Chapter 14: All of a sudden, this place has become village-like, hasn’t it?

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Name: Balrath

Age: 32 years old

Village Bond Level: High

Suitable Occupation: Soldier

Gift: (Swordsmanship)

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What does (Swordsmanship) mean? Why is it in parentheses?

<<Because this person hasn’t been blessed, his Gift can’t be used yet.>>

Eh? So, does that mean that as long as he gets blessed, he’d received this particular Gift?

<<Yes.>>

The ability that I could have gotten was lying dormant and going to waste like this. At any rate, Villager Appraisal lets me know even this, huh. Hmm, I wonder if there’s anyone else who is like him…

“…village chief?”

“I-it’s nothing. Anyway, what is your family structure like, Balrath-san?”

“My––”

It would seem that this person was actually the younger brother of Belrith-san.

So that’s why their names sound alike.

Furthermore, he said that because he had a wife and two children, he was really grateful that I welcomed them into the village.

His wife didn’t have a potential Gift, but their two children both had (Swordsmanship) written on the line about their Gifts. The children weren’t at the age where they could receive the rite of blessing, but as soon as they turn 12, I hope they would receive it somehow.

After a while, I finished interviewing the newly arrived villagers.

I organized some of the data as follows:

By age group:

12 were children (0-11 years old); 37 were adults (12-50 years old); and 2 were elderly (51+)

By gender:

18 males; 33 females

Total number of households: 14

As for the category of Suitable Occupations, they were all over the place.

From orthodox jobs like farmer and merchants to somewhat suspicious ones like jailer and torturer, as well as entertainers like dancers and singers. It was quite varied.

All that being said, why is being a torturer the Suitable Occupation for an old lady over 60 years old? Plus, she’s the oldest among them by far, but she made it all the way here with strength to spare as though she was among the young ones.

Anyway, I told those who were suited for agriculture to take care of the fields. Of course, because they alone couldn’t handle all the things that needed to be done, I told everyone else to assist them in some way for the moment.

In total, I found 7 people with potential Gifts among the new villagers.

As mentioned, Balrath-san and his two children had Swordsmanship. The Gift of the other 4 were as follows:

Comprehension of Concoctions

Red Magic

Labyrinth Exploration

Literary Talent

[Comprehension of Concoctions] seemed to be related to the mixing and preparation of things like medicine. It belonged to a woman in her twenties who was already a widow.

[Red Magic] was a Gift related to fire and heat magic. It belonged to a 10-year-old girl. No one else in her family had a Gift, so it might be a mutation of sorts.

[Labyrinth Exploration] might be related to dungeon explorations. It belonged to a 30-year-old man. His parents were dead, he had no siblings to begin with, and he never married or had children, so among the refugees, his household was the only one to have one person. Maybe it was because he was a bit eccentric, but I felt like he really stood out like a sore thumb among the refugees.

[Literary Talent] was most likely related to writing and the like. It was possessed by a 14-year-old boy.

It might just be a fluke, but the number of people who had potential Gifts was more than I expected.

According to my private tutor, over 80% of nobles had Gifts, while less than 1 in every 100 commoners could get one. That made me curious enough to ask “What if we bless everyone? Wouldn’t that lead to a great improvement to our territory?”, and my tutor replied “1 in every 100 is not much; it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth”.

 Looking back, it might just be that the nobility was trying to monopolize the power of Gifts. Not to mention, there was always the risk of a commoner who possessed a powerful Gift inciting a rebellion.

And so, the nobility conspired with the church to limit the access to blessings.

Even so, isn’t their distrust a tad too much?

 “All of a sudden, this place has become village-like, hasn’t it?”

Selen said so when she walked by.

I used that chance to use Villager Appraisal on her as well.

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Name: Selen

Age: 15 years old

Village Bond Level: High

Suitable Occupation: General

Gift: Dual-wield, Blue Magic

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Oh, she’s recommended to be general, huh. I can certainly see her as someone who would lead soldiers through a battlefield, but why would a mere village ever need general…?

That aside, more people meant an increase in the need for meat, so I asked if she could continue to hunt for us.

“Luke-sama, there’s a good chance more refugees will come to village. I think we should ready ourselves for that.”

“Yeah. According to the stories I heard from the new villagers, there have been an increase in fighting here and there.”

While Millia and I were talking like that, I decided to use Villager Appraisal on her as well.

Will her Suitable Occupation be something like ‘maid’…?

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Name: Millia

Age: 21 years old

Village Bond Level: Ultra-high

Suitable Occupation: Priest

Gift: (Oracle)

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So, Millia’s 21… Wait, more importantly, she has a potential Gift!