It"s a strange thing to mention, but the name of the village I live is Bobra village.
These seemed to have been because the village"s founder during their pioneering days was named Bobra.
Well, the name of any unknown village would have such an origin. It wouldn"t be some name like Oton.
The official name of Bobra"s village center is the Karaya settlement, but most villagers just call it "village".
When I say that this countryside town is more like a station, I don"t have a sense of what cities here look like.
In the center of such a village, there is a sundry shop, a blacksmith, multipurpose inn, bakery, adventurer"s guild (branch), the office and home of the village head, a meeting place, a medicinal place, daily outdoor park, plaza, all built from back during the pioneering era.
Although it"s a village that is neither great nor bad, when a person compares it to neighboring villages, you could consider it a rich land.
The mountain"s bamboo tax (firewood) is an important fuel for life, but it"s not placed in the village because of risks of fire.
So firewood is stacked in four places, scattered about one hundred meters away from the settlement.
"Barbari, I"ve brought firewood!"
"Alright."
I call out to the old man who manages the firewood as he was sleeping in his cottage.
Each tree is cut down at home, divided as firewood, and then carried to this house. Then, it dries and is eventually brought to the village.
It"s true that it"s easy to bring more to the village, but there are limits in storage capacity at their firewood storage facility (this hut), and a number of people available to manage it.
The management of the firewood is taken care of by only two people, Barbari and Garbalji. However, the village"s youth also help with its movement at night.
"… Ha, ha… Oh, you…"
It may be spring, but if you sleep like that in this place, you"ll catch a cold.
It"s a nice day, but the wind is still cold. It"s not good for a seventy-year-old body.
"I"m lucky enough to live this long."
It is true that one could be considered fortunate to live up to seventy among these food conditions and the unsanitary environment of this era. He"s satisfied with his life as a firewood curator. It is a satisfying lifestyle.
"Don"t give up now, you can live up to a hundred."
"Ahahaha! You"re just as always."
"Just as always, but first, where do I need to put the firewood. "
If I let him, Barbari will talk all day, so I wanted to make sure the ch.o.r.es were finished before we started.
"Sorry to ask you to move it so far, but can you bring it all the way over there in the eastern pile?"
"It"s not that far. I can carry, and it won"t take any more time. Plus, today I have Sari Bali, so it"s fine."
"Yes, leave it to us!"
Well, I don"t have any expectations from her at all.
"Relieved to see Sari Bali is the same as ever."
I received a receipt board to prove that I paid the tax (firewood).
This is the countryside of this era. People"s watch each other and used boards in order to prevent fraud. Well, injustice in such a small world is immediately ostracized. These kinds of things prevent famines and excessive events.
“Oh, yeah, Ronda’s grandfather isn’t around?”
Others usually come in the morning, but I come to the afternoon because I do not like crowds. Four days ago I came in the afternoon, and at that time Ronda’s grandfather was coming home from his trip and I was told that I could ask to visit Garbalji in the east.
"Yeah, two days ago, a merchant ship came in, and so we split up."
Hmm? I heard something interesting somewhere? What is this?
"Why is there a merchant ship in our village?"
Although it is possible for a merchant-cla.s.s ship to come in from the deep coast, there is no special products or buyers who would make it worth it.
"They seemed to have been accosted by a sea dragon, so they stopped by for repairs."
I guess they were unlucky.
Basically, the Sea Dragon is a timid creature that only aims for small fish. I"m a good swimmer and usually keep my distance, but if you have bad luck you might run into one.
"Well, it"s bad for them, but its good entertainment for those in the village."
"The children go and watch every day."
Then I guess I"m going to look like a kid. It is not every day you can see a merchant ship.