Outsiders

Milk candy is a rare commodity in Vanessa; it's not available in the village at all. If you want to buy some, you have to take a horse-drawn carriage for almost half a day to reach the nearest town.

Most of the time, people can barely feed their whole family, so naturally they can't afford to spend money on these little treats to satisfy their children's cravings.

Without demand, there is no market.

Having lived in Trier for several years, Leah was no longer the gluttonous little girl who could be happy all day with just a piece of candy.

Even so, she still managed to act as happy as she remembered, gently shaking the Thatcher's arm and saying in a clear, crisp voice:

Thank you Thatcher.

"I also brought you some delicious food from Trier, but I got back too late today and haven't packed it yet. I'll come and get it for you tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll wait then." Thatcher nodded with a smile.

"Hurry up, it's the same old place."

Her grandson is considered quite successful compared to other villagers; he buys fashionable and desirable items for them during holidays.

Therefore, there are special wooden cabinets and boxes for storage.

"Mmm," Leah responded, then ran towards the small wooden house. "Slow down!" Lillian scolded impatiently, watching her sister step into the door of the two-story house, her figure swallowed by the darkness inside.

Then, she looked away, glanced around, moved a stool and sat down next to the Thatcher, took her hand and put on a serious expression:

Grandma, what happened?

"You mentioned in your letter that Brother Lobo has been acting strangely lately. I need to hear the details before I can make a guess."

She used to live in Vanessa and often followed her grandmother around, sometimes omitting her name to show affection.

As for Lobo, whom she mentioned, he was the only grandson of the Thatcher.

At this moment, the Thatcher's face also lost its previous kindness, as if recalling some Horror memory, and a look of fear appeared on her face.

At the same time, a hint of worry welled up in her cloudy eyes. "I... I'm telling you, you won't turn around and report it to the church, will you?"

"You know, my husband, son, and daughter-in-law all died from an infectious disease a few years ago. Now, only this grandson is left."

In Intis, the vast majority of rural areas are inhabited only by the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, while the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery prefers to preach in industrialized cities.

Therefore, even referring to it directly as "the church" will not cause any ambiguity.

"Assuming I can handle it myself..." Lillian sighed inwardly, reached out and grasped the old man's withered, bark-like hand, and half-jokingly promised, "Don't worry, I definitely won't hurt you or Brother Lobo."

The old woman, Mrs. Thatcher, gave a soft "hmm," a look of relief appearing in her eyes. She then narrowed her eyes warily, glancing around cautiously, and said in a trembling voice:

"Lobo, I can't say exactly when it started, but he went hunting in the mountains less and less, and spent all his time locking himself in the backyard."

"I'm already old, and I might not be able to open my eyes again one day. I just need to eat something to keep me from starving. But he's still young and hasn't gotten married or had children yet."

"I was afraid he would get into trouble outside, so I asked him what happened. He was vague and wouldn't tell me, only saying that he knew what was going on."

"So, I secretly went to the backyard while he was out and found that he had cleared out a storage room sometime during the day, which was filled with drawing paper and paint."

Perhaps it was a gust of wind that happened to blow by, but as he said this, the old man's frail body trembled violently.

Lillian quickly offered gentle words of comfort, while the situation of the Thatcher family flashed through her mind.

--The old woman from Thatcher's family—husband, son, and grandson—were all skilled Hunter, and they lived relatively comfortably in the village because of their abilities.

Their family has two courtyards, one in front and one in back.

The front yard belonged to the women, used for cooling off and drying clothes, while the back yard was the men's territory, where they processed game, stored firewood, and tools.

Once the old woman had calmed down a bit, Lillian asked, "You mean, Brother Lobo converted one of the storage rooms into a studio?" "A studio?" The old woman, Mrs. Thatcher, shook her head. "I don't know what a studio is. Anyway, it's just shelves, paper, and paints inside."

"You mean it's an art studio?"

After saying that, she asked, both nervous and expectant:

"Is Lobo alright?"

A Hunter who doesn't hunt and locks himself in his studio all day, does that seem like nothing's wrong...? Lillian thinks she would definitely say that to anyone else.

But at that moment, her heart sank, and she forced a lighthearted smile:

"At present, there are no major problems. At most, Brother Lobo has suddenly taken a liking to painting, which is a bit of a lapse in his studies."

"Can you provide any other clues... uh, no, what I actually meant to ask was, do you know anything else?"

"For example, where did these things come from? Who taught him to draw? What are the subjects of his drawings?"

The Thatcher paused for a moment:

"I have no idea.

"He used to go hunting in the mountains often, sometimes for several days at a time. As for what was on the drawing paper, it was all covered tightly with a black cloth. I had only been in that storage room for a couple of minutes, and before I even had a chance to look, Lobo came running back, sweating profusely, yelling at me and forbidding me from coming here again. The next day, he bought a sturdy lock."

"Are there methods to secretly set up surveillance?" Lillian nodded thoughtfully, not continuing the topic, and instead asked:

"Besides that, has Brother Lobo ever done anything strange?"

"Strange things..." Old Mrs. Thatcher's face showed a look of recollection.

After a moment, she murmured, "Twice or three times, I saw him carrying a basket out late at night from the second floor. Is that considered strange?"

A bamboo basket, in the middle of the night? Lillian asked calmly.

Did you ask him about it?

Thatcher nodded and said:

"I asked him, but he said he had just lost a batch of rotten firewood and told me not to worry, he would find time to go to the mountains to cut it back."

"I don't know when he went into the mountains, but later the family certainly didn't lack firewood."

Lillian noted down this information, then asked:

"Is there anything else?" Old Mrs. Thatcher slowly shook her head.

Lillian pondered for a moment, then smiled at the worried old man:

"Don't worry, it sounds like there's no problem. However, just in case, I need to see it for myself and find out exactly what's going on."

Is Brother Lobo home?

"He's not here," Old Mrs. Thatcher replied without hesitation. "The governor invited him to his residence this afternoon to discuss Lent matters."

"But he should be back soon; he's been coming back around this time lately."

Administrator Elliot's invitation... Lillian pressed for details:

"Have you been going there every day lately?"

The Thatcher hummed in agreement.

Lillian nodded slightly. "Then I'll come see you again tomorrow afternoon."

Before she could finish speaking, her ears twitched slightly. She quickly squeezed the old man's hand and began to talk about her life in Trier with a smile.

With a candy in her mouth, Leah walked out of the wooden building and sat down next to them. She tilted her delicate face up and listened quietly like a little lady. "A square that can hold hundreds of thousands of people at the same time?" The Thatcher was shocked and bewildered when she heard that the city's Church was so big.

She was over sixty years old and had never seen so many people before. She was instinctively startled, but couldn't imagine what they looked like.

But the old man, who had lived most of his life, was insightful and didn't make things difficult for himself.

She gently patted Leah's head and said with a kind smile, "You don't know yet, do you? Our village has a square now, it was just completed a little over ten days ago."

"However, they won't let anyone in yet."

"The administrator said that nowadays in the city, it's fashionable to choose an auspicious day for any business opening or construction to receive God's blessing."

"Therefore, he planned to hold the final part of Lent in the square, and hold a grand celebration after sending off the 'Spring Elf '."

"After the celebration, the square will be open to the public as usual, and all weddings, funerals, and mass ceremonies for the entire village can be held here."

"Building a plaza must cost a lot of money, right?" Despite being Sequence 6 Beyonder, Lillian still looked bewildered in the face of this unfamiliar territory.

Old Mrs. Thatcher laughed:

"The mountains lack everything, except stones."

"How much would it cost to hire craftsmen? Besides, this is a good thing for the village. Naturally, those with money will contribute money, and those without will contribute their labor." Hearing this, Lillian laughed as well.

"Elliot, after all, came from Vanessa; he's definitely different from those guys who only knew how to secretly pocket money."

Mrs. Thatcher nodded and sighed:

"Yes, everyone knew from a young age that this child would be successful when he grew up."

"I remember he wasn't much older than you and Lobo, right? Back then, you guys were always running around like crazy, but he could quietly read his books."

Ask him why he's watching this useless stuff.

He said he wanted to leave the mountains, study in the city, and return to Vanessa as governor so that everyone could live a good life with enough to eat and wear.

"I didn't expect him to actually be willing to come back."

"I heard from Lobo that he could have gone to a better place as an administrator, but he chose Vanessa to repay everyone's kindness."

Elliot wasn't an orphan, but his father was an alcoholic who spent his days either drinking or on his way to find money for more alcohol.

For a long time before he was able to take care of himself, he relied on the villagers for help, with one family giving him a piece of bread and another a bowl of soup.

Furthermore, after the unified examination for compulsory education, he was admitted to a Grammar School in Uto, and the villagers also pooled together his tuition. "He keeps his word; Elliot is truly admirable in that respect," Lillian said seriously, her smile fading.

Then, she asked curiously:

"Where is that square? I'd like to take a look later."

"It's right across from the village's only Inn."

Thatcher chuckled, "You should still remember the way, shouldn't you? When you were little, you kids used to stand there watching for people coming by."

Apart from a few blacksmiths and carpenters, two-thirds of Vanessa's population makes a living by farming, while the remaining third are hunters.

Therefore, there is a Inn in the village that is used to accommodate merchants who come from big cities every autumn to buy the best furs and wild animal cubs.

When business is slow, they also work part-time as a pub, restaurant, and card room, providing card tables and gambling equipment, as well as relatively inexpensive food and drinks.

After she finished speaking, she added:

"But let's not go tonight. The men are preparing for Lent, and they go there to drink every day after work. It's so noisy it's driving me crazy."

It wasn't anything important, Lillian readily accepted the old man's kindness, agreeing readily, "Okay, I'll go over tomorrow after I've woken up."

Just then, footsteps approached from outside the courtyard. Soon after, a figure pushed open the courtyard gate and walked towards them.

By the dim light of the oil lamp, Lillian could barely make out that the man's face was slightly intoxicated, but he probably hadn't drunk much, as his eyes were still relatively clear.

This man was none other than Lobo, the grandson of the old Mrs. Thatcher. After carefully examining the two sisters for a few moments, he recognized them. "Little Leah? Lillian?"

"Are you back for this year's Lent?"

Lillian glanced at her childhood friend's face and nodded with a smile, "Yes, it's been years since I've been back. I've missed everyone."

How have you been lately?

"Being able to eat, drink, and sleep—what's wrong with that?" With that, Lobo gave the old Mrs. Thatcher a deep look, then glanced at the beautiful lady ahead.

"And you?

How are things going in the big city?

The Bellot family home, second floor.

After having dinner at the Thatcher's house, Lillian took her sister back to her own home. After putting her sister to sleep, she stood in the shadows behind the window. A short while later, she saw the Thatcher's gate quietly open a crack.

Then, a figure squeezed out from the side, turned around and silently closed the courtyard gate again, quickly walking into the darkness further away.

Watching the figure disappear, Lillian frowned slightly, muttering to herself in confusion, "When did he become Beyonder?"

"Moreover, the level seems quite high; is this related to the recent unusual activity?"

"Where did he go out so late?"

One question after another arose in her mind. She returned to the table, took out a coin, Tarot Card, and a crystal pendant from her pocket, and began to prepare for a divination.

The following day, in the morning.

Since Lillian received the result last night that "the danger level of exploring the Thatcher family's backyard tomorrow afternoon is not high," she decided to proceed as planned.

After Breakfast, she led her younger sister toward the newly built square in the village, killing time and satisfying her curiosity.

The two sisters chatted as they walked, occasionally greeting the villagers they passed. Before long, they arrived at the Inn and saw many children gathered at the entrance.

It's not late autumn yet, so why would anyone be buying furs? As her gaze swept over the area, Lillian couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

At this moment, Leah curiously leaned over. "What are you looking at?"

Suddenly, a boy about the same age as Leah turned around and glanced at her. After a two-second pause, he honestly said, "We're waiting for outsiders."

Yesterday, my dad came home drunk and told me that two strangers had come to the Inn, and they were even better looking than the people in the Newspaper and magazines.

So we've been waiting here since early this morning.