Chapter 361

Three Days in Bridget Village with the Hero’s Party

As expected, until the third night before the final battle with the bandits, we had to diligently complete the tasks assigned for the Humanities Exploration Class.

If I started telling the villagers things like, "The bandits will attack again on the night of the third day, so we need to prepare," and neglected the basic class assignments, it would inevitably reflect poorly on my grades.

Even though finding the spy and subjugating the bandits made up half of our total grade, we couldn’t just abandon the other tasks while waiting for the last day.

“Hey, Bart! Could you move this wood over here?”

“Yes! Please wait a moment!”

“Mas! I think we need more bricks over here!”

“Ah, yes! I’m bringing them right away!”

“Seri? It’s almost dinnertime, and we’re short on hands. Could you help prepare the meal at the orphanage?”

“Ah, yes…! I-I’ve prepared meals at the church before, so leave it to me…!”

“Huh? The church?”

“Ah, w-well, that’s…”

“Seri, like me, grew up in the same orphanage. She’s always had a good heart, so she listened well to the adults there.”

“Ah, so that’s why Seri and Sera’s names are so similar… because you’re both from the same orphanage.”

In reality, Serista and Seraphine were from completely different backgrounds, but the village residents didn’t seem to find that odd.

Since we were all pretending to be commoner students, everyone participating in this class was using aliases, just like that.

Aside from the ones just mentioned, Silena went by Lena, Luke became Kru, Agnes used Nes, and Natalie went by Ria—everyone shortened or slightly altered their original names.

It was hard to guess anyone’s real name just from their alias, but the names were simple enough for everyone to recognize themselves.

As for me, my alias wasn’t Lily, but 'Ris.' Originally, I intended to keep using the alias 'Lily,' but Ethan didn’t seem too fond of that idea.

Lily had become a sort of pet name between us, something we only called each other when we were on equal terms. He probably didn’t like the idea of someone else calling me that.@@novelbin@@

‘Honestly, if he gets jealous over something so trivial, I wonder how he’ll manage later.’

So, I made Ethan’s alias 'Dan' instead of 'Ed.' Give and take, right?

Anyway, from the moment we arrived at the village, we didn’t have time to rest as we all worked on restoring the village.

My task in the village restoration effort was to help strengthen the townspeople’s defense capabilities in case of an emergency.

“Alright, let’s practice the moves we’ve learned so far. One, draw the dagger hidden in your skirt with your right hand. Two, bring the dagger behind your back and stab your opponent from behind.”

Clang!

“Ah, I dropped it again…”

“Me too. It looked so easy when you did it, Ris…”

It was a simple move—just drawing the dagger hidden in your clothes and stabbing in one swift motion—but even this caused many to struggle during the training.

It couldn’t be helped. Women from a rural village like this had probably held kitchen knives or axes more often than daggers. It would take more than one night to get used to the feel of a short blade like this.

“Do we really have to go this far? What if we make a mistake and something terrible happens?”

“If you try to resist carelessly, it could be even more dangerous. That’s why you need to learn how to defend yourselves properly.”

“Then, wouldn’t it be better to just stay still if we’re taken hostage?”

“You must remember that the bandits are after more than just money or food. Those scum will take anything of value, and in an isolated village like this, the most valuable thing they can easily get their hands on is ‘women’ like us.”

“…”

“If you don’t prepare to defend yourselves, you’ll be the ones who end up suffering. And if you get taken hostage, others won’t be able to act because they’ll be worried about your safety. To save your life, dozens of people might be sacrificed, and in the end, you’ll be dragged off by some filthy men, your honor and dignity destroyed, only to be sold off for the price of a few cows to live the rest of your life as someone’s plaything. If that’s what you want, feel free to stop now.”

“N-no… I’m sorry…”

The woman, who had initially been reluctant to handle any blade other than a kitchen knife, now gripped the dagger firmly once more.

You might think I went too far with my scare tactics, but it was necessary. I couldn’t stand by and watch as innocent villagers got slaughtered because one woman was taken hostage.

The fewer sacrifices we made while subjugating the bandits, the better our grades would be for the Humanities Exploration Class, and we’d also gain more experience points as a result.

...Though, of course, the primary goal is to save as many lives as possible, since human life is precious.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

“…”

And among the group of women learning self-defense from me, there was one person whose eyes burned with unusual intensity.

A woman with brown hair braided on both sides, gripping a sword in one hand, asked me a question.

“…May I ask you something?”

“Yes, miss?”

“Instead of this weak technique of stabbing from behind, how do I slice my opponent’s throat from the front?”

“…”

“I don’t want to just defend myself. I want to learn swordsmanship that I can use in direct combat. Pretending to be weak and killing them might work once or twice, but after that, they’ll be on guard. I want to learn how to kill them for good…”

“I’m sorry to say this, but I can’t teach you that kind of swordsmanship.”

“…Why not?”

“I’m teaching self-defense to help you avoid the worst-case scenario. If you manage to save your life once with self-defense, you should consider that your last chance and focus solely on escaping. That’s why I can’t teach you anything other than defensive techniques. If I taught you how to fight, you might try something dangerous against a strong man and end up getting hurt.”

“…I understand.”

…Now that I think about it, that woman I just talked to—she was definitely one of the ‘cooperation candidates’ from the original game. I’ll have to remember that.

This was only the first day in Bridget Village. To figure out which of the three candidates was the spy, I’d need to gather more evidence.

The rest of the day passed, and that night, we all gathered in the village hall for an exchange of information we had gathered on the first day.

“Ah, I’m exhausted. All day it was moving wood, bricks, and heavy loads.”

“My body is sore too. Tomorrow, we’re supposed to start repairing the buildings, but I wonder if my shoulders can handle it…”

“…I’m sorry. I couldn’t help as much as you did.”

Among the men who had been sent to do heavy lifting, Ethan seemed to have done the least work.

Ethan, looking a bit apologetic, was quietly reassured by Geffma and Thomas, who shook their heads in understanding.

“Don’t worry about it, Ethan—I mean, Dan. You’re still recovering from your injury from last night.”

“Honestly, if it hadn’t been for what you and Ris did last night, we would’ve been in danger, so there’s no need to feel bad.”

Ethan was still healing from his injury, so his right arm was out of commission.

He could handle a fork and knife, but wielding a log or sword was impossible for now.

According to Serista, his arm would probably be fully healed by the final day, just in time for the bandit subjugation. Until then, Ethan needed to save his strength.

…Of course, for him to heal faster, I’d have to use the Aura of Healing.

“Dan, come over here.”

“Ris?”

Squish.

“…”

“…”

I pulled Ethan’s right arm close to my body, cradling it between my breasts on purpose.

Though there weren’t enough rooms to sleep fully naked, I could at least help heal his injury like this.

Serista and Thomas, startled by the sight, quickly looked away, while Agnes grimaced as if disgusted, but I didn’t care to stop.