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Volume 1 Chapter 14-1: Village Headman 【Village Chief】

*1 gold = 60,000 Yen ; 1 Silver = 1200 Yen ; 1 Copper = 40 Yen; Approximate Values*

「Thank goodness it ended well Cyril!」

When we got home Lucy finally burst out with an emotional shout.

It looks like she was way more worried about me than I was.

「Lucy it hasn’t ended yet. The real thing starts when we fight the Empire. This is still the preliminaries…」
「But…if Cyril suddenly disappears I’ll be lost.」

Lucy said tearfully. I couldn’t help but feel she was adorable so I lovingly patted her head.

「If Cyril dies then….I’ll be all alone.」
「It’s alright, I won’t leave you alone….Just a month ago this house was livelier….」

A month ago our loved ones had been taken. Lucy’s Grandmother and her younger sister by four years had been ‘collected’.

Our happy family of four had been reduced to the two of us. Of course it was lonely. But even so, Lucy acted strong for me.

「You really won’t leave me?」
「I promise. Well even if I died there’d be plenty of guys who would want you as their wife.」

Lucy was 14 years of age. Under the village laws she was already able to be married.

Furthermore, Lucy was a beauty even amongst Elves who were known for their beauty. There probably wasn’t a single bachelor Elf who wouldn’t propose to her given the chance.

「I don’t want that. I don’t want to have that kind of relationship with anyone but Cyril.」
「If the worst comes to pass I’d be alright with it.」
「No comment.」

She ended up evading the issue, but I thought that was fine too.

Some things can be understood even without words.

「Lucy is so light. I have to put some meat on your bones. Gotta hunt some good prey.」

I put my hands under her armpits and lifted. It made me surprised at how light she was.

Since we were in such close proximity everyday it was my duty to monitor her health daily.

Her vitamin deficiency had improved greatly. However, though being slender was good, she was a bit underweight. It was due to her simplistic diet while also needing to work in the fields.

There were boar in the mountains. Deer meat was all well and good, but nutritionally the fatty boar meat would be better.

「We can’t just eat it by ourselves. We have to properly split it with everyone. We have to make plenty of dried jerky while we can.」

When the snows of winter arrive we won’t be able to raise crops and we usually only hunt on days with good weather. Furthermore during winter we’d need to leave the mountains before the weather changed for the worse. This made it so we rarely obtained any big game.

That’s why each year after we harvest the wheat and pay our taxes, the women and children prepare the fields for next year, while the men expand our fields while going hunting for deer, boar, and rabbits in the mountains.

We would then dry them out to provide a very important food source during the winter.

In the first place using this era’s simple bows and knives prey was hard to hunt. We’d need to take 4-~5 dogs into the mountains for 2-3 days. If we even caught one good sized animal we would be lucky. One of the main reasons was our Master Hunters had mostly died during the last war.

However in my case, if I was ignoring the effects on the ecosystem, I could hunt 10 animals in a single trip.

「Everyone will get their share. It’s just that I want Lucy to eat the most delicious parts first. That much is fine right?」
「Why are you going that far for me Cyril? You’re teaching me so much, training me, and giving me so many wonderful things.」
「Because I love you Lucy.」

I said simply.

I wanted to convey my honest feelings to Lucy.

「You’re unfair. It’s hard to respond when you speak so frankly.」

I was still lifting her by her armpits. Lucy’s cheeks pouted as I gently placed her on the ground.

「It’s fine as long as you can say it when the time is right. That’s more than enough. I simply decided that I would convey my feelings without holding back and do what I can without holding back.」
「Do everything you can….those are good words. I should follow your example.」
「To start with how about you honestly say your feelings for me?」
「You just made it way harder!」

Looks like I’d gotten on the Princess’s nerves. Let’s take a step back.

「I’ll be waiting patiently. I still have plenty of things I can do now.」
「You’ve got a suspicious look on your face. Are you plotting something again?」
「Un, various things. If they go well I’ll be able to act in the village more easily.」

Quickly but calmly I prepared the proper environment.