Chapter 378: Figure something out

Kalish was waiting in the front room of the house when two people emerged from inside. Yet, contrary to what he had hoped, one of them was not Baldon’s younger mate.

Instead, he found himself looking at Luke.

"Luke?" Gary called out, surprise evident in his voice. He had not expected to see the man here this early.

Luke simply nodded. "I was worried about her, so I came to check on the lady."

Gary nodded slowly. Last night, Roxanne had seemed quite worried about Luke as well. It appeared the two shared a bond far closer than he had realized.

Well, it was for the better now that Baldon was gone. A few friends were all Roxanne and Thea needed right now.

Kalish then turned toward the red-eyed woman, his shoulders falling and voice laced with grief.

"Whatever I say right now cannot erase what has already happened," he said quietly. "I cannot tell you how regretful I am for everything that happened."

Roxanne shook her head.

"You could have done nothing to prevent it. Baldon has always been sincere toward the people of this village. He made his choice to step onto the battlefield."

Kalish nodded.

"I won’t take away his courage from him. Baldon was a brave warrior until his last breath. But that does not change the fact that we were the ones who brought this calamity to your doorstep."

His gaze lowered for a moment.

"If we had never stopped here, you would still have your mate by your side, and this village would not have lost its leader."

Roxanne said nothing. She simply lowered her head slightly, her shoulders heavy with the sense of loss as well.

Luke then stepped forward and said, "Let’s just sit down first. Whatever happened cannot be changed, so we should focus on what we can still do."

Gary nodded. "Right. The last thing Baldon would have wanted in his final moments was to see something trampling over this haven he cherished so much."

Kalish nodded as well. With a heavy heart, he took a seat across from Roxanne and Luke.

The servants soon brought water and fruits for everyone, but none of them reached for anything.

After several moments of heavy silence, Gary finally spoke.

"We have lost almost half of our troops. That is the biggest blow of all because they were also the guardians of their households. Without them, many women and children are now left without anyone to support them."

Kalish quickly added, "Their families will be compensated well. The coins cannot replace what they have lost, but they will at least allow them to live comfortably until their children are old enough to stand on their own."

Glancing at Roxanne, he continued, "Additionally, I will be sending fifty men from the tribe to become the defense line of this village. You won’t need to worry about their pay or accommodation. They are capable enough to handle those matters themselves."

Luke nodded in appreciation. "That sounds wonderful."

Gary nodded as well. "The villagers will always be thankful for your consideration."

With so many men now stationed around the village, all of them well-trained in defense, the chances of another enemy ambush catching them unprepared would be greatly reduced. It would be far harder for anyone to approach the village so easily again.

Not to talk about the support they would receive from the head village as well. Gary has already sent a message, and now, the wait was for someone to respond.

Roxanne then asked, "How is your family? And your daughter?"

She had heard from several people, including Luke, that Ilya had fought alongside the others and was possibly the only woman who had taken part in the battle. She had not remained behind the lines either. Instead, she had fought at the front, taking down several men on her own.

In Roxanne’s eyes, Ilya has already climbed quite a high point, by her bravery and courage to stand her ground against her possible demise.

People who could take down Baldon surely must be quite strong and yet, Ilya came out alive and contributed fairly well during the battle.

Kalish exhaled a quiet sigh.

"Well, my son is a little shaken. He has never experienced so much bloodshed from this close. And Ilya..." He paused for a moment. "Well, she is resting right now."

Luke faintly smiled. "Understandable. Unlike me, she stayed behind and made sure all the corpses were burned before she left. That way, no more predators would be targeting out village."

Luke was a little surprised when Kalish glanced his way and held his gaze for more than a second before speaking.

"Yes. She has been hardworking since she was very young. She has always taken on the role of a guardian, someone who makes sure everyone can sleep beneath the shade of safety and protects them from whatever threats may come."

Gary shook his head.

"Despite being so young, she sounds more grown than I am. Forget about facing that many men. Just watching them die, one after another, would have been too much for me."

The atmosphere lightened slightly at his words, if only for a moment.

Then Kalish asked, "Where is Lady Thea?"

Roxanne released a soft breath.

"She is fine... She just can’t talk right now. She needs some time alone." Thea has locked herself in her room and doesn’t come out despite how much others knocked at her door.

Kalish lowered his head, clear guilt settling in his eyes.

Once again, the room fell into silence, and the brief warmth that had filled it disappeared beneath a heavy gloom.

Just then, Luke received an absurd notification,

[Host, this is the perfect opportunity to extract the full essence of the legendary physique.]

Luke’s eyes widened faintly before he glanced around and asked inwardly,

’Are you insane? She is grieving right now. You want me to pin her down in this state and... really, System?’

Luke was a scumbag, there was no denying that. He had exploited other people’s emotions when it suited his interests, but even for him, this situation felt like crossing a line.

[Host, the target is emotionally devastated and desperately needs support. She is searching for an emotional anchor, someone who can reassure her that the future still holds promise, that there is still much waiting for her beyond this moment of grief. You excel at providing such reassurance, host. So take advantage of the situation.]

Luke groaned inwardly. The System seemed far too eager about this.

There was no denying that the legendary physique was immensely potent, but even so...

Just then, as though simple persuasion were not enough, another notification appeared before him.

[Quest: Have sex with the target Thea.]

[Reward: 400 GP, ???]

"..."

Luke stared at the notification in silence.

At this point, could he really afford to pass up the opportunity?

.....

After Kalish left, only the three of them remained. Gary finally broke the silence.

"Soon, someone from the Head Tribe will arrive to help us overcome this crisis. And..." He paused, glancing briefly at Roxanne before continuing in a hesitant voice. "The choice of a new chief will also have to be made."

He was careful with his words. The last thing Gary wanted was to come across as an emotionless prick who was already eager to replace their fallen leader before the village had even finished grieving.

Roxanne, however, understood his concern.

"Would I have a role in that?" she asked.

Gary nodded. "Of course. You knew Baldon closely, and you saw firsthand how he ruled this place. Your opinion will carry weight. You can have a significant say in deciding who you believe is worthy of becoming the next chief."

As he said this, the short man’s gaze shifted toward Luke.

Roxanne noticed it immediately. She followed his gaze, then turned toward Luke.

"Luke... what do you think?"

Luke let out a quiet sigh before answering, "You already know my answer. I can’t become the chief. Not with my tendency to travel and explore new places."

Roxanne nodded. She had expected something like that.

She lowered her head and fell silent, her thoughts weighing heavily on her.

Luke reached over and gently took her hand in his. He gave it a reassuring squeeze before saying, "Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out."

Roxanne looked at him and offered a faint smile.

Somehow, those simple words eased the burden resting on her shoulders, if only by a little.

Just then, Gary spoke up.

"Today, someone needs to share the grief of this loss and announce Baldon’s death to the village. Who is going to do it?"

Kalish was not a member of the village, and Luke had never been particularly good at handling matters like this. More importantly, given the circumstances surrounding Baldon’s death, there was always the possibility that the villagers might turn their grief and anger toward him.

Luke fell silent for a moment.

Then, an idea came to him.

"I know someone," he said.