That meeting was indeed entirely devoid of young women. Mina turned again and again, overwhelmed by the situation, while Jacob thoughtfully counted the older couples to get an idea of the number of families in the area. Íthil, for his part, rubbed his forehead, irritated, and finally said:

"Do you have any idea who it is? Are there any groups of slavers or bandit raids around here?"

"Some years ago there were, but no more, we solved that," Regis said, forcing a smile, looking at a patch of blackened bricks in the central plaza, denoting a culpable justice from years past.

"I understand. Any clues or patterns to track?" Íthil asked.

"Well, for starters, the young women don't just disappear. First, they go through a period of enchantment; little by little they spend more time in the woods... over 3 or 4 weeks they become more and more attractive, and then one night, they simply vanish," Raya said.

Many of the villagers fell silent while some mothers and fathers sobbed.

"This doesn't give us much to work with," Mina murmured to the other two.

Suddenly, the villagers began to overwhelm them with questions and pleas for their missing loved ones.

"Friends, please, calm down. The adventurers must be tired for now. Please, adventurers, take tonight to rest. If you have any questions, you can ask any of us or the villagers. This is for everyone!" He looked firmly at the rest of the village.

"To rest!" Merril exclaimed firmly, and although she didn't seem to have the same leadership, she was equally respected.

"Well, it looks like we'll have a calm night before the storm," Íthil grumbled.

"What's wrong, Jacob?" Mina asked.

Jacob was staring fixedly at the end of the main street of the village. His ears were deafened as he felt as if he were being dragged through it and into the forest. An old, closed path called to him, illusory movements and macabre dances among the branches trembled, moved by the contrasting light of the village and its oil lamps, being dragged further and further, for a moment he almost completely disappeared into the pulsating blackness of the forest.

"OWW! I'm sorry, I got distracted. What happened?" Jacob said, not responding until Mina hit his head.

"Let's go to sleep, dwarf, we have work tomorrow," Íthil and Mina gathered their belongings as the villagers retired to rest.

"Hmm, you know… I'd like to accompany Mr. Raya on the night patrol," Jacob said attentively.

"I don't see the problem, little friend, but you should know that the forest is spooky at night; you don't want to be out there, believe me," Raya replied, chuckling.

"Alright, will you need support?" Mina asked, taking Jacob's bag with her.

"No, no… but let me get my Jassubiana fiber rope out of the bag," Jacob rummaged through his pocket, pulling out a rope of natural fibers and several finely carved white wooden staffs.

"Jassubiana?" Mina looked intrigued at the silver rope that looked more like a very thick thread.

"Yes, yes… it's to foresee some things," Jacob took 3 spools.

"Okay, if anything happens, wake us up, dwarf," Íthil mockingly took his belongings as they left, heading towards the unoccupied house in the center of the village.

The village was hexagonally grouped, with the windows of the inner row of houses facing the center. The chimneys aligned in the alleys allowed the village to stay warm in the cold, damp forest. Jacob accompanied old Raya on the night watch path; Raya told Jacob about the misadventures and experiences of the village from when the coal mine was still active, and while they chatted, Jacob hammered wooden stakes into each of the external gates of the village.

The sun was already rising through the fog and twisted foliage. Small rays of light piercing through the foliage pushed back the fog and humidity. By this time, most of the villagers had already finished their morning tasks, and Raya and Jacob's night patrol had retired to sleep four hours ago.

"Alright, Jacob, what did you discover?" Mina took goat's milk and a roll dipped in a freshly cooked egg yolk.

"Well, it seems the village doesn't actually have a name," both Íthil and Mina stopped.

"Wait! Did we go to the wrong place?" Íthil hit his forehead with his hand.

"No, it really is Theos, but it's not the name of the village, it's the name of the mine," Jacob corrected while a woman brought him fried eggs, bread, and milk.

"Oh... oh...! Alright, don't scare me, dwarf," Íthil went back to resting while taking out a map of the area to get an idea of where the young women might be.

"So this village is what's left of the old mine population," Mina said as she took a third pair of eggs and two more loaves of bread.

"Is there any kind of record?" Íthil looked questioningly at Jacob who was finishing his breakfast.

"In Mrs. Merril's house there's a record of births and deaths from 89 years ago. It seems the mine was a primary hub of activity in the area until it stopped producing coal and Archaeorelics 80 years ago. Since then it's been abandoned. Are you interested in exploring it?" Jacob asked as he tied his wine-red bow tie and tidied his hair.

"Hmm, if possible, I'd like to avoid that area in case of collapses or something, so are we going to see Merril?" Íthil took his Klauvra and adjusted the belt of his worn military uniform.

"Yes, it seems she's the general practitioner and midwife, or at least that's what Raya told me," Jacob said as they left the house. Outside, a bunch of kids chased some goats and chickens back to their pens.

"Any news about the siblings?" Mina asked.

"It seems they did little, other than drinking almost all of Raya's wine cellar and eating his hams," Jacob said, laughing.

"I would have done it too, but in the end, no one in the village has heard from them for a year," Íthil told them as they walked down the street.

"Mr. Raya didn't say much, he just said that one day on one of the few patrols they went out and they were seen on the old road to the mine; from that moment they lost track of them completely. People have been nervous, they are avoiding the mine and the road at all costs, even the kids don't go," Jacob and the others turned onto the street as a couple intercepted them and gave them a portrait of their daughter to look for.

"Let's hope they ran away… though I don't see why," Mina said.

Merril's large house, hospital, and medical office were in an inner sector, surrounded by a garden hidden among the hazy alleys of the village. Upon arriving, the front door suddenly opened.

"Yes, Mrs. Esther, take these bags, one in the morning diluted in milk, and regarding your chickens, I'll talk to Claude and his friends; they'll patrol them in the afternoons," an elderly woman took some bags of yellow powder and left, greeting the adventurers as she said goodbye to Mrs. Merril.

"Hmm, Amarto and Lapizan powder, for vigor and digestion, maybe I'd add a little brown sugar for energy," Mina said, noticing the small bag of powders given.

"Well, I see, a fellow doctor, that's a good observation, although Mrs. Esther has problems with her sugar levels, which is why I omitted the latter," Mrs. Merril replied kindly and smiling.

"OH... NO. NO. I didn't mean to question your prescription, you know your patients better than I do, it's obvious, excuse me. Sometimes I speak my thoughts without thinking," Mina apologized to Mrs. Merril, who responded calmly and kindly.

"Ahahaha, don't worry, I see you're a Drakoorias, you have no malice in your words, or as they say, Drakoorias speak no falsehoods nor wish ill. Besides, I'm old now, sometimes I forget things too, but tell me, boys, how can I help you?" Mrs. Merril said kindly.