Chapter 102: Kindling for the Fire

When Wu Qingchen returned to the church, Andre had already finished the task assigned by the priest.

At the church entrance, seven village guards were already waiting beside Andre.

As people who were relatively well-off and trusted by the steward and the priest, the guards mostly lived not far from the center of the village; after all, this better suited the safety requirements of the two masters.

"Good day, Los..." "Seeing you again, Los..." "Los, thank you for healing my cow..."

"Yes, yes, yes, good day, good day, good day..."

Following behind Wu Qingchen, the two cowherd assistants looked on with envy at the enthusiastic way everyone greeted him.

In any village, cowherd families were firmly in the second tier of the food chain. However, because they lacked the skill of treating plow oxen, Dean and Elmo had never seen such warm smiles from the guards.

Yet, at this moment, that was not the focus of the two assistants' concerns.

"Do you get the feeling that these guards don't really like us?" halfway there, Elmo suddenly asked Dean in an uncertain tone.

"Me too. It feels like we've done something wrong," Dean shared the same sentiment.

"Is it because we are from another village and came here to learn the craft of the Los family?" Elmo could only think of this possibility.

"It seems... not quite like that..." Dean shook his head, deciding to put it aside. "But even if that were the reason, are we going to stop learning?"

Of course they had to learn.

Elmo said no more.

At this point, wearing a practiced sociological smile, Wu Qingchen reached the church entrance. Noticing that the guards were indeed not entirely the same group the priest had initially named, he leaned into young Andre's ear: "How did it go? What did the master say?"

"The teacher only took a few looks and praised me for being smart!" At the mention of this, young Andre's face beamed with radiance.

This was only natural. Based on the intelligence Wu Qingchen had analyzed, in terms of insight and experience, the priest, the steward, and the messenger were definitely the top three in Eklie Village. And if one judged solely by knowledge, having received over a decade of theological education, Master Playa looked down upon the common herd with pride.

Such a person, just by seeing the farm tools the guards were carrying in their hands or on their shoulders, would immediately react and realize that his previous instructions to Andre must have been poorly considered.

"Everyone here?"

At this moment, hearing the commotion of the crowd greeting Wu Qingchen outside, Priest Playa walked out of the church. "Does everyone know what you're going to do later?"

"Yes..." The crowd waiting below the steps nodded in unison.

The oldest guard in the village, Bichel, stepped forward: "Master Andre said to let us and the assistants from the other village go look for medicinal herbs."

"Hmm..." The priest nodded. "Los is afraid you won't recognize the herbs, so he will accompany you... when it comes to searching for herbs, you must listen to Los, do you understand?"

"Understood, Master." The guards and assistants bowed unevenly.

"Also, Derrick, you are the village's firewood gatherer..."

The priest looked at a guard who was not young himself: "...You are the most familiar with the forest. Lead the way later and take good care of Los on the road, do you understand?"

Lead the way! Take good care of Los!

Derrick’s heart suddenly felt a surge of warmth!

"Yes, Master."

Amidst the envious gazes of the other six guards and the two cowherd assistants, the beaming Derrick bowed deeply.

***

Luck! Pure luck!

Walking out of the church path toward the forest in the north, Derrick felt as if his feet were floating.

That foolish woman at home always said the job of a firewood gatherer was useless, just wasting time in the fields for a few sticks of wood...

Ha, now my luck has arrived!

The priest asked me to take good care of Los!

The priest! Los!

There was no need to mention the priest; a single word from him was worth more than his whole family’s hard work for a year!

And little Los, he was not someone easy to get close to these days! He managed the cows and healed them! As long as one could curry favor with him, the benefits would be endless...

Look! Don’t you see the old neighbors crowding around Los? Look! Don’t you see the sons of the cowherd family crowding so close?

As long as I curry favor with Los, will I ever have to worry about the heavy labor of the plow oxen at home again? Will I ever have to worry about having nowhere to borrow grain? Will I ever have to worry about not having anyone to put in a good word when I can't pay the master's rent?

Now the opportunity is here!

I am the firewood gatherer! I am the most familiar with the forest!

The forest is not easy to walk through at all. As long as I take good care of Los and don't let him trip once along the way...

Derrick’s mind raced, and the more he thought about it, the more tempting the future seemed. At this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a guard beside Wu Qingchen patting his chest:

"Los, when we get into the forest later, just follow me. I’ve been going into that patch of woods to pick firewood since I was a kid; I don't know how many times I've walked through it! Follow me, and you definitely won't trip!"

Damn old Heller! Your "since I was a kid" was decades ago, wasn't it?

Constrained by the friendship of being neighbors for decades, or perhaps because he still owed that bastard two bowls of wheat, Derrick couldn't bring himself to expose him directly, forcing him to resolve in his heart:

What is "not tripping"? The paths in the forest are not easy to walk at all. Just wait and see how I support Los the whole way so he doesn't feel any fatigue!

"What is 'not tripping'? Los, when we get to the forest later, I will support you as you walk, I guarantee you won't be tired at all!"

What?

Having his line stolen again, Derrick whipped his head around.

The next moment, Derrick saw Abner, famous in the village for his strength, waving his thick arms at him. Derrick swallowed hard, not daring to say anything more, and could only seethe in his heart:

What is having great strength? The branches in the forest are dense! I’ll just stand next to Los and make sure not a single branch or leaf touches him!

"Oh, Los, the branches in the forest..."

"Alvin!" This time, having clearly seen the target of the remark, Derrick let out a heavy, cold snort and shouted loudly at Alvin, who was neither agile nor strong, and who had never lent him grain: "Did I let you speak? Did I let you talk nonsense? Do you know who the priest asked to take care of Los?"

Alvin moved his lips in a mumble, turned his head away bitterly, and spat.

Having finally interrupted the guards' covetousness toward Wu Qingchen, Derrick couldn't be bothered to argue with Alvin. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly picked up his pace.

Unfortunately, it was clearly too late to react now.

With the examples set by the previous few, the remaining guards hurriedly racked their brains, beginning to introduce their own extensive forest knowledge to Wu Qingchen.