Chapter 20: A Village That Draws People

For a few days after Elmer returned to the manor, there was no great commotion in Rue Village.

Because the range we could go to on the mountain side had been narrowed, gathering firewood took more time than before. The flat ground on the mountainside and the trench that had drawn the water were left as they were.

However, life in the village did not stop.

People worked in the existing fields, and some repaired the damaged fence. Of the eight who had escaped from the other side of the mountain, those who could work mixed in with the villagers and helped with whatever they were able to do.

I watched the scene from outside the fence.

Before, I had worried every time someone went into the mountains.

Now that we had decided not to go near the dangerous places, the village was actually calmer.

Just before noon, I heard the sound of a bell coming from the road to the south.

A packhorse.

When I looked up, two horses were climbing in single file out from between the trees. Heinz was in the lead.

"We're here!"

His voice was as loud as ever.

When the first horse saw me, it laid its ears back, but it didn't panic on the spot.

The second one was different.

The moment it noticed me, it shook its head and stopped. The man holding the reins hurriedly began calming it, so I moved to the other side of the village first.

"That helps!"

Heinz raised his hand from a distance.

"It's his first time here!"

It wasn't only the horses.

I didn't recognize the man leading the second horse either.

When they arrived at the village entrance, Heinz introduced him to the village chief.

"He's a fellow trader. He sells needles, thread, metal fittings and the like."

The man looked at me once, then bowed to the village chief.

"I've been told about him. I have no intention of going near him without permission."

He didn't even try to test whether I could understand what people said.

It seemed Heinz had told him what he needed to know beforehand.

"What did you bring today?"

The village chief looked at the cargo.

"Grain and salt. As much of what you asked for as you can pay for."

Heinz answered.

"I've also brought the money for the charcoal I took last time. I'll settle for what I carry back this time as well."

"Two horses doesn't mean the village can buy two horses' worth."

“I know.”

Heinz smiled wryly.

"The number of packhorses went up, but that doesn't mean everything on them is bound for Rue Village. This one has business of his own."

The man beside him tapped a small crate of cargo.

"I'll be selling along the way from here. I don't intend to sell all of it here."

So that was it.

More horses didn't suddenly double the village's food supply.

There was a limit to what Rue Village could buy now.

The trading began.

Charcoal was brought out from the village.

Since the charcoal Heinz had taken back last time sold well, this time the villagers seemed to have picked out as much of it as was still in good shape and put it into bags.

Heinz checked the contents.

“There’s more here than before.”

"We decided to use the broken ones in the village."

The man who helped with the charcoal burning answered.

"Is that easier to sell?"

"It'll be easier for the buyer to handle, most likely. But don't suddenly increase the number of trees you cut."

Heinz drove the point home.

"If you cut down the mountain just because the charcoal sells, there'll be no firewood left for the village itself."

The village chief nodded.

"I have no intention of increasing it beyond what we do now."

"Then that's fine."

The merchant who had come with him also looked over some of the charcoal and decided to buy a small amount.

It seemed he would be taking it to a different buyer than Heinz.

Besides charcoal, they looked over the dried mountain goods the villagers had put out, but not all of it sold.

"This one's cheap."

“You can take this with you.”

"There's plenty of that left down below."

That kind of exchange continued.

I had no idea what was expensive and what was cheap, but the villagers were in earnest.

If they could sell even a little more, that much more could go to salt and grain.

Even so, the grain that arrived today wasn't enough to do away with the worry about food.

After noon, the trading finally came to a lull.

Then Heinz's companion called out to the village chief while packing up his things.

"There's one thing I'd like to ask."

“What?”

"Could you let us rest here tonight?"

The village chief frowned.

"There's no lodging."

"I'm not after an inn. I only need a place where a man can lie down, out of the rain and wind."

Heinz put in from the side.

"I'd like to stay the night too. It's easier to leave in the morning than to reload and go down the mountain now."

"Was that your intention from the start?"

"About half of it."

"Say so up front."

"I was going to leave if I was refused."

The village chief did not answer immediately.

There were no spare houses in the village now.

The eight who had come from the other side of the mountain had barely managed to make beds in what space there was.

"I can't feed you."

"We have our own."

Heinz showed the load.

"I've brought feed for the horses too. All we need is water."

That way the village wouldn't have to cut into its own food.

However, the village chief was concerned about something else.

"You brought this man here."

"That's right."

"What about weapons?"

The man who had come with him showed what was at his hip.

"One short sword. I can't walk the roads carrying nothing."

"Don't draw it in the village."

"Understood."

"Don't walk between the houses at night without permission. Don't go near the livestock."

"That's fine by me as well."

Dario continued.

"If you're going to use fire, we'll fix the place. Don't light one without permission."

"Understood."

The conversation was quick.

The village chief looked at Heinz last.

"If anything happens, next time you don't stay either."

"Why me?"

"You're the one who brought him."

"…Understood."

Just for one night.

Their own food and their own feed for the horses.

Water drawn from the village.

The horses were tied near the entrance, and the two of them would not move from the spot set for them.

No drawing weapons, and fire only in the place set for it.

That was how it was settled.

It wasn't an elaborate arrangement.

Only two people staying a single night.

Still, it was a conversation Rue Village had never needed until now.

"They're staying the night, aren't they?"

Lina said beside me.

I nodded.

"Heinz always went home before."

That was right.

Once the trading was finished, he would go down the mountain the same day.

Today was different.

In the evening, two people who were not villagers were warming food near the entrance.

There were two horses.

Their luggage was there too.

People who would leave tomorrow morning were sleeping here for tonight only.

That alone made the village look a little different.

"It'd be good to be able to rest here."

After finishing his meal, Heinz was talking with Dario.

"If you're moving a load with two horses, it's better to have somewhere you can leave it overnight than to force your way down before dark."

"There's a place to rest down below, isn't there?"

"There is. But if there's one up this way, I have a choice."

Heinz glanced at me.

"Besides, a night in the village beats camping out in the open."

"Val isn't going to protect you the whole way."

"I know. That's not what I'm saying."

Heinz shot back at once.

"It's only that while you're asleep in the village, you don't have to worry about your goods being taken by thieves."

I thought about that for a while.

The village I had promised to protect was Rue Village.

Not every road, and not a merchant's goods.

But if the village was safer than before, some people would want to borrow that safety for a single night.

It seemed it wasn't only the number of residents that would grow.

"Do you think they'll increase?"

Dario asked the village chief.

"Ones who want to stay the night?"

"Only two came this time."

"Heinz will talk about it down below."

"If I'm asked, I'll say I was allowed to stay the night."

The man himself answered without a trace of shame.

"There you are."

"So what of it?"

The village chief frowned.

"I'll think about it when the numbers grow. I'm not building a house for travelers for the sake of two men."

That was the end of it.

The next morning.

Heinz and the other man had reloaded their cargo early.

I stayed away from the road so the horses would settle.

The second horse seemed to have got used to my being there over the one night, and no longer shook its head as violently as yesterday.

"When are you coming next?"

The village chief asked.

"I haven't decided yet. It depends on how the charcoal sells and on the price of grain."

"Let me know once you do."

"Don't make it sound so easy."

Heinz took the reins.

Then, as if remembering something, he turned around.

"Ah, that's right. I'll tell you what I can."

“What?”

"There's someone down below asking whether they could live here."

The village chief's face went still.

I turned my ears that way too.

“Who is it?”

"I haven't heard the details directly either. It sounds like a family."

"How many?"

“I don’t know.”

"What do they do?"

"I don't know that either."

“What do you know?”

"Don't get angry at me!"

Heinz raised his voice.

"I was only asked by someone else. 'Wouldn't a village with a dragon be safer than here?'"

The village chief's expression turned grim.

“What did you say?”

"I said it's not a village that protects you from everything. I didn't say there was food to spare, either."

"Then that's fine."

"I walk these mountains for my trade too. I don't want to say something careless and be resented for it later."

Heinz shrugged his shoulders.

The villagers who had heard gathered as well.

It was different from when the eight of them came running in.

This time it wasn't people being thrown in here because they were being chased.

Someone was thinking of coming to Rue Village of their own will.

"What do we do?"

Dario asked.

“I haven’t decided anything yet.”

The village chief answered immediately.

"Even with just the eight we have now, we're taking them in while working out what they'll eat and where they'll sleep."

That was true.

Grain had started coming in, but that didn't mean there was room to spare.

The flat ground on the mountainside couldn't be used, and there were no new fields yet.

"Next time you meet the one who asked you."

The village chief turned to Heinz.

"If they really mean to come, tell them to come and talk to me first."

"Does that mean they can live here?"

“No.”

The village chief shook his head.

"How many are they? What can they do? Do they have food and tools they can bring themselves? We can't decide anything until we've heard that."

"Then I'll pass it on just as it is."

"Don't go saying we'll let them in."

"I won't."

Heinz sighed for the second time.

Eventually the two horses started walking.

They lined up along the narrow road and went down the mountain little by little.

I saw them off from a distance.

Yesterday, a merchant I had never seen before stayed in this village.

This morning I heard that there were people asking whether they could live in this village.

When the eight of them arrived, the villagers had worried about feeding eight more mouths.

That problem hadn't gone away.

As the number of people grew, so did the number of mouths to feed. Beds would be needed, and even though it wasn't winter yet, we would have to think now about what was coming.

So being asked to come wasn't something to be simply glad about.

Still, I kept looking at the southern road for a while.

Until now, those who came to Rue Village were either people who went home once their errand was done, or people who had nowhere else to flee.

This time was different.

Someone I didn't even know yet was trying to choose this place for themselves.

The village chief had already called Dario over.

"Let's go and look at the beds the eight of them are using now."

"Is that to bring in the new ones?"

"It's to judge whether we can take them in at all."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"It's completely different."

The two of them walked off, still talking.

I got up as well.

Not everyone who wanted to live here could be taken in.

But the need to think about who could be taken in hadn't existed in Rue Village before.

Along the road to the south lay the hoofprints left by two packhorses.