Chapter 11: Your Village Has Reached level 2!
“I can’t believe it, there’s really a village out here…”
“It was only recently established and with only just three people. For the meantime, I stand as this village’s leader. I am Luke.”
“Ahh, village chief-sama, please excuse the late introduction. I am Belrith. And for the moment, I stand as this group’s representative.”
Berlith-san was a man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties.
He had signs of being muscular, but perhaps because of malnutrition, he was sticks and bones at the moment.
Not just him either.
The entire group seemed to be starving.
After a brief discussion with Selen and Millia, we agreed that the group was not dangerous and that we should invite them into the village.
Once inside, we talked to them some more. We had confirmed that they were indeed refugees.
The reason there were so few adult men was that they were forcefully conscripted.
And the reason there were almost no elderly among the group was that most of them insisted on staying in their village so as to not burden the group on their journey. Old people were unlikely to be conscripted or be turned into slaves, so the group reluctantly agreed.
Belrith-san’s father, who was their village’s leader, also stayed behind. So, Belrith-san took it upon himself to lead the escaping group in his father’s stead.
“After that, we wondered aimlessly until we reached this wasteland. And right when our water and food supply had run out, we found your place.”
“I see… ahm, well, we haven’t harvested our crops yet, and our own food supply might not be enough for all of you…but don’t worry, we’ll do whatever we can to prepare food for you all. Oh, and as for water, we have a well here, so feel free to drink from it as much as you want.”
“R-really? Thank you very much!”
In addition to looking like they’re starving, the group also looked thirsty. To help with that, I showed where the well was. In response, they all rushed toward it.
Hmm, is one well not enough? I have spare points, so why not build another one?
<<20 village points will be consumed to build a well. Proceed? *{Yes}||{No}>>
I selected Yes.
“Everyone, feel free to use this other well!”
“Really?”
“Was there a well there earlier…?”
“Either way, I’m grateful!”
While the people were quenching their thirst, Milia cooked the boar from Selen’s hunt yesterday.
Our remaining stock of wheat was used up as well.
“It’s not much, but please have some.”
“““Ohhhh!”””
Maybe it was because they were famished, but the refugees made all that food disappear almost instantly.
“We are truly grateful for this kindness you showed us. We’re not sure how to properly thank you beyond these words…”
Their hunger sated for now, Belrith-san uttered words of thanks while tears fell from his eyes.
As for the others, they put their palms together as though they were trying to worship us.
Regardless, their crisis wasn’t over just yet.
For their group to live here in this wasteland by themselves wouldn’t just be hard, it was nigh impossible.
<<Make them villagers?>>
As though reading my mind, some text appeared at the edge of my vision.
“…ahm, Belrith-san…”
“Yes, village chief-sama?”
“Would you like to live here in this village?”
“Eh!?”
Belrith-san was completely surprised by my proposal.
“To tell you the truth, we can use extra sets of hands. As you can see, we have fields with crops that are on the verge of being ready to be harvested, but harvesting them all should be a lot of hard work for just the three of us. Moreover, it will be too much for us to eat.”
“H-however, we have a lot of children in our group…the workforce we can offer might not meet your expectations…”
“Even then, I’d say don’t worry about it. Let’s just lend a hand whenever the other needs it.”
“Oh…Thank you, thank you very much…”
In reaction to my words, Belrith-san cried out loud as he profusely thanked me.
Right after that though, lines of texts appeared in my vision one after the other.
<<The 51 people represented by Belrith are now villagers.>>
<<Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congratulations! Because you now have more than 10 villagers, your village has become level 2!>>
<<200 village points have been acquired as level up bonus.>>
<<You can now build more kinds of facilities.>>
<<Maximum village area has been increased.>>
<<The village skill [Villager Appraisal] has been acquired.>>
<< Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congratulations! Because you now have more than 30 villagers, your village has become level 3!>>
<<300 village points have been acquired as level up bonus.>>
<<You can now build more kinds of facilities.>>
<<Maximum village area has been increased.>>
<<The village skill [Reposition] has been acquired.>>
