CH 38

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I had Oken go to my house. I hadn’t gotten the Blacksmith’s Workshop yet, and I hadn’t assigned him any particular task. By now, he was probably mingling with the rest of the old folks, but he might not be able to talk to Adara properly and might be in a daze.

For some reason, Sareha was not in good spirits after returning from the dungeon and went to the outskirts of the village with the grimoire. I could hear him chanting from time to time, so I guessed he was spending his time practicing magic by himself.

Sareha had unusually high magic aptitude, probably due to his skills. Even if there was an ancient grimoire, there wouldn’t be many people in the whole kingdom who could learn magic that fast.

It was wise to keep the study of magic as knowledge in the palace and not practice chanting at all. If he had shown his talent in the palace, Sareha would have been assassinated for sure.

Speaking of something out of the norm, Sheila’s healing potion was another example. However, that was partly because the facilities of the alchemy workshop were too good. Sheila worked diligently and sincerely on her alchemy and made the ancient potion according to the procedure.

But I didn’t feel I could do the same. The strength of Sheila’s feelings, that straightforwardness, helped her to create the potion. Even now, Sheila would probably be working with alchemy in her workshop.

“Sirius, do you have a minute?”

“Yes. What can I do for you, my Lord?”

I talked to Sirius, who was in charge of supervising the work.

At the edge of the village, we could see the wheat field that we had sown before. Everything was probably wrong, from the way the soil was tilled, to the time of planting the seeds, to the usual maintenance, but the wheat was growing nicely.

“I’m sorry I’ve always left you to your own devices. Is everything all right?”

“Yes, everything is fine. The wheat is growing, and I’m looking forward to the harvest.”

Sirius turned his head back to look at the wheat field. Meat was the main staple of the Beastmen’s diet, but they sometimes bartered for bread from the merchants along the river.

“I plowed and sowed the seeds just right, yet they still grew. How can wheat be so easy to harvest?”

“Answer – Rupert wheat is an ancient famine relief food. It could be harvested in any soil and at any time of the year. Even with Henry-sama’s limited knowledge, it still can be cultivated.”

“Hey, isn’t that too much?”

Golemus, who happened to be standing nearby, answered. Food for famine. Food for emergencies, in case of starvation or disaster. I sowed some seeds in the field that I had received as a dungeon reward before, but I heard that they were called Rupert wheat.

“Supplemental – Rupert wheat absorbs mana from the surrounding air. Because it uses mana to supplement its nutrition, the soil does not become depleted. It also has a small amount of status-raising effect. Regular consumption is recommended.”

“I see. And how does it taste?”

“Report – that’s all I have to say.”

“Don’t dismiss the question! Is it bad, or what?!”

Golemus looked left and right to keep an eye on his surroundings. It was even possible that he was pretending to be working in order to end the conversation, but since Golemus had no facial expression, it was impossible to read him.

I’m still a little nervous, but I would like some wheat, or even bread, at all costs. If we didn’t stock up for the coming winter, we would all starve to death together.

“Sigh… Anyway, everyone is listening to Sirius’ instructions and working very hard. I think you should go back to being chief after all.”

“No, once a Lord decides, he does not change. Besides, there is…… some calculations.”

“Calculations? I’m royalty, but I’m in a bad situation I don’t know when I’m going to be killed.”

Even as we were talking, Sirius was visited by a number of residents who came to him for instructions. He seemed to have already grasped the surrounding terrain and instructed them to check the places where monsters were likely to hide.

“The village I was in was completely doomed. If we lost to the eighth prince, Ace, we would be wiped out. Even if we won, we would have incurred the resentment of the kingdom. Even if we had established a settlement elsewhere, we would have been hunted down and destroyed. Confrontation would lead to destruction, and submission would not be tolerated. That’s why I wanted to come under the protection of you, my Lord.” 

“I see. I’m royalty, but I’m almost hostile to the kingdom. So we’re joining forces against the kingdom.”

“That’s right. I can’t let the blood of my clan die out. Besides, serving my Lord is something I’ve discussed and decided with everyone.”

A group of beastman children were playing in the middle of the village. They were throwing stones at each other from a distance with wooden sticks inserted in the ground. I wondered if they were practicing for hunting. They seemed to be having fun.

“It’s not just about calculation. In this day and age, we don’t get to choose how we die, but we do get to choose how we live. We were touched by a part of the Lord’s way of life, we liked it, and we thought we could follow it.”

“I don’t live in a noble way. I think I live off my own selfishness and resentment.. On the day Ace attacked, all I did was fight out of resentment and anger.”

I didn’t know if I was resenting the way I was treated at the palace or the way my mother was stolen from me, and I didn’t know which way the scales were tipped.

A life filled with emptiness. Maybe I’m trying to find meaning in my life by thinking I’m holding a grudge. If that’s the case, then who am I…?

“My Lord’s weaknesses are too numerous to count, but his pessimism needs to be corrected. Oh, yes. …… You saved Adara and the others when the village was swallowed by the muddy waters. I abandoned the old people at that time and prioritized saving the children. I was thinking of the future benefits. But my Lord never gave up and saved us.”

“I threw the two grandpas, though.”

“Hahaha. They’re not angry anymore. They may be old, but they are still warriors. They don’t keep digging up things that have already happened.”

I’m accepted by all the beastmen. When I heard that, I felt somewhat relieved.

“Oh, by the way, the two people who died in the defense battle were…… Alcala and Druss.”

The two dead warriors.

“Yes …… you remembered them. War is a terrible thing. I’d tell them to fight bravely, but it’s still hard when they come back dead.”

“I will do my best to make sure that my territory, this village, is safe from the fires of war.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes a little and nodded.

A child who spotted the two of us came running towards us. A beastman girl. In human terms, she’s about six years old.

“My Lord! Hello!”

“Yes, hello.”

A girl clung to my feet. I’m not used to having an innocent smile directed at me, so I’m a bit perplexed.

“Come, greet your Lord.”

“Yes! My name is Frodo, my Lord!”

“What does Frodo think of the Lord?”

Sirius’ question was too much. If she answers this with “I don’t like him” or “I don’t care”, I wouldn’t be able to recover and I needed to call Gabriele again to heal me.

“I like him! Hey, my Lord, don’t you have that bright red sickle with you today?”

“That’s a farming tool, so I left it behind today. When the wheat grows again, we can use that sickle to cut it.”

“Yes!”

Frodo looked happy as she clung to my leg. I was relieved that she didn’t seem to hate me. I stroked her head lightly and she smiled happily. Her animal ears swayed a little and her tail also wagged a little as if it was flapping in the wind.

“What do you think, Lord?”

“They don’t hate me very…… much, but I think Frodo is just being friendly.”

“The children have been watching you closely. They remember the scene when you helped the old people in the village. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Yes”

***

I separated from Sirius and the others and took a look around the village.

Beastmen warriors stood on guard and kept a watchful eye on the surroundings. They even stay awake to guard against the possibility of monsters arriving at any time. The number of warriors is not that large, and when combined with their usual hunting duties, they are quite overwhelmed.

“I want an outer wall.”

I wanted an outer wall to surround the village. I wanted to build a watchtower and put archers and ballistas on the outer wall. In order to avoid war, we would need military power. This may sound like a contradiction, but the long history of human has proved this to be true. It doesn’t matter how much justification you have, if you don’t have the power, no opinion will be accepted.

In order to build the outer wall, we needed people to work and transport the materials. The current Beastmen have their hands full and couldn’t be relied upon. We also didn’t have enough money, so we couldn’t rely on outside help.

“All right, let’s go to the dungeon!”

I’m not going to interfere with Sareha’s magic practice, so I’m going to dive alone this time, and since I’ve just come up with a way to earn a lot of DP, I’m going to see how it goes in reality.

I would dive into the Trial of the Beginning. I’m going to use the evolutionary phenomenon of monsters fighting each other as a way to earn DP.