Chapter 23 : Stat Village

Even though she had found the village, Lanafit didn’t rush to enter right away. 

Instead, she deliberately took a long detour to approach the village from the opposite side of the forest, pretending to be a magician drawn there by the falling star.

Of course, before entering the village, she used water magic to clean off the dust and grime from her travel-worn appearance.

The moment she stepped into the village, Lanafit sensed a touch of desolation.

How should one put it—while the village itself covered a fair amount of land, the houses were sparsely scattered, only around twenty or so buildings loosely spread throughout. 

And it felt like there were very few people around.

In a world like this, where civilization isn’t particularly advanced, it was perhaps normal for the homes to be in such a dilapidated state. 

But the lack of life and vitality still caused Lanafit to furrow her brows.

As she made her way through the village, Lanafit tried her best to keep a low profile—but clearly, that wasn’t possible.

The beauty of a witch was practically a blessing from the demigods. 

Though she wasn’t quite as stunning as Roseithe to the point of taking one’s breath away, Lanafit’s entrance still caught the awe-struck gazes of everyone who laid eyes on her.

She found it a bit troublesome, honestly.

But there was nothing she could do about it—she couldn’t just cover her face, could she? 

That would only make her look more suspicious.

So if people wanted to stare, let them stare. 

As long as no one tried anything funny, it didn’t really matter.

Truthfully, Lanafit was overthinking it.

These villagers were all just ordinary people. 

Though amazed by her appearance, once they saw her magician’s robe and the staff nearly as tall as she was in her hand, no one dared to act rashly.

In this world, magicians were generally considered nobility. 

Even if one wasn’t a noble, their power wasn’t something simple villagers could afford to provoke.

…

After asking an old woman feeding poultry in her yard where the village chief lived, Lanafit made her way toward the village center.

Since this was clearly a fantasy-style world, arriving in what seemed like a newbie village meant she might as well go talk to the village chief. 

Who knew—maybe she could pick up a starter quest?

Not that Lanafit was itching for a real-life fantasy RPG or anything. 

It was just that only now did she remember one very important thing:

She had no money.

Yep. 

Lanafit had arrived in this world carrying only a few healing potions and the battered staff in her hand—not a single coin on her.

Other people starting out in fantasy settings usually got at least a few hundred coins in starter funds. 

Not her. 

She was flat broke.

There was no inn in this little village, and even staying in someone’s home would require money. 

So Lanafit figured she’d find the village chief to ask—if there weren’t any jobs available, maybe she could at least sell a few of her healing potions for some cash.

Thinking of this, Lanafit couldn’t help but regret it again.

“If I had known, I would’ve brought more stuff down here. At least then I’d have more to sell and some starter money. Who knows how much these potions will even fetch…”

As she walked, she finally arrived in front of the village chief’s house. 

It was easy to recognize—it was the largest building in the village center, perfectly in line with RPG conventions.

However, Lanafit didn’t dare go in right away. 

At that moment, a squad of fully armored soldiers was stationed in front of the chief’s house, seemingly standing guard.

Lanafit had no desire to run into these salary-fed government goons. 

If they asked her for identification or credentials, all her effort hiding for the past three days would go to waste.

So she hid behind a tree some distance from the house, cautiously observing the scene.

After quite a long time, a man wearing silver armor with golden trim—clearly an officer—strode arrogantly out of the chief’s house, leading the squad away.

Walking beside this smug officer was an old man hunched over and leaning heavily on a cane. 

His steps were shaky, but his face was full of respectful smiles as he saw them off.

Once the soldiers had walked far away, the old man finally sighed.

If Lanafit had to guess, this was probably the village chief. 

After all, he looked just like one of those village elders from an RPG game.

Now that her target had appeared, Lanafit no longer hid. 

She stepped out from behind the tree and walked up behind the old man.

“Are you the chief of this village?”

The old man had just been about to head back inside when he heard a voice behind him and turned around again.

His cloudy eyes took in the sight of Lanafit. 

Though surprised by her appearance, her magician’s attire made him immediately more respectful.

“Oh! So you are a Magician, my lady! I am the village chief of Stat Village—Normar at your service. May I ask what business brings you here?”

Lanafit hadn’t expected him to be this respectful. 

She thought to herself, So this outfit is actually useful after all.

A flicker of gratitude for Roseithe rose in her heart—of course, it was fleeting and quickly disappeared.

“There’s no need to be so formal, Chief,” Lanafit replied. 

“My name is Lanafit. I’m just a traveler. I happened to hear in a nearby town that a ‘miracle’ had occurred here, so I came by out of curiosity to see the excitement.”

As she recited the identity she had prepared in advance, Lanafit carefully observed the chief’s expression. 

After all, if he didn’t buy her story, things could get troublesome.

“Oh, I see. In that case, Magician, you can feel free to head directly into the forest. Quite a few adventurers have already entered in recent days. There are even merchants inside selling supplies, so you won’t have to worry about running out of resources.”

The chief showed no signs of suspicion toward Lanafit’s explanation. 

After all, many others had come to him with the same questions in recent days.

Some were adventurers sent by local nobles, some were soldiers dispatched by the Emperor himself, and of course, there were also opportunists hoping to strike it rich by discovering the so-called “miracle.”

The influx of people had even drawn in merchants, who now set up tents and sold goods right inside the forest. 

Ironically, their presence prevented Stat Village—despite being the nearest settlement to the forest—from benefiting from any sort of tourism boom.

The Geshk Forest only contained some wild animals and no particularly dangerous magical creatures, so most people felt safe enough to camp there. 

All they needed to do was sprinkle some repellent powder around their tents to ward off pests.

Everyone was after the fallen “miracle.” 

What if they left the forest to rest and someone else seized the opportunity before them?

Not that no one stayed in the village—some did, but very few. 

Only a handful of households had taken on lodgers.

Seeing that the chief wasn’t particularly interested in chatting further, Lanafit quickly spoke up.

“No, I’m not planning to go into the forest. I’m really just here to see what’s going on. The reason I came to find you, Chief, was mainly to ask, um…”

At this point, Lanafit scratched her cheek, a bit embarrassed.

“Do you have any jobs for me? While I was camping out yesterday, my luggage was stolen—don’t know if it was beasts or thieves—but I’m flat broke now. I was hoping to earn a little money so I could at least find a place to stay here.”