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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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After the modest but lively little victory celebration in the village concluded, I began to pack my things and prepare to return to Tillasden.
As I was loading empty bags and used equipment into the carriage, Village Chief Andal approached me.
“You’ve worked so hard, Mr. Iyer.”
“Village Chief.”
“Since the goblin settlement was discovered, the villagers’ faces grew more haggard by the day. Seeing them now, with their worries gone and bright smiles, is truly heartwarming.”
The village chief grasped my arm, chuckling warmly.
“I’m glad I brought you here, Mr. Iyer.”
“I simply did what I had to do.”
“No. I truly believe I was fortunate that the adventurer I met was you, Mr. Iyer. It was thanks to you that we were able to subjugate the goblins without a single casualty in the village, it seems even being struck by lightning doesn’t guarantee death.”
The village chief said, laughing heartily.
But his laughter faded, and his expression turned apologetic.
“I confess, though it’s a bit late… when I first heard about you, I didn’t trust you. A blind adventurer? I thought it was absurd.”
“I see.”
“But seeing you cooperate with the young men and drive out the monsters, I realized how foolish I was. I, a simple village chief from a remote village, couldn’t comprehend how skilled you were as an adventurer, despite your blindness.”
I was taken aback by the village chief’s next action.
Village Chief Andal bowed deeply.
To someone young enough to be his grandson.
“Would you forgive this foolish old man’s ignorance?”
Oh dear.
I didn’t like this kind of atmosphere.
If any villagers happened to pass by, they would wonder what this young man was doing to an elderly person.
And I wasn’t comfortable with an elderly person bowing to me.
Simply put, it was awkward.
To quickly escape this situation, I replied as politely as possible.
“Village Chief, you rode for two days to Tillasden despite your age. With such deep concern for your villagers, I would have found it strange if you hadn’t been worried after seeing me with my eyes covered.”
“Mr. Iyer…”
“Please raise your head. By bringing me here, you protected the entire village. You should be proud of yourself.”
Responding in a serious tone, the village chief, who had been staring at me for a while, let out a sigh and then a chuckle.
“You’re an amazing person.”
“Not at all.”
“I’d like to pay you several times this amount, but… our village isn’t wealthy. Still, I want you to know that we gathered as much as we could.”
The village chief handed me a pouch.
Judging by its weight, it was slightly heavier than what I had estimated in Tillasden.
The villagers probably added a bit more as a token of their gratitude.
It wasn’t a huge sum, but it wasn’t small either.
It must have taken a considerable contribution from many households to gather this much.
I looked at the pouch and then placed it back in the village chief’s hand.
“I won’t accept this money.”
“Mr. Iyer?”
“Instead of me taking it, I’d like you to use this money to invest in the village’s defenses. Even something as simple as a low fence would be a great help. It would provide practical defense, and the visible presence of a fence would make monsters more hesitant to attack the village.”
And if they acquired proper weapons, they could handle any future goblin incursions themselves.
Wouldn’t these be the most valuable uses of this money?
Village Chief Andal’s eyes reddened as he listened to my explanation.
“Mr. Iyer, you truly are…”
Oh… this was touching.
I would have felt the same if I were in his shoes.
But Village Chief Andal, I’m sorry, but what I was aiming for in this request wasn’t the reward money.
I had come here with a different intention from the beginning.
Hiding my true intentions, I continued speaking as naturally as possible.
As if I was simply choosing an appropriate alternative reward in lieu of the payment.
“But as an adventurer, I can’t work for free. How about this instead…”
“Safe travels!”
“Thank you, Mr. Iyer! Thank you so much!”
Watching the young man wave leisurely from the back of the village-provided carriage, Jacques and Village Chief Andal sighed, a mix of emotions swirling within them.
“You brought a good man here, Village Chief.”
“…He’s a rare young man. I’m grateful to the heavens for allowing us to meet him.”
“Do you think I could become an adventurer like him someday?”
Jacques’s eyes, fixed on the carriage carrying Iyer, were filled with admiration.
Seeing him, Village Chief Andal couldn’t help but smile.
It seemed the blind adventurer had not only protected the village but also had a positive influence on the village’s youth.
“You’re young. Youth holds infinite possibilities. Who can say you can’t become an adventurer like him?”
“…That’s true.”
After watching the carriage for a while, Jacques looked at the pouch Village Chief Andal was holding.
It had been Iyer’s payment.
Noticing Jacques’s gaze, Village Chief Andal recalled the young man refusing the reward.
“I think Mr. Iyer probably realized.”
“…Realized what?”
“He refused the payment. I don’t think we need to ask why.”
There was a reason why Village Chief Andal couldn’t accept Rigati’s suggestion to request help from the lord when he first went to Tillasden.
It was because the village of Andal and Jacques was an unregistered squatter settlement, not officially recognized by the territory.
Village Chief Andal had fled from another region with his fellow villagers, unable to bear the high taxes, and settled on the outskirts of Tillasden.
Jacques was born after the village was established.
The fact that the village was unregistered meant they weren’t paying taxes to Tillasden, Tillasden was unaware of their existence, and the village wasn’t under Tillasden’s protection.
If they had reported the goblins to the lord, they would have been deemed illegal settlers and punished.
That was why the village couldn’t ask for the lord’s help.
Of course, not paying taxes didn’t mean their finances were abundant.
They had simply gone from struggling to eat even one meal a day due to taxes to being able to barely make ends meet.
Village Chief Andal believed Iyer hadn’t accepted the money because he understood the village’s circumstances.
“Haha. Perhaps we’ve met a nobleman in disguise.”
“So, Mr. Iyer returned without receiving anything?”
“Instead of payment, he made a proposition.”
“A proposition?”
“Yes. A proposition where the village had nothing to lose.”
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“Hmm hmm. Hmm hmm hmm.”
I hummed a tune, enjoying the clear sky from the back of the rattling carriage.
Every time the carriage wheel hit a rock, it jolted my backside, but I didn’t care, as I was in too good a mood to notice the discomfort.
I was so elated not just because I had successfully completed the request, but because everything had gone exactly according to plan.
Things don’t always go according to plan.
Usually, about 80% of the time.
But this time, I had achieved a 100% success rate.
How could I not be happy?
Unable to contain my joy, I opened one of the bags beside me and took out its contents.
“Oh, you beautiful thing.”
Actually, its appearance was closer to grotesque than beautiful, but what did it matter?
To me, it was a treasure.
I gently stroked its surface, sniffed it, and rubbed it against my face.
Finally, I kissed it and carefully placed it back in the bag.
If the village man driving the carriage saw me, he would probably think I was crazy.
Because what I had been sniffing, touching, and kissing…
Was a strange-looking mushroom.
But appearances could be deceiving.
This mushroom held infinite potential.
I had learned about this mushroom about a month ago.
As usual, I was having dinner at my regular pub in Tillasden and chatting with a cook I knew.
“Iyer, you know what?”
“What?”
“There’s a luxury item trending among the nobles lately… and it’s quite peculiar.”
I tilted my head.
The nobles’ tastes were so eccentric that there were countless luxury items whose popularity I couldn’t understand.
Like strangely shaped sculptures or unnecessarily large rings.
At least in my mind, most of their preferences were difficult to comprehend.
“What kind of perverse thing have our esteemed nobles taken a liking to this time?”
“Fortunately, it’s not a perverse preference I’m telling you about. It’s food, food that’s trending lately.”
“Food?”
“What else could it be… it’s mushrooms.”
I put down my idly moving fork and sat up straight.
The cook, as if expecting my reaction, clapped and laughed heartily.
“You know the mountain range near the border of Tillasden? There’s a mushroom that grows there. A mushroom with multiple heads. It looks kind of creepy.”
“Go on.”
“I thought it was just a creepy mushroom. But then, a method of cooking it with duck fat became popular. They say it tastes divine.”
A flash of inspiration struck me.
This was a money-making opportunity…
“It’s quite difficult to harvest, you see. The mountain is quite treacherous. It’s not abundant, so it’s hard to find, and it grows in high altitudes, making it difficult to collect. Moreover, it shrivels up quickly after being picked, so you have to apply the proper preservation techniques immediately.”
“That… certainly sounds difficult.”
“It is. It’s a difficult task unless you’re already working in that area. But that’s why… the nobles are crazy about it.”
About this mushroom.
The cook, placing his hands on his hips and making vulgar gestures, was promptly hit on the head by the pub’s madam and dragged back to the kitchen.
But even after he was dragged away, his story lingered in my mind.
‘From the moment I heard the village’s location from Rigati, I knew I had to take this job.’
And after arriving at the village and asking around, I found out that the villagers also knew about the mushroom.
Although they didn’t know about the cooking method or the nobles’ obsession with it.
Instead of accepting the reward money from Village Chief Andal, I proposed that the village mushroom hunters cultivate and preserve these mushrooms, then sell them to me regularly every month.
I would purchase these strange mushrooms at a fair price, similar to other mushrooms, and the villagers would earn income from selling them.
What a beautiful and harmonious transaction!
I silently thanked the angel who had brought me this good fortune.
Thank you, Rigati.
I’ll prepare a nice gift for you.
This would be another insurance policy for my retirement.
A very reliable and generous policy, supplying the nobles, no less.
“Hahahaha! Ahahahaha!”
I burst into laughter and leaned back against the wall of the rattling carriage.
I casually reached into my personal bag beside me…
“…Huh?”
Where was it? My crafting bag…
The bag containing the straw rope for my straw crafting was missing.
“Oh… don’t tell me I left it in the village?”
I had brought so many bags that I must have accidentally mixed up my crafting bag with the others.
I had braided quite a bit of rope on the way, and to think I left it behind…
“Well, it can’t be helped. But it’s okay. I can always make more straw rope, right?”
I was in such a good mood today that I could even take this in stride.
I could always make more straw rope when I had time, couldn’t I?
Of course!
Hahahaha!
Filled with anticipation for my even brighter future, I returned to Tillasden with a light heart.
And so… it was the day after I arrived back in Tillasden, after a three-day journey, that I heard the rumor about this strange mushroom becoming a high-priced luxury item among the nobles was complete “bullshit.”
The day I heard the truth, I grabbed that bastard cook by the collar.
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😂