumbling to himself. The room was no less tense though, even with this amicable compromise.

Tensions, conflicts, and disagreements – were far too common to not expect by any member in the Council meetings, especially with the Village Head's conservative attitude, an attitude shared by most members since they had only gotten in, by virtue of bootlicking the Head.

But today the polarization was at its peak. As usual, the village secretary Kneeka had served the notice the day before, to all nine members to meet at office. The purpose was plainly clear, though for formality, there was the guise of discussing over the preparations to be made for arrival of Bandit Princess next month.

What was to be done with the newcomer from forest?

"Mynzaki-kun, you aren't doing right." As the old man settled down, treasurer Kuttazawa spoke out, a man known for his shrewd tongue, ready to strike at others whenever the iron seemed hot. "You should be grateful that the Council not only accepted your rascal son's plea to not harm the monster, but also allowed you to provisionally keep her with you. Having incurred such a debt to council, you dare talk back to our Head."

"Kuttazawa-san, if you have a problem with me, feel free to voice it out" Mynzaki's eyes narrowed at the latter, with a sharp warning in them "But don't ever call my son a rascal again. No one but I and my wife hold that right."

"Huh." Kuttazawa chuckled, not taking the threat seriously. "Why not? Are you embarrassed by the fact that your son has caused more incidents in the village than anyone else's children in last fifty years? Quite a record..."

"KUTTAZAWA...." Mynzaki's eyes flared angrily, the black in his eyes swirling so violently that they almost felt like inactive daggers, which could come out any moment to stab someone's eye.

The village head's grandson Rynlick Waswa debated as to whether he should even bother with intervention at this point, but in end, decided to anyway. As much as he wanted to laze, his conscience hardly ever allowed him to be.

Since the words seemed futile at this point with both men ready to lunge at each other, he clapped his hands together, to stop them in their tracks with his words fleeting in air.

"Mana Grade High: Sound Infinitum."

No one had noticed when the chants were even made, but the sound of spell being cast was lucid. The claps didn't possess any special kind of magic, but the main threat was the amplitude of sound that increased with each frequency. With each clap, the value of its loudness was guaranteed to increase twice relative to previous clap. Having mastered over the sound magic, he was one of the only two in the village to receive a commemorative praise from the Bandit Princess.

Naturally, no one could risk exposing themselves to such an attack so all quietened down at once, as expected. Pleased with the response, Rynlick spread out his arms, becoming the cynosure of the room as he began, "Friends, why are we always so eager to bicker? The problem may be one, two or even ten in number, yet the solution shall also be one, two or ten, if not less. But in each session, overestimation, exaggeration and hyper-vindictive hostility ....ah!"

His face wore a dejected smile, as others listened intently to his words. "I apologise for getting carried away. I, for one don't wish to take too much of Council's time. But I do want to posit a simple question to you all if you will care to entertain. What is it that holds the state, a community or even a village like us together?"

Without waiting for their answer, he carried on, enclosing his fists in the air. "It is simple. The human connection. Without it, the whole fabric of society will fall. Even if it is somehow maintained, when the fabric is scrutinized even once deeply, one will find the innumerable gaps in it, its vulgar unsuitability."

"E..gh..." The old man who hated listening to too many words, coughed to register his impatience. "Spill the beans already, lad."

"Yes, grandpa." Rynlick nodded obediently, drawing all eyes at once with his perfect stare. "My point is that we are concerned about that red-haired girl because she is currently a monster as per our knowledge and nothing has come to light to show contrary. "

There was a rapid murmur among the council members, already starting to form their opinions.

"But..." Rynlick continued, with gleam in his eyes. "There has been no untoward incident by the said monster of the forest as well. To me , it looks we are trying to pass a judgement on an infant who has yet to show her true colours or gotten a chance to form a human connection, in apprehension of upsetting a guest, in whose coming , still remains weeks to yonder. This is why, as unpleasant as it may sound too many, I recommend that we continue the observatory stage as we have until now, though unintended. All Mynzaki-san has to ensure is that she doesn't go to forest or commit any act that alleviate our restlessness"

"Well...!" Several members felt the reasoning to be sound and a calm ambience seemed too embryonic, but it didn't sit well with everyone. Kuttazawa rose up at once, with an indignant expression on his face, "Rynlick-kun, with all due regards, whom exactly do you think will bear the funeral stake for when the untoward incidence does happen? Mynzaki-san? Me? The council members or perhaps our dear Chief, your grandpa."

Rynlick smiled softly, having expected such a question to be raised sooner or later and so unresistingly silenced the room with his next words, "You breath, toil and feed yourself on this land, and countless of us do the exact same. Who takes responsibility for us if any one of our magic goes out of the hand? We bear that burden ourselves, for that is the natural law. So why the rules would differ any more or less for the monster that seems to have put you in tight spot, Kuttazawa-san? If and when she endangers the peace and security of this village, she will be dealt in same manner as any other inhabitant here. Until then, we wait and keep our guard up."

As the silence loomed heavily over the council, there was a warm smile beneath the rough exterior of old man's face, content at the fact that his grandson really had grown up to be such an able leader, powerful both with his words and power.

..................

"Ahm...." Inana yawned, stretching her hands out in the air, as she waited for Samael to return from the small tent behind her back.

Having finally gotten her hand on first tangible sword in this world, though shabby as it was in shape, she had wanted to try it today morning itself. After all, being the only magic-less person in this world, she had to develop her other skills and where else would her previous life's training in Kendo come in handy.

But since Samael kept pulling at her dress, keenly curious to take her to the small fair that was organized today, she relented. She had to relent, for in a way, it felt like necessary recompense to the unasked debt she had incurred to boy, since her first arrival.

It felt like nearly three weeks had flew by, but she couldn't be sure. Since village natives didn't have the concept of calendar or record keeping of time in written form, Inana had to simply trust her intuition for now. Maybe when she learns magic, she can make a watch like back in her old world.

As far as her hopes of cracking the language, the possibility seemed to be thin more and more she delved deeper into it. Only yesterday, she had found out that not only each letter must have a fixed translation but there were special rules of enjoinment and disintegration as well, when she had conveyed to Mynzaki (Samael's father) with much struggle, her first sentence:

"The water is hot."

She had always hated grammar since she came in contact with Kanji. Being an immigrant from Korea, unlike other natural-born Japanese students, she didn't have had the best chance to even catch up. And now nearly 14 years of learning and practicing it had to go down the drain, for she had to now intimate herself with an entirely new language and its grammar.

Agh! Why couldn't just God have created the same language for all the worlds? It was such a pain to keep learning new stuff just to communicate basic stuff.

Her innocuous violet eyes swirled with curiosity, as she watched people past her with mixed expression as they navigated through the fair and she wondered what they thought of her. It almost seemed as if despite the tens of stalls having different competitive games and prizes, she was the star attraction here.

Normally, Inana wouldn't have cared less, for going to an amusement park or fair always overpowered her senses, but that wasn't the case now. The fair, in name only, was so small that if her eyes darted around the open field from one side to another, she could imagine the entire row of stalls as simply one big car parked there. Though, on one good note, magic had been forbidden in these games so at least it could be competed in normally.

Wondering what was taking Samael so long, Inana slowly advanced her hand to open the tent's flap to catch a peek inside, when an overexcited small figure ran head straight, bumping into her stomach. As she receded in pain, holding her sides, she didn't need to look twice to know the identity of such a miscreant.

"Onee-chan, look. " Samael raised a miniature figurine of bow-cut fish, with a big wide grin on his face. "I got the fish on my first try. See! SEE!"

Inana reciprocated the smile, patting him on the head lightly, intuitively understanding that only victory could have brought such joy on his face, despite words being unintelligible to her. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say in past few days, both of them had naturally learned to know each other's mind, through gestures and intuitions.

Samael beamed proudly, as he grabbed hold of Inana's hand once again, with his eyes already set on the next stall. Hiding her hands behind her back, she simply obliged, trotting behind him with a faint smile.

Despite the fare being itself quite banal in sight, the aroma of sizzling foods, the hanging toys, an enthusiastic crowd and accompanying such an excited companion felt quite refreshing. Never in a million years, she would have had thought that her longing for leisure time and freedom from drudgeries of company life would come to fruition in next world.

So what if there was no available opportunity at hand to earn wealth or fame? For all that had happened, this new life wasn't so bad.

As the duo reached the next stall, Inana felt Samael's hand slip away from her hands as fast as slithering snake. To her surprise, instead of heading inside the tent, she saw him running elsewhere, few distance further prompting her to follow until his abrupt stop.

A little girl seemed to be staring intently at a toy inside one of the stalls with a bow and arrow in her hands and a determined face. Inana recognize her at once, she being the one to have offered her the sheet in the forest, to much protests from Samael.

Inana wished she could thank her right now, but since the impediment of language rendered it as a simple fantasy, she contented herself with watching Samael and Ziana's interaction. Her curiosity was amplified though, when she saw a stout, tall figure with clean cut beard, and short muddy brown hair, besides the girl.

By his age and proximity to Ziana, Inana could only draw two conclusions: one, he was her elder brother and two, he was her father. In either case, the man's eyes were intensely staring at her from the very moment she had arrived with Samael.

'Well, two can play that game.' Inana wore a smug smile, putting her hands on her waist, as she narrowed his eyes at the man, as if locked in a staring contest.

Meanwhile, Samael unaware of any such silent war, waved his hands in front of Ziana, with a giddy expression on his face. "Ziana, want to see who can shoot faster and win more gummy bears?" His eyes were so bright that it looked like they could easily make up for the absence of the sun in chilliest winters.

"I told you already, didn't I?" Ziana replied curtly, without bothering to even look at him. "Don't bother me. Unlike you, I want to lead a dignified life in this village."

"Oh. " Samael grinned, running his fingers over his mouth. "So outside of that, an immoral life will suit you just fi...."

WHACK

"Just messing with you...." Samael laughed, rubbing his head. Why did she always hit so hard?

"And I told you, didn't I? " Firing off the arrow right into the toy's head, her eyes turned to Samael, laced with ire. "I no longer care for your stupid games. If you want to remain child forever, so be it. But leave me out of it. After all that happened to Mikhael, you still have audacity to laugh off with that ...." Her eyes lingered on Inana for the moment, before resting again on Samael. "I am done with the fair, father. Some presences have made it no longer sweet to crave."

The man reluctantly turned his gaze away from Inana, obliging with the request when Samael grabbed Ziana's arm. For the first time, there was a serious expression on his benign face. "You know ...very well, Ziana. The illness got Mikhael after one week since we returned from forest and in that time, neither me nor witch onee-chan visited him. How can you even make such a baseless claim, right after you were the one to hand my sheet to her in forest first? Did she do something to you or me? "

"Hah..." Ziana furrowed her brows, her face flushed with anger. "As I thought, you really are an idiot. Of course, she didn't do anything to us. Only a foolish parasite will kill off its host before it can leech off it completely. You have given the monster shelter it needed to grow and adapt right midst heart of village so as to ward us off."

"How could you be so wise and yet so adamant about that fairy tale?" Samael crushed his fist, his eyes seething with frustration. "For all we know, it could be just fable tales. All your life, you had always dismissed it as old people's ramblings and now suddenly, you are a devout believer."

"Ugh...." Ziana's eyes reeked with disdain, as they looked to and fro between Samael and confused Inana. "Every second with you reminds me of how futile our conversation is. It must be a fantasy only for all council members to support her execution except your father. No wonder, you and your family has been side-lined from..."

"ZIANA..." Samael's hands moved swiftly to strike a blow, making her freeze in imminent fear as she closed her eyes. But then to her surprise, only wind blew against her face, as she opened her eyes to see Inana having grabbed hold of Samael's arms firmly with a disapproving look.

Samael breathed heavily, his eyes burning black – like mythical flames of fury. Ziana bit her lip, admitting to herself that she may have gone too far but her eyes remained firm as ever, with resolute expression etched on her face.

"Y-You have some nerve attacking my daughter in front of me, bastard fillius." Halting her thoughts, she heard a strong kick being pummeled into Samael's legs, as the boy sank to ground, unable to withstand his ground.

"F-Father." Ziana's eyes widened in shock, at her father's action. "You ...needn't have..."

"Silence." He shut her off at once, as she looked down.

Inana had just about enough. Language be damned, she could lucidly see that the situation had escalated for a bad turn and certainly involved something to do with her for the man seemed to be directing the residue of his anger, towards her after kicking Samael.

One part of her mind was strongly tempting her to give a few punches in return but clearly the response had been retaliatory to Samael's actions. Even so, how could he simply kick a child?

In any case, she decided to go with the latter part, which she had generally listened to or even considered as only present, most of her life and simply stepped up in front of Samael with a protective look.

"Look. I don't care for your squabbles. "She declared firmly, later realizing the pointlessness of her words. "But leave the battery out of it. In my old world, you would have been a goner for rest of your life."

God damn it! Now she looked like even stupider than when she was standing silently.

But the tone must have reached the man, for he backed away, his eyes still holding a reserve of anger. He dropped to ground on his knees, prostrating his head.

Whoa! She hadn't expected that much of effect.

Her eyes soon turned away, when the gust of wind brushed her face, and she saw a trail of figure running away from her side. Her eyes immediately looked down to check, confirming at once that the fleeting figure must have been Samael. By the looks of it, he was again headed towards the forest, which even she knew now to be forbidden.

"Hff..." Inana face palmed herself knowing she would have to fetch him back and exhaled softly, running her eyes through the father-daughter duo before heading off. "Well, I hope you are happy."

Ziana's eyes casted a worried look in Samael's direction, for the moment but hearing another cough from her father, her attention was shifted back as she bent down to ground. "What happened, father? Is it your lungs again?"

"n-No. " He shook his head, his eyes himself in surprise as he coughed violently as few drops of blood garnished his palm. "I ...can't figure out what happened."

"Oh my! " A familiar voice, called out among the crowd as Ziana saw a small bald-faced man in dark brown robes, walking up to them. "How could you be still so ignorant, Lzanzi-Kun?'

"Kuttazawa-san." Lzanzi tried to stand up, to pay his respect but Kuttazawa quickly shook his head, crouching down.

"Don't stress yourself in such a delicate state, Lzanzi-Kun. " His face was etched with concern. "The witch's curse is not to be taken lightly."

"The curse...but..." Lzanzi's eyes as well as Ziana's widened in shock. "But...when was it cast?"

"Oh, don't jest now, my dear." Kuttazawa smiled, garnering attention of crowd with ease. "Didn't you see yourself the red-haired witch chanting just now before scampering back to forest? "

Rapid murmurs started among the crowd, the torrents of fear and worry capsizing their hearts with alacrity.

"Oh, that poor boy." Kuttazawa made a sombre face. "Who knows, what fate has befallen him? For all the witch can do, his mind or even the family's may have been already taken over. But what can we do but simply wait for more? Rynlick-kun's naivety seems to have rub off on all of you, right? "

Lzanzi coughed violently, as he crushed his fists against the ground, "Not all, Kuttazawa-san. NOT All. But...what can we even do against such a witch? Only if Rynlick-kun was willing... "

"Oh, don't fret about that. " Kuttazawa's face wore a thin smile, as he gestured towards the man standing silently behind him for a while. "Who needs that young naïve when we have his stronger older brother ready to get it done? All he need is the mandate of the crowd."

"Well, that you already have." Lzanzi smiled through his pain as the crowd shouted in support, with gleam and fury in their eyes. "What do you say, Zynlick?"

"It is more than enough..." Zynlick Waswa, gripped his sword tightly as he ran his eyes through the crowd. "On the honour of my blade, I swear that not even a piece of her shall remain once I am done with her."