Chapter 87
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Lugeron Village - 5
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My daughter Siel was so lovable it wouldn't hurt to put her right in my eyes. The moment I'd scoop up the crying little one, she'd break into a beaming smile, and even just watching her nurse from Chloe was unbearably cute. Day by day, seeing her grow filled me with such happiness that I smiled constantly.
As her father, I wanted to feed her only the best, show her the world, and introduce her to good people.
But Lugeron Village was far too morally backward to raise a child in. I should have realized it from the start, when that lame villager was brazenly tailing Sylvia.
"I've been ignorant of the world, so is a place like Lugeron Village common?"
Helia pondered my question for a moment before sharing her wisdom.
"Villages far from cities usually have little concept of human rights."
Even in the modern world, rural areas often harbored twisted morals due to their insular nature.
Hell, the 21st century still had slaves in some places.
"But this village seems especially bad."
"Probably because of the Dark Forest they call a demon realm?"
"Exactly."
To me, it was a forest of opportunity and wealth, but to ordinary villagers, it was a den of evil threatening their livelihood and lives.
"Survival comes before love and morals for them."
"Haa... yeah, probably."
Love, care, and justice only thrive on a full belly and without fear for your life.
In a place where death could come any moment like the apocalypse, personal feelings hardly mattered.
That made it all the more headache-inducing.
Part of me wanted to grill Kan on the details. Was it really right to knock up his daughter-in-law, shirk responsibility to the end, and dump it all on his son?
But...
'Can't rule out that Anna wanted it that way.'
In this era, in this village, all an ordinary woman could do was bear a son.
Of course, that might be prejudice. Someone like Camilla could grow into a fine knight. But that was only for the rare chosen few.
In that sense, even I—born with innate strength—had no right to judge the weak.
'I'm not trying to take responsibility for Anna myself.'
It was beyond what an outsider like me could interfere with.
"I expected it, but I didn't think it'd leave me this disgusted."
Peeking into someone else's family affairs by chance had only left a bad taste.
'Are the other houses the same?'
I didn't want to get involved if possible, but thinking of life's turning points, I visited more neighbors with Tom.
After finishing all the chores with Tom, I collapsed in front of the house, practically passing out.
"I'm beat."
"Sian?! What happened?"
Clara came running over in a panic at the sight of me exhausted.
Embarrassed by her overreaction, I rubbed the tip of my nose.
"Just... mentally drained. Don't worry too much."
"I see. How was it?"
"Chilling."
I'd first thought Kan's family was just exceptionally messed up.
But there were pits deeper than the basement, and on second thought, Kan at least cared about his daughter-in-law.
Mothers who abused daughters for not bearing sons.
Fathers forcing grueling labor on young children.
Husbands telling their wives to their faces that they hated their aged looks.
Finding a normal family was the real challenge.
"How is there not one decent household?"
"Isn't that just how it is?"
Clara tilted her head at my lament, answering as if it were obvious.
Hearing the most sensible person in our house say that doubled the shock.
"You're the exceptional one, Sian. Few people devote themselves to their families like that."
"B-but still..."
"That's why you're special. That's why everyone loves you."
I had no reply to Clara's confession. I'd thought my superior abilities won them over, but now I realized it was my devotion to the family that opened their hearts.
"Special, huh..."
Truly loving your family and helping unfortunate neighbors when you could—that was commonplace in the modern world, but here, as Elsia put it, it was a 'noble notion.'
"So, have you decided?"
Clara asked me, lost in thought.
Yeah, time to decide. But first...
"Let me visit one last place."
"Where?"
"The Village Chief's house."
The man who'd brought me to Lugeron Village and connected me with Chloe—the longest resident—his thoughts were worth hearing.
The Village Chief's house in the village center was deliberately built large to host meetings and visiting nobles.
In a way, it was the village's face. Some men even aspired to be chief just for the spacious home.
Me? Eh...
"Mr. Sian, what brings you here so late?"
Nabira, the chief's daughter-in-law, greeted me first.
"Nabira, sorry to bother you. I need to speak privately with the chief."
"Father-in-law is in the meeting room."
"At this hour?"
"He writes his daily journal then."
"A journal?"
"He records everything that happens in the village."
"That's no small task. Impressive."
A journal might seem like a typical three-day whim—just noting the day's events—but it was far from easy. Recording every village incident? At his age, maintaining that habit made the chief seem remarkable anew.
"Herb tea, then?"
"I'll pass on the tea—it's not that time-consuming."
"Understood."
After escorting me, Nabira returned to the inner room.
Confirming her receding figure, I entered the meeting room.
There sat the chief, scribbling atop a desk cluttered with books.
He glanced at me briefly, then asked calmly,
"Sian, what brings you so late?"
"I have something to discuss."
"Hm... sit here."
I sat before him, and he tidied his journal.
Up close, the scattered books were all journals.
"Don't tell me... you wrote all these yourself?"
"Indeed."
Given the sheer number, it couldn't be just a few years. Decades at least.
"Why go to such lengths?"
"No particular reason... or use in mind. Just a vague hope that recording something might help in the future."
Finished organizing, he offered the snacks left alone on the desk.
"Try some. Roasted seeds from a southern tree—perfect for perking you up."
"Hm? Yeah, my sleepiness is gone."
The bitter taste spreading in my mouth and the caffeine kick surprised me.
Similar to coffee, despite the different color and shape.
'But they eat it raw.'
Brewing it as tea would be better.
As I pocketed some beans, the chief asked,
"So, have you decided on that dilemma?"
"Yes. I've decided to leave Lugeron Village."
"I see."
"You're not going to stop me?"
Lugeron's reduced monster attacks were solely thanks to Ian and me. With Father gone, my departure would leave the village vulnerable again.
I'd assumed the man who'd welcomed me would protest, but he took it in stride.
"What power do I have to stop your choice?"
"True, but without me, won't things get messy?"
"Can't hold someone who wants to leave, can you?"
True to his age and wisdom, the chief didn't cling to what slipped from his grasp.
He just focused on what he could do.
"And Ian changed much already. You needn't sacrifice like your father."
"Did Father sacrifice something?"
"You didn't know?"
"He never mentioned it."
"Ian kept it secret even from his son. Stubborn as ever."
The chief's face soured as he began Father's tale. Clearly, there was a secret between them I didn't know.
He suddenly pulled out an old journal and asked,
"Sian, you're leaving because of your newborn daughter, right?"
"Yes. The village customs toward women are filthy—I can't stay."
My words carried weight, but he neither affirmed nor denied. He simply read from his journal.
"Your father Ian despised Lugeron's customs at first too. Such passion... The villagers feared him initially."
Like a grandfather telling old tales to his grandson, the chief read aloud.
"Yes, that day was when they abandoned someone in the Dark Forest."
The difference? It wasn't a fairy tale—it was a grim one.