Chapter 247: Gate Dispute
“What happened? Who are they?” Kaela asked in a loud voice.
One of the four guards standing near the large open gate was from the Fiora tribe. She recognized Kaela right away and answered first. Her voice stayed even, even though she kept glancing at the other three women beside her while talking.
“Oh... Kaela. Well, they are asking to be let in,” the Fiora guard said. “They say they have an injured man with them. He needs a priest urgently, or so they say.”
Kaela grunted and looked over the three men again. The broad-shouldered one still knelt beside the unconscious man. And the one with the axe was shifting his weight from foot to foot. None of them looked like ordinary travelers.
“Hmmm. So?” Kaela said. She turned her eyes on the other three guards, who were not from her tribe. Those three did not look pleased to see her talking to them. Their faces stayed closed off. It was clear they were not happy about outsiders getting to stay inside the walls and taking over duties that used to belong only to the villagers, let alone talk to them and get too casual with them.
One of them spoke, “What else? We are still talking it out.”
“Huh…? What is there to talk about? Don’t tell me you guys let just anybody walk in because they show up with an injured man?” Kaela spoke with an accusing tone. Her voice grew rougher. She continued, “And all three of them are men on top of that.”
The three female guards looked away for a second. Kaela had pointed out the exact thing that made them hesitate. Men were rare. Everyone knew that. Seeing three of them at once, even dirty and beaten up, still pulled at something in most people, especially in those who are not lucky enough to get a man for themselves, even at this age.
The boss of the three men raised his head. “Uhh.. We don't want any trouble,” he said. His voice was hoarse but steady, not unnatural for his build. “We just need someone to look at our friend. We heard there is a priest in this village. That’s all we want. You can just let him in, get him checked, and we will be out of your hair in no time.”
The man with the axe nodded quickly. “Yeah. We have been running for hours. And this guy still hasn’t woken up. Please.”
Kaela stayed planted in front of the gate. “Yeah, sure. Like we believe you! You couldn’t come at a right time, with the dungeon situation still going on outside! Well, whatever, until the whole dungeon situation is resolved, no outsiders can get in. That is the rule right now. Go somewhere else. This village is off limits right now.”
Hearing her tone of talking, the boss’s jaw tightened. “Are ya blind? We DO NOT HAVE somewhere else to go. This is the only place we know around here. We need help. Don’t you see?”
One of the village guards, a woman with short brown hair, shifted her spear. “They look half-dead anyway. Maybe we should at least let the injured one through. Priest John can decide after that.”
Kaela shot her a hard look. “Huh? And then what? The other two just stand outside while their friend is inside? You think they will wait quietly? Or do you plan to let all three of them walk around the village freely?”
The brown-haired guard frowned. “We can keep an eye on them.”
“Hmff… ! Keep an eye on them?” Kaela repeated. “That is easy to say when you are not the one who has to deal with what happens later. You all will go to your home when your shift changes. It is us, Fioran's, who have to stay here to keep guarding this wall all the time.”
While they were talking, Maen and Shilla had also caught up by now, hearing the end of the sentence. The hunter who had been sent to fetch them for the elder had also come with them. All three stopped a few steps behind Kaela when they saw the argument already going.
Maen looked between Kaela and the guards. “What is going on here?”
Kaela did not turn around. “These three want to let them come inside.”
Shilla stepped closer and studied the men. The unconscious one looked pale. The other two were also covered in cuts and dirt. “Hmm, they do look bad,” she said carefully, noticing Kaela’s expression while she said that.
The hunter woman from earlier stayed quiet, watching the exchange with growing discomfort.
One of the village guards, a taller woman with a braid, spoke up. “Are ya human? They are men. Injured men. We cannot just leave them outside the walls with monsters still lurking around. That is just not right.”
Almost instantly, Kaela’s voice rose. “So that is it? You see men, and suddenly the rules do not matter? You would not even think twice if it was three women standing here asking the same thing.”
The braided guard’s face tightened. “That is not fair.”
“Is it not?” Kaela asked. “Look at yourselves. The moment three men show up, you start making excuses. You want to open the gate for them because they are men. Admit it.”
The third village guard, who had been silent until now, crossed her arms. “And what about all the outer settlers we already let inside just yesterday? We do not know most of their origins either. By your logic, that was a mistake too, isn’t it?”
Kaela took a step closer. “Huh…what did you say? Say that again?!”
The boss of the three men stood up fully now, seeing how the situation was getting out of hand like this. “Uhh… We are not looking for any trouble. We just need a priest. That is all. Can you not fight amongst yourselves because of us?”
The hunter woman who had come to fetch them for the elder looked more and more uneasy as the voices got louder. As Kaela and the tall village guard women were arguing, she took a small step back, then another, knowing this was turning into something she could not settle. Elder Verna had authority over the Fiora, but the gate decision was different. The real authority for matters like this right now sat with someone else, and he asked her to look for him if there was any need for it.
She slipped away while the argument continued, moving quickly toward the center of the village.
Back at the gate, the three village guards had closed ranks a little.
“We are letting them in,” the brown-haired one said. “The injured man needs help. That is final. Who are you to stop us?”
Kaela’s eyes narrowed. “And I dare you to do that. See what happens.”
The boss of the three men watched the exchange carefully. He kept his mouth shut for the moment, but his hand stayed near the unconscious man’s shoulder. The man with the axe looked between everyone, clearly unsure whether to speak again.
The argument showed no sign of cooling down. Voices stayed sharp. Positions stayed locked. And in the middle of it all, the three exhausted men waited for a decision that no one seemed ready to make without a fight.
Farther inside the village, the hunter woman moved faster, heading straight for the one person who could cut through the whole mess.