episode_0087

My daughter Ciel was such a lovely child that I wouldn’t mind putting her in my eyes. When I held her when she started crying, she would start laughing bashfully, and just watching her suck Chloe’s breast was cute. I smiled every day with happiness as I watched my daughter grow up day by day.

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As a parent, I wanted to feed my children better things, show them more things, and let them meet good people.

But the village of Lugeron was too morally backward to raise children. It should have been obvious when the cripple blatantly followed Sylvia.

“I’m ignorant of the world, but is a town like Lugeron common?”

Helia pondered my question for a moment, then shared some of the wisdom she knew.

“The concept of human rights is usually rare in villages far from cities.”

Certainly, even in modern times, if you go to the countryside, there are many places that are morally wrong because of the isolation that is characteristic of the countryside.

Even in the 21st century, if there were slaves, they would have said everything.

“But this town seems particularly bad.”

“Is it because of the dark forest called the Demon Realm?”

“Yes.”

For me, it was a forest that provided opportunities and wealth, but for ordinary villagers, it was a den of demons that threatened their land and lives.

“For them, survival is more important than love and morality.”

“Haa… I guess so.’

Love, consideration, and justice are possible only when the stomach is full and life is not in danger.

In a town where it wouldn’t be strange if people died at any moment like in the apocalypse, individual feelings don’t really matter.

That made it even more of a headache.

I wanted to question Khan in detail. I wanted to ask him if it was really right for him to not take responsibility for his daughter-in-law’s pregnancy and instead pass the buck to his son.

but.

‘We can’t rule out the possibility that Anna wanted it.’

In this era, and in this village, the only thing an ordinary woman could do was give birth to a boy.

Of course, it could be a prejudice. After all, it is possible to grow into a great knight like Camilla. However, that is something that only applies to a select few.

In that sense, I, who was born with innate strength, was not in a position to criticize the weak.

‘I’m not trying to take responsibility for Anna.’

It is beyond the scope of my ability to interfere as a third party.

“I expected it, but I didn’t think it would be this unpleasant.”

I happened to spy on someone else’s family history, and I was left with an uneasy feeling.

‘I wonder if other houses are the same?’

Although I didn’t want to get involved if possible, thinking about the turning point in my life, I went back to visit another neighbor’s house with Tom.

.

.

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After finishing all my work with Tom, I arrived home and collapsed in front of my house, almost as if I had fainted.

“It’s hard.”

“Cyan?! What’s going on?”

Clara came running over, startled by the sight of me struggling.

Embarrassed by her overly aggressive reaction, I swept the tip of my nose.

“I’m just… mentally tired. Don’t worry too much.”

“I see, how was it?”

“My teeth are just chattering.”

At first, I thought that Khan’s family was a total mess.

But there was a basement below the floor, and thinking back, Khan was at least worried about his daughter-in-law.

A mother who harasses her daughter for giving birth to a daughter instead of a son.

A father who forces his young children to do hard labor.

A husband tells his wife in front of her that he hates the sight of her old age.

Finding a normal family was harder.

“How come you don’t have a proper family?”

“Isn’t that usually the case?”

Clara tilted her head to my complaint and answered as if it were natural.

I was doubly shocked when she, the most sensible person in our house, said this.

“The vision is amazing. There aren’t many people who are usually devoted to their families.”

“That, but still… ”

“Because Xi’an is special. Everyone loves Xi’an.”

I had no answer to Clara’s confession. At first, I thought everyone liked me because I was so talented, but now that I think about it, it wasn’t. It was my dedication to my family that opened their hearts.

“Is it special…”

He truly loves his family and, when he has the means, helps the less fortunate.

In modern times, it would be a natural mindset, but here, to borrow Elsia’s words, it is a bad idea.

“So, have you decided?”

Clara asked me as I was lost in thought.

Okay, I have to decide. But before that…

“Lastly, I’ll visit just one place.”

“Where?

“The village chief’s house.”

The one who brought me to the village of Lugeron and connected me with Chloe.

I had to hear the thoughts of the village chief who had lived in this village the longest.

. . .

It is said that the village chief’s house in the center of the village was built deliberately large to accommodate village meetings and welcoming visiting dignitaries.

In a sense, the village chief’s house can be said to be the face of the village. That may be why some village men want to become village chiefs in order to have a large house.

Well, I…

“Mr. Xian, what are you doing at this late hour?”

Upon arrival at the village chief’s house.

Nabira, the village chief’s daughter-in-law, greeted me first.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Navira. I have something to discuss closely with the village chief.”

“Father is in the conference room.”

“What time is it now?”

“I write a diary when this time comes.”

“What’s the weather?”

“It is said that everything that happened in the village is recorded.”

“It must not have been easy, but you did a great job.”

The diary is a typical example of a three-day resolution, simply recording what happened today, but it was never easy. Even when you think about recording everything that happened in the village, the village chief, who diligently maintained that habit despite his age, seemed different.

“Can I have herbal tea?”

“I’ll just accept your heart. It’s not something that takes that much time.”

“Okay.”

Nabira, who had guided us, returned to the living room.

After watching her back moving further and further away, I entered the conference room.

Inside the conference room, the village chief was seen writing something on a desk strewn with books.

He looked at me for a moment, then asked in a calm voice.

“Xian, what are you doing at this late hour?”

“I have something to say.”

“Hmm… Sit here.”

I sat down straight in front of the village chief, and he organized the diary he was writing.

Looking closely, I saw that all the books scattered on the desk were diaries.

“No way… Did you write all this yourself?”

“That’s right.”

Considering the significant number of them, it is hard to believe that they have been around for several years. They must have been written at least several decades ago.

“Is there a reason you are doing this?”

“The reason is… I didn’t really think about how to use it. I just vaguely thought that if I wrote something down, it might be helpful in the future.”

The village chief, who had finished cleaning up, offered me a snack that was lying on the desk.

“Try it once. It’s the roasted seeds of a tree native to the south. It’s the best for waking up.”

“Hmm? I’m definitely losing sleep.”

I couldn’t help but be surprised when the caffeine entered my body, along with the bitter taste that began to linger in my mouth.

It was a food similar to coffee, although the color and shape were different.

‘But you eat this raw.’

I think it would be better if you brew it with tea.

The village chief asked me as I was gathering the coffee beans one by one.

“So, have you decided what you were worried about?”

“Yes, I have decided to leave the village of Lugeron.”

“Is that so.”

“Aren’t you going to stop it?”

The fact that the village of Lugeron has been less attacked by monsters than before is entirely due to the efforts of my father Ian and myself. If I were to leave the village now that my father has passed away, Lugeron would once again be plagued by monsters.

I thought that the village chief who accepted me into the village would definitely stop me, but contrary to my expectations, he simply accepted me indifferently.

“What power would I have to stop your choice?”

“Well, that’s true… but wouldn’t things be a pain if I wasn’t there?”

“But isn’t it impossible to hold on to someone who wants to leave?”

As befitting a wise man of his age, the village chief was not obsessed with matters that escaped his grasp.

I just focused on what I could do.

“And thanks to Ian, many things have changed. You don’t have to sacrifice like your father.”

“Did your father sacrifice something?”

“Didn’t you know?”

“You didn’t tell me separately.”

“Ian, that guy kept a secret from his son. He really is stubborn.”

The village chief, who started telling his father’s story, had a bitter expression on his face. It seems like there is a secret between the two of them that I don’t know about.

The village chief suddenly took out an old diary and asked me a question.

“Xian, is it because of your newborn daughter that you’re leaving this town?”

“Yes. The village customs for treating women are so dirty that it cannot exist.”

Although my words had a lot of meaning, the village chief neither confirmed nor denied them. He simply read from the diary he had written.

“Your father Ian also hated the customs of the village of Lugeron at first. How passionate he was… The villagers who first saw him were afraid of him.”

The village chief began to read his diary like a grandfather telling an old story to his grandson.

“Yes, that day was also the day when people were abandoned in the dark forest.”

However, the difference was that it was a cruel fairy tale, not a fairy tale.