As they returned home, Hendrick saw Mr. Jacob, Mark’s father, moving from house to house. It looked as though he was collecting taxes. But then, it was unlikely because the villagers were too poor to pay taxes officially. He figured out that he was either making his newly acquired position known to the family heads, or consoling the families who had lost their sons and husbands to the soldiers. A more keen study made Hendrick believe that the former was more likely.
No one seemed to be openly opposed to Mr. Jacob as the chief.
It was getting cold. The four hurried home because they needed to cover themselves to get warm. Otherwise, they would have contracted a cold, especially the younger siblings who had spent the evening by the stream washing and bathing.
As he took out his sleeping bag, Hendrick began narrating to them about what happened. He even expressed how fortunate he felt for being not recruited. It meant that they could stay together for at least three more years in the town.
With the vigilantes gone, the siblings were afraid that the village was insecure. However, since it has become Baron’s official village, bandits could easily raid them. Given the situation, they could even grab the land and occupy it
But they were also hopeful that things would work out. There was a possibility that refugees would continue coming, and the village will be rebuilt. Perhaps the only solution they had would be to pay taxes. That way, they could have troops patrolling.
The four each ate a chocolate bar then went to bed. Dorothy and Tian began snoring almost immediately
“I’m going to pray for a moment,” Hendrick told Belter, who already began to doze off.
Hendrick quietly went outside and looked up at the night sky. He searched his bag, looking for a suitable offering from the day’s harvests.
After offering sacrifices to God, he split some of the branches he had brought. They would give some points.
He did not touch the stones.
There were a lot of vines. He had collected so much that he no longer minded the ones stolen earlier. Interestingly, the man who took the vines from him was also conscripted and taken away by former soldiers.
“I want to be strong,” he thought, but he wondered if strength was really necessary. He had earlier seen that even the stronger adults acted weak in front of the soldiers. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to be treated like a weakling anymore. He wanted to take care of his younger siblings with confidence. So he decided he would be able to protect them if he was stronger.
The number of vines was more than expected. It seemed like it would take a whole day just to strip them.
He knew he could use his younger siblings’ help, for he had also done it years ago with his mother’s. As he worked on the vines, Hendricks’s thoughts shifted to Aunt Hoffa. He imagined how bad the situation would have affected her.
After dealing with the vines and the branches, he received a message that he had raised his helper points to 1.2. He planned to use 1 point to extend the rental period by 15 days. At first, Hendrick planned to use 0.1 of the remaining 0.2 points and sent a voice letter to God. But apparently, thirty seconds were not enough to narrate what had happened today. So he spent the remaining 0.1 points and sent two messages in total.
– It’s indeed tough. Well, it’s not safe here, either.
– I had not considered the circumstances when I sent you the stuff. I guess there must be people over there who lust after other things.
– It is good you have the inventory function, but be careful.
– Take your time to learn how to read and write. At least learn Korean and English first.
– Take advantage of the voice function. Discover all other functions you can use, for there are more features.
– By the way, why are you calling me a god? I am only trying to help you. However, you have to play your part and learn how to read and write. Then things will be better and easier.
The helper had sent a long voice message. That kind of consideration thrilled Hendrick, so much that he was even more delighted to learn to read and write. Besides, the helper had emphasized it several times. He was looked at the letters that he couldn’t make out. He thought of touching them but still, he couldn’t read. It just felt so frustrating, and he gave up.
“I will think about it tomorrow,’ he said to himself. He was tired and wanted to retire to bed.
But there was still work left to do.
Moving quietly, Hendrick walked around the house and touched the stones on the ground. He wanted to collect them, but they were heavy. Some were firmly lodged on the floor. They were scattered all over. Hendrick imagined that if he had to collect them, he would end up bending all day. “Is there any other way?” he wondered.
He suddenly recalled the field where other adults were cultivating. They had picked and piled them up in one place.
“Why are you overworking yourself like a beast?” it was Belter.
“Why aren’t you asleep?”
“I came out because I couldn’t sleep.”
“In that case, would you watch the house? I’m going out for a while.”
“At this time of night?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to the mountain.”
“…Alright.”
Hendrick headed to the field. The stones were still there. They belonged to nobody. Neither did the land being cultivated. Perhaps it would become Baron’s possession. If it did, it would not be possible to put it in the bag.
Hendrick quickly went to a place where large and small stones were gathered, and started putting it in his inventory. He put in so much that the wide inventory was more than half full, and he destroyed the smallest of them, leaving the larger ones.
All of them in total were valued at 1.3 points. He figured out that he could achieve 5 points in one night by collecting stones. However, without sleeping, he would become weak again.
“What were you doing?”
“I picked up some stones.”
Belter could see a reason for one to collect stones.
Hendrick went to the house and quickly fell asleep. He woke up after sunrise when everyone else was already up. He quickly folded their sleeping bags and joined the brothers for breakfast. The meal comprised of a chocolate bar, bottled water, and supplements, and cleaned his teeth thoroughly.
“You have all changed,” Hendrick said as he looked at his siblings, “It was dark yesterday, so I didn’t notice.”
They looked bright and neat, for they had thoroughly bathed. Their clothes, too, looked quite meticulous because they had been roughly washed with soap.
“Let’s go,” Hendrick said proudly, and they left to head off to Aunt Hoffa’s house. As anticipated, things were not good there.
“I can’t go on helping,” Aunt Hoffa was lamenting to the other adults who had come with their children, “I have nothing left. Most of the things that I have been receiving were exchanged for the children’s food,” she kept on explaining. The children standing by were innocent of the situation. They only had a puzzled look as they watched the adults’ somber faces.
It was clear that Aunt Hoffa was not trading her services for money, but she needed the money to run it. It was unfortunate that most male adults were conscripted; many parents could not bring anything in return. Naturally, Aunt Hoffa was a good person, but she gave up the previous policy and could not host the children for free.
She made up her mind to charge a predetermined price and receive money for the period in advance. It was not much. But still, many couldn’t afford the price.
Given the situation, Hendrick decided that his siblings help him out instead of entrusting them to Aunt Hoffa and wasting money. He had told them of the possibility of the situation. Thus they were prepared for it, and all agreed.
Hendrick did not want to leave them there even if Hoffa offered it for free. Besides, Mark was also at Ms. Hoffa’s house, and had seemed to gather a new gang. He was recruiting little boys and acting as their captain. It was also heard that the father became the chief of the village and became more unattended.
Hendrick then asked Belter to take the children home.
“Sure, are you going to the mountain?”
“No. I think I should go to the village chief’s house. Everyone seems to be going there as well.”
“Alright. Let’s leave before Mark stirs up trouble,” said Belter, quickly taking his siblings away.
It was very noisy in the village chief’s house.
The chief had brought out some furniture, for they could not all fit into the house. There was a crowd that consisted mostly of the elderly and the women. They had changed into the heads of the families after the men were taken. Hendrick was the youngest there, but it made no difference; he was his family’s head.
“Has it been a long time since you started?” he asked one of the people, trying to strike a conversation.
“A little bit,” one said.
“There were people who were clearing here and there,” replied another.
“Ah… Yeah.”
“It seems like they are trying to determine the ownership of the land near your house, but apparently those cultivating are opposing it.”
From the conversations, it seemed that since men were taken, some of the cultivating lands would have no one to tend. Thus, the others were scrambling for it.
It seemed okay to desire a share. They kept talking, and Hendrick patiently waited.
Finally, his turn came.