Chapter 68
The village of Kondal near Grace Castle was changing day by day. It had become as clean as Morta village, most houses were repaired, and fireplaces were installed in every home in preparation for winter.
The village was livelier than ever, and the blacksmith shop was so busy with increasing orders that it let out happy screams every day.
Smith was solely in charge of Donghee’s vault room, while his assistants handled the making and repairing of tools like farm implements, saws, and hammers. As the workload increased, Smith even recalled people who had been assigned to the logging team.
“Is my axe blade ready yet?”
“It’s over there. Wrapped with black cloth on the handle, right?”
“What about the extra hammers and nails that Morta’s village chief ordered?”
“That’ll probably be ready the day after tomorrow. You can take the hammers first, though.”
The sound of people placing orders mixed with the clanging of heated metal being hammered inside the smithy, creating a chaotic noise. Although it was freezing outside with ice forming as winter approached, the inside of the blacksmith shop was scorching hot from the glowing metal and the workers’ body heat.
“It’d be so much better if Master Smith were here.”
Returning to his original workplace was a joy, but they were short-handed. Smith alone could easily handle the work of four or five men, but he was busy working on the lord’s vault. In fact, he was even eyeing opportunities to pull workers from other areas, which made the foremen avoid him whenever he appeared.
“Quit whining and make another nail instead.”
The man who had been grumbling grinned at his coworker’s scolding.
“I’ve always wanted to do something like this. Hehehe.”
He remembered the days when he had nothing to do and lived with sighs and despair every day. Now, as sweat trickled down his jaw and he wiped it away with the back of his hand, his expression couldn’t have been brighter.
Looking around the bustling village, Donghee couldn’t hide his joy. He had started all this because of a mission from the status window, but seeing people happy filled him with a sense of fulfillment beyond any reward. More than anything, it felt great to be someone truly needed.
“Hello, my lord!”
“Thank you, my lord!”
Everywhere he went, people greeted him warmly and expressed their gratitude. It was a complete turnaround from the old days when just seeing his carriage would make their favorability plummet.
Seeing the villagers welcome their lord so enthusiastically made Handsome and Anna, walking alongside him, smile proudly as well.
There hadn’t been a single negative favorability point for a long time now. Day by day, the goodwill kept piling up.
The houses and roads repaired using Cloment were sturdier and cleaner than before; they no longer leaked during rain nor produced dust when the wind blew. The Tiestone, once considered Grace’s cursed stone, had become an indispensable resource. It was lighter than other stones and easy to find, making it a precious means for children to earn pocket money.
Even now, kids could often be seen roaming around the village carrying small buckets. Older children even ventured beyond the walls to collect bigger Tiestones and sell them to foremen for money. Grace had now become a land where both adults and children could find ways to earn a living.
If such news spread beyond the territory, those who had left might return, and others seeking jobs would flock to Grace. A plentiful workforce was practically the same as wealth for the domain.
Donghee smiled faintly, imagining this place bustling with people in the near future.
“How’s the Komo tree logging going? It’s not too dangerous, is it?”
The logging teams were divided into two groups—one for construction timber and another exclusively for Komo trees. The Komo tree team was highly sought after because of its hazard pay, so only the strongest workers were selected.
Donghee always worried about the teams entering the Black Forest. Even though he had hired mercenaries and assigned knights for protection, he couldn’t help feeling uneasy every logging day.
Seeing Chloe’s worried face, Red Bear quickly reassured him.
“We’re doing exactly as you ordered, my lord. We’re leaving the forest at the right time before sunset.”
“Still, always be careful. Never let your guard down. You never know when the monsters might attack.”
Just as Donghee finished speaking—
Bwooo! Bwooo!
A deafening blast of a massive horn echoed all around.
Bwoooooooo!
After two short blasts came a long one. Red Bear’s face froze in shock. At the same time, the peaceful smiles on people’s faces turned white with fear. The air, which had been full of laughter, instantly hardened with tension and dread.
“What is that sound?”
Donghee looked bewildered at the sudden horn blast. But Red Bear was even more shocked. His instincts made him immediately move in front of Donghee, then he quickly turned and shouted:
“My lord, please take shelter inside the castle at once!”
“Why? Are we under attack?”
The first thought that crossed Donghee’s mind was that the wicked Count Patrasche had decided to invade Grace. But apart from the horn sound, there was no noise of battle.
While Donghee stood there in confusion, scanning the surroundings, everyone else vanished into their homes, looking pale with terror. It seemed everyone but her knew what that sound meant.
Red Bear had assumed the lord would understand too, but realizing she didn’t, he spoke as calmly as possible:
“It seems something’s wrong with the defense grass.”
“Defense grass? That grassy field under the Black Forest?”
Anything related to the Black Forest instantly put Donghee on edge. The defense grass wasn’t just any grass; it kept the monsters from descending into the village.
“Yes.”
Urgency seeped into Red Bear’s voice.
“What could possibly happen to perfectly fine grass?”
“That signal means fire. We need to check how big it is.”
“Fire? What about the logging team? Today’s their day in the forest!”
Donghee’s foremost concern was the logging team inside the forest.
“Red Bear.”
“Yes!”
“Bring the logging team back safely.”
“Yes!”
Red Bear responded and immediately sprinted toward the training grounds. His sharp subordinates were surely already preparing to depart. He prayed earnestly that they could protect this long-awaited peace.
“What on earth happened here!”
Even before they reached Morta village, they could see thick black smoke rising high into the sky. Judging by the smoke, the fire was massive. He could almost hear the villagers’ wails after finally getting their lives back together.
“Hyat! Hurry!”
At Red Bear’s shout, the sound of hooves pounding the ground quickened toward the village.
The defense grass field surrounding the Black Forest was burning at an alarming rate.
As if signaling the coming danger, the smoke rose like black pillars into the sky with a roar.
“What do we do now!”
“Oh no, this is bad!”
“Don’t just stand there! Bring more sand!”
The villagers, terrified the flames might spread to the village, were frantically trying to contain the fire while worrying about the consequences if the defense grass burned away completely. The sun was still high, so monsters wouldn’t attack immediately, but nightfall was only a matter of time.
If the defense grass was gone, the village would be like a feast laid out before the Black Forest’s monsters.
Everyone except the small children joined the firefighting efforts, but years of drought had left the grass bone-dry, and there wasn’t enough water. The fire spread faster than they could contain it.
“The knights are here!”
“Yeahhh!”
The logging team and villagers, who had run out of the forest upon seeing the smoke and tried to fight the fire first, cheered when they saw the knights arrive. Their presence alone made people feel safer.
Even if the defense grass no longer worked to trap the monsters, the villagers believed the knights would protect them.
Red Bear assigned every knight, except those needed for perimeter defense, to help fight the fire. The same went for the mercenaries. Fortunately, they had sand prepared for construction work, so they could at least attempt to smother the flames.
Thankfully, the logging team had returned after spotting the smoke, so they could all focus on firefighting.
Years of drought had dried up rivers and emptied the village wells. Using their barely sufficient drinking water to fight the fire was like asking the villagers to die.
“We must put out the fire before it reaches the Black Forest!”
“Yes, sir!”
If the flames reached the forest, the monsters would sense the threat and charge toward the village—it was as certain as daybreak. They wouldn’t flee to the barren snow mountains where there was nothing to eat.
The knights stripped off their armor and even their swords. They had to be as light as possible to move quickly.
But the fire spread faster than humans could move. If left unchecked, it would not only consume the defense grass but reduce the newly rebuilt village to ashes in no time.
Red Bear and the others’ faces were blackened with soot, and their hearts darkened with despair as much as the charred field before them.
“Don’t give up! Hold the line! Save the defense grass! Stop it from burning further!”
Red Bear shouted until his throat was raw.
The once-endless field of defense grass now had less than one-third remaining. They tried to evacuate the elderly and weak, but they refused, insisting on helping in any way they could.
God, help us!
Red Bear prayed fervently as he hurled a sandbag at the flames with all his strength. Heat lashed at him like the tongue of a snake.
