episode_0010
by fnovelpia“I don’t know what it is, but please get up for now. This isn’t a place to stay for long. I heard a sound and don’t know what might come out.”
Frightened, people regained their composure and got up.
“Follow me. We must not be separated under any circumstances.”
I took the lead, and Mirella stood at the back, leading the refugees.
Looking at the map, we navigated through the winding and complex maze of garbage when suddenly Mirella shouted, “Watch out ahead!”
Raising my head, I saw something strange blocking our path.
It had a lumpy, rough skin, protruding belly, and a stocky muscular build. With a fierce face, its fangs jutted upward, holding a crude club in its hand. It was a monster.
Almost as tall as a human, it was likely a Yobaka rather than a goblin.
It wore a brown scarf-like thing around its neck, which I didn’t recognize.
Yobakas are gluttonous creatures that eat anything dirty and rotten, probably scavenging the landfill for food.
Not overtly aggressive, they don’t typically attack people first, but for some reason, this one blocking our path seemed highly suspicious.
I suspect it’s extremely hungry and considering preying on us.
What should we do with it?
“Step aside.”
Mirella pushed me aside and stepped forward.
“Can you handle it?”
“Of course. What do you take me for?”
As Mirella twirled the lid of Bint, Yobaka flinched.
Seeing this, Mirella’s expression turned triumphant.
Hmm, a fight between Yobaka and Mirella.
Despite its intimidating appearance, Yobaka is a weak and timid creature.
On the other hand, Mirella has the best stamina in our village and knows no fear.
Moreover, she possesses the rare item, Bint’s lid, providing her with buffs to stamina and attack power. The lid has infinite durability and will never break.
Considering this, Mirella has the upper hand, but still, it’s a bit unsettling to see a cute girl like Mirella fighting such a fearsome creature.
However, if I step in, it’s certain death.
There’s no choice. I have to leave it to Mirella.
She rummaged through her waist and handed over a potion.
“Drink this and fight.”
Mirella, who gulped down the potion, grinned and firmly grasped the lid with both hands.
“Watch closely, oppa. This is how a strong woman protects her home.”
Mirella made a strange sound and dashed forward.
In a sudden attack, Yobaka screamed and swung her club wildly.
Mirella’s and Yobaka’s weapons clashed.
While the lid didn’t even budge, Yobaka’s crude wooden club broke at once, causing her to stagger heavily.
Truly an unlimited durability rare item.
However, instead of continuing to attack Yobaka, Mirella turned her body to flee sideways.
Enraged, Yobaka ran after Mirella, causing the ground to tremble.
Mirella, who kept running, stopped in front of a dead-end trash heap.
“Mirella! Don’t just stand there!”
But Yobaka had already blocked Mirella’s retreat and closed in quickly.
Just as Yobaka was about to swing her club, a sight that made me doubt my eyes unfolded.
Mirella crouched down and rolled under Yobaka’s legs at an incredible speed?!
With her back secured, Mirella struck Yobaka’s back of the head with all her might using the lid.
Struck hard on the back of her head, Yobaka leaned toward the pile of garbage.
Unfortunately, the garbage heap was filled with sharp pieces of metal sticking out, and Yobaka, unable to overcome her own weight, awkwardly tumbled over them.
“Ughhh!!”
As Yobaka writhed against the piercing metal, the refugees grimaced or turned away as she spilled black blood.
As Mirella leaped and hammered Yobaka’s body once more, the screams abruptly ceased.
“Phew.”
Mirella caught her breath while gripping the lid tightly.
“Did you see that?”
“Wow, you’re really amazing…”
“You can’t cook or anything like that, right?”
“Yeah….”
Honestly, I was quite surprised.
I thought she was just a young, cute girl, but she just properly hunted a monster.
And she did it without any special skills, purely with physical strength.
Although she received a buff for her weapon, she’s still an underage girl.
I wonder how much stronger she’ll get after receiving the buff.
This is just Mirael’s inherent strength.
Perhaps Mirael really is a warrior class.
Warriors typically start with much higher strength and agility stats compared to other classes.
But if that’s the case, intelligence stats should be relatively low, yet somehow Mirael is also smart.
I wonder.
“She’s definitely from the Potion Knights….”
The refugees murmured.
“To effortlessly defeat such ferocious monsters as a young woman….”
“The knights who can only be entered by those chosen by God….”
Where did they hear such nonsensical things?
“Let’s hurry. Mirael! What are you doing?”
“I was curious if there was anything.”
Mirael diligently searched through the deceased Yobaka’s body.
However, Yobaka wasn’t someone who carried belongings, so there was nothing to find.
“What’s this?”
Mirael untied a brown scarf wrapped around Yobaka’s neck.
When she unfolded it, it turned out to be a sleek coat.
“It doesn’t look very nice. It even smells weird.”
Huh, what’s this? Could it be?
“Mirael. Let’s take that with us.”
Mirael, who was about to throw the coat into the trash pile, stopped.
“Huh? Take this? It’s dirty.”
“You can wash it. Take it.”
If my guess is correct, that’s a Shadow Coat.
When worn, it allows for concealment and significantly buffs agility stats, a legendary item for assassins.
Yobaka probably didn’t carry it because he was an assassin.
It’s clear that I coincidentally found one of the extremely rare items dropped in Mestophin’s garbage dump.
This is incredibly lucky.
* * * * *
I arrived safely at the village with the refugees.
The local administrator, who had already been informed, was prepared to receive the refugees.
The refugees went straight to the community center, filled their hungry stomachs, and quenched their thirst.
After the meal, they were taken to a makeshift shower by the riverbank for a bath.
I could see common water flowing beneath the privacy screens.
“Are those the refugees Mr. Jack was looking for…?”
“Yes. If we hadn’t rescued them in time, they probably would have died in the garbage dump.”
“I’m really lucky…. It would be good to stay until our village recovers its strength….”
The administrative officer, who had been looking at the shower room for a moment, suddenly grumbled again with frustration.
“But what should we do when so many people suddenly come in…? It seems like they don’t even have the ability to buy a house or anything….”
“What are you talking about? Do you really think I would sell my house to those people at a price?”
“Don’t you think that’s what we should do…?”
“If it were me, I’d just give it to them.”
“Why, why…?”
“Listen well, Mr. Administrative Officer. How many people are there in our village right now?”
The administrative officer hesitated and roughly stated the population.
“With that population, we can’t do anything. At best, we can barely maintain a tribal level by farming and catching fish.”
“That’s right….”
“For our village to grow, population is the most important thing. No matter how much money you make, it’s useless without a population. But what about our village’s birth rate right now?”
The administrative officer gave a hesitant figure.
“If that continues, assuming a hundred years later, we could be promoted to a city.”
“I’m sorry…. I’m an incompetent administrative officer who can’t even manage the birth rate…. I would even bear a child to help….”
“No, no. Who told you to have a baby? I mean, we need new population influx naturally, not just maintaining the birth rate.”
The administrative officer nodded with a melancholic face as if he would cry right away.
“These refugees have nowhere to go back. Their hometown has been completely burned down by war. It’s good for both sides to accept these refugees. They settle, and we increase the population. To do that, we need to provide good conditions for these people to settle in our village. What could we offer?”
“Uh… give them houses, reduce taxes, give them land to farm….”
Well, he’s not a complete idiot.
To become an administrative officer under a direct order, one must pass the Central Bureaucracy Examination, which is famous for its extremely high difficulty.
Having passed such an exam, he must have a basic understanding.
Please give those people a home, Your Honor. And please give them the benefits you just mentioned. So make them part of our village.
From the perspective of our village, which has no factors to attract population, we must definitely detain the refugees from that low-quality republic.
“Come on, Your Honor. After all, it’s something you can decide alone. Meet with a representative of the refugees and talk to them.”
“Alone…?!”
The administrator cried out and grabbed my arm tightly.
“I’m sorry, but could you come with me…?”
“Me…?”
“I’m the only one at the office… I might make a mistake or get confused…”
After hesitating for a moment, I made a decision.
It would be better to go together than to leave the anxious administrator alone.
“Okay. Let’s go together.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m a clumsy administrator… Please scold me…”
“I have no intention of scolding you. Here, drink this healing potion.”
Like refueling a car running out of gas, I gave another healing potion to the administrator.
“Tastes good….”
This isn’t how it should be. Maybe I should arrange regular delivery of healing potions to the office.
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