Free Web NovelChapter 42: The Man Who Had Been Waiting
Rowan froze.
For the first time since Seraphina had met him, he looked completely unprepared.
The village chief studied him carefully, as though confirming something he’d already known.
"I thought you’d never come."
The old man’s voice wasn’t welcoming.
It wasn’t hostile either.
It sounded tired.
Very tired.
Like someone who had spent months carrying a burden and was finally reaching the point where he couldn’t carry it alone anymore.
Around them, villagers continued rushing through the streets. Torches moved between buildings. Guards hurried toward the walls. The distant sounds of shouting still echoed beyond the gate.
Yet strangely, the chief ignored all of it.
His attention remained fixed on Rowan.
"You know him?" Kael asked.
The chief gave a slow nod.
"I knew his uncle."
The answer landed heavily.
Rowan’s jaw tightened.
"My uncle traded here often."
"Every month."
The chief’s eyes softened slightly.
"Good man. Terrible jokes."
For a brief second, Rowan almost smiled.
Almost.
Then reality returned.
"What happened to him?"
The question came out sharper than intended.
The chief sighed.
"Come inside."
That wasn’t an answer.
Which usually meant the answer was complicated.
Or unpleasant.
Sometimes both.
Seraphina immediately followed.
Naturally.
Nobody invited her.
Nobody stopped her either.
Curiosity had already dragged her halfway across the village.
The chief led them into a large stone building near the center square.
It wasn’t impressive.
But it felt important.
Maps covered the walls.
Records filled shelves.
Weapons rested near the entrance.
People came here to solve problems.
Lately, judging by the atmosphere, they hadn’t been solving many.
A young woman sat at a table near the back of the room.
She looked up as they entered.
Then immediately froze.
Not because of Rowan.
Not because of Kael.
Because of Seraphina.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The woman stared.
Seraphina stared back.
A staring contest began.
Kael recognized the signs immediately.
This could only end badly.
The woman finally spoke first.
"...You’re the girl with the bear."
Seraphina blinked.
Then looked outside.
The bear was currently sitting beside the building.
Several children had gathered around it.
One child appeared to be offering it bread.
The bear seemed delighted.
"I see my reputation has spread."
"It arrived before you did."
A fair point.
The woman rubbed her forehead.
"The guards have been talking about nothing else for ten minutes."
Seraphina looked pleased.
Kael looked exhausted.
Meanwhile, Rowan had completely ignored the conversation.
His attention remained on the chief.
The old man opened a cabinet and removed several folded papers.
Then he placed them on the table.
One by one.
The room grew quieter.
Each paper contained the same symbol.
The twisted circle.
The three crossing lines.
The mark.
Except there were more of them than anyone expected.
Five.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
Reports.
Drawings.
Witness statements.
Monster sightings.
Missing caravans.
Attacked villages.
The pile continued growing.
Daren’s face slowly paled.
"How many are there?"
The chief didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he unfolded a map.
Pins covered the region.
Red pins.
Far too many red pins.
Kael stared.
Seraphina stared. freёwebnovel.com
Even Rowan looked shaken.
The attacks weren’t isolated.
They weren’t random.
They formed a path.
A route.
Like something was moving.
Traveling.
Hunting.
Or searching.
The chief tapped the map.
"Three months ago, it started here."
His finger landed near a trading road.
"Then here."
Another pin.
"And here."
Another.
"And here."
The path continued.
Always moving.
Always growing.
Always getting closer to populated areas.
The young woman beside the table crossed her arms.
"We thought it was monsters."
"We were wrong."
The chief nodded.
"Monsters don’t carve symbols."
A silence followed.
Not an awkward silence.
A thinking silence.
The kind where everyone was trying to fit pieces together.
Seraphina leaned closer to the map.
Something bothered her.
The route.
The direction.
The spacing.
It felt deliberate.
Like someone wasn’t choosing targets randomly.
Like someone was following instructions.
Then she noticed something.
A single location.
One place the path seemed to orbit around repeatedly.
Not directly.
But consistently.
Every route curved toward it eventually.
Her finger touched the map.
"What’s this?"
The room went still.
The chief’s expression changed.
The young woman’s expression changed.
Even Rowan looked surprised.
Because none of them had noticed it before.
Or perhaps none of them wanted to.
The location had no village marker.
No city marker.
No trade route.
Just an old handwritten note.
Forgotten.
Nearly erased.
The chief stared at it for several long seconds.
Then quietly said:
"That shouldn’t be there."
Nobody liked that answer.
Especially Seraphina.
"What does it mean?"
The chief swallowed.
For the first time, genuine unease appeared in his eyes.
Not fear of monsters.
Not fear of attacks.
Something older.
Something personal.
"It’s the location of an abandoned estate."
Rowan frowned.
"I’ve never heard of it."
"Most people haven’t."
The chief’s voice dropped lower.
"It belonged to a family that disappeared decades ago."
The room became silent.
Then the young woman added something nobody expected.
"Not disappeared."
Everyone looked at her.
She met their gaze calmly.
Then said:
"They were erased."
Nobody spoke.
Not even Seraphina.
Because somehow that answer was far worse.
The words settled over the room like cold rain.
Erased.
Not killed.
Not defeated.
Erased.
There was something deeply unsettling about the difference.
Seraphina leaned forward.
"What does that even mean?"
The young woman exchanged a glance with the chief.
Neither seemed eager to answer.
Which naturally made Seraphina want the answer more.
The chief finally sat down.
Slowly.
Like a man preparing to tell a story he’d spent years avoiding.
"The estate belonged to House Valemont."
Nobody reacted.
Except the young woman.
She looked surprised.
"You actually said the name?"
The chief shrugged.
"If they’re involved, hiding it won’t help anymore."
That was not reassuring.
At all.
Rowan frowned.
"I’ve never heard of them."
"Most people haven’t."
The chief folded his hands together.
"Because officially they never existed."
Silence.
Then Seraphina pointed.
"That sounds illegal."
"It probably was."
"Cool."
Kael pinched the bridge of his nose.
The chief ignored them and continued.
"About forty years ago, House Valemont was powerful. Wealthy. Connected."
"Connected to who?" Rowan asked.
The chief hesitated.
"Everyone."
That answer immediately made the room feel smaller.
Because "everyone" usually meant nobles.
Merchants.
Officials.
Power.
The kind of power that reached places ordinary people never saw.
The young woman finally spoke.
"My grandmother used to tell stories about them."
Everyone looked at her.
She shrugged.
"Most people thought she was making things up."
"And now?" Kael asked.
She smiled humorlessly.
"Now I think she wasn’t."
The chief nodded.
"One day, House Valemont disappeared."
"Just like that?" Daren asked.
"Just like that."
No war.
No rebellion.
No public execution.
No scandal.
Nothing.
The family vanished.
Their servants vanished.
Their records vanished.
Their lands were redistributed.
Their name disappeared from official documents.
Even mentioning them became rare.
As if the world collectively decided to forget.
Seraphina felt a chill.
Not fear.
Curiosity.
The dangerous kind.
Because somebody didn’t simply destroy House Valemont.
Somebody removed them.
Which took effort.
A lot of effort.
The kind only powerful people could manage.
Kael noticed the look on her face.
Immediately.
And immediately disliked it.
That expression never led anywhere safe.
"Seraphina."
"What?"
"Don’t."
"Don’t what?"
"Whatever you’re thinking."
"I’m not thinking anything."
A lie.
A terrible lie.
A lie nobody believed.
Especially Kael.
The young woman snorted.
For the first time.
A genuine laugh.
"She’s definitely thinking something."
"Thank you."
"That wasn’t a compliment."
"It counts."
Meanwhile, Rowan was staring at the map again.
His attention remained fixed on the route.
The attacks.
The missing caravans.
The symbol.
Then something clicked.
His eyes widened slightly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
The chief noticed.
"So you see it too."
Rowan slowly nodded.
The path wasn’t random.
It wasn’t circling the estate.
It was expanding from it.
Like ripples spreading across water.
The room grew quiet again.
Because everyone understood what that meant.
If they were right—
Then whatever was happening had started there.
At the abandoned estate.
Daren immediately shook his head.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
"No?"
"No."
He pointed firmly.
"Absolutely not."
An excellent argument.
Very detailed.
Very persuasive.
Unfortunately, nobody listened.
"We’re not going there."
Daren continued.
"People disappear near that place."
"How many?" Seraphina asked.
Daren paused.
"...Enough."
A terrible answer.
The worst kind.
The kind that created more questions than it solved.
The chief sighed.
"Nobody has entered the estate in years."
"And survived?" Kael asked.
The chief didn’t answer.
Which was answer enough.
The room fell silent.
Even Seraphina wasn’t smiling anymore.
Because for the first time since arriving—
The mystery felt real.
Not exciting.
Not distant.
Real.
People had vanished.
Families had waited.
Villages were suffering.
Something was wrong.
Deeply wrong.
Outside, the alarm bells had finally stopped.
The village had survived another night.
For now.
A knock suddenly interrupted the discussion.
A guard stepped into the room.
Breathing hard.
"Chief."
The man’s expression alone made everyone tense.
"What happened?" the chief asked.
The guard swallowed.
Then looked directly at Rowan.
A strange choice.
A worrying choice.
"The scouts found another wagon."
The room froze.
The guard continued.
"Same symbol."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then came the second sentence.
The one that changed everything.
"And they found a survivor."
Rowan shot to his feet.
His chair crashed backward.
The sound echoed through the room.
The guard looked uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
"Who is it?" Rowan asked.
The guard hesitated.
For just a second.
Then answered.
"We don’t know his name."
Hope flickered.
Then wavered.
Not confirmation.
Not denial.
The worst possible answer.
But the guard wasn’t finished.
"He’s unconscious."
A pause.
Then—
"He keeps repeating the same thing."
Every person in the room was listening now.
The guard looked pale.
Even remembering it seemed to bother him.
Then he spoke the words.
"Don’t let them wake it up."
Silence.
The room became completely still.
Not a single person moved.
Not even Seraphina.
Because somehow—
That sentence felt far more frightening than any monster.
And for the first time that night—
The chief looked genuinely afraid.
