An uncle immediately walked up to ask about the situation. The villagers and the uncle all wore expressions of sorrow, and many broke down in tears right on the spot. From what the uncle told the others, a beast-ghost attack had occurred just before their arrival. Two men had been killed on the spot, dismembered, and devoured, while the women had been abducted, resulting in three fewer people in the village.
The village's population was already small, and with the recent ravages of the beast-ghosts, it had been plummeting. Losing three people at once—two young men and a young woman—was truly a devastating blow. If things continued this way, the entire village would be destroyed.
When the uncle mentioned the background of Guts and his companions to the villagers, especially that the little girl Schierke was a witch, the cheers they had imagined did not materialize. Instead, there were doubts and murmurs. Some doubted what the uncle had said, while others nitpicked the abilities of Guts's group. In short, there was virtually no positive feedback; the vast majority of words were negative. No matter how much the uncle tried to vouch for them or put in a good word, the villagers merely looked on coldly and traded snide remarks.
Chapter 552