Winter
Winter
The village chief raised one eyebrow and instructed Joseph. ‘Damn...’ Of course, he didn’t want to do it. Searching the winter mountains. Without knowing who or how many, he had to find unknown humans. If unlucky, he might encounter starving beasts or be captured by bandits and killed. Who would do such a thing? ‘Being too conspicuous isn’t all bad, either.’ But he couldn’t refuse now. If he did, he might be driven out of the village in the dead of winter. He still had to be careful with the village chief’s eyes.
“...Understood.”
Joseph answered obediently, and the village chief nodded in satisfaction.
The villagers looked at Joseph with admiration. In their eyes, Joseph was a ‘brave warrior who had survived fighting beasts.’
“I’ll select some people within this week. The winter mountains are cold, so prepare properly.”
“Yes.”
With that, the entire Bari Village prepared for the ‘what if’.
“The one who went to scout in front of the village. Do you think he’ll just come back after meeting one person?”
The village chief’s words made sense, so no one complained.
Following the village chief’s orders, shields and clubs were distributed to the village men.
“It’s not beast hunting, and swinging a club won’t do much good. It would be better to hold the shield and strike with the club anywhere.”
Hayra seemed particularly eager this time, perhaps to raise his name.
On the other hand, there were those who didn’t enjoy the training. Most were middle-aged men, and some had participated in beast hunts.
“Wouldn’t it be better to build a wall around the village?”
“Why? Do you think bandits will be scared if we set up a fence?”
“Running from beasts and now running from us too?”
“What are those hiding in the village saying?”
“What?”
As their arguments heated up, the village chief brought his staff down with a shout.
“Quiet! Of course we’ll build a higher fence!”
The village chief took out several spears and distributed them to those who were scared.
“Those holding spears stand behind those with shields. When the opponent swings the shield, look for an opening and stab the chest.”
Only then did they begin training with some peace of mind. Having a brave one in front and just stabbing from behind.
‘He really is the village chief.’
Joseph secretly admired the village chief’s ability. Unlike beast hunting, the village chief knew how to fight people. He must have experienced something like this in the past.
“You don’t have to take the spear, do you?”
“Yes. I’ll just hold the shield.”
The village chief tried to give Joseph a spear, but he refused. Even if standing behind the shield-bearer, in the end it was a fight among rural villagers. Even if the fight started, he couldn’t be sure there would be someone in front holding the shield. In that case, he would have to fight with just one spear in his bare hands. It would be more dangerous than the shield-bearer.
“That’s right. Last time, you said you survived thanks to the shield.”
The village chief nodded as if it was no big deal.
After all, the number of spears was limited. There was no need to give them to everyone.
A while later, Joseph went searching the mountains with the people the village chief assigned. Most of them were those who disliked training. They followed Joseph like baby chicks in a line. Their intention to run away with Joseph in front if something appeared was obvious.
‘...These bastards.’
They didn’t even think of coming in front of or beside Joseph. Familiar with the mountains! Brave warriors who survived fighting beasts! Pushing his back while spouting words that sounded plausible.
But Joseph knew. Even if it was just an orphan Joseph, not the brave one, these people would have pushed him forward. You can’t rely on human feelings. The harsh land residents always think of the best way to survive. The method was good for Joseph, but it was dog-like.
Fortunately, the search didn’t take long. When he went to the place where someone was found, clear human footprints were visible.
“...So someone really came.”
The footprints stretched long towards the mountain top and continued over the ridge. No other footprints were found nearby. Whoever it was, it was confirmed that someone was near the village.
Joseph only confirmed the footprints leading over the ridge and returned to the village.
“It could be someone coming to check on the village’s situation.”
The village chief, having confirmed the footprints, decided to further strengthen the village’s defenses.
“At least until summer.”
The reason was that if the village’s security was solid, the attackers would give up. The village chief explained why until summer.
“Other village people will give up when summer comes because there will be more work, and if they’re bandits, they’ll show themselves before spring anyway.”
That was also a reasonable statement.
Thanks to that, everyone except Joseph began standing guard 24 hours a day, regardless of gender.
So what did Joseph do? He went out alone to scout the area outside the village. Before the village was invaded, he would come back for reconnaissance, so he had to be on guard. The village chief offered to assign people, but Joseph refused. The people the village chief assigned were likely to run away by stepping on Joseph’s legs if something happened. Considering beast hunting and the first search, it was better to go alone. And above all, he wanted to practice the newly learned spell Fire.
“It’s not good to try to solve everything alone.”
The village chief seemed displeased that Joseph was going alone. To him, Joseph was no longer a convenient labor force, but a tool for the next village chief. Of course, he didn’t force Joseph to take a companion.
Joseph climbed the mountain alone and floated beads around him, attempting to convert them into flames.
Tick. Tick.
Fwoosh.
The magic beads spun in the air, and after a few sparks, they exploded into the air. One out of three. That was all for now. He didn’t know why it failed sometimes and succeeded other times.
“Ugh.”
When the beads dispersed, he felt mana being sucked out in an instant. It was a simple spell to create a small flame, but the success rate wasn’t high.
Joseph created the magic beads again. This time, he managed to create several. Three beads floated and spun around Joseph.
‘The number of beads I can create has increased.’
After the beast incident last time, Joseph, who had trained repeatedly, could now create up to five beads.
‘Growth hasn’t stopped.’
The inner mana was steadily accumulating, and the number of beads had increased. However, converting the beads into fire seemed like a different problem.
‘This is still far from enough...’
No matter what, this was Joseph’s current limit. If this continued, he would become a one-penny mage who only knew how to make magic beads.
Joseph recalled the beads he had shot at the beast last time. He had squeezed out all the remaining mana, but the beads collided with the beast’s neck and immediately dispersed. He didn’t even kill it, let alone break its neck. With this, it would be difficult to survive easily in the world outside the village. He wanted a more destructive and usable magic for attacks.
‘But... without getting another spellbook, it would be hard.’
The village chief seemed to have obtained the spellbook through a merchant. That meant that if there was money, new spellbooks could be obtained.
‘But it’s too difficult here.’
There was money gathered by selling meat to the villagers occasionally. But the amount was just pocket change, and it was for travel expenses in case they left the village. It didn’t seem possible to buy a proper spellbook with that much.
‘No... I don’t even know if I can buy one.’
Even if there was money, would a peddler bring a proper spellbook to such a rural village? Perhaps he would throw a decent fake spellbook and wash his mouth. Joseph, who didn’t know the world outside the village, wouldn’t notice if he was scammed.
“Haah...”
Joseph let out a long sigh, and long breath came out. Mountain after mountain. There were too many walls to overcome to claim a human life.
‘After this winter, I need to think of some way.’
Time passed again, and the days gradually warmed up. The accumulated snow was slowly melting, but no one visited the village. Well, travelers didn’t visit regularly anyway. But the absence of even merchants was strange. Bari Village is located at the midpoint of the mountain between the lord’s castle to the west and the count’s domain to the east, on the pass. Merchants traveling from west to east and east to west visited the village once each time. But no matter how much time passed, not even the shadow of one person appeared.
“The problem outside the village is clear.”
The village chief said in the village meeting with a serious expression. He imagined what that problem was. A problem that couldn’t be solved with the villagers’ strength. It was located outside the village. Probably near the pass leading to Bari Village. Thanks to that, gathering firewood or going hunting was difficult. As the danger outside the village became more concrete, the atmosphere in the village became chaotic. The village chief seemed to be worrying more.
It might not be a problem for a year. But if bandits had completely rooted themselves in the pass? Bari Village was a rural mountain village that had been self-sufficient to some extent from the beginning. But that also had limits. If external exchanges were cut off, it would slowly wither away. It wouldn’t last even a few years.
As time passed, people began to speak out of anxiety. Especially the village chief’s son Hayra.
“Don’t do that, let’s just go look for it ourselves!”
Hayra waved his spear here and there and shouted in front of everyone. Hayra, who had practiced spear techniques every day, thrust the spear towards the air quite skillfully.
“You don’t even know what the problem is, how long do we have to do this?”
At first, no one listened to him, but as the situation worsened, more people began to follow Hayra.
“No. If we rush out recklessly, we’ll die first.”
But the village chief didn’t accept it. It was too dangerous to lead the villagers out directly. Soon it would be time to start farming when the days warmed. It was impossible to select people easily. If they messed up, he would see the village ruined in his generation. Hayra and the village chief clashed at every meeting, but there was no progress. Time passed without solving anything.
Joseph felt the same crisis. When the days warmed, he wanted to find new spellbooks through visiting merchants or ways to safely leave the village. But with unknown number of bandits, he couldn’t do either. Moreover, as the village became dangerous, the village chief’s goodwill seemed to decrease. No, rather, he tried to exploit Joseph even more than before. Joseph had to go up the mountain for two or three days to search, following the village chief’s orders.
‘It won’t do like this...’
Joseph felt that the situation was getting worse. If this continued, he would die here before learning new magic.
‘...Should I just leave the village now?’
Suddenly, Joseph recalled the ridge beyond the footprints.