“Well, it happened a week ago. Three of our hunters were returning from the forest and heard a noise coming from one of the houses. It was an old woman’s home, she could barely walk anymore, and her relatives often brought her food from the other village.”

The speaker was sweating profusely, clicking his joints under the table.

“Maybe the boys thought bandits were ransacking her home, taking advantage of her health. We don’t know what happened, but we heard screaming and found them butchered. One had a torn neck, the other’s belly was split open, his guts hanging out. The woman was in no better condition either… Whatever parts of her we managed to put together.”

“What about the third hunter? You said they were three?”

“Yes, well… His legs were torn off, but he’s still alive, for better or worse. We keep him in the chapel, but he’s surely a goner. The wounds have festered.”

“God have mercy on his soul. Were any other villagers harmed?”

“Thankfully, no.” - the speaker answered.

“Tell him about the girl in the forest.” - the hunter said.

“What girl?” - the man in black asked.

“Oh, yes. The girl. We found a young girl’s body not far away from here. We think it was the old woman’s granddaughter coming to visit her. We told her family not to let her come alone, even the merchants’ path is dangerous… We saw the red hood she used to wear stuck in a bush, and the body wasn’t far away from it.”

The speaker barely kept himself together saying these words.

Shaking legs and a trembling leg shook the entire table. His forehead was covered with big drops of sweat, full of fear. The man in black didn’t offer words of encouragement or condolences. To him this was the natural way of life. Evil didn’t spare anyone and he was here to repay it in kind.

“I’d like to see the survivor.” - the visitor said.

“He’s delirious, father, almost dead. I doubt he would do you any good.” - the speaker said.

“Let me worry about that.”

The four men left the inn, and an explosion of emotions overcame the building once its wooden door was shut behind them. Fear, anxiety, anger, and excitement shone together like a star trapped inside the building. But the man in black paid no attention to it anymore. It didn’t matter what those people felt.