Chapter 167 - Unwanted Fame (2)

I stood in the middle of the village square watching the stall owners trying to repair their stores. Wooden planks littered the dirt grounds and the water reached the edge of my ankles. Instead of a rainfall, it was better to assume a hurricane had washed the square.

A farmer who had forgotten to store his tools into his house held rusty pieces of metal in his hand. The metal was broken to the point it could not be usable with the rust. The farmer's look hardened as it meant he would be purely be using his hands to harvest the rest of his vegetables. I wondered how their houses were since they didn't have a mana barrier protecting them as I did.

"Sorry, I'm late," Olive ran toward me.

"It's fine," I observed the scene in front of me.

"My family farm almost got destroyed because of the heavy rainfall," Olive explained with her torn clothes.

Ahhh. This explained why her knees were scratched while her whole body was covered with dirt. I knew in the old days, people had to protect their assets with their own bodies, but it was still a foreign concept. It felt strange to witness the scene in front of me.

"Do you think you can fix this, Olive?" A stall owner interrupted us.

"Yes, I think I can," Olive studied the junk.

I proudly watched over Olive as she confidently lifted her head when talking to others. This was a great change when she wouldn't meet anyone's eyes while she spoke.

The stall owner brightened as he called his fellow villagers to ask for an appraisal by Olive. Few minutes passed before a huge pile of junk was in front of Olive in exchange for a mere small copper coin each. Olive sent an apologetic smile since it seemed she couldn't hang out with us with the orders.

Even now, the pile was increasing as Olive didn't stop taking more orders. It meant that the villagers acknowledged her skill from a few days ago. I waved farewell since I didn't want to bother Olive and promised to meet her tomorrow.

This was how Olive and I were inside the flower field outside the house. She couldn't stop sighing as her face was downcast compared to her bright smile from being relied on yesterday. I wondered what happened in the brief window of a day to make her seem depressed. Olive continued to rip petals of a daisy one by one.

"What's wrong?" I asked while ignoring the numerous flower stems tossed on the ground.

"My parents had told me a marriage proposal came from the village chief's son," Olive's voice cracked.

I patted her bent back to urge her to continue. Olive started to hiccup as she revealed the horrible details. Her eyes started to glisten with the horrible thoughts from having to marry someone she despised.

"Everyone knows how the village chief's son likes to play around with alcohol and frequently travels to the brothels in the capitol to gamble."

"I'm so sorry," I tried to comfort her.

Those lines were all I needed to know Olive was going to get engaged to an absolute sc.u.m. He was a womanizer, gambler and alcoholic. The three worst combinations that anyone would avoid. But couldn't she reject his proposal? Olive was too good for the likes of him.

"Can't you just refuse?"

"I can't, I'll be going against the powerful village chief," Olive wiped the tears on her cheek.

I knew what was going on now. Since Olive's talent could be valuable for making money, the village chief wanted her skills for his family. This was why after the rumors from her many good deeds like the flood, he immediately sent a proposal. I sighed since there were always people who tried to take advantage of others.

"Once you get married, can you get divorced?"

Olive shook her head like she never heard the term of divorce before. I knew this meant there was no divorce for commoners in the fifth district. In some ways, the traditional practices from the fifth district were transferred to the first district like marriage and engagements.

"Then decline unless you want to live with him for the rest of your life! Do you want to be happy for the rest of your life?" I almost yelled.

It was sad this topic was relatable to me. Even though I couldn't break the engagement yet, I wanted to help others from going through the same thing. I couldn't help but get reared up as I thought of killing this sc.u.m so Olive wouldn't have to marry him.

"Even though it seems like you don't have a choice, you do! Nothing is decided yet!" I tried to push her.

"So don't marry him if you don't want to, just continue using your magical hands for things that make you happy," I smiled.

The world didn't need more unhappy people because they were trying to fulfill their duties. Once in a while, they needed to realize to break away from the obligations chaining them down. I lightly patted her head as Olive smiled when she came to a decision.

"You're right, I won't marry him," she gathered strength for the courage to refuse the proposal.

"Your ideas are so new like you're not from the same world as me," Olive laughed.

Right, because I had the memories from my former life where most people got married for love. I laughed with her as I pretended she was telling a joke. I was glad Luke didn't hear this since he would feel uneasy from our disguises being blown away.