Chapter 168 - Village Chief (POV)

I rubbed my chin, wondering if I should attend the meeting next month the feudal lord arranges for updates about his territory. A bottle of whisky wasn't helping today too, but I still broke the lid and dumped the last remainders of the drink into my mouth. My wife would somehow help clean the mess later.

My headache increased since it was terrible to owe money to the other village chiefs. I didn't think I would go overboard that day with the gambling. It was a simple card game. I had to guess if the card I picked would be revealed when the dealer flipped the card.

Unfortunately, my world came crashing down when the village chief next to my village had his predicted card to be revealed instead. He laughed loudly like he was proclaiming his annoying victory. I gritted my teeth as I tried to hold myself from slamming my fists onto the table.

My loyal wife, wearing the latest dress from the capitol strolled in like she didn't hear my loss. It was strange since she should have already heard about the news. She sat down on the couch in the study before opening a new bottle for herself.

"What should we do?" I asked her.

"What do you mean? I already have the perfect plan!" She took a long sip.

"Have you heard about a pretty girl who can fix anything?" Her words were slurred.

I nodded my head as I watched her hazy eyes that seemed blurred as she quickly got drunk. She occasionally hiccuped from her low alcohol tolerance as she directly looked into my eyes. My wife always did like the newest brandy even when she did get wasted after a few sips.

"Just marry her to our son and she'll bring in money for our family," she lisped.

My mind instantly clicked from hearing her solution. There was a rumored young girl who could fix anything with her tiny hands. The tax collector had mentioned she helped with the restoration of the village with her skill that rivaled great blacksmiths in the capitol.

If she married our incompetent son, then she could quickly bring in money if we charged a huge sum to wealthy villagers in other villages. I smiled as I recalled the tax collector telling me how rumors of her ability had already spread throughout the feudal lord's entire territory. What was I so worried about? There was no way that girl would be able to refuse a proposal from someone with a higher status.

I summoned the girl after sending a proposal immediately to get her married as soon as possible. I smiled at the peasant as I welcomed my future daughter-in-law inside. But instead of sitting down at the chair, she lowered herself on the floor.

"I am sorry, but I decline," a young girl bowed to me.

When I stood there, not believing her refusal, she repeated the lines one more time, "I cannot marry your son."

I stumbled a few steps back from this unbelievable scene. My head was getting hotter as I stared at the insolent girl in front of me. She was scrawny and ugly from her worn out clothes. How dare this peasant refuse the marriage proposal to my son! I couldn't believe I even thought of marrying her to my son in the first place.

"GET OUT!" I yelled.

She quickly got up and disappeared from the house like a tiny mouse. I couldn't let my rage devour my thoughts. I had to contain any potential rumors that she had rejected the proposal or my reputation could be tarnished. Now that my plan was ruined, I had to come up with another way to pay back the debts.

I called for my wife as she was extremely creative to obtain the latest fashion from the capitol. We equally needed the money to continue our current lifestyle. My wife calmly entered the room, ignoring me who was pacing around the room.

"We need another plan," I chewed on my fingertips.

"Don't worry, I always had another plan," she smiled.

"You know how the king is giving out rewards to those who help with purging witches. She's the perfect target."

My wife was right. Ten years ago, the king had sent out a decree of getting rid of all witches. I doubted that witches actually existed, but the reward was about one bag of large gold coins. It was the one of the few sources of income that fueled this poor village.

My wife and I made creative plans every few years to label a feeble peasant as a witch when we ran out of money. But we had to stop recently when the villagers were starting to get suspicious after the sixth witch in the sixth year after the decree.

I grinned as this was the perfect opportunity to utilize the girl with magical hands that could fix anything. I could already feel the nice clunking coins in my hands. The villagers were to starve from this winter anyways from the heavy rainfall. They would be appeased if we held a tiny banquet for them that cost one coin inside the bag.

It couldn't be helped to waste the girl's talent, we all needed to survive and she was the solution for everything. And no one would be suspicious this time as everyone had already witnessed her magical powers with their own eyes.