Since I started to walk, it became a daily routine to go out for a stroll in the sunny days alongside Tanya. I hadn’t gone to any personal trip while I was still in j.a.pan, even when I had gone to a business trip, I would come back as soon as my business was over. So, the scenery of this tranquil farming village was quite refres.h.i.+ng for someone like me who only experienced the crowd of the city.

Moreover, since this was a different world, its vegetation was also different. On our stroll, I keep asking many questions to Tanya about many things such as; the names of produced crops and the ways of eating them, the flowers growing in the neighbourhood, or the insects that I caught.

Also, it took a few days, but I had grasped the general picture of the whole village. The number of the households is about 60. If you think that each households has around 3 or 4 members, then the population of the village would be around 200. It’s really a small village. The main product of the village is wheat, and in addition to that, the root crops or vegetables are also planted. It doesn’t seem that there are any wild plants such as Clovers. (TL Note: I didn’t exactly understand this line. However I guess this is what he says.) The bread on dining table is hard and unappetizing since the wheat bran is not removed from it. I thought it was milled in a water wheel, but as I learnt it later, there was no water wheel in this village. Since it would be troublesome to inquire about water wheel or Britain farming methods which Tanya had never seen, I just shut my mouth about it.

Something piqued my interest when I saw the village folks. There were only young people in the village and there were no old people. Also, since the farm work is a manual labor, you normally expect that mainly the males would do it, but the number of females who work was actually higher.

Tanya also told me about the forest in the west during our stroll.

“Young Master Larcus, you must never get close to that forest, understand? There are many dreadful monsters in there. If they see you, they will eat you in one gulp. “

“Yes. I will keep it in my mind. By the way Tanya, why aren’t there any old man or old woman in this village?”

I asked this question, thinking that a smart kid would be able to notice something like that.

“This village was founded just recently. The people who couldn’t find any job in the cities gathered and founded this village.”

“I see. Then did my father and mother also come here for that reason?”

“No, Master and Madam were hired to guard the village. Their job is to kill the forest’s monsters when they appear in the village. Both of them, especially Master, are extremely strong people. They are vastly known even in the Royal Capital.”

“Hmm, so they are amazing people!”

I got a general idea about this neighbourhood thanks to my [Appraisal] so our conversation continued as an idle chat from there on.

When I sum up the informations I collected so far; this is a remote village which monsters appear frequently, so my parents are the guards of it. The male population is low here, but it is probably because they died in the battles against monsters. Or is it because it’s harder for the females to find a job? I don’t know.

The farming technology level is still at the early period of Middle Age, so, because of the food situation, the increase of population is restricted, and on top of that, it even decreases because they are killed by monsters. Besides, the cities are also full of jobless people. Then, isn’t the humanity in danger that way?

However, even though the technology is at the Middle Age level, magic exists in this world. There might be some kind of magic that can increase your personal strength, or even some magic enchanted equipments like swords or armours. So, it should not be that disappointing.

We were on our usual stroll again, but suddenly, the village became noisy.

“Monsters appeared! It is a pack of Demon Wolves!”

Tanya held me up into her embrace and started to run towards home. We encountered my mother on our way.

“Larcus, Tanya, are you okay?”

“Madam, we are okay. Apparently it’s a pack of Demon Wolves. They are over there.”

“Understood. You two, go somewhere safe.”

After Chris arrived there, it seems that she managed to repel the monster pack since I could hear the cheerings.

“Tanya, take me there.”

“Young Master, it is dangerous.”

“I want to see it a little. If it gets dangerous, we shall run away immediately.”

“….I guess I have no choice.”

I badgered Tanya to take me to the incident area. (TL Note : Where Demon Wolves are.)

In the incident area, the corpses were scattered all over the place. There were 3 dead Demon Wolves and 3 human corpses. One of them was a female and the rest were males. The injured people were then treated by my mother using holy magic on the place.

If the corpses were left alone, they would cause more monsters to appear again. So, the villagers dismantled the Demon Wolves, and took out the usable materials from them. And then, they gathered the corpses of the victims to one place. I don’t know if it is because they all got accustomed to it, but they all left for their works indifferently without spouting a single word. The deceased three people were then cremated. Because the corpses were half-eaten, I couldn’t bear looking at them for long.

In my previous life, even my grandfather was still in good health and I had never directly seen anyone dead. Though I, myself, once had died as well, but it was only for an instant, so I don’t remember it very well.

“Oh mighty G.o.d Surveil who rules over the death! These people lived and died like that. They became souls and departed to G.o.d’s realm. Cover up their sins with their merits and bless them in the other world. “

Only popping sounds of flames and prayer of Chris were reverberated around the neighbourhood.

I couldn’t read any emotions from her face that was illuminated by the flames.

—

It is full of violence in this world.

Being weak is a sin in this world.

Weak easily dies in this world.

And unless you are strong, you can not live on in this world.

—

I don’t want to die!

While listening to the prayer of Chris, my determination to survive in this world was solidified.