Shepherd Village
The "firewood" burning in the fireplace room of the village chief's house was billowing thick black smoke. Rather than some kind of wood, it looked more like dried biological limbs.
The village chief, who stood around two and a half meters tall, was sitting at the dining table.
Even his thick windbreaker could not conceal his strong, almost unnatural physique. The oversized waterproof leather shoes on the floor seemed to have been specially made for him by the village shoemaker.
The normally sized wooden table looked little more than a toy in front of him.
Black skin and pitch-black pupils,
His large hands, covered in calluses and marked with black runes, lay flat on the tabletop.
Yet the village chief appeared unusually restrained at the moment, because sitting across from him was a "guest" wrapped in black priestly robes.
In front of the guest sat the "fine wine" the village chief had specially prepared—pale pink, bubbling, and giving off a faintly fishy odor.
"What brings you to my place, Your Assistantship?"
"Two humans are approaching the village..."
"Is it the same as last time? Sacrifices who came to throw their lives away?"
"Not quite. The two of them easily infiltrated the Human-Tree Wall we cultivated and passed through the first test I designed without suffering so much as a scratch.
They performed extremely well, and that lord values them highly as well. They might become key sacrifices.
You and your village will become their second test.
If necessary, you may let them destroy the entire village... After all, the lord's ritual has reached its final stage. Everything here has lost its meaning to 'His birth.'
Also,
This is the blessing you earned through your hard work during this period, personally bestowed upon you by that lord."
An ebony