''For the same reasons that push men to believe they can rape women with impunity.'' Better speak his language. ''Where's your soul, Jules Manzke?''

Enough time had passed for you to pay attention to your breathing as he stared at you motionless. Then Jules opened the door and closed it with a wild, loud swing; you were already upon it and put your ear to the wood before he took a few steps away. Elves always had good ears.

''Prepare the vapor,'' Jules's muffled voice filtered through the wood.

''Keeping an elf is going to be-'' came the increasingly quiet voice of a man.

''Fallouts will be a bitch, but this being our first major transgression will give us some leeway; this is too good-''

Unfortunately, that's the end of it. Vapor? What in the Gods' good name..?

All of your confidence was gone, replaced by a very real fear that nearly made you panic. Of course, coming here was a bad idea! Gods above, why prepare a vapor? Having me here isn't really to flex some authority!

Panic will kill you. Your mother's face briefly materialized, and with it you pushed back the fear like acidic bile crawling up your throat and rushed for the window.

Not a bad drop. The opposite roof wasn't flat nor was it steep enough to make you slide and break your neck after landing. One backward glance at the tiny window on the door revealed nothing; you unfastened the white cloth around the handle and slide your sword out as quietly as you could.

Father and mother always ssay I'm good at running away... and these men underestimate small ladies. With a solid two-handed grip, you swung at the wooden frame covering the window, causing audible cracks and snaps, nearly breaking the whole thing as your blade almost carved through it.

One more! Down went your only obstacle.

''Stop!'' a man screamed, but your blade was already in its scabbard when you heard him open the door, and with panic in your limbs you barely felt the weight of your body and equipment as you hoisted yourself and jumped out without looking back.

''Kuuh!'' Pain shot from your ankles straight into your head and you nearly lost your balance because of the odd angle of the roof, but the tiles provided a firm enough grip and you awkwardly side-climbed as far as you could, which, unfortunately, wasn't much. Even if the fall would break your legs, there was a way out.

After getting far enough away, you heard the distinctive thunk of a pursuer landing a few meters behind you. An older man with grayish hair and a solid build nearly faceplanted after his knees buckled from the landing because of his equipment; he wasn't the rabble of thugs that made up the bulk of these boar-men.

Below, you heard faint echoes of an angry voice. Augustine was yelling at someone who wasn't Jules because he hadn't made it outside yet. A few halberd-wearing soldiers had seen you and were pointing. Aryel and Shigeko stayed protectively behind your pink friend.

Walking around the village made you realize it was a dense place. The houses near the walls were small buildings that seemed more like storerooms than proper residences, but those built along the myriad streets outside the main thoroughfare were two stories high, housing more than one family. Communal habitation was a visible norm for the Mamonos, explaining why nearly all the smaller houses were empty and full of trash. Pedestrians slowly but surely increased as you neared the village center. Older Mamonos heading for the market watched your trio with no end of wariness, and the few mercenaries patrolling around were a group of five, making everyone scatter at the mere echoes of their voices. Thankfully, Aryel's heavily armed presence was all the deterrent you and Shigeko needed for some peace.

The village center was rather fancy, composed of the bigger buildings of the community, with an obvious spot for the leader in a beautiful stone house guarded by Mamono who openly sneered at walking mercenaries. There were a handful of stalls, a communal grocery with a worrying line-up, a forge ringing and clanging, and a few monsters speaking with mercs around a big cart. The men were inspecting the insides, which, at first glance, seemed filled with disgusting garbage.

"That's our bathhouse, or was," Aryel pointed at a midsized stone structure guarded by men, much larger compared to everything else here. "The bastard went and took it when they arrived, preventing the community from using it. It was built by the alchemist guild as a proof of concept during Eichenwald's foundation; it's a fully modern noble marvel, and the guys are using it as a partyhouse."

I'll remember that. This community wasn't built to be oppressed.

"Is the clinic nearby?" After not even five minutes in the square, your trio is starting to raise eyebrows. Aryel's heavily armed presence and Shigeko's existence are more than enough to catch attention, and Usha balancing herself on your blue friend's broken horn might also be another source of stares.
"Two stone throws on the left," Aryel gently gestured in the direction with his glaive.

You arrived at a fairly large two-story stone building, big enough for perhaps fifty people. Nobody was guarding it, so you stepped inside at your leisure. The door opened into a grand hall separated into smaller rooms by curtains. Many monsters of all imaginable races lingered around, looking suitably frail for this facility, but what you quickly noticed was the children. Far too many little girls with their mothers sat near the reception desk. A green, mossy-skinned nurse (you assumed) was methodically giving the moms small cups of medicine for the kids.