Chapter 44

"Before that, shouldn't you introduce yourself?"

Du Mingna had actually already obtained some information about the recruits through the system, but the clarity was far less than when he signed a contract with the recruits and saw the information clearly when they came in front of him.

 The man in front of Du Mingna frowned deeply.

 He said in a low voice, "Batan, my name is Batan, the great craftsman of the dwarves!" Du Mingna raised his eyebrows sharply.

 Batan? The great craftsman of the dwarves? It seemed that the man in front of him was indeed a bit short, looking very sturdy, but slightly shorter than him.

 Du Mingna was considered tall among children of the same age, but he was still young and could continue to grow taller.

 The man in front of him had clearly already passed the age of growing taller.

 Batan indeed looked shorter than normal people, but his height was higher than that of normal adult dwarves.

 In addition, Batan appeared more robust than the average person.

 Du Mingna had stayed in the Gray Rope Village for a while and had seen quite a few strong men.

 Ignoring Batan's somewhat dirty appearance similar to that of a vagabond, it was clear that Batan was actually incredibly strong.

 His chest and back muscles should be even bigger than Daniel's.

 Du Mingna remembered a race called "half-dwarves.

" They were a mix of humans and dwarves.

 Most half-dwarves inherited only the weaknesses of humans and dwarves.

 They were not tall and did not have the robust physique of dwarves, similar to humans.

 However, some half-dwarves inherited the strengths of both humans and half-dwarves.

 They had the robust physique of half-dwarves and were taller than half-dwarves.

 Batan seemed to be one of these half-dwarves.

 But regardless of the type of half-dwarf, they would live relatively awkwardly.

 The dwarf race pursued purity, they did not like half-dwarves, considering them as contaminating their bloodline.

 Humans also saw half-dwarves as anomalies and did not like to associate with them.

 Thin and weak half-dwarves had strength similar to ordinary humans but did not grow tall, like dwarves among humans, naturally prone to discrimination.

 Strong half-dwarves had much greater strength than ordinary humans.

 When interacting with ordinary people, they could accidentally harm them due to their strength, and being shorter than ordinary people, they were also easily discriminated against.

 Du Mingna thought carefully but could not recall any place in the Gray Rock Country where dwarves or half-dwarves lived.

 But Batan mentioned "Gray Rope Village" and said he would come immediately as long as he agreed to provide food.

 Batan should be nearby.

 Du Mingna's contemplation was brief, but Batan was becoming impatient again.

 "Food, food, okay?" Du Mingna looked up at him and finally nodded.

 "Okay.

 How soon will you arrive?" Countless light spots appeared in the recruitment space.

 These light spots quickly condensed into contracts.

 While Batan was busy signing the contract, he said to Du Mingna, "Very soon!" Du Mingna was speechless.

 How soon was "very soon"? He quickly scanned the contract.

 With the experience from last time, Du Mingna quickly found the key points of the contract.

 Batan also owed a ten-year contract, and his requested reward was "to eat his fill.

" Just the simplest of being fed.

 Du Mingna also signed his name on the contract.

 The contract split into two parts, each entering the consciousness of him and Batan.

 Batan hurriedly left the recruitment space, he should be rushing over.

 Du Mingna's consciousness also returned to his body.

 Du Mingna told Old John that someone might come later for dinner and might need to eat a lot, so he asked Old John to help prepare some food, with the main focus on making sure they were well-fed.

 Batan said he could arrive in Gray Rope Village very soon, and he was not wrong.

 Du Mingna hadn't even finished his evening classes when he heard someone shouting loudly outside the house.

 "Du Mingna, Du Mingna! Where are you? Batan is looking for you!"Du Mingna was about to put down the literacy board in his hand when Old John said, "Young master, let me do it.

 I'll take him to eat first so he won't disturb everyone studying.

" Du Mingna thought for a moment and then called on the students present to continue the class.

 Daniel, Gus, Montserrat, and Tate were his regular students, but their study time was limited, and their literacy progress was already behind Dora and the others.

 Gus was the fastest learner among the four, but his progress was still far behind Dora and the others.

 Du Mingna had to make sure they learned more in a short time.

 The evening class couldn't afford to be delayed.

 The four of them had strong self-control.

 When they first heard noises outside and became a bit curious, wanting to see what was happening, Du Mingna pointed to the words on the literacy board, signaling them to focus on the class.

 They all composed themselves and redirected their attention back to today's lesson.

 Some other villagers who were attending the class were a bit less disciplined, often looking outside curiously to see what was happening.

 But with the absence of villagers who were not attending the class, and with Gus and the others taking the lead, the study atmosphere inside the stone house finally returned to normal.

 And so, Du Mingna finished the evening class for them.

 As the students left one by one, Old John had not returned with Batan yet.

 Du Mingna picked up the lamp and started to walk outside.

 He could sense Old John's location, so finding him would be easy.

 Even if he couldn't sense him, he could easily locate Old John and Batan.

 The communal bakery, where bread was baked, was always on fire.

 Old John was preparing food for Batan there tonight.

 Once Batan arrived, Old John would take him there to eat.

 When Du Mingna walked over, he saw Batan holding a bowl filled with bean paste, eating with great enthusiasm.

 The bean paste was quite hot, but Batan seemed oblivious to its temperature, slurping it down eagerly.

 After finishing some bean paste, he started eating the bowl made of bread that contained the bean paste.

 Old John had prepared plenty of bread, but it was still not enough for Batan's voracious appetite.

 Not long after Du Mingna arrived, he watched as the pile of bread quickly diminished.

 The bean paste that Old John had cooked was also mostly eaten.

 After consuming so much, Batan's eating speed finally slowed slightly.

 Du Mingna silently reviewed the teacher's file.

 He had recruited Batan from the teacher recruitment pool, so Batan must be here to teach.

 Du Mingna needed to see what this particularly big-eater half-dwarf could teach and whether he was worth his salary! [Name: Batan Age: 22 Hometown: Danper Mountain, Danper Dwarf Tribe, Qingsen Continent Current Teacher Rating: Two Stars Current Teaching Abilities: Knight Combat Skills: A-level Body Forging Basics: A-level Forging Techniques: A-level Herbal Planting: C-level Botany: E-level Current Rank: Fifth-rank Knight, Master Forger Current Teaching Willingness: B-level (If he can eat his fill, then teaching as a teacher is fine! He's really tired of not having enough to eat!) Intimacy Level with You: 18 (The first meal was okay, but who knows if he can continue to provide food in the future)] Batan's overall abilities were not as good as Oak's.

 However, Du Mingna was very interested in Batan's teaching abilities.

 Three A-level skills, two of which the villagers could definitely learn, while Knight Combat Skills might require specific talents.

 Du Mingna thought that after studying the meridians for a while, he might be able to combine the existing soaking in monster blood enhancement method in Gray Rope Village to allow the villagers to learn low-level Knight Combat Skills.

 Higher levels would depend on individual talents.

 For first and second levels, Du Mingna believed that the villagers should all be able to learn.

 Even ordinary soldiers in the Hall Family Castle Guard could learn first-level Knight Combat Skills through training, so the villagers of Gray Rope Village should have an even better chance.

 The overall quality of the villagers in Huisheng Village is not bad, but due to its remote location and various insider information when recruiting members for the castle guard, no villager from Huisheng Village was able to join the guard.

 Strength and status are never directly correlated.

 Improving the villagers' physical fitness can enhance their strength, and techniques in forging and herb cultivation can increase their income, leading to better development of Huisheng Village.

 This is the key to equipping the villagers with a skill! Indeed, it is a good ability.

 Combining herb cultivation with botanical knowledge might even help Belinda learn more.

 Belinda is currently interested in herbs, but Du Mingna, based on her observations, believes that what Belinda truly likes is healing and saving lives.

 Batan's identity as a master forger can also help Du Mingna bring more weapons from his past life to this world, at least to Huisheng Village.

 Du Mingna has discussed weapons like sleeve arrows with Montserrat in recent days, making Montserrat think about how to manufacture them and ensure that weapons like sleeve arrows have enough power.

 With the help of Batan, the master forger, Huisheng Village can produce more and better weapons.

 When armed, the villagers can have more power to fight back against the monsters coming down from the mountains, rather than relying on evasion and ambush.

 It seems that Batan's intimacy level can also be easily increased.

 Just need to eat enough? Du Mingna glanced at the diminishing food supply.

 His mouth twitched.

 He really wants to feed Batan freely, but it would require a lot of food.

 Food is money! Du Mingna calculated the current food supply in Huisheng Village again.

 In the past, Huisheng Village was basically self-sufficient, with some surplus food and villagers having some savings, but to feed Batan...

 Du Mingna felt it necessary to spend more money to buy additional food.

 In addition, hunting and other activities need to be scheduled.

 Also, more land should be opened up for cultivation in the village.

 Du Mingna smiled quietly.

 He has a very useful laborer at his disposal.

 Oak has already demonstrated his strength while clearing his bushland.

 Du Mingna is confident that with Oak's help, the arable land in the village can be doubled in no time.

 As for Oak's reward, that's easy to handle.

 Du Mingna checked Oak's file again.

 Indeed, the intimacy value has changed from 72 to 81, but the note behind the intimacy value still says, "It would be nice to get more land by getting closer, let me cultivate it myself.

" This proves that Du Mingna can still use land as a reward to get Oak to do more for him! If he asks Oak to do something that goes against Oak's personal code, Oak may resist and refuse to act, but clearing land? That's a small matter.

 Du Mingna had seen Oak's intimacy note before, but only gave Oak 1 tower of land, considering using land to ask for Oak's help in the future.

 Now is the opportunity.

 When Du Mingna selected the location for the construction of the research tower, he placed it near the school and kept it at a distance from Oak's bushland so that the land he would allocate to Oak could be connected to Oak's existing land.

 At this moment, Batan finally finished eating.

 He patted his round belly and asked contentedly, "Principal, what do you want me to do?""