The Village Brute
Smith, who had entered from the very beginning, won the duel with seven straight victories. Garrett managed to stop him, but after the brutal bloodbath with Smith, he must have drained himself completely, because he barely managed three wins before stepping down.
Though he looked furious enough to explode, Smith only wore a sneer, as if the whole thing were beneath him.
The second event, the hunt, began after an hour’s rest.
Hilde was surprised by how vicious the physical clashes turned out to be.
They were far fiercer than the martial arts bouts she occasionally saw in modern times. The boys who had entered had all pushed themselves harder than usual because they were looking at Hilde.
Perhaps if they became the next village chief, they might get the chance to speak to her again. That thought alone made them show stubborn resolve even against formidable opponents like Garrett and Smith.
"The village boys don’t even come close to you in skill. They’re all full of empty dreams."
Bridget clicked her tongue in disgust. But Hilde found the duel surprisingly entertaining.
There was a saying in Korea that fire and fights were the most fun things to watch. Hilde had never been any good at fighting in either life, but in her previous one she’d still been the sort to keep up with fun YouTube fighting content.
"Still, wasn’t Garrett’s three consecutive throws impressive?"
"It was just brutal. Figures, coming from a mountain village native."
Bridget narrowed her eyes at Hilde. Seeing how intently Hilde had been watching Garrett, a thought struck her.
"Hilde... do you maybe have feelings for Garrett?"
"No! I just thought it was exciting to watch."
At the ridiculous question, Hilde replied without much feeling. Even if he were handsome, she’d feel put off—Garrett was definitely a bit much... Victor, who had been listening quietly from the side, said with disappointment,
"If I’d known Hilde liked duels this much, I should’ve taken it seriously. Still, I’m going to win the hunt, so watch closely."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Wild Boar No. 1, weighing in at 130 kilograms, was the catch that earned Victor first place in the hunting event, Smith announced loudly enough for everyone to hear. Hilde had assumed he was bragging, but Victor had truly put every bit of effort into the hunt without wasting himself in the duel, drawing on all the knowledge and know-how passed down from his father to bring down the largest boar.
Since everyone was still at the stage of just beginning to learn hunting, Victor’s kill was outstanding by any standard. Garrett, who had managed to take an 80-kilogram boar, looked down in the dumps.
"If I’d really put my strength into it, this would’ve been nothing."
"That’s amazing."
Victor strode up to Hilde with a self-satisfied grin and said that. Hilde’s stomach turned a little, but she had no choice but to admit it: she had never seen a boar that large in either life. She hadn’t watched him hunt, but he must have been seriously skilled.
"But why haven’t you called me big brother since yesterday? You used to say it all the time, remember?"
Victor sounded puzzled. Since they were kids, she’d always played with him often, but ever since yesterday she hadn’t acted cute or called him big brother even once. Victor, with his sharp eye, hadn’t missed the change.
Hilde tensed inwardly. She’d lived as a man until her thirties; calling someone barely half that age "big brother" was deeply uncomfortable. She had said it often in this life, sure, but...
"I just forgot without thinking. Congratulations on winning the hunt, Vict— big brother."
For some reason, Hilde felt a strange wave of self-disgust and lowered her head. People nearby kept sneaking glances at her reddening face and the back of her neck, or glaring at Victor with burning eyes. Victor merely shrugged, as if to say, if you’re so jealous, then win yourselves.
"Victor. We’ll settle this in the third event. Let’s see whether you can still say that after the treasure hunt."
Smith threw down the gauntlet at Victor. Oh, great. Here we go again. As the atmosphere turned awkward once more, Hilde couldn’t bring herself to lift her head.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Treasure hunt.
The third event in choosing the next village chief was simple: by 10 p.m. that night, whoever brought back the most valuable item would win.
For this event, the girls who weren’t participating hid boxes with points attached to them all over the village, making them difficult to find. And even if someone brought back something other than one of the hidden boxes, its value would be measured and compared.
Hilde had asked Bridget why they were holding something like a treasure hunt to choose a village chief in a mountain village, but Bridget, though she didn’t really know either, had answered earnestly all the same.
Strength and hunting mattered, but it seemed to be about wealth too. The reasoning was that if a man had very little property, he wouldn’t be able to lead the villagers well even if he became chief.
As the sun went down, the participants were either eating dinner or rummaging through their homes and the back hills to find the most valuable thing they could get their hands on.
This should clinch first place in one shot.
Hilde thought of the mana herb in her bag. A single flower was expensive enough to buy two months’ worth of food for the village, so even if they collected every hidden box in the village, they still wouldn’t measure up to the mana herb.
At the thought that rose in her mind, she let out a small laugh and shook her head.
From the start, she hadn’t had even the faintest intention of becoming chief.
"I’m back!"
Hilde returned home alone from the open lot and set about making dinner for herself. Agatha, who had gone into the city, wouldn’t be back for another two hours or so.
As she cleared away the dishes, Hilde dragged along her now-languid body and considered going to bed early. Hearing news about the next village chief tomorrow would be enough.
Knock, knock, knock.
Damn it. Victor again?
At the familiar knock on the front door, she opened it a crack to find Victor standing there.
"Hilde. Did you have dinner?"
"Yes. But what brings you here?"
Victor fidgeted uncharacteristically and didn’t answer right away. Looking at Hilde, he said with pleading eyes, and Hilde immediately had a bad feeling.
"The thing is... Garrett ended up taking most of the boxes hidden around the village. So we need something to turn things around. Could you help me find the mana herb?"
To think he’d ask his little sister for something like this. Had Victor really been that serious about becoming the next chief? Hilde thought for a moment, then decided to help him anyway. If it were the Hilde of this life, she certainly wouldn’t have been able to turn away a Victor in trouble.
After putting on her coat and stepping outside, Hilde was surprised by how much brighter the village was than usual. Each house had two torches hung outside, so even though the sun had set, the place was lit more brightly than on other nights. It seemed to be a village tradition: the adults would keep watch on the boys competing to become chief and hang torches for them.
Victor, heading toward the place where he and Hilde had searched for mana herbs before, laid out a few conditions.
They wouldn’t go deep into the mountains, only circle the area around the village, and if it got past nine, they would give up. That made sense; going too deep into the mountains late at night made it easy to get lost, and there was always the risk of encountering wild animals or monsters.
"There, over there! I think it’s there!"
They had nearly circled halfway around the village when she spotted a lone flower glittering in the dark. The petals were closed because it was night, but that gave it a certain charm all its own.
If we just stripped the mana herbs around here, we could live off them for life.
This area around the village was definitely a mana-herb field. While Hilde was thinking of digging them all up once daylight came, Victor darted over and quickly plucked the mana herb before coming back.
"Heh. Garrett’s going to be shocked when he sees this. Hilde, you really are the goddess of good fortune!"
In a way, Hilde had been the one to find it all, but she took it as a gift for helping him become the next chief, and the two of them approached the village entrance in high spirits. By now, it felt almost like nine o’clock already.
Then flames roared up ahead.
Through the entrance, visible beyond the trees, something looked terribly wrong. No matter how many torches had been hung today, there was no reason for fire to be leaping so high in the middle of the night. Black smoke was rising into the sky.
Before long, screams reached them too.
Hilde froze in place. Had the village really been attacked by bandits? If so, the villagers were as good as dead.
Hilde and Victor concealed themselves in the bushes and observed the situation.
"You bastards! We don’t have time! Grab the food and valuables and get moving! If anyone resists, kill them on the spot!"
At the rough, booming voice, Hilde flinched. Her whole body trembled. It was the first real threat to her life she’d felt since she couldn’t remember why she’d died in her previous life.
It seemed the torches hanging outside each house had drawn the bandits here. The timing was just godawful.
Still, the bandits seemed to be in a rush, as if they were being chased by someone. If they only took food and no one got hurt, at least everyone might survive.
"If you take it all, we’ll starve to death... Please, leave us a little."
Shit... Victor, Auntie... stay still.
Victor’s mother, Aunt Emma, was pleading with the bandits as they loaded up with every bit of food they could grab. In truth, even if they just stayed quiet, the village had two mana herbs; if they sold them in the city, they could live well through the coming winter. Hilde prayed desperately that the bandits would ignore her, but the situation only grew more dangerous.
"We don’t have time! Kill any woman who gets in the way!"
One of the bandits drew his sword and advanced on Aunt Emma. She had always treated Hilde kindly, almost like her own daughter. From as far back as Hilde could clearly remember at five years old, she’d been a kind woman who smiled and brought bread and fruit whenever Hilde played with Victor.
Even after the memories of her previous life had awakened yesterday, Hilde still couldn’t believe this was inside a game. This wasn’t a game; it was another reality. Her chin trembled, and tears welled up.
"Stop!"
The instant Hilde shouted, Victor burst out from the bushes. He shot an arrow between his mother and the bandit, and Hilde ran forward to embrace Victor’s mother. She was shaking violently. Looking at the woman’s hands, Hilde saw they were mostly scraped raw, as if she’d been clinging to the food she’d gathered to survive the winter and had injured herself in the process.
It hurt so much in Hilde’s chest it felt like her heart had stopped, and tears fell one after another. These filthy bastards were robbing kind people who had been living decent lives, without a shred of guilt.
What’s with that murderous look from some little brat?
The bandit who had nearly been hit by the arrow flew into a rage, but Victor, aiming as though he would kill the man who had tried to hurt his mother, forced the standoff into a deadlock.
Hilde glared at the bandit who had tried to harm Aunt Emma. The bandit stared back. For a moment, he seemed spellbound, looking at Hilde as though he’d stumbled upon something incredible.
There’s a woman this beautiful here? That’s a face I’ve never seen before in my life. If we take her and sell her, we’ll be living like kings forever.
Spitting as he shouted, the bandit roared, "Boss! Hurry up and get over here!"
"What are you doing, not grabbing the money yet? Huh?"
A tall man with a shaggy beard and a vicious face, easily over two meters tall, rode in on horseback. The boss came in looking irritated, but after hearing his subordinate whisper in his ear and seeing Hilde, he broke into a wide grin. Seeing the way things were going, Hilde’s unease deepened. Their eyes gleamed with greed.
"So there was treasure in the mountains after all! Hah! If we take just this woman, it’ll be a huge score! Leave the valuables, kill everyone who gets in our way, and let’s go!"
We’re screwed.
Hilde’s chin trembled violently. Looking around, she saw more than twice as many bandits as villagers, and they were about to start slaughtering people. What an idiot. Hilde cursed herself.
If she’d hidden and sent only Victor, the bandits probably would’ve taken the goods and left. Instead, she’d blundered in and now everyone might die while she got kidnapped.
The bandits raised their blades toward the villagers. The situation was desperate, and Hilde needed to decide fast.
"W-wait just a second!"
Hilde shouted loudly. Her clear, beautiful voice rang out, and the bandits paused for a moment. They didn’t believe in gods, but something in Hilde’s voice carried an uncanny sanctity that made them hesitate.
Seeing the bandits who weren’t harming the villagers yet, Hilde felt a flicker of relief.
She knelt down. This was the best she could do.
"I... I’ll do whatever you want... Please, just don’t hurt the villagers...."