Chapter 85

〈 Episode 85 〉A Changed Village

‘The house is big…’

The Village Chief’s house was as spacious inside as it looked on the outside. Asha, feeling hesitant as if she had entered a place she shouldn’t be, felt relieved upon seeing the familiar face of the Village Chief.

“Village Chief! How have you been?”

“Ah, Asha. It’s been a long time!”

Walking out of the room, the Village Chief made eye contact with Asha and wore a welcoming expression. The Village Chief looked at Lucia, grabbed her waist, and lifted her up in a hug.

“Has Lucia been well too?”

“Yes!”

Asha realized that Lucia had quickly reduced her height back to normal. Freddy might not have noticed if he had only glanced at Lucia, but the Village Chief, who had lived with Asha and her daughter for a long time, would have undoubtedly noticed if Lucia had grown abnormally large. She sighed, admiring her daughter’s quick wit.

‘Phew… that’s a relief. The Village Chief would have definitely noticed.’

Asha brought up the question she had been wondering about since coming here.

“Village Chief, so what exactly happened in the village? At first, I thought I came to the wrong place.”

Rex, who had been holding Lucia until then, gently put Lucia down again and gave a bitter smile.

“There’s no better way to explain this situation than to say it has changed beyond recognition. It started with the negotiation with the Orc Tribe that you went to, Asha.”

“Are you talking about the trade I arranged with the Chief after the evacuation?”

Asha recalled the negotiation that she had arranged between the human village and the Orc Settlement.

“That’s right. Thanks to you, Asha, we were able to get off to a good start. At first, we only exchanged urgent supplies like food, but gradually the scale of trade grew. We initially only exchanged leftover fabrics with them, but the reason the village’s appearance changed like this is because of spices.”

Asha, unable to find a connection between spices and the village’s appearance, was puzzled.

“What are you talking about? Are you talking about things like herbs or garlic?”

The Village Chief nodded.

“That’s right. After interacting with the villagers a few times, I felt that the Orcs were trustworthy enough. Our village and the tribe had what each other needed, and the most powerful of those was spices.”

“That’s right. Ah, now that I think about it, I don’t think I ever saw the Orcs using spices!”

“Asha, as you know, dried herbs or oils alone are not enough to make a meal. Due to the aftermath of the evacuation last time, we were short on food but had a surplus of spices. They mainly eat meat, but even though they are incredibly good at grilling, they don’t use anything other than salt for seasoning. Ahem, I taught them some, various methods.”

Asha had seen Eva eating only meat for all three meals while living in her house. She could clearly picture the Orc Settlement being turned upside down by the culture shock from the human village, with the Orcs going crazy for meat.

“Hahaha! They must have been ecstatic!”

The Village Chief couldn’t hide his laughter, as if he still found it amusing.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect that sending them leftover byproducts would have such a big impact. Even now, the hottest topic among the Orcs is how to combine spices, including oils, to make the meat taste better. Since then, our lives have also changed a lot.”

Lucia, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between the Village Chief and Asha, asked the Village Chief.

“Then, if I go there to play, will the meat be even more delicious now?”

“Ah, of course. You’ll probably be surprised when you go. Well, what was I trying to say… right, anyway, because of the spices, most of the villagers are now growing and drying herbs or extracting oil from plants. We get enough food from the Orc Settlement. We still grow wheat, but not as much as before.”

“But how did the village’s appearance change like this? At first glance, the Brick Houses looked similar to what I saw in the Orc Settlement, could it be…”

Rex nodded at Asha’s question.

“That also happened as an extension of the trade. Originally, the Orcs hunted and maintained their weapons themselves, but as you know, Asha, that’s quite inefficient for those strong friends.”

“Ah, that’s right. So, now people are going back and forth between the villages to do the work for them?”

The Village Chief smiled at Asha, who seemed to have caught on to the situation.

“Aside from being lazy, there are always quite a few people left in the village. The people we sent to help with the aftermath of the hunt were quite welcome to them, and later, Orc laborers started building houses for us as a group. Heh, I still can’t forget how surprised they were. ‘What, is this a place where people live?’ Honestly, I was a little annoyed when I heard that, but it’s a different story when they build so well. Would you believe that it took less than a month to demolish almost all the houses that were falling apart after the evacuation and build the village like this?”

“A month?! Ah, that makes sense…”

Asha was briefly shocked, but she nodded involuntarily, recalling the physical abilities of the Orcs.

“The Orcs can lift the main beams alone and hold them up until the pillars are set, so building a house is a piece of cake. The Stone Wall of the village was also built at the same time as all the Brick Houses. It’s a shame you didn’t come a little earlier, you might have been able to meet them working.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I have to go to their village anyway.”

The Village Chief, who was drinking water because he was thirsty, scratched his head as he looked at Lucia, who was dozing off next to him, bored.

“I don’t know if I talked too much trying to explain this. Well, has your curiosity been satisfied?”

“Yes, of course! I’m looking forward to seeing how much the Orc Settlement has changed.”

“But Asha, was the matter you went to resolve settled well? I thought you would be in the settlement, but I heard you left a while ago.”

Asha smiled bitterly as she thought about what she had gone through since then. So many things had happened, but it was difficult to tell Rex about them.

“It’s not over yet, but it wasn’t bad… but I think I’ll have some time for a while.”

The Village Chief, noticing that Asha had her own circumstances, nodded without saying anything.

“Well, how long are you planning to stay? I guess you’ll be going to the Orc Settlement?”

“Yes… I came here to see the Village Chief’s face. I think I’ll look around the village a bit more before I go. I’m glad you seem to be doing well.”

“Haha… I’m busy, but I was even prepared to abandon the village, I didn’t know things would turn out like this. These days, I sometimes think that working this busy is not so bad compared to living like before. There are no more people starving in the village. Say hello when you go to the settlement. There are quite a few people who reside there now.”

“Yes! I’ll pass on your regards. Take care of your health! Lucy, let’s go!”

“Ugh… eh?”

Asha carefully picked up the drowsy Lucia and went outside. She was seen off by the Village Chief, who followed her out of the house, and she slowly looked around the village.

‘I really can’t recognize it.’

If the old appearance was just a common rural village with some people, the current appearance was like a small planned city. The Brick Houses, lined up in a uniform manner, even looked orderly. The highlight of such a village was the high Stone Wall visible from everywhere.

‘No, really, why did they build it so high…’

The wall, which was almost 4 meters high, was excessive for a place where only about 200 villagers lived. Asha, who had fought against the Tentacles relying on a makeshift wooden fence before, knew very well how formidable that Stone Wall was.

In fact, the Orcs, who had overestimated the size of human houses, had brought too many materials at once, so they quickly built a wall surrounding the village with the leftover materials, but Asha had no way of knowing that.

While looking around the village, Asha was welcomed by many people. Her appearance as an outsider fighting back in a desperate situation had left a strong impression on the people. Asha, who had received so many gifts while looking around the village that she was holding them in both hands, wore a troubled expression.

“Ah, aagh… why do they keep giving me things…”

“Asha! This too!”

“Ah, it’s okay!”

Asha, unable to refuse what they were giving her, escaped from the villagers who kept coming as if running away. Even so, she couldn’t help but smile as she saw the people who were happy to see her receiving gifts. Lucia, who was next to her and had a pile of gifts like Asha, tilted her head.

“Mom, why do you like it while saying you don’t like it?”

“I-It’s not that I don’t like it… I’m just a little embarrassed.”

Asha was not used to the kindness that strangers showed her, as was the case in the Orc Settlement. However, when she received such kindness, she felt awkward yet ticklish.

‘I’m glad everyone seems to be doing well.’

Asha was relieved to see the developed appearance of the village that she had been worried about after completing the quest and leaving.