Chapter 275
Food
"Everyone, come eat." Nara placed the bowl of food on the ground. The villagers, seeing this, didn’t think much of it and believed Nara to be a noble and selfless woman. But to the noble students, placing food on the ground and calling them to eat together was akin to feeding pigs!!
And yes! This was Nara’s revenge. After having to endure eating leftover food in the cafeteria with them despite being a student herself, she was the only one who had to eat those scraps. Hmph! Weren’t they supposed to be dignified and honorable? She really wanted to see if hunger would drive them mad too!
"You!! You wretch! Take your food and feed it to the dogs," a male student, both furious and feeling humiliated, kicked the bowl, scattering its contents. The villagers watching gasped in shock.
"Y-You, Why...why did you do that? Sob, waah." Nara pretended to fall back, crying pitifully. The villagers, who had been secretly watching, were unable to bear it any longer.
"Stop hurting Miss Nara!!" A villager rushed to help Nara to her feet, while others formed a human barrier around her.
"Miss Nara, let’s go! You don’t need to care for these people anymore. Even if they starve, it doesn’t matter."
"Yes, we won’t let you face such treatment again."
"Miss Nara, you don’t have a tent, right? Come stay at my house. We’ll take good care of you. The wind at night can be very cold. I don’t care how the others have prepared or if they freeze to death!"
"Yes, let’s take Miss Nara back!" The villagers were ready to fight the group of students, not caring if they were nobles. Their anger had made them willing to become enemies.
"What are you doing?" While everyone was resisting fiercely, a large man appeared, his fierce gaze sweeping around. The villagers, who had known him since childhood, weren’t afraid. Instead, they felt as if they had a strong ally.
"These students were bullying Miss Nara. She kindly brought them food, but they showed bad behavior by destroying all of the food bowls."
"Exactly. Actually, we should kick them out of the village. How can they stay without working?" They complained to the newcomer. However, the village chief’s son didn’t say much about the students. Knowing that if it came to a real fight, the students could easily defeat them in one attack, he instead looked at Nara, who had caused this mess.
"Go back and rest. If you don’t want to eat the food, don’t eat it. No need to waste it like this. Don’t you know how valuable food is in our village?" He scolded Nara instead. The others wanted to defend her but dared not, because he was right.
"I-I’m sorry. I’ll gather up the food, sob, sob." Nara pretended to tremble, kneeling to scoop up the scattered food with her hands. The pathetic sight made the villagers feel like crying.
"Miss, you don’t have to go that far. Let’s go and rest."
"B-but...my friends caused this valuable food to be wasted, so I should..."
"Oh, you’re still thinking about others even now? Look at them. Do they care about you at all? No matter how kind you are, it won’t make them soften their hearts and help us."
"But still..."
"Sigh." As Nara continued to be stubborn, the tall frame of the village chief’s son approached and effortlessly lifted her onto his shoulder. His confident manner made Nara blush uncontrollably.
The scent of the man made Nara’s heart race wildly. She had never felt this way about anyone before. No! Actually, she had felt this way about someone once, but it seemed like he had gone for good. Her attempts to get close to other men were never out of love, just a way to secure a better future for herself. But now, confronted with someone who made her feel vulnerable, she was at a loss.
The corners of the young man’s mouth twitched into a slight, mocking smile. His large hand gently patted her back to calm her down. This familiar gesture soothed Nara until he carried her to his home and set her down. Only then did she find her voice again.
"If you feel that something is beyond your capacity or isn’t right...you don’t have to do it. Eat your fill today and get some rest." His deep voice was like music, and Nara obediently nodded, accepting the bowl of food. The young man didn’t approach her further, simply walking out of his private residence.
The villagers were already waiting outside, eager to discuss how to deal with the students.
"What should we do next? In the end, the students aren’t really helping us. Do we have to deal with the stones ourselves? That’s a dangerous job. If the students hadn’t saved us today, do you think we’d have made it back alive?"
"True, the students are really strong, and their professor too. We need to clear the stones before they leave. But no matter how much Miss Nara tries to help us, they still don’t care."
"Miss Nara’s strength alone can’t help us. Her power is for healing, not destruction."
"Should we force them then? If talking nicely doesn’t work, we should make them work, right?"
"Huh? With what? Do you think those students can’t fight back? You idiot!!"
"Then what should we do? Keep withholding food? They need to complete their mission, right? So, eventually, they’ll get hungry."
"That’s right. So..." As they were plotting to use food to pressure the students into helping with the stones, the rich aroma of meat suddenly wafted through the air, hitting their noses.
"W-What...what is that smell?" They looked at each other in confusion. This fragrant even caused Nara, who was happily thinking about how the noble students would suffer from hunger, to snap out of her thoughts. Initially, she had looked at the bowl in her hands with satisfaction, but now her eyes were filled with hatred.
Nara often smelled this scent from the hunters’ camps—it was the luxurious aroma of grilled meat. Even in her old village, the village chief couldn’t afford to eat meat every day. Who would have thought that in this forest, despite having no food supplies, these students would still manage to have meat to eat?
And yes! Just after the villagers had left, Ellie’s group arrived. The students quickly reported what had happened, making them laugh uncontrollably.
So, the villagers ate those vegetables and claimed they were good? Well, just wait until they saw what the students had!
After Ellie poured out a large pile of meat before everyone, the group who had arrived first was stunned. They almost clapped and started a fire to dance around in celebration!
Not only did they get to eat their fill of meat, but Ellie also provided sweet, delicious potatoes for roasting alongside the grilled meat. Fruit was being peeled for dessert. This meal was as luxurious as any they’d had at the institute.
“Ridiculous villagers and that wretched woman, thinking we’d starve because we couldn’t eat their scraps.” One student said angrily. If Nara hadn’t placed the food in such a degrading manner, they wouldn’t have felt so disgusted. It was Nara who had sown the seeds of this hatred.
"This meat should last for 2 days. Tomorrow, our group will go hunting as well."
"Yes! We won’t sit idle. You didn’t see how they treated us earlier. Hmph!!" Those who had experienced it firsthand clenched their fists. They had been angry from the start, but they weren’t prepared for the situation, leading some to ask the villagers for food and embarrassing themselves.
If they had known the villagers were planning to humiliate them, they wouldn’t have asked for food even if they starved!
"Everyone, eat your fill and rest. Tomorrow, we’ll start work early. It might take another 3 days to complete the stratagem installation mission." Ellie knew about the unfolded event through her spores and understood their anger. However, finishing the mission as quickly as possible was still everyone’s goal. Even if they didn’t want to help, in the end, they had to do their best.
Professor Medik, who had been listening, nodded at Ellie. This student seemed to understand the situation well. Even amid everyone’s simmering anger, she remained calm.
Of course, Ellie had more reason to be calm than anyone else. Having encountered Nara before anyone else, she knew her nature well. Moreover, Nara had tried to harm her many times, so it wasn’t strange that Ellie could predict her actions. The other students, who hadn’t experienced it firsthand, had previously thought Nara wasn’t that bad, or some even believed the rumors were unreliable. Now, experiencing it themselves, they realized how much stress Nara could cause.
“Duchess Ellie is right. Let’s finish the mission quickly. We won’t be staying in this village for long anyway. Fighting with the villagers is pointless.”
"Yes, yes, eat up. Let’s eat our fill." When Ellie spoke, everyone followed her instructions without hesitation. This demonstrated great respect for her; everyone moved without needing a second prompt.
The students’ joyous night passed, while the villagers felt uncomfortable. They never imagined that the students would have such luxurious food, especially the kind of rich meat the villagers rarely had. Many villagers watched the sumptuous meal from a distance, swallowing their saliva.
Many of the children, who had never tasted meat before, couldn’t sleep all night. Their dreams were filled with visions of meat roasting over the fire, making their hunger even worse.
The dinner ended in a mix of joy for the students and misery for the villagers. But breakfast was even more torturous. After enduring a night of hunger, as soon as the sun rose, the smell of meat soup wafted through the air again.
For breakfast, the students used the marinated meat from the previous night to make a hearty meat and potato soup. It was a filling meal that revitalized them, especially with something hot to eat. Some students prepared grilled meat for lunch, with Ellie providing them with rice as well. She had prepared these supplies in her dimensional ring long ago, almost forgetting she had them.
In fact, she had various kinds of meat, vegetables, and fruits. But since this was only their second day in the village, there was no need to use everything. Freshly sourced ingredients always tasted better.
"Sister..." While Ellie was leisurely eating some fruit, a small voice came from behind. She turned to see a young boy approaching her bravely before asking.
"What is it?"
"Um, um. Well..." The boy looked at the fruit in Ellie’s hand and quickly wiped the saliva from the corners of his mouth. It was clear why he had come to her.
In truth, he wanted to go and look at the pot emitting the delicious aroma, but there were many adults there. He didn’t dare get too close. The village adults had warned the children against approaching the outsiders, calling them bad people. But unable to resist the enticing smells, he had snuck over.
Seeing that the sister was sitting alone and didn’t look scary, he decided to take a chance. If she turned out to be mean and tried to hit him, he would scream for help as loudly as he could.
“Just say what you need.” Ellie stood to her full height and looking at the skinny boy, whose eyes were filled with hunger. She could guess he was here for food.
“C-can...can I have some meat?”
“Hmm? Did your parents send you to ask?”
“N-no, my mother didn’t send me. B-But...I heard that if my little sister eats meat, she’ll get stronger. Ever since my father went to fight, my sister hasn’t had meat for a long time, barely eating anything. My mother gives all the food at home to me. She says that even if everyone dies, I should survive to continue my father’s bloodline. But I...I don’t want everyone to die.”
The boy glanced at the fruit in Ellie’s hand again. Even though he wanted to eat it so badly that his mouth was watering, he didn’t ask for the delicious fruit for himself. He only mentioned needing food for his sister, who sacrificed all her food for him.
Ellie looked into the boy’s eyes. She felt he was telling the truth. It seemed the recent war had affected many people deeply. She believed that not only this boy, but many others were struggling after losing their family leaders. Although it was heartbreaking...it was something she couldn’t change.
“Go home and tell your mother to come here herself.”
“Huh? Sister, do you mean...if my mother comes, you’ll give us meat?”
“Yes.” Ellie responded. She didn’t know if the boy’s mother would let pride or concern for her daughter prevail, but Ellie was determined not to give food to someone who wouldn’t appreciate it.
The boy was overjoyed, not realizing that his hope might ultimately be crushed by his own mother!
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