Chương 40: Chapter 37

Right now, Sobelle had two priorities: to kill as many greenskins as possible and to steer clear from her family. Both were fairly obvious decisions after everything that happened to her so far. Killing Goblins was fairly difficult at the moment so she was thankful to avoid the reason why that happened to begin with.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Sobelle looked left and right. The room she was given belonged to the chief's old son, who had left the village in pursuit of a woman a few years ago. No one knew what happened to him after that.

"Giving me this place feels a bit wrong, I'm fine to sleep on the living room floor."

"Nonsense." The chief shook his head and stepped inside. He sat on the bed and gave Sobelle an extremely conflicted yet sober look. Whatever he thought at this very moment was foreign to Sobelle, but she knew it was related to his lost child.

"He isn't coming back here, it's better for the room to have a use instead of collecting dust." So he had given up hope on his son ever going home? Sobelle found the idea sad. She silently thanked her lost senior and accepted the chief's offer with a solemn nod, "thank you, not just for the room. I appreciate everything you've done for me so far, very few people ever gifted me precious things, you were one of them."

"I'm happy to hear that." The old man smiled and got up. In his age, it would be fair to assume that he wouldn't be lively but he was. When it came to his physical health, the chief had gone above and beyond somehow. It was like he had made a pact with a spirit to keep himself young and spry.

"I really am thankful, even if I can't show it." Sobelle had somehow lost the ability to feel excited whenever she was given gifts. When this happened was unknown, as it has been a while since she got something from someone.

"You don't have to show it on your face, you using my spear and not treating it like garbage is more than enough to convince me." The chief laughed as he stood up, patting Sobelle's back on his way out.

"Make yourself comfortable Sobelle, the room is yours."

"... I will." Sobelle checked the room that had been handed to her after the chief left: it was spacious and lacked any excess furniture or chests, the only things inside were a bed, a single chest, and a table. It was also far larger than the bedroom she shared with her siblings. There was a window, which Sobelle chose to keep closed, as well as a basin next to an opening on the wall. She could bathe herself in this room should she want, which made the already amazing space even better.

These were the kinds of luxuries afforded by nobles, and the chief was technically one so it made sense that he'd have something like that in his house.

'There's water?' Sobelle checked the basin and found it to be already filled. She placed her hand inside and grabbed the bucket she'd use to scoop up the liquid.

'The wood isn't rotten either, and there's iron braces to the side?' Something like this... Was the chief actually rich? Sobelle never expected to see such items within the village, as every time her old brother asked for a reinforced bucket in the past—before he married—Saltor always said no because they couldn't afford it. So they had to deal with containers that easily broke after a certain weight, or vases that were unbearably hard to carry.

Excited, Sobelle got up to open the chest by the bed to see if she had clothes she could change into and sure enough; there were a few hemp shirts nestled within, pants were also present and that meant Sobelle had everything she needed to change into a fresh set of clothes. She cleaned herself and later came out wearing the things she found in the chest. The chief looked like he wanted to cry when he saw Sobelle, which made her feel slightly guilty.

She knew that the clothes belonged to the old man's son, who else would they be for after all? And yet she wore them anyway. Sobelle somehow managed to keep a straight face as she walked up to the chief and offered to cook for him. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Do you want me to prepare dinner?" Sobelle had never done this for anyone in her life so the results might be a bit bad. Even then, she'd try her best for the old man.

"I can probably do it."

"Can you call me by my name?" Now this was another problem entirely. Sobelle did not know what the chief's name was, as she never bothered to ask.

"I don't think I've ever heard you call me that way before."

"That's because I never got your name." Sobelle looked away in guilt. She should have asked her father at some point, but it never really needed to come up and what was the use of her knowing an old man's name anyway?

"Can you tell me?"

"Mhmm. My name is Werren. That was the name my mother gave me and what everyone called me all my life." What a strange name. Or that was how Sobelle felt at least, it was like the first time she learned that her father also looked like a baby when he was young and not... Some tiny human with her father's face on top.

"Werren." Sobelle played with the word, it felt weird on her tongue. Yet also quite pleasing. She smiled, "thank you for everything, Werren."

"You are welcome." The chief turned away and Sobelle caught his hands going up to the heights of his face.

"You are free to cook if you wish."

"Thank you—" this was when someone disturbed their peaceful scene by knocking very loudly on the door. Sobelle was mad but calmed herself to show hospitality to whoever she opened the door to, she would not lash out even if it was her family. Thankfully, this was not the case.

"Chael. What brings you here tonight?"

"Hello Sobelle! I brought food! Do you want some?" The young merchant wore a hood that hid her golden hair completely. Her hazel eyes looked green under the light of the torches and her pale pallor had gained an orange hue. Sobelle spotted a dash of red on Chael's face but chalked it up as another effect from torchlight.

"I am about to cook dinner actually." Sobelle stepped aside and ushered Chael inside the house.

"Your offering is perfect, I'd love to cook those things."

"Well maybe you shouldn't cook them and I should?" Chael let out a sharp breath as she walked inside and stopped exposing herself to the harsh cold air. She rubbed her arms after she removed her cloak, then showed Sobelle what she carried.

"My basket has cheese, nuts, a few strips of dried meat, and even eggs!" All of them were the type of food that could be considered as uncommon within the village. Cheese makers did not exist around here, nuts grew small and useless, and egg laying birds were simply too small and too inconsistent in their nesting to properly farm. The only thing that could be considered as a local dish was the meat, yet even those rarely came dry. Salt was expensive, so smoking was far more appealing.

"I don't know how to cook any of those." Well, Sobelle had no clue how to cook in general. She'd never admit this however.

"So maybe it is better if it were you who worked the fire?"

"Yes! Exactly! Between the two of us, it should be me who's cooking. That is how it works." Chael raised a single thumb at Sobelle as though she approved of the decision.

"Trust me, I can cook something for you and it will be so good you won't be able to ever forget it for the rest of your life!"

"What a bold claim." Had Sobelle remained unaware of Chael's habit to brag, she would have felt offended at the girl's declaration.

"But fine, if you think you can cook, then I'll let you cook."

"Of course I can, I often set up food stalls at villages my family stopped at. Though I never did it here sadly," and that lack of evidence when it came to cooking for the village was enough for Sobelle to think that Chael was truly lying.

"Our supplies ran out two villages before this, my food is pretty popular, see." Was it? Sobelle sat down next to the chief and waited for Chael to start cooking. At first, she thought that the merchant truly had no idea what she was doing, but her assumptions only waned as time passed. The girl had somehow turned a simple recipe of eggs, cheese, meat, and nuts into something that smelled divine. Chael placed three bowls of cheese soup on the table, followed by fried meat and eggs.

The only things that didn't have anything special done to it were the nuts, which had only been roasted on top of charcoal.

"This is good, yes." Sobelle said after she took a bite. The food wasn't so good that she'd faint, but the cooking was so much better than anything she's tasted in the village so far.

"The cheese feels liquid enough that it just sticks to the meat and eggs."

"We should eat bread too. If we have some." Chael suggested though Sobelle had no hope of it ever being fulfilled. She was wrong.

"I think I have some bread around here." Werren stood up. Sobelle caught him smiling. Dinner ended up being so much better after that.