Moon Glaive

Chapter 1: Indu

"Indu, are you okay?" Her father's voice cut her spiral of negative thoughts. She wiped the tears that had formed at the corner of her eyes with the hem of her skirt, putting on her brightest smile.

No partitions separated the dining table and the half-pace staircase, so her father stared at her quizzically as she walked down. A moment later, his face fell.

"Were you crying?"

Indu turned her head away, wiping her eyes, wondering if she hadn't cleaned them properly. Something slammed hard on the table. Footsteps strode in her direction before two arms enveloped her in a crushing hug.

She looked up at her father's chiseled face, deep sorrow in his eyes. He gently stroked the top of her head as her arms enveloped him. Though he wore a long-sleeved, red tunic, it couldn't hide his muscles. Though not what they once were when he was a warrior, they still retained their strength.

Indu's nose stung; the tears she had tried so hard to erase poured once more. They stained her father's tunic, but he stroked her like an adolescent child. No words left his mouth. He had always been like this. Whenever Indu cried, her father would hug her and stroke her head until she calmed down.

After ten hour-like minutes, Indu's tears stopped. She peeled her beet-red face from her father's chest. She was a 21-year-old woman, yet she was still crying on her father's shoulder like a six-year-old.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"I know you mean well, father. Don't blame yourself." Despite her eyes still being red, Indu shot her father a bright smile. He smiled back and ruffled her hair.

He released her from his grasp, and she made her way to the dinner table. Her father followed. They finished their meal, making jokes and laughing as if the previous incident hadn't occurred. It was what made her father so great - he always uplifted her mood when she was down, taking her away from the dark and thrusting her into the light. She couldn't ask for a better father.

As she helped him clean the dishes, her father suddenly spoke.

"There's a lot of work I need to do, so I won't be home tonight. Can you and your sister manage?" He removed the bowl from the water bucket, lathering it with soap.

"I mean...we can...but do you really have to stay so late?" Indu shot a concerned glance at her father. Recently, he had been working late into the night. She was used to preparing dinner and caring for her sister, but she hated when he wasn't there with them.

"I have no choice in the matter. This concerns the town's security, so I can never relax. A good lord wouldn't do that."

"The town's security? What happened? Is it the mountain monster?!" Her gaze shifted to panic as she imagined a ten-foot-tall monster with three heads and dozens of arms ravaging the town. She shivered.

He lightly knocked her head with his soapy hand, putting soap in her hair.

"Ow!"

"Didn't I already tell you there's no such thing as a mountain monster? Those are rumors spread by those idle fellows who have nothing to do but spread fear and anxiety across the town."

"Then what is it?" She wet her hands with water and scraped the soap from her hair with a pout.

"A troll was spotted a few kilometers from the town by a group of hunters. Thankfully, they escaped successfully. However, considering the power of a troll, I might have to personally make a move to subdue it." His eyes hardened as a faint killing intent permeated the room.

"So it was a mountain monster!" Indu exclaimed, aware of his killing intent but keeping silent. Her words snapped her father out of his daze, and his killing intent vanished.