The heroes and their companions followed the villagers back to the village.
At the sight of their once-cozy homes reduced to a wasteland, all the villagers fell silent. Following the traces left in the rubble, they found the wreckage of their own homes.
Not a single house in Rude Village remained intact.
"It really was... razed to the ground."
With his hands behind his back, the Old Village Chief surveyed the devastation. His murmured words sounded somewhere between a reflection and a sigh, and anyone could hear the complicated emotions in his voice.
"Chief..."
Chuan Wenwu tried to offer some comfort, but the chief interrupted him with a chuckle. "Brave warrior-no, I should call you a hero now. Please don't worry about us. The villagers aren't so fragile that a single disaster will leave them unable to get back on their feet."
"We all know how terrifying the Wave is. Without the heroes risking their lives to help us, the people of Rude Village, caught at the very center of the Wave, would have had almost no chance of surviving. All we've lost now are some possessions, while every villager has kept their life. That's already an extraordinary blessing."
The Old Village Chief remained composed and resolute. "As long as we're alive, there's hope. That's what Raphtalia taught us. We also believe that as long as the villagers of Rude Village are still alive, we can rebuild our village."
"..."
Chuan Wenwu glanced at Raphtalia, who stood smiling beside him, then shook his head with a soft chuckle. "That's true. Still, with the village in this state, rebuilding it will probably be quite a struggle."
"That doesn't scare us. The people of Rude Village make their living mining. If we can endure the hardships of mining, how much harder could