The village of youth

Episode 3: The village of Jugen

The next morning, when the sun had already risen, Yoshta was sitting on his bed and thinking about his upcoming fight against Chicos, about which many cruel things had already been heard. Above him the eight-legged spiders had also woken up and continued to build their webs, while a person approached the guest room and called:
<Good morning Yoshta, get up, then I'll lead you out of the forest without anything happening to you. And indeed, they ran into a few witches and dwarves on their way through the forest, but these strange figures did not cause them any problems, as they were all good friends with the wizard. Suddenly he said: <So, now you just have to walk along the small stone path, then you will come straight to Jugen, so goodbye>. The wizard disappeared and it seemed like it had vanished into thin air.

So Yoshta continued on his own way. <I see a village> the sword spoke up <that must be boys. And actually they were in a village a little later, but apparently there wasn't much going on there. Yoshta didn't see a single person on the streets who could help him, so he went to the next house and knocked three times on the somewhat rotten door. <In> whispered a deeper voice and Yoshta accepted thanks, opened the door and stepped inside. The house didn't look very inviting either, because all the furniture and fittings in the house had been completely destroyed. <What happened here> Yoshta asked the old man, who was trembling behind the table on the remains of a chair. <That was the red fire-breathing dragon> he replied. Yoshta saw the light. He remembered that Zaubus had said that the dragon had attacked the neighboring village and almost completely destroyed it, which is why many citizens had already migrated to other villages. <I am now telling you the sad story of our once glorious village> the man began.<Our village used to be like every other village in Kanto, because tens of thousands of people lived here, overjoyed, in harmony with nature. Back then we went to the market in Ojin with our cattle once a month to sell our goods there at fair prices. Even when Chicos seized power in this country, our happiness did not noticeably affect us. But then, about half a year ago, a red, fire-breathing dragon suddenly appeared in our village and ate all of our cattle. The dragon seemed to have liked it, because since that day he has been coming back to our village to see if there is something to eat again. If he doesn't find anything, he just destroys a few houses and every now and then he attacks one or the other person. Then go back to the forest today, disappear for a while and reappear at some point. That is why most of the residents of this village migrated to the regions where they saw hope for a normal life and only the most stubborn villagers, such as myself, stayed here.>

Yoshta was visibly touched by the man's story as he left his dilapidated house. <Will you help them> asked the sword curiously. <Nope, I have more important things to do> Yoshta replied. He went into a shop where he suspected a card from Kanto. <Yes, indeed, we have such a card here> said the seller <it costs 25 guldos for you today> Yoshta looked down at the sword, startled. The money that he had taken with him was unfortunately also in his backpack, which he had forgotten in the forest. <Then unfortunately I can't sell you a card> said the seller. Yoshta left the shop crying. <How am I supposed to find Salotte now to take care of Chico's> Yoshta wondered, but couldn't think of an answer. He strolled sadly through the streets of Jugen and ran past a huge poster on theStand: "1000 guldos for the one who kills the fearsome red dragon". Yoshta grinned all over her face and said to the sword <sword, I think we will bail out the village after all.

At the same time in Sengin, Yoshta's birthplace. Happo and Tiza sit at the brown, round wooden table and think about their near future. <The grape harvest this year has turned out to be pretty bad> said Happo in a low voice <If Chicos continues as before, we will soon no longer be able to pay rent and I think you know what that would mean. Please, my son, hurry up, otherwise we will soon no longer be able to talk to you>.

--- Now follows the first fight of the hero Yoshta against the fiery red dragon. This should be assigned even greater importance in the later course.