Chapter 8: Oxpost Village

"O'Light, touch us with your blessing, [Healing Touch]!"

I heal one of the soldiers after he gets hit by the sandworm monster that ambushes us from the ground. After that, I take out my knife and charge forward, then stab the worm that is busy with the soldiers in front of it.

The worm roars in pain as its body is full of injury from our attack. One of the guards managed to climb on the sandworm and stab his sword to the worm's head. The worm tries to bury itself in the sand, but I will not let it get away.

"O'Heaven! Bind the enemy in front of me! [Heavenly Chain]!"

A chain made of light appears from the ground and prevents the sandworm from getting into the ground. As it is struggling to break the chain, we quickly attack it with our weapons and watch it as it makes the sand red.

After two minutes of continuous stabbing, the sandworm starts to move. I poke the head of the sandworm for a few seconds and nod my head when there is no response. I cancel the chain and take a deep breath as it takes a good chunk of my mana.

[Heavenly Chain] has the same mana consumption as [Healing Touch] but demands it every five seconds as long as the skill is still in use. So far, I can hold it for two or so minutes non-stop, but the chain gets weaker at the end as the spell slowly drains my mana.

I shake my head and look at Sebastian.

"Sebastian, how much longer do we need to get to this village?"

"It should be another ten to fifteen minutes, my lord. They are just behind the sand dune."

What with sand dunes covering the village? Urgh.

"Do you think we can carry the corpse? We can sell them in that village. Sandworms are a delicacy, right?"

I once ate Sandworm meat, and it was delicious. It is like eating tender pork chop, if you can believe it. It is a delicious meat that many want to buy for its taste.

"We can let the horse drag it. We did not have much more baggage, after all."

We already eat the monster we hunt, and most of the dried food we bring from the village has also been eaten, reducing our baggage considerably.

"Let's do that. Get me the rope! We will tie this thing to the horse and bring it with us!"

=//=

When we arrived in front of the village, I could see a lot of people standing at the village's gate. As we get closer, a middle-aged man walks forward and says.

"May I ask if you guys are the adventurers we hire?"

I walk forward and say.

"No. My name is Armaah Krur-I Tilpun, and I'm a new leader of the village that just abandoned the Southeast."

"Ah! You are the banished noble child!"

I can hear a child around Annie's age shout while pointing his finger at me. The woman standing next to him covers his mouth and looks at me apologetically. So, the news of me getting banished has already spread, huh? Oh, well.

I ignore the child and look at the middle-aged man in front of me. The man bows a little and says,

"Welcome to our village, my lord. It looks like you are not the adventurer who takes the mission we post."

"We are not. Is this monster bothering you guys?"

"Yes. Since that monster appears, we cannot make a trade because it always ambushes any merchant that travels to our village. While the monster itself is not deadly or particularly strong, it is too bothersome as it always gets inside the sand when the guard that comes with the merchant does enough damage. However, the ambush will always destroy the merchant's carriage, and the merchant will lose quite a bit of their money to replace it."

Right. I can see how the sandworm will be a problem. Luckily, we only brought horses, and the sandworm attacked us instead of the horse. There is also my existence who can heal my guards to a hundred percent.

"Well, we already take care of it."

"We thank you for that. I will make sure to reward you for this problem."

"It is not a problem. Instead of gold, can you guys sell us some food like fruits and vegetables? We also want a large amount of seeds, horses or camels, and water barrels."

The man in front of me blinks for a second and nods.

"We can do that. We will give you a discount for what you have done."

"Thank you."

"No. It is us who thank you. Oh! Where is my manner? My name is Juntis, the village chief of Oxpost. Please come inside our village. We will celebrate your victory over the sandworm!"

=//=

"We have varieties of seeds you can choose. We have the kind that comes from another kingdom that can grow in this place."

"Show me that."

"Of course. The first one is this one. This is called [Brown Stone]. It is a plant that grows underground. It is a great plant for a barren place as it does not really need too much water."

What he is showing me is potatoes. We can grow potatoes! The miracle plant! The plant is full of nutrients that we need. Eating meat all day is not good for you. Even the commoners of this world know this. That is why fruits and vegetables are important to us.

"I want that."

"Errr… Are you sure? We have more, you know?"

"I want that. I will still look at the other seeds, but I want this one. Do you have a book or something that shows how to plant this one?"

"We have a book you can have that tells you how to cultivate the [Brown Stone]."

"I will take that as well."

"We will give it for free."

"Thank you."

"It is not a problem. Anyway, let's take a look at the other seeds."

Juntis takes me to see another seed and sees a familiar yellow seed.

"These are the [Yellow Teeth] plants. It can grow quite tall, and just like the [Brown Stone], it can grow in a place like this. It does need special treatment, but it is easy to follow. We also have a book about it."

Corn. This one is corn—another great find. Corn can be used to make flour, and that flour can be used to make bread.

"I will take these two seeds for now. Can we buy a hundred of them each?"

"Of course. That is easy enough to do. Anything else?"

"Horses or camels. Do you guys have one?"

"We have a few of them to sell. I know a breeder you can talk to."

"Where can I find this person?"

"The gate we meet? If you are from here, take the left when you arrive at that gate. Keep walking until you see a breeding stable near the wall."

I look at Sebastian and see him nodding. He leaves the storage room to talk to the breeder.

"Do you have any water barrels?"

"We did not have any, but I can commission the blacksmith and carpenter to make it."

"Great. How many barrels can they make for ten gold coins? And how fast?"

"They are a veteran carpenter and blacksmith. They can rush the job and do overnight orders to make around a hundred barrels."

"Great."

I give him ten gold coins and say.

"Can you order those barrels for me?"

"I can do that."

"Great. Now, do you guys have a carriage to carry all of the goods?"

"We have two you can buy."

"Fantastic! I will buy them."

Our conversation is over when someone gets inside the storage room and says.

"Chief! The feast is ready."

Juntis smiles and says.

"Well, it looks like we will talk business later. For now, let's have some food!"