Chapter 188

After finishing the morning work on the farm, I headed to Elden Village with Kroc.

Alfred was usually the one who would come with me, but today he remained on the farm saying he would do more farm work.

Maybe because he felt burdened by the fact that he overslept in the morning.

Thus leaving Alfred, Kroc and I went to Elden village.

I was a little worried because Kroc and I couldn’t talk smoothly yet, but, it wasn’t as awkward or uncomfortable as I thought it would be.

TAP TAP

Suddenly, Kroc tapped on my shoulder.

“What Kroc?”

When I asked, Kroc pointed his finger at the tree on the side of the road.

There was a nest on the tree and from the nest, three little baby birds huddled together and looked down on us.

“Ah… it’s cute baby birds.”

NOD.

When I burst into admiration at the cute appearance, Kroc nodded with a proud expression.

Unlike his rough appearance, Kroc was a soft person, who really loves cute things.

In the time we’ve been together, I have found out a lot about Kroc, but I still have a lot of questions.

Although I’m curious about the unknown existence called Dragon Descendants, the thing I’m most curious about was, why he’s communicating in sign language.

It didn’t look like there was any physical discomfort.

He just never spoke.

He communicated only with simple gestures or sign language.

I thought about asking him in person, but I quit because it seemed it might make him uncomfortable.

I decided to wait for a chance when I will able to ask him naturally.

“Kroc, let’s go.”

NOD

I took Kroc’s arms and led him as he was still distracted by the birds.

He waved at the baby birds as we moved away from the tree.

Kroc and I entered the Elden village while receiving greetings from the villagers.

The villagers greeted politely, but still showed a little fear while looking at Kroc.

Still, knowing that he was hired by me, they didn’t show any signs of displeasure.

I was also worried that Kroc might be uncomfortable with this response, but according to Locus, this response was very good.

“Locus will be at Lagos’ house by now, right?”

NOD.

“Then, let’s go there.”

To deliver the rest of the sandwich I made in the morning, we headed to Lagos’ house.

Walking in the main street we soon arrived in front of Lagos’ house

“Oh…? My lord!”

“Hi!”

I met Heron, son of Lagos, who came out of the house as we were about to enter.

He greeted me with a slightly haggard look.

“Welcome. If you’re looking for my father, he’s inside now.”

“Thank you. By the way, what happened to you? You seem tired. Are you sick?”

“I’m fine, my Lord. Yesterday I was on night patrol….”

He replied, rubbing his face shyly.

Although we have recently replenished personnel, vigilantes were still working hard to maintain security.

I patted Heron on the shoulder with a proud look.

“Thank you.”

“Oh no, my lord.”

Heron was surprised but there was a small smile on his face.

I took a sandwich out of the basket I brought and handed it to him.

“I made it this morning. Have one.”

“Oh, ugh! Thank you, my Lord.”

Heron accepted the sandwich with a proud look on his face.

He bowed his head several times and thanked me before he left the house.

I briefly watched Heron’s back and entered the house.

Inside the house, there were three people who seemed to be tired in a different sense.

“Good morning, my lord?”

“You came, huh?”

Lagos jumped up from his seat and greeted me, while Raccoon grandpa looked at me and said curtly.

On the other side, Locus was looking at the documents with a dying look on his face.

“I finished the farm work a little early, so I came to hel……Ugh?! The smell of alcohol!”

I hooted back and flinched for a moment at the smell of alcohol that stung my nose.

Seeing my response, Lagos smiled awkwardly, while Raccoon grandpa looked the other way, pitifully at the source of the smell.

It’s already almost lunchtime.

How can it still smell like this?

“Locus? How much did you drink yesterday?”

“Uh…I didn’t drink much…  just until the morning sun rose….”

Drinking until the morning?

No, that’s not the point, was there a bar in this village that runs that late in the first place?

It was even more surprising that he came to work after drinking like that.

“Tsk tsk, what work are you going to do after drinking so thoughtlessly like that…”

Raccoon grandpa murmured pitifully.

Locus answered immediately.

“Don’t worry, old man. No matter how much I drink, I’ll get things done faster than the old man.”

“What? You drunkard?”

“What’s wrong with you both? The Lord is here.”

Lagos quickly cut in before the quarrel could begin.

Seeing the two, it seemed it was not their first time quarreling like this.

“You haven’t had lunch, right? Here, Eat this first.”

I took the sandwich and water out of the basket and gave them to the three people.

It seemed like they were really hungry, the two who were growling until a while ago, calmed down as soon as they received the sandwich.

Even though the sandwich, which was made in the morning must have tasted a little bad, the three emptied all sandwiches in the basket in a blink of an eye.

Thanks to this, the face of the dying Locus returned to its original state.

“Ohhh… Now, I feel alive.”

“Locus, I don’t want to say anything about your private life, but I think you should control your drinking habits. It will interfere with the work, but above all, it’s bad for your health.”

“Hmm, I understand. I’ll be careful.”

He looked embarrassed and avoided my gaze as if he knew he was wrong.

Since it was Locus who had been working hard, I no longer nagged him and turned to Lagos.

“Lagos, how much of the urgent business has been sorted out in the village?”

“Yes! Most of the urgent problems have been dealt with. Support for the two neighboring villages won’t be a big problem for the time being.”

“Thank God.”

“It was all thanks to Mr. Locus’ help. He gave me a lot of advice on things I didn’t know.”

Locus shrugged a little arrogantly at Lagos’s compliment, while Raccoon grandpa looked at it while shaking his head.

Locus was rich in knowledge and experience in many ways.

In fact, he gave accurate insight into the market price or value of a product, he suggested solutions to problems by citing other territorial issues as examples.

Locus was very good at filling the lack of information and experience that inevitably occurred because it was a remote place.

Thanks to this, not only me but also Lagos seemed to have been relieved of a lot of burdens.

I was so lost and confused to carry out the duties of the Lord without any experience.

Fortunately, I seemed to have managed it somehow with the help of the people around me.

As I was relieved while thinking that the urgent problems had been solved, I suddenly remembered the conversation I had with Kaneff this morning.

Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your promise, have you?

There’s one problem left that hasn’t been solved yet.

I spoke carefully to Raccoon grandpa, who was eating the last piece of sandwich.

“Excuse me…grandpa…”

“What?”

“About the thing, I said last time… Did you think about it?”

He stiffened his face and shut his mouth.

It was exactly the same reaction as the last time when I suggested it.

I spoke again a little flustered.

“I’ll do whatever grandpa wants, so could you please help me?”

“Um…”

He murmured in a low voice as if he could not hear me.

Locus, who watched the attitude of Raccoon grandpa, said.

“The Lord is asking so politely, why are you acting like a stuck-up? What will you lose by making that Honey beer or something….”

“What?! Who’s a stuck-up, huh!?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I was just talking to myself, but I guess you heard me.”

“What…, you drunkard bastard, what do you know about me!?”

“Stop it, Elder Raccoon!”

“Locus!”

Lagos quickly stopped Raccoon grandpa, who trembled in anger.

I frowned slightly and called Locus, who once again avoided my eyes and turned away.

After the Raccoon grandpa’s anger subsided a little, I asked cautiously once again.

“Grandpa. I know it’s not about the money or compensation that you’re worried about. What is it?”

“…….”

“Can I know what kind of problem you’re having?”

Raccoon grandpa opened his mouth after my repeated questioning.

“As you said, money or compensation doesn’t matter. After all, it’s not me who developed the process in the first place.”

“What? Isn’t the honey beer developed by Elder Raccoon?”

“I improved a little, but the root is a secret recipe that has been passed down for generations among the Raccoon beast-people tribe.”

Look at Lagos, who was also listening to the story with a curious look on his face, it seemed like Raccoon grandpa was talking about it for the first time.

The same was true of Krock and Locus.

“The raccoon beast-people had excellent skills in making alcohol or making medicines using herbs for many generations. Thanks to this, various secret recipes are being secretly passed down.”

“Then honey beer…”

“Yes, honey beer is one of them.”

Only then did I understand a little, why Raccoon grandpa had difficulty in accepting my request.

“The reason you can’t easily accept my proposal, is it because it’s a recipe that’s handed down by your ancestors?”

He nodded, stroking his beard.

Lagos, who was watching from the side, said with a look of regret.

“Is there no other way, Elder Raccoon? It would be of great help to the Lord if we could mass produce honey beer.”

“Ugh… It’s not completely hopeless…”

“Is there a way?”

Everyone’s eyes were on the Raccoon grandpa.

“Um… the way is…”

The moment Raccoon grandpa, who had been thinking about it for a while, was about to say something!

BANG

“Grandpa! PLEASE HELP.”