I AM AN ATHEIST

The Butchers

Harbinger valley lies at the south of the capital city Yuzu, one has to cross this valley to reach the Gurukul.

The team of prince Xavier were riding the horses while travelling through the valley.

It took them a full half of the day to reach the valley itself.

According to Foen, the best way to exit the valley was to follow the traces of dried river.

Their journey till now was smooth and also amusing to Foen when he found that he was travelling with a weird mixture of people.

To him, the prince looked as brave and heroic figure while his cousins seemed to be utter cowards.

It took him some time to understand the girl, he concluded that she was shying away from the prince as she avoided the gaze of the prince every time their eyes met.

The prince did not look like a talkative type nor the girl either, so he could only talk with Golu and Molu but he regretted talking to the famous good for nothings of the kingdom.

" Foen, you did not answer my question yet, Aren't you afraid of bandits? "

Golu asked while gulping down the barbecue which he took out from a bag.

" Yes, Foen How could you work in such a dangerous place?

Molu said as he took a bite of the chicken leg piece which Golu passed to him.

A few minutes ago, Foen initiated the conversation with the brothers in the hopes of passing the time, they were friendly so it did not take much time before he had a proper talk with him.

He discussed various things with them, but somehow Golu's eyes landed on the bag in which he stored food.

Then they talked about the bag and asked him about the contents

Finding the bag had food, their eyes glittered as they begged him to take a look at it.

He initially refused them because he was not the owner of the food, he was just a carrier.

But after being consistently insisted by the duo, he had no other choice except to hand over his bag.

After handing them the bag, Foen asked them to give it back just after taking a peek, but instead, they shared the food and were eating in front of him right now.

" Of course I am afraid, but sir Golu, could you please give the bag back? "

Foen said after he realized he was cheated.

" But Foen... Ummm... gulp", Golu stuffed all the meat pieces at a time into his mouth.

" But Foen, if you are so afraid, then why are you still working as a merchant?"

Golu questioned while grabbing another chicken leg piece from the bag.

" Sir Golu, please return the bag first"

Foen said with a sense of impatience in his voice.

" That's very rude of you Foen, how can you ask for the bag from Golu without answering the question ?"

Hearing Foen, Molu intervened.

Foen could not afford to anger that guy, the owner of the food, but at the same, he could not anger these brothers either.

He was in dilemma, he felt like crying but he decided to take back the bag at any cost.

" Sir Molu, the bag is important to me, can you please give it back ".

Foen tried to convince them.

"don't worry Foen, we are not heartless enough to eat someone's food, but we expect you to answer our questions first," Molu said as he took the last bite of the leg piece.

Shameless! Then what are you eating right now? Is it yours or your father's? Foen cursed inwardly.

" Are you afraid of bandits or not?" Golu asked again.

" Yes, I am "

Hearing the repeated question Foen a little annoyed but still did reply.

" Then why are you still working as a merchant"

Molu threw his next question.

" Because it's my only way of livelihood"

Foen answered without showing any kind of emotion on his face.

" How long were you working?"

Molu questioned.

"since the age of 12" Foen replied.

After Foen replied,  Golu stayed silent for a while before sighing "Then you won't understand ".

" What won't I understand?, there is nothing in this world I can't understand" Foen yelled as he felt that the two thrash of the kingdom were looking down on him.

" of course, you won't understand the ultimate paradise "

Golu declared.

" Foen remember that the paradise does not lie in the afterlife, it's here in our world "

Molu said as he looked at Foen.

" Do you know what paradise is? no, you don't because you never enjoyed it, every day you think about earning but never think about enjoying the food and sleep "

Golu said as he pulled out another leg piece from the bag and kept it in his mouth.

Realizing that he could not win in a verbal war with the brothers, he put his pride aside and said:" yes, I don't know, I accept that I am a thrash, please hand me the bag back".

" Hahaha, I am happy so let me explain the great pleasure of paradise "

"The tasty food and a day without any kind of work is the greatest paradise "

Golu said while gulping down his saliva.

" I would have been enjoying myself in the paradise if it was not for my father"

Golu said in a complaining tone.

" Sir Golu, I feel sincerely sorry for you"

Foen revealed his fake sympathy.

"But don't forget your promise, please hand me the bag"

Foen reminded.

" No, not yet,  I am not satisfied with your answer, so as a punishment I will show you the paradise," Golu said as he grabbed a bowl from the bag.

Damn you! Foen cursed inwardly because the bowl was that guy's favourite dish.

" Brother Golu, could please stop eating other's stuff," the prince said as he could not withstand the pathetic behaviour of his cousins anymore.

" Brother Golu, please put the bowl back and hand the bag over to Foen"

Prince ordered.

"No!" Golu exclaimed as he did not know to want to do it.

" If you do not return it now then I won't protect you in the Gurukul"

Xavier said with a firm resolution.

Golu knew that he needed the prince's help to survive in Gurukul while hesitating he put the bowl back inside the bag.

Golu wanted to taste the dish inside the bowl because the aroma was itself was much attractive but he had no choice to do so.

" Thank you, prince" Foen thanked, he knew that the prince had the choice to take sides of his cousins but he did not do it.

" Foen, you should not thank me, my cousins were at fault, to begin with "

The prince replied.

After everything sorted out, the journey continued without any hurdles until Golu shouted " stop, stop"

Before he could complete the sentence,

"Purr" along with the sound, a sweet fragrance was spread in the atmosphere making everyone to cover their noses with their hands.

Feeling ashamed and while keeping his head down Golu said: " I have to relieve myself".

" Why are you still waiting? Do you want to release all of it in the pants? hurry up and go, but remember to return soon" Xavier immediately shouted while bearing the sweet fragrance.

No longer delaying the job, he took out a toilet paper from his luggage, slid down from the horse and disappeared into nearby trees.

Time passed, after waiting for around 30 minutes, seeing no sign of Golu,  Xavier felt something was wrong.

" Molu, come with me and you two stay here and guard the remaining horses"

Xavier said after climbing up his horse.

Not only it was Xavier, who realized that something bad happened, everyone understood there was probably danger lurking in the woods.

But the thing why Xavier chose Molu because Xavier knew his capability, despite being useless in the world's eyes, the brothers had superior swordsmanship.

Xavier knew that if his two cousins fight him together, he would not have any chance of winning.

Molu hesitated but he knew it was not the time for hesitation, a slight delay might separate him from his brother for forever.

climbing his horse, he followed the prince.

After Xavier and Molu entered the woods,

" I will look in that direction, and you look there," Xavier said.

It was the best way to look for someone in thick trees, the horse of Xavier struggled a little to move on an uneven ground scattered with branches and roots.

But it was well trained, each and every time it avoided the branches which could make it fall.

" Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Xavier was still searching before he heard a loud shout.

There was no mistake, the voice was Golu's, Xavier hurried towards the direction of the voice.

From a certain distance away Xavier could see the silhouette of Golu.

Seeing his brother safe and sound, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and slowed down his horse.

After the horse approached Golu, Xavier said: " Why did you yell? You almost scared me to the death".

But Golu did not see or hear the prince at all, his eyes were fixed on something and his entire body was shaking from fear, he was continuously gritting the teeth.

noticing this, Xavier turned his head, there were corpses, no they couldn't be called as corpses, they were just meat pieces.

The meat pieces of humans with intact skin. The fingers were minced, others parts couldn't be differentiated at all, and the skulls were not spared either.

It was a bloody scene, the blood was still fresh, amidst of the human meat drowned in blood, there was a creature sitting in the blood pool,  she looked like a human woman with long hair.

The difference was that she had no skin on her body revealing all her muscles except her head including the face.

"Pach"

" Pach"

"Pach"

While carrying a smile on her face she was butchering a human hand with a pair of sharp butchering knives, the blood from the hand was spilling all over her face, the more blood sprayed on her body the stronger her hacks became.

She was thoroughly enjoying the process.

"Yack"

Hearing the sound of vomiting, Xavier did only now observe that Faiza who appeared beside him spilt out the food.

She was not alone there was also Foen.

" Why are...they....here? "

Foen was shaking just like Golu but he could still speak, unlike Golu.

" Who are they? "

Xavier asked.

" The Butchers" Foen said out.

As if it was heard by the creature, she turned towards them and while keeping a big smile on her face which got fresh bloodstains, she said " Welcome Guests".

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