Chapter 276: A Mother’s Decision

Chapter 276

A Mother’s Decision

Ellie watched the boy’s retreating figure before turning to look behind her. She had sensed from the beginning that Professor Medik, who intended to discuss the stratagem installation, had heard the entire conversation between her and the boy.

“Good morning, Professor.”

“Mmm. So...why didn’t you give the boy food? Are you that angry with the villagers?” Medik asked, puzzled. Ellie usually seemed calmer than the others, and as someone dedicated to helping the villagers, it unsettled him to see his only student harboring such prejudice.

Ellie sensed Professor Medik’s disappointment. She had no excuses but had her reasons for her actions.

“I’m not angry.”

“Then why...?”

“Because I represent all the students. My actions are a decision on behalf of everyone. I think the villagers’ prejudice against us will only cause more trouble for them. Just like with the meat...Even the children in their homes know they need help, but their bias blinds them. They know we’re here to help, but they’ve been suspicious of us from the start.”

“They’ve also planned to exploit us, risking our lives for their gain. Even when we have a plan, they don’t trust us. Their attitude has made our work harder.”

“In the end, who’s really in trouble? Us, who came here to help? We could stubbornly finish our mission and be done with it. What reason do they have to oppose us like this? In a few years, they’ll still be ordinary villagers, while many of us will become the next family heads, some might become the city governors, or influential figures in their lives.”

“I want to tell them this, giving them time to reflect on whether their prejudice is beneficial or self-destructive. Until they realize they’re hurting themselves, I’ll act as if I don’t see or hear anything and show them we’re not the ones suffering.”

Ellie explained her intentions. Her words seemed harsh, but upon reflection, they were all true. Ellie wasn’t being cruel; she hadn’t refused to give them food outright. She just insisted they come and get it themselves. If the villagers couldn’t overcome their pride, they’d continue to suffer.

Professor Medik understood but didn’t fully agree with Ellie’s approach. He sighed deeply. He had intended to warn her to be cautious while setting up the stratagems because he had spotted stray beasts in the area during his morning rounds. However, it seemed unnecessary to say anything now. His student was more thoughtful than he realized. With such foresight, was there anything to worry about?

As for the boy, he ran home with hope, finding his mother in the kitchen with the last handful of food. The middle-aged woman, thin and frail, looked at the food with sad eyes. However, when she saw her son running in, she greeted him with a sweet smile.

"Are you up already?"

"Mother, you’ll be so happy." The boy laughed joyfully, though his mother didn’t understand. She just held him in her arms.

"Happy about what?"

"I met a sister. She said if you go to get food, she’ll give us some meat."

"Hmm? What do you mean? Which sister?" The middle-aged woman’s eyebrows furrowed. Hearing her son talk about meat and some sister, she could only think of those troublesome students.

Since last night, she and the villagers had smelled the meat, which stirred their hunger. This morning, people were talking about the students making fragrant meat soup for breakfast. However, she never considered asking the students for food. They had refused to help with the rocks, so she was certain they were only teasing her son to get back at them!

"Mother...the sister who set up the tents in our village." The boy trembled with fear. Just mentioning "sister" and "meat" made his mother squeeze his arm tightly.

"You!! Didn’t I tell you to stay away from those bad people!? Why did you suddenly talk to those wicked women!? Did you disobey me? Do you know what your punishment will be? Go now! Bring me a stick." Her anger making her eyes red. Just thinking about the students hurting her son filled her with dread. Those students were noble children, and nobles were never punished for killing commoners. If they caused trouble and got him killed, who would take responsibility!?

To prevent her son from defying her again, she had to punish him severely.

"M-Mother! Why are you punishing me? I didn’t do anything wrong. Also, the sister promised if you ask for food, they’ll give us some. Why won’t you ask for food!? How long has it been since you’ve eaten? How long has my sister gone without food?!! If you and my sister don’t eat today, I won’t eat anymore either. Mother! What’s the point of living without a family? Waah, Mother!"

The boy cried hard, and the middle-aged woman’s face was also wet with tears. But she had to discipline him. Since he wouldn’t bring the stick, she used her dry hands to hit him.

Slap!

"How dare you talk back to me? I told you to obey me and stay away from those bad students. Don’t you understand?"

Slap!!

"Are you defying me now? If you don’t eat, we won’t survive either. You must choose what to do. Your father had high expectations for you. When you grow up, you are supposed to become a wealthy merchant. Are you going to give up so easily?"

"Waah, Mother...I don’t want to give up, but now we have a chance to get food..."

"No way! You don’t understand. You’re too young. You don’t realize that it’s just a trick. They only want us villagers to kneel and apologize for what we did last night. Because we didn’t give them food first, they want revenge. If you go, you’ll just embarrass yourself. It’s nothing more than that!"

"But Mother...even if it’s exactly as you say, what if...the sister does give us food? Isn’t refusing to ask for food just giving up? If we go, sob, sob, we might just be humiliated, that’s all."

The boy tried to persuade his mother. To him, it was just a matter of being laughed at, wasn’t it? But so what...after being laughed at, he wouldn’t be in pain. He could come back and sleep at home, play at home. However, if he risked asking for food and got it, wouldn’t that help his mother and sister?

He didn’t understand why his mother couldn’t try once. Why was she so afraid of being laughed at!?

Ellie took longer than usual to get ready that morning but still managed to leave smoothly. As expected, no one came to ask for food. It was just as she had thought. But the life of the boy was his mother’s decision. Whether they stayed or left...Ellie wouldn’t interfere with this decision.

She still worked quickly. Along the way, they encountered some wild animals. Wint, as usual, didn’t hunt the small animals, leaving them for the villagers to avoid future starvation. However, another group didn’t think the same. They hunted everything, both to feed themselves and to punish the villagers for their initial contempt.

Although the second group didn’t agree much, the first group had the right to vent their anger. It’s said that if you weren’t in the situation, you wouldn’t understand the feelings involved. So, no one complained. They just focused on completing their tasks and returning as quickly as possible.

Today, the situation remained the same. There were no particularly dangerous beasts to worry about. However, Ellie noticed some rather frightening traces, giving her a sense of déjà vu, as if she had encountered this situation before.

It might be because this village was located in the chasm. Above it, there were no other villages—just a vast, steep cliff. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that this village was the highest one in the area. Other villages were built on level ground along the hills, but the Village of the Windy Chasm was in an excessively risky location. It was no wonder they frequently faced strong winds and rockslides.

Ordinary people wouldn’t venture into the mountains; it was too dangerous. But Ellie didn’t need to move herself. By spreading her spores around, she could survey the entire area. This allowed her to notice that some animals were moving abnormally.

It felt like the time before encountering demonic beasts...However, since she hadn’t seen any demonic beasts in person yet, Ellie couldn’t conclude that she was unfortunate to face a storyline that she shouldn’t have encountered. Although, some areas had withered plants and grass, which seemed to be the result of demonic toxin...

"Today we set up 2 more stratagems, and even finished earlier than yesterday. We have about 3 hours before evening. Shall we go hunting on the mountain?" One student suggested.

"I don’t want to go back to the village either. I’m tired of those annoying villagers’ stares," Aria grumbled. Vida didn’t say anything but didn’t oppose the idea either.

Vida had to train herself to control her emotions from a young age. Being a "future empress," she couldn’t express her opinions about the populace straightforwardly. Naturally, Vida felt uncomfortable dealing with such unreasonable villagers, but she tried to see it as a form of training.

Ellie remained silent. With the two prominent members of the group not opposing, everyone decided to follow the plan.

The small group ventured deeper into the forest. Ellie guided them to avoid risky areas where the grass was widely withered. Luckily, they didn’t encounter any fierce beasts and managed to hunt plenty of large game. Hunting together brought them closer, and many shared personal stories. Ellie, however, kept her words to herself, but everyone seemed accustomed to her reticence by now.

After wandering around for almost 2 hours, everyone agreed it was time to head back. On the way back...they unexpectedly encountered someone.

"Nara? The village chief’s son?"

One of the students murmured as they saw a young man and woman holding hands passing by. Upon seeing the students, the two had different reactions. Nara smiled brightly and excitedly, having anticipated running into them. However, the young man beside her paused slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on the smallest woman in the group, Ellie. It wasn’t surprising that Ellie felt familiar with this gaze since she had once been stared at like this before...

"Everyone! I didn’t expect to see you all here. We’re gathering food to take back to the village. Nara heard that the villagers are struggling with food, so we came to help gather some. The villagers should be nearby. We’ve collected quite a number of tubers. It would be difficult for just us to carry them, so we’d appreciate your help."

Nara spoke cheerfully, but her words sounded more like orders, which only made the students grimace more.

"Let’s go. It would be best to avoid the villagers as I don’t like crowds. I tend to get annoyed easily."

"Duchess Ellie, do you know another path down the mountain?"

"Yes, we don’t want to deal with the villagers either."

The other students ignored Nara’s words entirely, asking instead about an alternate route. This left Nara feeling embarrassed.

"Wait! How can you ignore the villagers’ plight like this? Weren’t we all ordered to help them?" Nara cried out in frustration, looking like a child demanding justice, which only made the other students laugh.

"There were many of us on this mission. Some of us are setting up stratagems while others are helping the villagers gather vegetables. Isn’t that enough?" One student retorted, glaring at Nara, who wasn’t doing the proper work. Seeing their expressions, Nara shook her head.

"Just Nara alone won’t be enough. Everyone should come and help."

"Hmm? Then why don’t you come help us set up the stratagems? You talk about justice but run around without doing any real work."

"Exactly. We’ve been working hard while you’ve been with the men."

"We’ve already divided the tasks. Do your job well instead of pushing it onto others. Didn’t you eat their food before? Then pay them back properly. Let’s go, everyone..."