After Klerien stormed out of the Church, to avoid unnecessary attention he pulled his cloak’s hood over his head. As soon as the mass ended, women went home to prepare for lunch together with their children while the men went in their respective errands.

“Guten morgen, Herr…?” Klerien halted when a high-pitched voice broke through his thoughts. Under his hood, he saw two women staring at him with dazed eyes. Due to their stature, they could see his face under the hood. He swallowed his reservations and forced a thin smile.

“Guten morgen, how could this man help you, fräuleins?” Pulling his hood to show a part of his face, he smiled.

Heat crept at both girls’ faces. They couldn’t help but turn red at the man’s presence. The man’s voice flowed smoothly and gently from his mouth. He did not have any distinct accent or suggestive tone, but his appealed in their ears.

“Oh!... We, I mean. Hallo, I’m Charlotte and this is a friend, Clementine. When I saw you, I wondered if you were new in Hemlock. I- If you would like, I could give you my company for your walk, in case you are not certain about where you are headed…,” Charlotte stuttered while Clementine gaped at Klerien. She pursed her lips at the obvious redness of her face.

“I am afraid that I will be bothering your friend if I take your offer, fräulein,” Clementine’s eyes widen when she met eyes with the green-eyed man.

“No worries, Herr Konrad. I am about to leave, anyways, Charlotte was currently free. Feel free to-,” her words were interrupted when the man chuckled.

The two girls stared at Klerien as he produced a soft chuckle. It had been a while since he met women like the two in front of him. Unfortunately for Charlotte, he would have to decline her offer. Her friend uncomfortably fidgeted with her fingers. He didn’t want to be in the middle of a dispute between two females.

“I apologize, my lady, but I already know my way around. I truly do not want to bother anyone. Maybe, you two could help me at a more convenient time? I am a merchant. If you’d like, you can visit my caravan whenever I roam the streets?” he asked, hoping that they wouldn’t try to further ask anything. He didn’t want any attention on his person.

He watched with a frozen smile on his face as Charlotte’s face mirrored her disappointment. Her lashes dropped to his feet and her gleeful grin fell, the other woman sighed. Clementine couldn’t be more grateful. Her friend could be quite overbearing once she saw men like Herr Konrad.

“Oh… then,” Herr Konrad gave Charlotte a charming grin before lowering his head in a bow. With a nod at Clementine, he departed. “Oh, Konrad. Wasn’t he so charming, Clementine?”

Clementine only sighed. She hoped that Charlotte never encountered the man again, for his own sake.

ՓՓՓ

The town of Hemlock, partially hidden from the other towns, hid a secret of their own. Situated below murky skies, with never-ending autumn like atmosphere. Solidarity was a word that best described Hemlock. Despite the peace that the townspeople might experience, everything had another side. If there was a peaceful side, a chaotic side was always hiding and lurking behind.

At the town’s central plaza, where the infamous Werwulf Trials just occurred, silence and solemnity filled the tense air. In the middle of the day, with multiple rays peeking through the clouds in the sky, the overpowering scent of blood, sweat, and tears remained. There, Klerien stood, as people walked around, ignoring the forbidding figure in which he stared.

There, the people of Hemlock pretended and went about the day like the sight in front of him painted a usual occurrence. Klerien froze, mere meters away from the figure, overwhelmed by the mixture of an earthy scent, decaying flesh, dried blood, and… human. There, on the platform, a body of a wolf sat majestically with its feet straight and stiff, dried blood matted it’s filthy fur. On top, Reiner Stumpp’s head, with wide open cloudy white eyes staring on the glaring rays of sunlight and his mouth permanently frozen in a scream.

His severed and blood-soaked head replaced a wild wolf’s head.

From Klerien’s viewpoint, he heard Stumpp screaming for help and agony. He felt the knee-trembling sight deep in his bones. The contents of his stomach badly wanted to escape but his tightly clogged throat didn’t permit a sound to escape.

“Did you hear?” Klerien heard through the ringing of his ears and the murmurs from the crowd. “Apparently, someone was murdered last night, the same day of the trials.”

He shivered inwardly when his ears recognized the words. Suddenly, he remembered what awaited him back inside the forest. “Did I make the right decision by saving that man?”, he thought. The images of the mutilated body of a wolf and Stumpp’s severed head flashed in his head. The red and dark colour of blood coated the corners of his eyes.

"Who?" They murmured and conversed without any reservations. “I only heard from another a name… Gilles. What if Stumpp’s words were true-?”

“Shhhhh! Stop! Someone might hear!” He heard all their hisses and grumbles. He tuned out any sounds surrounding him before walking away. The uncomfortable and forbidding dread sank in his stomach.