Chapter 16: She Takes up the Nightwatch
While they were preparing things, the sun had set, leaving them in an ever deepening twilight. The people began to light torches, and gathered the un-usable wood fragments to burn in a large bonfire. It was still light out, but it wouldn't be light for long.
Originally, Robin was aware that there was a problem with this setup: how was she going to attach the metal ring of the harness to the rope? Well, there was a surprisingly easy answer inside her magic bag.
Having opened it to place bandages and an improvised stretcher with rope harness for the injured maiden, she remembered her shoulderbag from earth, and recalled a certain item that was attached to it. Retrieving that, she quickly attached the item to the metal ring; it was a key clip.
As they lowered her below, she took note of, and got rid of jagged edges, and places where they would have had to proceed slowly.
Upon reaching the ground, she quickly got to work, carefully extracting the unconscious child, and slipping his arms and legs into the harness before slipping the straps around his chest, and making sure everything was good and snug. Then she tugged on the rope to signal the townsfolk to start pulling slowly. The child slowly began rising into the air.
Robin watched until he was about halfway up, then turned and began paying attention to the injured maiden. From the appearance of the surrounding debris, it didn't seem like any large pieces of ceiling had fallen on her. But, just in case, she carefully rolled her over onto the stretcher, and secured the second harness around her.
The rope came down again, with the little child's harness still attached. Robin realized that they had no idea how to use a key clip. So she just slipped the child's harness off, and clipped the maiden's stretcher onto the rope with the key clip. Glancing around the basement, she didn't see anyone else, and waited for them to lower the rope to bring her back up.
When she emerged from the hole, there was a big cheer.
The healer had just finished examining them, and asserted that they were both fine, with nothing more than flesh wounds. They had just fainted out of fear. After a short session of healing, the bleeding on the maiden's head stopped completely.
The men slapped and patted Robin on the back in thanks. And, although muted in respect for the dead, there was a small amount of laughter amongst the men. Soon enough, all of the destroyed houses had been searched through, and everyone was accounted for.
She grinned, then detached the key clip from the rope, and returned it to her earthly possessions in her magic bag, unnoticed in the deepening twilight. Now, all they had to do was to wait until reinforcements from the city arrived. Until then, the townsfolk patrolled the perimeter of the village in groups of three, to make sure there were no demons in the surroundings.
In place of wooden and stone houses, the villagers used some large swathes of cloth to make a small settlement of tents near the bonfire. When Robin asked where they had gotten the cloth, it turned out that the village was a settlement that specialized in making cloth, expecially with the large amounts of Fluffers in the area. Fluffers were a kind of cotton tree, according to what Robin heard from the description.
The majority of the newly created cloth had been stored in the chapel basement, to await the time when they would dye it. The reason for that was because the chapel basement was the most secure against rats and mice. They also had some sturdy cotton rope made from the bits and pieces that were not enough to make a complete sheet of cloth. at the end of cloth-making season.
Everything seemed to be settling down in the aftermath of the attack. Many of the villagers, exhausted, retired to their tents as soon as they were put up. But some took out a large cauldron used for feasts, and cooked the townsfolk a dinner of barley and vegetable soup, with bread as thanks for their rescue.
As they made twice as much as was needed, Robin surmised that the leftovers would be heated up for breakfast the next day. The round moon rose into the sky. And the calm chirping of crickets in the grass called out from the surrounding area. She stared out into the darkness, thinking.
"Not sleeping?" Christian came up behind her and asked.
"Is now a time to sleep?" Robin asked.
"Usually, yes." Christian replied.
"Mmn....I want to wait up until the soldiers arrive." Robin replied.
"Ah, right. the soldiers." Christian sat himself down on a large, flat rock nearby. "Judging from the amount of distance, and the time involved to get them all together, they should arrive sometime near dawn, if we're lucky."
"Dawn? Oh well. I'm young. I can put up with a sleepless night or two." Robin replied, thinking of how people her age would go out all night, partying.
Christian chuckled. "That sounds like something an old person would say."
Robin laughed and said in a humor-laden voice. "Oh? Didn't I tell you? I'm over 900 years old, I am~! Youngsters, these days!" She shook her head wryly. "No respect. No respect at all!"
Christian put her in a headlock and ruffled her hair. "This little mischievous rascal! Why were you chosen to be a Hero!?"
"Obviously because someone decided the Hero needed a proper sense of humor~!" Robin retorted, using her hand to comb her hair back to some semblance of order.
"Suit yourself. Call me if anything comes up. I'll be resting up." he said, before heading back to the tents.
As she was still brushing her hair, she paused a bit. Her older brother had been in the habit of ruffling her hair. That is, until she started working at her job. At that point, they hardly saw each other until the weekends.
She sighed, beginning to feel a little homesick, as she absentmindedly stroked her hair back, out of her face.
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Later that night, after the bonfire had burned low, the night watchmen were at their least attentive state. A pair of eyes gleamed as they gazed unblinking upon the wrecked village. every shadow, every open spot was laid bare before it. It breathed slowly, waiting for an opportunity to arrive.
A cloud, making its way slowly across the star-ridden sky, began to cover the full moon. It chose that opportunity to quickly dart in between the groups of sentries, seeming nothing but a brief shadow as it slipped by. It disappeared into the shadows created by half-demolished houses, and wooden piles.
For several minutes, all was quiet.
Then pandemonium broke loose as a shriek tore through the air in the camp.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone