Chapter 55: Selection (II)

The leaders among these mountain people were also quite wise. In Donald’s words from his past life, “Harsh environments breed difficult people.” The originally simple villagers, under the leadership of a few ruffians, managed to come up with the idea of surrounding West Suburb Town to force the authorities to resolve their settlement issues as soon as possible.

However, the situation today was clearly different. After stepping forward, the town mayor did not try to persuade them to leave anymore. Instead, he declared loudly, “Villagers, a distinguished figure arrived in our town yesterday. I believe many of you saw him come in the evening. This is Lord Merlin, a noble from the Northern County. Not only is he a hereditary noble, but he is also a great mage!”

The mayor’s words caused a stir among the mountain people. They lived in remote areas such as the border mountains, and aside from mysterious mages, they had seen few powerful warriors. To them, mages were legendary and mysterious beings.

Compared to nobles, the status of a mage inspired even greater awe in ordinary people. Thus, the displaced villagers couldn’t help but steal glances at the young noble mage with a mix of fear and curiosity. But the leaders among them began to harbor sinister thoughts!

“Could it be that the mayor no longer intends to provide us with food? Afraid that we won’t leave, he’s brought a mage to deal with us?”

Ignoring their selfish thoughts, when the mayor introduced himself, Donald stepped forward. A magnificent staff of rejection appeared out of thin air in his hand. With a wave of the staff, a bright white light appeared above his head, bathing him in light and making him appear extremely holy and majestic.

It was merely a low-level, zero-tier magic trick—Light Art—but to these displaced people who had never seen real magic before, it seemed incredibly magical and grand. Influenced by Donald’s radiant presence, the villagers all bowed their heads, too afraid to show disrespect toward this god-like man.

Under the light from Light Art, Uther, who was behind Donald, stepped forward and said, “Don’t worry. With the strength of the respected Marquis Ansel, everyone will surely be properly settled soon. My master has been summoned by the kingdom and is passing by here. Since two new estates have been established, there’s a shortage of workers. Seeing that you’re homeless, why not choose a few of you to join our master’s family? If you decide to do so, you can bring your families and return to the Northern County with us.”

“Those who are willing can register with the town chief, and I will personally select them. Those with special skills will be given priority, followed by those who can read and do arithmetic, and then those who are physically strong! If they achieve merits in the future, it’s not impossible for them to be promoted from servants to retainers and live as nobles!”
As Uther finished speaking, Donald revoked the spell, turned, and left the town gate to wait at the town chief’s house, leaving Uther in charge.
Seeing the noble mage leave, the mountain villagers present and the guards as well as the onlooking townspeople began to exclaim and discuss among themselves.
The older people who had lived in the mountain villages their whole lives were somewhat indifferent, aside from their reverence for nobles and mages, they were not interested in Donald’s recruitment.
But the townspeople of West Suburb Town lived near the capital and were well aware of the situation. Some who lived in poverty even envied those refugees. Donald’s performance and Uther’s personal speech indeed inspired some of the refugees—young people who had been influenced by heroic legends since childhood and harbored a sense of ambition.
These free mountain villages were inhabited by people who had suffered under the harsh treatment of nobles. Hundreds of years ago, they fled from other parts of the continent to live in seclusion in the north. Some integrated into the Celt Kingdom, while others, though nominally part of the kingdom’s commoners, actually lived in remote border areas, forming self-sufficient free mountain villages. These villages were often located in the mountains, free from local lords’ rule and without nobles collecting taxes.
Though their lives were poor and monotonous, they were free and unrestrained.
Yet young people always longed for the bustling world outside. Over the years, generations of young people chose to leave the mountain villages to see the outside world. A few returned to retire, but most never came back, whether because they lived comfortably or died abroad!
Now, with Donald suddenly appearing like a god at just the right time when they were in such hardship, many young people became eager. But due to the authority of their elders’ years of discipline, despite their desire, they dared not step forward.
The town chief waited for a while but saw no one come out and felt disappointed. At that moment, one of the leaders among the refugees—a strong man in his twenties at the peak of his strength—stepped forward suddenly.
“Barn, what are you doing?”
“Come back, Barn!”

Several leaders and elders among the displaced people began shouting loudly; clearly, this strong-man named Barn held considerable weight in their eyes. They were both shocked and angry by his sudden actions.
…
Barn ignored the shouts behind him. At first, he hesitated, but thinking of his own experiences and the ugly faces of those who called themselves village elders yet only wanted to exploit him under the guise of authority, he immediately became determined.
He was the son of the previous village chief of their mountain village. His father, the best hunter in the village, possessed inherited skills in taming livestock and wild beasts. By tradition, if he had shown exceptional ability, he would have definitely succeeded his father as the new village chief.
However, his father was killed by a sudden attack from a powerful magical beast while saving other hunters when Barn was in his teens. His mother died early, and he was raised solely by his father. With his father’s death, his status shifted from future village chief and the best hunter among the younger generation to an orphan ignored by everyone.
Although life in the mountain village was simple, conflict arose wherever people gathered. The successor village chief and Barn’s father had been rivals since childhood, filled with jealousy. Although the other villagers appreciated his father’s act of saving their lives, they dared not say much out of fear of the village chief’s tyranny and could only secretly offer some help.
Under such circumstances, how could Barn’s life in the village be good?
“If I hadn’t learned most of my father’s inherited skills and been able to hunt and tame wild beasts to support myself, I might have already starved to death or perished at the hands of magical beasts!”
Things improved somewhat after Barn reached adulthood, but the woman he liked was taken away by the village chief’s son with a high dowry of five magical beast pelts. So he remained single all these years, with no interest in women.
To say Barn felt no resentment or anger would be a lie! But he couldn’t kill the village chief and his son just because of that—after all, deep down, he was still a kind, honest, and simple mountain dweller.