ALL NOVEL Chapter 36 - An Unexpected Event (4)
The place they arrived at, guided by the girl, was the village chief’s house.
The village itself wasn’t very big, so they arrived shortly after leaving the house where they were staying.
“Is it here?”
“Yes, you can go right in.”
The girl saying to go right in probably meant she wouldn’t be entering.
Yona quietly observed the girl’s appearance.
Her face was streaked with dirt, with only the tracks of tears clearly visible, showing how much she had cried.
Come to think of it, she had lost her sister earlier today.
Yet she didn’t even have time to grieve.
‘It’s not… like I don’t understand.’
After all, the value of life in this place is just like that.
It’s also a place where the concept of human rights doesn’t even exist.
People of this era have to worry about tomorrow’s life without even having time to mourn family members who have crossed the bridge of death.
“Okay. I got it.”
There was no particular need for it, so Yona decided to ignore it.
They saved this village and also saved the girl’s life.
That’s enough duty done as a cleric.
Yona thought Eije would have said that was enough too.
The meal set on the village chief’s kitchen table was simple, but it was obvious they had prepared the best menu they could.
It looked like common rye bread, but it was sifted well when baked, so no coarse grains were visible.
Steamed vegetables – they had removed all the roots to ensure there was no raw taste.
The soup, made by boiling peas and soybeans together with a bit of bacon, was only seasoned with salt, but they had added more bacon than usual.
“Please, sit down. It’s not much, but we prepared it with sincerity.”
The elderly man with a cleanly bald center invited them to sit with an awkward smile.
After the lizardman Kairoc and the orc James managed to squeeze into their seats with some difficulty, the table surrounded by five people looked fully occupied.
“Now, bring it out.”
As soon as the village chief’s words fell, a middle-aged woman came out carrying cups on a tray, placing them in front of Yona’s group one by one.
Yona looked into the cup.
The short wooden cup was filled with a cloudy, pale white liquid.
“Is this posset?”
“Ah, yes. Since you’re such grateful guests, we brought out something we’ve been saving.”
Posset, a drink made by mixing milk and eggs with beer or wine.
While beer is relatively easy to obtain, milk and eggs are not.
Milk and eggs are things to be sold rather than eaten.
To make alcohol with that, it must be precious alcohol, and this much shows that their words of gratitude to Yona’s group are not just lip service.
As each person received a cup of posset, the sweet yet savory taste naturally improved their mood.
The atmosphere became quite warm and pleasant, and the village chief talked loudly with big hand gestures while grinning widely.
“That demonic beast earlier, as big as a house…”
“It’s a demonic beast called a troll.”
“Ah, yes, yes. I’ve never seen such a large demonic beast in my entire life.”
The chatter continued.
Hearing this, it certainly was a bit strange.
It’s not common for trolls to attack villages like this.
Why would such a demonic beast, which should inhabit deep forests, attack a village?
Perhaps, like in James’ village, they had done something.
“Was there anything strange happening in the village recently?”
Kairoc asked before Yona could.
“Something strange?”
The village chief thought for a moment and shook his head.
“There was nothing like that. It was the same as usual. For country bumpkins like us, every day is the same, nothing changes except for our field work.”
“I see.”
But then why did the troll appear?
It was strange.
‘Maybe it would be better to investigate a bit. We have a long journey ahead.’
Kairoc thought as he finished his posset.
After drinking a cup of posset, beer accompanied the following meal.
Yona also liked beer, and since the beer here tasted quite good, she kept accepting and drinking what was offered, putting her in a good mood.
“Is Yona alright?”
Kairoc quietly asked Alec.
Yona, with her face flushed red and making a vacant laughing sound, “Hehe,” was in a state that looked worrying even to those around her.
But before the answer came, the village chief’s words interrupted.
“Is… is that demonic beast’s blood really that expensive?”
He was talking about the troll’s blood.
As instructed by Kairoc, they had collected the troll’s blood using every basin and bucket in the village and put it in a cool place, but it didn’t feel real.
In a rural village like this, they never see trolls, let alone know how expensive their blood might be.
Moreover, the villagers had moved the troll’s corpse to some open space in the village.
“It’s an ingredient used in making potions. So it’s expensive. People from the church will come tomorrow, so you can sell it then. And you can use that to pay our compensation.”
Alec quickly answered, as Yona, already quite drunk, might say something unpredictable.
“Ah, th-that… Right. Compensation, yes… We should pay compensation.”
The village chief’s expression darkened a bit.
Troll subjugation requests are expensive.
It starts from a minimum of one gold coin.
Moreover, that one gold coin is just the initial fee, and additional compensation is added depending on how strong the troll was.
“H-how much should we pay?”
“Four gold coins. You should count one gold coin per person.”
Kairoc, who had been silent until now, spoke while glaring at the village chief.
Kairoc, who had been an adventurer much longer than Alec or Yona, had already noticed.
This guy doesn’t want to pay compensation.
In other words, he’s thinking, ‘Who asked you to catch it?’
That’s why, at this point, he’s likely to appeal to their goodwill.
“But… too many people in our village have died, and to prepare for the coming winter, we don’t have the means…”
“Oh, come on!”
“Eek?!”
Kairoc cut off the village chief’s words and stabbed down the fork he was eating with.
The fork stuck deep into the wooden table, and when Kairoc let go, it vibrated with a rough sound.
“We risked our lives to fight. Do you want to say who asked us to save you?”
Kairoc’s gaze turned to the village chief.
The silver-rank warrior’s gaze stared directly at the village chief.
The atmosphere instantly sank.
Compensation, of course, should be received.
If he had asked to reduce it a bit, there might have been room for consideration.
Four gold coins isn’t some kid’s name, and given the village’s obvious financial situation, it would have been better if he had asked if they could reduce it a bit.
“No, no…! That’s not what I meant…!”
“Then what did you mean? When you sell that troll’s blood and corpse, you’ll have much more left over. Isn’t it much cheaper than the price of your lives?”
Yona, who had been laughing drunkenly, was now glaring at the village chief with a cold expression.
“You should have asked us to reduce it. If you had, we might have considered it. Right, Kairoc?”
“Ahem.”
Kairoc didn’t answer that and instead downed his drink.
“Why, do you have any complaints? The troll is already dead, so your near-death experience is now nothing, and you thought you’d hit the jackpot, but now you’re upset because you have to pay?”
“Th-that’s not it…”
The village chief was flustered.
Seeing him even sweating, Yona thought for a moment.
It was good to set the mood, but at this point, she wondered at what point to ease the atmosphere.
If only someone would jump in and mediate-
“Now, now, Village Chief. Four gold coins is quite burdensome for you, right?”
Alec intervened in between.
While doing so, he winked at Yona and Kairoc, signaling that he would compromise appropriately, so they should concede a bit.
Negotiating appropriately is also a quality of an adventurer.
Extorting an unbearable amount is what thugs do, so Kairoc and Yona had intended to do that anyway.
“Ho-honestly, that’s true. Many of our young people have died or been injured… It’s time we should be preparing for harvest…”
“Then let’s make it two gold coins. Honestly, Chief, you did help at the end, even if it was last minute, so we’re considering that. We’re not such heartless rogues, you know.”
Alec rubbed his hands together and smiled quite good-naturedly.
Sitting right next to the village chief, Alec even put his arm around the chief’s shoulders and made coin shapes with his fingers, waving them gently.
“We also caught it more easily thanks to the villagers, you know. We’ve reduced it by half considering that. It’s not a discount, it’s a reduction. This is important, you understand?”
“That’s right, that’s right, do you understand?”
Alec persuades and Yona chimes in.
The skills from selling loot at Henson’s General Store back in the day haven’t rusted at all.
“Sigh, humans really. Even when you save them, they don’t know how to be grateful.”
“All humans are like that. You just can’t feel it because you’re human, but all humans are like that.”
Yona pouted at Kairoc’s blunt words.
Even so, saying all humans are like that is a bit hard to hear.
“Not all of them are like that. These people are just weird.”
“Think as you like, Yona.”
As Yona was returning to their lodging, an abandoned house caught her eye.
There were plenty of abandoned houses around, either completely ownerless or having lost one owner, but this particular abandoned house stood out.
More precisely, what caught her eye was-
Someone peeking out from behind the wall of that abandoned house, who quickly hid as soon as Yona looked that way.
“You guys go ahead.”
It’s not like it’s a demonic beast anyway.
There was something that came to mind.
“Where are you going? Want us to come with you?”
“I’m going to the bathroom, idiot. Want to follow me to the bathroom?”
“There’s a bathroom inside the lodging too…”
Why is this guy so clueless?
Yona, feeling her irritation surge, shouted angrily.
“Oh come on, just go! I’m going to take a dump!”
Ah- Alec’s face showed an expression of realization.
“If you don’t want to witness the realization that even beauties defecate, let’s hurry and go, Alec. I don’t particularly want to see it myself.”
“Right, let’s go quickly, Alec.”
Watching Alec being dragged away by James and Kairoc on either side, who had somehow started speaking informally, Yona lightly hummed a tune as she approached the abandoned house.
“I know who you are, little one. Why were you hiding and peeking at this big sister?”
Stepping over what used to be the house’s entrance, now without a trace, Yona looked around.
Not far away, in the corner where the only intact wall remained standing, the little girl was hugging her knees tightly and staring at Yona.
No, not exactly staring.
Tears flowed freely, glistening in the moonlight, and her face was still covered in grime except for the clean tracks where tears had flowed.
The girl was looking at Yona while continuing to hiccup.
“…Why are you looking at this big bro… sister like that?”
“I’m… sorry…”
Her voice was so small that even in the dead of night, you had to strain your ears to hear it properly.
“No, it’s not about being sorry… No, no…”
She doesn’t dislike children, but in this situation, she doesn’t know how to comfort her.
Yona scratched her head vigorously and squatted down in front of the little girl.
“Come here, little one.”
Even as she said this, Yona hesitantly moved closer and reached out to wipe the tears from the little girl’s cheeks.
‘She might be cute if cleaned up…’
There was definitely that feeling.
If cleaned up and dressed properly, she might be cute…
Come to think of it, why are her clothes like this?
Even with all the chaos today, does she have to wear clothes patched up like this?
No, before that, if she’s wearing clothes patched up like this, isn’t she just desperately poor?
“Did your parents pass away today?”
The little girl shook her head.
“I lived… with my sister.”
“…And that sister died today?”
The little girl nodded.
“…Is there an adult to take care of you?”
The little girl shook her head.
Ah.