Chapter Eighty-One Sorrow

  I grabbed a villager and asked, "Have you seen Freya?" The villager sat on the ground, next to his wife. They were dead, with almost no intact parts on their bodies. There were no tears on the villager's face, perhaps he had cried them all out? He looked up at me blankly, his face numb, his eyes empty and expressionless, as if staring not at me but somewhere unknown. It seemed I couldn't get an answer from him, so I gave up asking and went to another place to ask the same question.

  I pulled one person after another to ask, but what I got was a numb face. Even if there were one or two who were sober, they all shook their heads at me. The scene was too chaotic, and no one knew where Furei was.

  I anxiously searched around, asking passersby in vain. Someone shouted from afar, "Alek! You're here?" I looked up to see it was Freya's brother. I stumbled and ran over to him, asking, "I heard the village was attacked, so I rushed overnight - how is Freya? Is she okay?"

  Frey's brother looked at me for a while, then said: "I know where Frey is, I'll take you to see her." Upon hearing his words, my hanging heart slightly put down, and followed him walking towards the outside of the village.

  The two of us gradually left the village and walked for about a mile, I couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Where is Furei anyway? Where are we going? Why would she run out of the village?"

  Frey's brother didn't turn around, he just pointed ahead and said: "Frey is right up front, you can see her as soon as you turn the corner." After a moment of silence, he added: "You know? Frey has been waiting for you to come back and pick her up all along. Now that you're here, she's overjoyed."

  I nodded and said: "I know, Fure is a good girl, I must marry her as my wife, that's why I came to pick her up this time."

  Vincent's figure in front paused for a moment, then continued walking forward. As he walked, he said: "If Freya hears your words, she'll definitely be happy. Remember to tell her later."

  I smiled and said: "Of course, I will tell her. Not only will I tell her, but I'll also take her away with me. Don't be too nostalgic for her then, okay? Rest assured, I'll take good care of her."

  Vincent nodded and said, "Yeah, I'll miss her, really miss her."

  I walked up and patted Vincent on the shoulder, walking alongside him.

  We turned a bend and arrived at the edge of the small stream where I was injured last time. I looked around in a daze, there was no one in sight, and it was quiet all around.

  "I asked in puzzlement: 'Vincent, where's Phoebe? Where is she? Why can't I see anyone?'"

  Vincent came up to me, gave me a big hug, and then let go. Vincent turned around, pointed to a small mound of earth not far in front of us, and said: "Frey is right there, she entrusted me before her death to bury her by this stream, she said this was where she first met you, and she wanted to wait here for you to come pick her up."

  I stared at the small mound of earth, my mind a complete blank. I had no idea what Vincent was saying beside me anymore; I had lost all sense of hearing. I swallowed hard, feeling a sharp pain in my chest, as if my heart had stopped beating and shrunk into a tight ball. All the blood in my body seemed to have been drained out, leaving me dizzy and disoriented.

  I barely managed to hold onto a nearby tree, preventing myself from falling over. In my eyes, the small mound of earth was infinitely expanding, like a massive mountain pressing down on me, making it hard for me to breathe, every step I took was incredibly difficult. But I stubbornly moved forward, one step at a time, until I finally knelt down in front of the mound, my hands deeply inserted into the soil, the icy cold earth giving me a faint sense of coolness.

  A hand patted me on the shoulder, and I looked up blankly at the person in front of me. I couldn't tell who it was, and I didn't have the mood to care. I lowered my head and stared blankly at the mud.

  A voice whispered in my ear: "If you want to cry, just let it out. It'll make you feel a little better."

  That voice kept echoing in my ears, and in an instant, all the sensations of the real world came back to me. I finally realized that Furei was dead! A huge sadness surged towards me like a tide. My throat let out a strange sound, and then I felt tears silently gushing out of my eyes, more and more, until they instantly drowned my entire world.

  I don't know how long it took, but when all my tears had dried up, I realized that Vincent had left at some point.

  A huge fatigue hit me and I fell asleep leaning against Freya's tomb. When I woke up, it was already deep in the night.

  I gently stroked the soil on Freya's grave, accompanying her with a whisper, and I didn't even know what I was saying. At this moment, my heart is only thinking about staying with her for a while longer, talking to her more, regretting that I accompanied her too little in the past, regretting not having more time to spend happy days with her, now even memories seem so thin.

  I just sat beside Freya, quietly accompanying her, day after day, night after night, and I don't know how many days passed. During this time, Vincent came a few times to try to pull me away from Freya's side, but he didn't succeed. No one can force me to do something I don't want to do.

  Finally, I don't know when, my world spun around, a huge darkness rushed towards me, and I lost consciousness.

  I had a very, very long dream, in which I was fighting against an unknowable enemy, with all sorts of monsters constantly attacking me, including those dark elves who were chasing me and their moon goddess temple's sacrifice.

  Frey was behind me, her face full of panic, constantly shouting at me: "Alick, save me, save me."

  I fought hard while comforting Freya: "Freya, don't worry, I'll protect you."

  However, I was finally outnumbered and outmatched. A dark elf took advantage of my momentary distraction, grabbed Freya and ran off into the distance. I could even see the dark elf turning back to sneer at me as it fled.

  I struggled to catch up, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move my feet. Every step was incredibly difficult. Watching Freya being dragged away into the distance, and hearing her panicked cries, made me feel like I was going to die from anxiety. I realized that I couldn't even muster the strength to shout.

  Just then, I suddenly opened my eyes and Vincent was sitting in front of my bed. I took two deep breaths and sat up.

  "Winston said: 'You're awake, how are you feeling?'"

  "I asked: 'Where am I?'"

  "Freya's room, you haven't eaten or drunk for days, fainted in front of Freya's tomb, I brought you back."

  I looked around and saw a familiar bed, a familiar place. This was indeed Freya's room.

  I stared at Vincent and asked, "Who is it?"

  "What?" asked Vincent.

  I repeated: "Who killed Freya?"