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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 218: The Village Chief

“This must be the place.”

Kamael, along with the lacking spirit villagers, walked through the village while asking for directions, eventually arriving in front of a dilapidated house that seemed to belong to the village chief.

“It’s falling apart.”

“Not the best way to put it, but it certainly looks like it could collapse any moment,” Shuvina remarked.

As she said, it was a relatively large house, but its condition was quite bad, with damaged pillars and cracks indicating it could break at any moment.

“Sure, the appearance is concerning, but I’m more worried about the scars on the walls,” said Fiera.

“I think the same. Those are likely from sword wounds. It’s possible someone attacked,” Sonia and Sephiria chimed in, their attention drawn to the marks on the building, which indeed looked like they had been cut by a large blade.

“Hmmm. Just as Aliy mentioned, those are probably sword wounds. From the look of it, they’re not from a small dagger but closer to a longsword. However, what’s more concerning is…”

Kamael pondered for a moment before he approached the nearly broken door, realizing they should prioritize meeting the village chief.

“For now, let’s go inside. We can talk after that.”

Knocking on the door, they heard a reply from an elderly man within and slowly opened the door to enter.

Inside the house, nothing particularly stood out; there was just a table, some chairs, and a small shelf—it was far too desolate for a place where people lived.

“Ah, are you adventurers? What brings you here today?”

An elderly man sitting on a chair noticed them entering and greeted them with a gentle smile.

“Hello. We’re adventurers heading to Clan Kingdom from Alphis Town. The sun is setting, and we were looking for a place to rest. We happened upon this village and wanted to see if we could stay the night.”

“Oh, heading to Clan Kingdom, are you? You must be tired coming all the way from Alphis Town. You’re welcome to rest here, but unfortunately, being such a small village, we don’t have an inn or anything of the sort. So how about staying in my home?”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course! This house is the biggest in the village. Occasionally, merchants and adventurers drop by to stay here. Please, don’t hesitate.”

“I see. Well then, let me check with my companions.”

“Sure, take your time.”

Kamael glanced at Fiera and the others to confirm; they nodded, so he turned back to the elderly man with a smile.

“My companions agree, so if it’s all right, we’d like to take you up on your offer and stay for one night.”

“Understood! Helen! Come out, we have guests!”

When the old man called out loudly for Helen, a young woman, about twenty and similarly lacking spirit, appeared from the back of the house and stood beside the old man.

“Grandpa, what’s going on?”

“There are guests! Please show them around as you usually do.”

“Okay!”

“This young lady is my granddaughter Helen. And I’m the village chief, Tarton. Though it’s brief, I look forward to working with you.”

“Tarton and Helen, nice to meet you. I’m Rehamu. Thank you for having us tonight.”

“Rehamu, you say? Well then, Helen, please show Rehamu and the others to their room.”

“Okay!”

Then, led by Helen, they were guided to a room. However, there wasn’t enough space for all four of them except Kamael, so they split into two rooms: Kamael with Sonia, and Fiera, Shuvina, and Sephiria in the other.

“Rehamu, dinner is ready,” Helen announced shortly after they entered the room.

“Got it. We’ll be right there,” Kamael replied.

As they exited the room behind Helen, Kamael and Sonia took seats next to Fiera and the others, glancing at the food laid out on the table.

There were only some steamed potatoes and a thin soup that looked like it contained some leaves—it was a meal that could hardly be called luxurious.

“I’m sorry, but we could only offer this,” Tarton said apologetically.

“No problem. We’re adventurers, so we’re just thankful to have something to eat. And we really appreciate the warm welcome despite dropping by unannounced,” Kamael replied gratefully.

“You’re a kind one, Rehamu. Now let’s eat while it’s still warm; it’ll taste worse if it gets cold.”

As Tarton said this, they began eating, but the flavor was nearly nonexistent, and the small portion meant they finished their meal quickly.

“I’m sorry to serve you so little at such a young age,” Tarton confessed.

“No, really. We’re just grateful for sharing whatever you could provide. That said, could you tell us about the current situation in this village? It seems like the other houses are in similar states.”

“Well, you see… a few weeks ago, some bandits appeared in this village.”

“Bandits, you say?”

“Yes. They suddenly attacked the village and, for some reason, took only young men and food instead of women. Since this is a small village on the edge of the Empire, we barely manage to gather enough food each day, and their arrival took what little we had left, leaving us in this predicament.”

“I see. That’s unfortunate. By the way, have you put out a request to the guild for bandit extermination?”

“We considered it once, but we have no money to prepare for such a request in these circumstances. Occasionally, we’ve tried to host adventurers who stop by, but whenever we couldn’t offer a reward, they turned us down,” Tarton explained.

“I see…”

It’s quite common not to file requests without being able to provide a reward, but what intrigued Kamael was that the bandits only took men.

(Are they planning to kidnap people and use them as manpower?)

Most likely, just like with Saramāju, the Clan is preparing for war by capturing useful individuals, which could mean the rumors about adventurers disappearing from this village involved the bandits.

“Tarton, you mentioned there are occasions where adventurers do visit this village?”

“Yes, it happens very rarely, but some, like Rehamu, tend to stop by while heading to Clan Kingdom. What is it about?”

“Well, before we came to this village—while we were still in Alphis Town—I heard rumors from other adventurers saying that adventurers disappear here. Would you know anything about that?”

“Th-that’s…”

As Kamael spoke about the missing adventurers’ rumors, the village chief faltered slightly, briefly avoiding Kamael’s gaze.

(I see, he seems to know something.)

“I’m not aware of anything. As I mentioned earlier, adventurers have visited the village, and while they all stayed for only one night, they did leave for Clan Kingdom as planned. What happened after that, I don’t know.”

“I see. Well, I understand. Also, I’m sorry, but I’m suddenly feeling quite sleepy, so I think I’ll turn in early tonight.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I couldn’t provide much of a host. Please rest well.”

“Thanks!”

After expressing his gratitude, Kamael rose from his seat, prompting Fiera and the others to follow suit, heading back to their respective rooms.

(Seems like we hit the jackpot around here.)

Noticing the village chief’s reaction, Kamael deduced that this village held potential, and he turned in early to prepare for what was to come, slowly closing his eyes.

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If you’re interested, please also check out my concurrently serialized work, “The Former Hero, Becoming the Demon Lord and Offering the World”.

I would be delighted if you could give it a read!

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330663836544021

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