CH 12

I quickly get close to the black-haired person.

Fortunately, he is a young man.

What our village right now needs the most.

“Hey…”

I tried calling out to him, but stopped myself.

(That was close)

To be honest, I’m not sure if a person without a referral from the city can be considered a good person.

Even people who get referred, could cause a lot of trouble and steal from us, like than young man and his friends.

Which is why I don’t know if I should trust him or not.

Though I still want male hands no matter what.

I couldn’t make him turn back at this point.

If I did that, it might even affect my referrals in the town.

No one would want to come to a village that would drive migrants back for no reason.

(I have to let him feel welcome…)

I took a deep breath and called out to the black-haired boy.

***

I left the boy at the land which he was meant to plow, and came back to our home at the center of the village.

He listened to me obediently.

He even seemed stronger than I had expected.

I’ll have to be softer to him, the next time we meet.

As I reach home thinking about that, a little girl was standing in front of the house.

She puts her hands on her waist, indicating that she was angry. However, despite being the same age as me, her petite figure makes her not scary at all.

“Mou, Aria! If you’re home then report to us immediately!”

“I’m sorry.”

I admit, I should have reported to (Reno) and the others as soon as I came back.

My head was so occupied with the black-haired boy, that it didn’t occur to me at all.

“Now, now, Reno. Aria didn’t have any bad intentions either, so why not stop there?”

A woman with long hair appears from behind Reno.

Her name is Kili.

While she is Reno’s big sister, their personalities don’t match.

Though they both possess yellowish-green hair and eyes, and are pretty.

“Welcome back Aria. There’s something we need to talk about. Come in.”

“Right, I’m coming.”

As I enter the house after Kili prompts me, I notice that Sui and Milia were both inside as well.

Sui is a silent, but curious child, with pale blue hair and blue eyes that give a quiet impression. Despite that, she is quite proactive about what she’s interested in.

She has disappeared occasionally because of that, and during summers, the villagers had to search for her all day long (We found her observing some plants growing nearby).

Milia is a blonde, blue-eyed woman.

Blonde hair is a characteristic of many aristocrats.

She has a gentle personality and doesn’t talk much, but she seems to have a heavy past.

With this, all the people in the village are in this house.

…No, we also have a newcomer.

“What happened to you all? I thought you would be working during this time of the day.”

“About that…”

When I heard Kili’s story, it seems that a roaring sound was heard from the Demon Forest at around noon.

Therefore, everyone had gathered here.

“It’s been a long time since we heard the sound, so I think it’s alright now, but everyone is still scared of the Demon Forest.”

Saying that, Kili’s hand which was gripping Reno’s, trembled slightly.

It can’t be helped.

It’s been only a month and a half since our village was attacked by a monster from the Demon Forest.

Frankly, I’m scared too.

I didn’t know when monsters would come out of that forest, and tear our bodies apart.

I stared at the ground with a dark face, along with everyone else.

“…The person you were with, is he a new inhabitant?”

Sui suddenly brings that up.

She may have just wanted to change the topic that much.

“Y-yeah, that’s right.”

“I’m glad. It was difficult to maintain the village with just five people, especially since there aren’t men. Is the new inhabitant a man?”

Only aristocrats or men can own land in this country.

Women, who can’t become soldiers who protect the country, neither have the right to own land, nor inherit their house.

“It’s a man.”

“Hee~. what’s his name?”

“…Forgot to ask. I’ll ask him and come.”

“Should we go with you?”

“…No, I’ll call him here. I should introduce him to everyone.”

Kili also seemed interested in him, so I went out to call him.

(I can’t lose to the negativity, I’m the village head after all!)

At this time, I had no idea of ​​the major changes he would bring to our lives.