Chapter 41—Poor Village
’They seem better, as expected—after all, they are the head family of this village,’ Sli#47 mused, glancing over their proper clothing: a hemp tunic covering their entire body.
All the villagers wore patched, torn tunics—clothes barely holding together, just like their lives, describing their poor condition; even their dwellings were worn out from age and in poor condition. Only a few were decent, and no house could match this village head’s dwelling.
"Appraisal!" He used the skill on the old man playing with two children in the living room.
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[—Status—
—Na: ????
—Race: Human ★★★★
—Class: Mage
—Level: 35
—Titles: Oakfield village’s Bailiff, Stingy Bailiff, High Tax Imposer, Cruel Bailiff.....
—Tier: 1 ]
’I see... no wonder this place is rotting. No rchants, no healers—just this parasite bleeding them dry.’ he mused, "Also, he’s called Bailiff, not the village head as I thought."
After this, he proceeded to check the status of all people in the Bailiff’s family. He didn’t want to miss anyone; the one missed could be a powerhouse due to bad luck.
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Na: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oppressor, Assaulter, Money Stealer....
—Level: 4 ]
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[—Status—
—Na: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Assaulter, Oppressor, Arrogant....
—Level: 2 ]
------
"As expected, they were the worst," he muttered. He noticed titles like oppressor, arrogant, and so on. They were also utterly weak.
’No wonder the guards protected the Bailiff’s family instead of the village—they might fear assassination even in their sleep. Who wouldn’t if they were that bad?’ He mused.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a—Thud!—Thud!—A maid in her twenties walked in, a steaming cup on a plate, trembling in her hands. She wasn’t pretty—just average. But in such a village, even "average" was probably rare.
"No wonder she’s selected as a maid," he muttered, glancing at the maid.
Peeking from a third-floor bedroom window, he mused, ’Let’s see how they treat servants.’
"*$&$(#," she said politely, handing over steaming coffee to a middle-aged man sitting on a chair near the bed. He was average-looking with short black hair.
He took a sip from the cup and roared, "*%(*$*," and threw the cup at the maid’s face.
She quickly reacted, covering her face with her hands. Next mont, ""Ahh!" she shrieked as boiling liquid splashed down her arm, skin blistering instantly—Zzz!.
"90$#*$*(," the man barked to Sli#47.
"^$&#GD," the maid knelt down with tears and begged.
"*&*7$$," upon hearing the man’s words, she slapped herself repeatedly.
’He wanted to torture her... not because of the coffee,’ Sli#47 mused, glancing at the title section of the middle-aged man’s status.
[ Titles: Assaulter, Oppressor, Maid Torturer......]
He felt pity for the woman. But it quickly faded—if he showed pity to the humans, who would pity him and his fellow slis? It’s survival—the strongest survive while the weak perish.
Wob!—he jumped out of the building and decided to return to the farm to inform the elder sli about the village structure. After a few quick glances while leaving, he felt sad as he noticed a malnourished girl in ragged clothes.
She was very thin, and her skin was just a layer on the bones; her hair was rough, ssy and turned yellow due to starvation.
She was barely alive. She picked up bugs and roaches from the ground, munching and swallowing them with tears.
He froze. She couldn’t be older than six... and she was eating insects to survive. And she wasn’t alone; many kids followed her in eating buds due to hunger.
’If I burn the fields and release the cattle... kids like her will starve first.’
Yes, he’d beco a sli and had to fight the humans who wanted to exploit them, but there was a difference. He couldn’t beco like ruthless humans—then there would be no difference.
He did have a soft spot for humans for the first few loops, but after getting repeatedly killed by humans for more than ten loops, it vanished. He understood that he was a sli and could never side with humans.
After thinking for a few monts, he decided, "I’ll kill that Bailiff. He must’ve hoarded money—enough to keep these people alive for a while."
He grinned, planning to kill him while escaping—hitting two birds with one stone. ’They wouldn’t be stupid enough to call adventurers with that money.’ He thought.
He also sensed the transparent barrier at the end and noticed a one-ter concrete wall surrounding the entire village.
Wob!—Whoosh!
In the sli farm...
He explained the situation to Elder Sli.
"How did humans react?" Old Sli asked, expecting a reaction.
Young Sli laughed, "React? They are even struggling to eat. Why would they care about these sounds?"
Elder Sli understood, "It seems humans exploit their own just as easily as us. It’s been like this since the beginning of humanity."
He then continued, "But it’s best to be careful. I think you should check the fields before we attack."
"Okay," Young Sli agreed, glancing at Mama Sli, who gathered all the slis into one place, with Little Sli leading them, which brought a smile to his face.
’It’s incredible,’ he thought, noticing slis filling the entire area—about 800 of them.
Wob!
-------
"Double Presence Hide," he muttered, activating his skill as he entered the field on the right side of the protector’s dwelling.
Farrs were busy working while the guards held a whip, watching them.
Suddenly, a skinny middle-aged farr fell after stepping on a stone unknowingly.
The nearby guard cracked his whip across the man’s back—Whip!—and stord toward him, "&%%gGv!" he yelled.
"Appraisal!" Sli#47 activated his skill.
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Na: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oakfield Village’s Farr....
—Level: 2 ]
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Na: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oakfield Village’s Farr....
—Level: 1 ]
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Na: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oakfield Village’s Guard
—Level: 7 ]
-------
’Farrs... level one or two, guards... around eight. Five guards and ten farrs.....,’ he mused, glancing at the paddy field with a scarecrow.
Wob!—He then proceeded to the next farm. "Tch!" He clicked his tongue, as it was the sli farm complex.
Woosh!—Wob!—He swept through the entire complex. Hoping to find one sli with intellect, but none.
In the 600 slis, no single intelligent one. He was pissed but could do nothing.
Wob!—Then, he proceeded to the next vegetable farm.
"What kind of vegetable is that?" he muttered, glancing at the mushy plants growing with no visible fruits or vegetables.
’It should be underground... but what is that plant?’ He mused but didn’t care much.
When he was about to leave, he noticed—Whip!—a guard whipped a skinny farr who was resting. "&^ggv!" he barked.
Then Sli#47 shook his body and proceeded to check the cattle farm, which was not overseen by humans like the sli farms.
A few minutes later, he went to the other side of the protector’s dwelling, checking all the farms.
It was no different—another paddy field and an apple farm with a sli complex in the middle. And a cattle farm at the end.
Like the previous sli complex, he found no intelligent sli, although nearly 900 slis inhabited the complex.
He suddenly heard a sound—Whip!—from the Apple farm, he—Wob!—went to peek.
Whip!—"Get to the work," The guards forced farrs to work while watching.
’Huh? They didn’t...have breakfast?’ Young sli mused as he noticed the farrs glancing at the food in the guard’s hands while swallowing their saliva.
"&^^gb.." A guard, noticing the farr’s hungry stare, threw the apple—Thud!—on the muddy ground, and said with a grin, "&6*9hb."
Thud!—Thud!
End of the Chapter.
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