26
The community center, which was relatively intact, became a temporary shelter for the villagers who lost their homes.
While everyone else was sleeping soundly, exhausted from fatigue, there was someone who was sighing alone.
“ha…….”
The main character of the sigh full of worry was the village chief of Gulag.
“Village chief?”
The village chief, who had been absentmindedly contemplating, raised his head at the quiet voice calling his name.
It was Hanolds who was sleeping with his family.
Hanolds cautiously got up and approached the village chief, worried that his wife and daughter might wake up.
The village chief burst into laughter at the sight of the bear-like Hanolds walking lightly, avoiding other people.
“Village chief, why are you doing this instead of sleeping?”
“Haha, you’re the one who’s not sleeping anymore.”
At the village chief’s words, Hanolds collapsed down next to him.
Then he looked in the direction of his wife and daughter who were sleeping in each other’s arms and spoke.
“I slept enough. Normally, I would be up and ready to go hiking.”
“Isn’t this unusual? After all the hardship you had yesterday.”
“Did I just suffer? We all suffered together.”
Hanolds looked at his wife and daughter in silence for a moment.
As if to confirm that his and others’ survival was not a dream.
“Thank you.”
Looking at him like that, the village chief said.
Hanolds looked at the village chief, not knowing English.
“What is it?”
“If you hadn’t brought that wizard, wouldn’t we all have died? The problem is… … .”
The village chief, who had washed his face dry and trailed off, sighed again and continued speaking.
“The question is how we should thank the wizard. Even if we gave him everything we had, how much would it cost? It would seem like small change to someone who killed so many monsters in one night. You know that the powerful are only merciful within the limits they set. What if they think we’re just trying to save money… That’s what worries me.”
“… The wizard is a really good person. If we just do our best, he won’t be angry or upset.”
“That may be true. But then I wonder what I’ll do next. Everything I prepared for the winter has gone up in smoke because of this incident. All the firewood has burned, and more than half of the food is useless. The rest has gotten wet, so I’ll have to eat it up right away. If I give everything I have in this situation… … .”
“… … .”
The sadness of the weak who have no time to rejoice at surviving.
Having survived a monster that would cut people up and devour them, now another monster called cold and hunger was creeping up on me.
The village chief, who had been thinking for a long time, looked at Hanolds as if he had made up his mind about something.
“There’s nothing we can do. As soon as day breaks, let’s gather what we have and come together to raise money to give to the wizard. We’ll have to give him as much as we can and explain the situation to him. And as for money to get through the winter… we’ll have to go to the castle and borrow it.”
“Hey, village chief!”
Hanolds was startled by the village chief’s words.
It couldn’t be helped, because borrowing money from Yeongju Castle was such a big deal.
The moment you become indebted to a lord, you are prohibited from leaving the territory and lose your free citizen status until the money is paid.
Although it was a problem that could be solved by paying off the debt, it was by no means easy considering the high interest rates.
Even the slightest delay in paying the interest would result in the seizure of the property, and eventually, the tenant would be reduced to a serf who worked the lord’s land.
It’s not for nothing that nobles smile and lend money to commoners.
If you repay properly, you get a lot of interest, which is good, but if you don’t repay, you get a labor force that can support your children and their children’s children for the rest of your life, so it was a business with nothing to lose.
“You know very well, village chief. The moment you borrow money from the lord, the entire village becomes slaves. That may be true for us, but what about the children? It’s too much for them to live as serfs for the rest of their lives because of their parents’ debt!”
“…I have to pay it back properly.”
“What about that high interest rate? I’ll explain the situation to the wizard. Later, when the weather gets warmer, I’ll work hard to dig up herbs and raise the reward money, so I’ll ask him to be considerate.”
The village chief shook his head.
“It’s useless. We don’t have enough money, food, and clothing to survive the winter anyway. The only way to keep the children from starving is to borrow money from the castle.”
“that……!”
Faced with the harsh, if not hopeless, reality, Hanolds was speechless.
At that moment, a young man who was supposed to be standing in front of the hall came rushing in.
Then, he spots the village chief and Hanolds and approaches them, carefully jumping over the people.
“Lucas, what’s going on?”
“Well, the wizard outside asked me to bring Mr. Hanolds.”
“The wizard? It’s still dawn and you’re already up?”
“Yes, he said he had something to say to Mr. Hanolds. He asked me to wake him up quietly.”
At the call in English that they could not understand, Hanolds and the village chief looked at each other with puzzled eyes.
* * *
The same evening.
Hanolds looked at his daughter, who had fallen asleep from crying, and thought of the wizard who had left early in the morning.
The wizard who appeared as if flowing left behind many things.
He left behind a large sum of money, 1,000 gold, saying that it would be difficult to survive the winter even if he asked for a favor.
It left a bruise on my daughter’s heart that will not heal easily for some time.
No, will it work for a while?
There is no way I can easily forget this kind of relationship.
Perhaps the daughter would miss the person who had left for a very long time.
“… I wish you had stayed at least until Sophie woke up.”
Sophie, who couldn’t even say goodbye, cried a lot.
Even now, Sophie was sleeping, hugging the dagger and bracelet the wizard had given her.
With his eyes on the dagger, Hanolds recalled the words the wizard had left behind.
——————
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The somewhat unbelievable claim that Sophie has incredible talent for swordsmanship.
“I can’t imagine. I guess that’s true, since he wouldn’t be talking nonsense… … .”
Why a sword of all things?
Sword. It’s a word that really makes people nervous. It’s both bloody and dangerous.
But… if you have talent. If what he said is true.
“… This child may not live like us.”
Without being struck by poverty, monsters, or the absurdity of the world.
You might be able to live in this world with your head held high.
Is the world really safe if you don’t hold a sword in the first place?
no.
Rather, it is safer to live in this world holding a sword.
I hope my daughter doesn’t have to worry about going hungry every winter.
I want my daughter to live without worrying about becoming food for beasts or monsters.
For that purpose… … !
Hanolds put his hand on her bosom.
I touched the money he had given me separately to use when raising my daughter and the letter of recommendation he had given me to use when really needed.
Not only was the money good, but the letter of recommendation was actually written to a certain wizard from Eltomagia.
Even Hanolds, an ignorant worm who had never been educated, knew the name Eltomagia.
The name of the most mysterious and secretive Imperial Tower.
Perhaps the benefactor is also a magician who resides there.
You won’t suffer any loss by believing what such a person says.
Hanolds made up his mind.
I will do my best as a parent, without letting anything get in the way of the opportunities that heaven has given to my daughter.
* * *
The first place Dojin went after leaving Gulag Village was the nearest Adventurer’s Guild branch.
There, Dojin was giving a statement about the incident that occurred in the Gulag village.
“… This is a pretty serious case. Would it be okay if we kept it as evidence?”
“Of course.”
Dojin held out the broken spell of temptation.
The one found in the village was given to the pig as a gift, and this one was held by the half-penny wizard.
The guild official who received it wrote something with a serious expression, then soon nodded.
“On behalf of the Adventurer’s Guild, I would like to express my gratitude for your report and the precautions you have taken. The compensation for this case will be paid out as soon as the investigation is completed. You can receive your compensation at any Adventurer’s Guild branch, so please feel free to collect it at your convenience.”
“Compensation is compensation, but I hope you investigate and deal with it properly. In particular, the village that was attacked is practically in ruins. I hope you take action on that side as well.”
“Of course. I will take care of that so you don’t have to worry about it. If it really was like you said, Adventurer, that you were trying to harm innocent people by using monsters, then this is an act of betrayal against humanity. There will be no mercy at the tip of the Adventurer’s Guild’s sword.”
Is it just the Adventurer’s Guild?
In this world, monsters are treated as public enemies of humanity.
That’s why in Rostania, siding with monsters in any way is a taboo.
The Adventurer’s Guild will request the Imperial Family’s cooperation in the investigation, and those involved will be hanged one by one.
‘No matter how good the money is, that’s not true. He probably knew all about it.’
Dojin shook his head as he thought of the lords and the thugs whose names he could no longer remember.
Anyway, I finished it off neatly and used it to reserve another reward from the Adventurer’s Guild.
If it were someone else, I would have completed the destiny quest, but I would have been so drunk on the high that I wouldn’t have even thought about getting more.
Dojin was different.
Whatever it is, in one incident or one quest, we have to worry about it until it completely disappears.
Finally, Dojin, who had not forgotten to collect the monster subjugation record rewards stored in the adventurer’s pendant, left the adventurer’s guild.
“So now all I have to do is stop by the exchange and that’s it?”
The next place Dojin headed to was the exchange.
When I was short on money, I would trade because I was concerned about the high transaction fees, but now that my wallet is full, I want to save time.
It’s literally like buying time with gold.
What greeted Dojin as he arrived at the exchange building was a commotion.
“Buy low-level equipment and various items at the highest price. Save on exchange fees and get your money right away!”
“I sell all kinds of equipment items for cheaper than the exchange!”
“Selling high-quality potions that I make myself.”
Despite its small size, the area in front of the exchange was crowded with people trying to use the exchange and users buying and selling items to those who came to use the exchange.
Dojin wasn’t interested in such things, so he went straight into the trading building and activated the trading post.
Then, a familiar search screen that could only be opened in a certain location appeared.
‘I don’t know if there will be any for sale.’
Dojin set the search category to skill books and looked through the items.
Perhaps because skill books were so rare at the time, there were few items for sale and they were expensive.
There were many cases where items rumored to be useful were out of stock.
But Dojin wasn’t worried.
This was because he knew that the curse-type skill book he wanted was being treated like a waste at the moment.
‘As expected. It’s not time for this to get expensive yet.’
Even if you use attack magic a few times, your mana tank will be empty, and you will be ridiculed as a rabbit or a squirrel. This is the current situation for magicians.
From the perspective of such a wizard, the curse magic that was difficult to use and had poor mana efficiency was something beyond the realm of the shackles.
However, Dojin knew very well that if the conditions and circumstances were right, the curse would transform into a filial skill that would reach the peak of efficiency.
‘In my previous life, I just watched other people suck the honey, but this time, I’ll be the first to fall into the honey pot.’
Dojin smiled bitterly as he bought up the bad stock that had piled up in the exchange at a low price because no one was looking for it.
