Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki

Book 1: Chapter 8-2: Return

Once we reached the village the villagers saw the wagon and hastily ran into the village shouting.

From within the Headman and the higher-ups hurried out.

Cyril did you safely steal it?

Of course. And theres enough to pass the winter. You can see it in the storage area right?

I said and the Headman stuck his head into the wagons storage area and chuckled once he saw all of it.

I cant believe you actually pulled it off.Good work. Well take care of the wagon so go on ahead and rest. However, youd best not forget about the weapons that can pierce armor you promised.

Then the Headman started calling over his henchmen.

At that time the normal villagers also gathered.

Cyril, let me say this in advance..Sorry.

Lucy murmured quickly from the drivers seat.

Everyone Cyril brought back food!

Then she quickly got off the seat and opened the wagon doors wide to show off the goods.

Look theres plenty of rare stuff everyone look look. Theres mead, beef, jerky, and a deer that Cyril hunted along the way! Everyone come take a look!

The villagers all gathered closer upon hearing Lucys words.

Amazing Onee-chan Ive never seen so much before.

Theres even alcohol.

Ah, theres vinegar and pepper. Its the first time Ive seen it since the Empire restricted our goods.

And look at all this, theres enough to pass the winter.

The surroundings got noisy.

People pushed their way to the front in a loop as more and more people saw the interior of the wagon.

Lucy and I had stepped away from the wagon as we watched the situation.

With this the Headman couldnt do as he pleased. The villagers now knew what was inside the wagon.

Im sure the Headman and his people were not pleased.

I sighed deeply.

Lucy why did you do this?

I wanted everyone in the village to know the results of Cyrils hard work. I didnt want the results of our hard work to get stolen. Plus I wanted everyone in the village to get some.

She didnt have any ill will.but I would still have to get angry. I couldnt let her act rashly without thought to the consequences.

Lucylets go back to the house and talk. It seems you need a lecture.

..un, Im prepared for it.

This is why Lucy had apologized. She knew she was going against what I wanted.

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After that we obeyed the Headmans request and left everything to him and his people.

Along the way home we were complimented by plenty of people we knew, but I didnt feel so great.

Lucy seiza.

I said immediately upon entering the house where Lucy and I lived.

Seiza?

Lucy seemed confused by the word she didnt know. Ahthats right. There wasnt a such thing as seiza in this world.

Do it like this.

I said and made her kneel with the tops of her feet flat on the floor while sitting on her soles.

PICTURE

The floors coldand it hurts to sit like this.

Its a lecture. Its not supposed to be comfortable.

I said harshly as Lucy looked at me tearfully.

Isnt this worse than when I fell asleep?

That was a mistake due to unavoidable circumstances, this came about because you did it of your own volition.

Im sorry. I said it before, but I didnt want Cyrils hard work to get stolen. I couldnt forgive the Headman for monopolizing the things the villagers should get.

I understand how youre feeling. I was doing this to allow that to happen.

You wanted to make the Headman and his followers happy?

Thats it.

Lucy seemed confused by what I was saying and sent a gaze of protest towards me.

From now on Im going to be doing big things in the village. Ill need the Headmans cooperation for that. I was going to use this chance to get on his good side and get a certain degree of freedom to do as I please. With the Headmans authorization I could have pretty much done everything I needed to.

In order to make him like me I had planned this kind of situation.

At the best of times, the current Headman (who was my fathers younger brother) didnt like me very much as he had constantly been compared to my father who was excellent.

Thats why I was trying to make him like me better by purposefully reducing my achievements and increasing the Headmans benefits.

It would have been irresistible bait for him. I would have been able to obtain a free pass to do anything..that was my aim.

I hate that. Cyril did all of this for everyone so I want everything to be fair and aboveboard. Letting the Headman do all this secretly isnt like you Cyril.

It isnt like me huh? Now that the Headmans impression of this is the worst possible I have no choice but to go the other route. Of course its probably the one that you think is like me

Other route?

Un, instead of using the Headmans authority I garner recognition from each villager and make them my ally until the Headman is no longer able to ignore me. For that I have to slowly make everyone in the village happy.

If you can do that then thats the much better option.

I cant say youre wrongbut itll take time no matter what. What Im lacking the most right now is time.

Getting true recognition from people was difficult. The reason I tried to get the Headman on my side was because of that.

However, since the village was filled with issues it was definitely possible to get them to owe me and become my allies.

I worked out a plan quickly beforehand..and I had left some insurance in the wagon.

As I thought.youre angry.

Un, Im really angry. Do you know why Im angry?

Because I didnt listen to you Cyril.

Thats part of it. But the biggest reason is you lied to me. I asked you not to interfere with the Headman and you agreed. Then you betrayed my trust.

Im sorry.

This time Ill be able to recover the situation through different meansbut depending on the situation actions like this could potentially ruin everything. I want you to understand this.

I said harshly as Lucys face crumbled.

You have to tell me if you cant accept something properly. I dont mind us having a quarrel. I do mind you saying one thing and doing another. I wont be able to properly follow up on those actions. If you do something like this again I wont be able to trust you anymore.

I understand. Next time Ill properly talk it out to the end.

Do so. Its a matter of life or death. I dont want to lose you Lucy.

Im really really sorry. I didnt think about it deeply enough. I just wanted to make everyone in the village happy and have them all say that Cyril is amazingsorry Im making excuses.

Lucy despondently stopped talking.

I think things will be alright now. She seemed to be reflecting on her actions.

I decided to be a little nicer as I opened my mouth.

Lucy I am angry about what you did, but Im happy you were trying to do something for my sake. You can stop doing seiza. Did it hurt?

My thankful words were the truth. I at least wanted her to know that.

Lucy apologized one more time and went to stand up when her legs got tangled up.

She wasnt used to seiza so it must have been hard on her. She did well to endure it.

Or so I thought when

Ow! My feet hurt. Theyre also really numboh noI might never stand again.

She said with a pale face and some panic.

I just handed her a cup of hot tea and massaged her feet til they were better.

Sorry Lucy. I mightve overdone it.

No, I was the one in the wrong. Im glad you got angry since it means you can still trust me.

She said as a natural smile emerged on her face.

Thanks to Lucys actions I was forced down a more difficult path.

However, I thought that it was still good.

I added a new objective to my plan to save the village.I needed to do it while looking cool to Lucy.

It might be naive, immature, and childishbut I had the power to do it. I could do it for Lucy.

In the future I had to make sure I did the best I could.

Creating weapons while making everyone in the village my ally..I would not waver on this new path.