235-234 Neighbor of Fear




 I'm a villager.
 I don't care what my name is, I'm just an ordinary inhabitant of an ordinary, ordinary village.

 I'm the product of a peasant father and mother.
 I was born with a farmer father and a farmer mother, and although I didn't have anything good to say, I didn't have anything bad to say, and I kept doing the same thing day after day until I realized I had a wife and became a father.

 She will be eight years old this year.

 On the way there, the human nation that ruled over us was destroyed and the demon tribe took over, but nothing much has changed.

 That doesn't matter to us commoners.

 Taxes have been reduced and the soil has become richer and more fertile.
 The crops we planted are growing well, and if things continue as they are, our lives will get easier and easier.

 That's what I thought...!
 God in heaven, he's been putting us through our paces...!

    * * *

There's a monster in the hills...!
I knew it...?

 Lately, there was a strange feeling in the mountains, so I checked it out and it was as I expected.
 I sent one of the village's most courageous young men to check on him, but he came back pale and pale.

...And what kind of monster was it?
Humanoid. They were big and nerdy, and there were a lot of them...!
These are orcs. They are intelligent and move in packs. That's a problem...!

 It is the commentary of the most knowledgeable elder in the village, but what good would it do to know his name?
 Monsters are vicious.
 That's the only thing that matters, and in that respect, there is no difference in the fine varieties.

 A small village like ours is suddenly attacked by a bunch of monsters and destroyed....
 Although such stories are rare, we have heard of them nonetheless.

How are the monsters doing...? Did you notice it in here? Didn't feel like staying long?
They didn't seem to know there was a village nearby. But they had an air of inhabitation about them. They were cutting down trees and making things...!

 No!
 Just the mere mention of a monster nesting near a village would be an existential catastrophe!

 Right now they may not even know we're there. If they pass by unnoticed, all the better.
 But if they don't notice us, they will eventually.
 The moment they notice us, that's the end of us!

I think ten orcs would be enough to destroy this little village. How many orcs were there?
At least 30 of them.

 No....
 Our village is finished.
 We don't have enough time left in our lives until they find us...!

''I'll call my lord and have him send out his men now! And get rid of the monster!
I think that would be best. All right, let's send the fastest one in the village on an errand. We must keep our heads down and keep out of sight of the monster until the lord makes his move...

 Everyone agreed with the elders' instructions, and we all endured it like the trees and grass.
 It was the beginning of long, quiet days.

    * * * *

 So while we were holding our breath, the reconnaissance continued.

 Then we found out something surprising.

 The monster was building a castle on top of the hill.
 At first I thought it was just a hut to shelter from the rain and dew, but as the days went by it grew larger and larger, until it could no longer be called a hut.

 I can only call it a castle.

It's a huge castle with walls and gates made of stone! We won't be able to defeat the soldiers even if they come anymore!

 Those who came back from checking on the situation reported to them in tears.

''This........at worst, we may have to be prepared to abandon the village.......''

 The elder said as if in despair.

 You think we should leave the village and flee farther away from the monsters that might attack us at any moment?

 No! I was expecting that the legal magic of the human kingdom was gone, the mana of the soil that had been dying has returned, and there will be an even better harvest next year.
 You want us to move to a different land and start over from scratch?

It's better than being slaughtered. "It's better than having everyone killed. Is that better?

 But....?
 My daughter recently caught a cold in the winter and has been in bed with a cold.
 It doesn't even bring down her fever, and I can't move her in her current state...!

"We can't wait for our lord's help any longer. We can't afford to wait for my lord's help any longer. We can only hope that your daughter will retain her vitality. The rest of you must hurry and prepare to leave!

 Although not everyone was convinced of the choice to abandon the village, if there was no other way to preserve life, they had no choice but to follow.

 But I have a daughter with fever.
 She would not survive the long journey in her sick state.

 The rest of us might be fine, but my family and I couldn't leave right now.

 As a poor village, I can't give my sick daughter a decent meal, nor can I cover her with a warm blanket.
 All I have is a crude linen comforter at best.

 There was no way to cure her under such poor conditions.

 What am I supposed to do?
 Is there any way to save my daughter and protect my village?

 God in heaven..........
 If you are watching, please help us........!

    * * *

 And then it came.
 Before I was ready to abandon the village, the monster came.

 They finally noticed the village.

 They were quick to act, and by the time they realized they were closing in, it was too late.

'We're sorry we're late, but we'd like to pay you a visit.
..........

 Hmm!

 The orcs came from the front in a small group of about three of them.
 They didn't have any weapons, instead they were carrying a package of something.

''Here is a souvenir, a trivial one, but please pay it forward. No, we didn't know you lived this close to us, and we apologize for leaving it unattended for nearly a month.

 The parcel is in the hands of a representative elder from Oak.

'These are the vegetables we grow on our home turf. Please feel free to prepare and eat them. Our people will come by later with a cart full of vegetables to share with everyone in the village.
Haha.....? .......... Ruh?!

 The elder looks like he's about to ascend in fear and confusion.
 I don't want him or her to really ascend, so I tactfully switch places with him or her.

You don't intend to attack this village?
No, of course not. We have no hostile intentions. Peace is always best, isn't it?

 The other orc.
 They are not only polite, but also overwhelmed by their imposing manners.

You will be able to find out the reason why they are building a castle! A castle? Is it? Castles aren't built to attack or war with, are they?
It's what I want to build.

 He answered so crisply that there was no way to pursue the matter further.

I'm sure you're not the only one who is bothered by the fact that you guys are around. You don't know when the monsters are going to attack you. You can't even go out of the house because you're all too frightened under such circumstances! We're stuck fetching water and picking up firewood, and first of all we're all mentally wrecked!

 I'm going to say everything I want to say in a desperate manner.
 I don't care if they have a backlash.

My daughter is sick as a matter of fact...!
Are you sick? You shouldn't be. Have you seen a doctor yet?
I don't see any doctor in this poor village!
Then I'll take a look at him.

 Ha!

"I'm still learning the ropes from a good mermaid doctor. Maybe I can be of some help.

 I didn't know what was going on anymore, so I did as the Orcs begged me to do, and I took her down to my daughter.
 The orc looked into my daughter's mouth and listened to her heartbeat.

'It's a typical cold, but it's worsened and is on the verge of becoming pneumonia. It's probably due to poor nutrition and the air in this cold room.
Just because I know that doesn't mean I can't...
'In the meantime, I'll share the common medicine that Master Gala Rufa left for you. Make a nutritious soup with the vegetables we brought you from our home and give it to him to drink. Then, if we can keep the room as warm as possible, you should be able to get rid of the cold in no time at all.

 The orc took a bottle from his pocket and took a pill out of it and brought it to his daughter's mouth.

 The next morning, my daughter suddenly felt better.
 The crisis in the village passed without any kind of explanation.