Chapter 14:The Village Conditions
Roland cloaked in a simple traveler’s garb, moved through Apus Village with a deliberate pace, his keen eyes surveying the crude surroundings.
Beside him walked his newly appointed butler, Roan. Roan had been a servant of the Weiss family, supported by Roland’s father, and had recently returned from a small academy where he completed his studies. He had hoped to join the Baron family upon his return, only to find them gone and the estate in disarray.
Thankfully, the young Lord appeared and took the reins. Since the Baron had few servants, taken from this village, he was familiar with Roan.
He was that kid who would run after Roland calling him big brother. Due to their bonding, his father took pity on this guy and supported him, for Roan was eternally grateful.
Roland stood at the edge of Apus Village, surveying its crude appearance with a critical eye.
As Roland observed the scene, he noted the dried, cracked fields where crops once struggled to grow, now overtaken by weeds. The smell of unkempt livestock and stagnant waste permeated the air. The villagers moved with wearied faces etched with the hardships of their daily lives.
The village was a patchwork of makeshift structures and haphazardly assembled cottages, their wooden walls weathered and stained from years of exposure to the elements.
The roofs, constructed of simple thatch or uneven shingles, sagged in places, and many were in dire need of repair. The streets, little more than beaten dirt paths, were strewn with debris and uneven stones, making travel both treacherous and slow.
Scattered around the village were the remnants of various attempts at agriculture, small plots of withering crops, and neglected fields overrun with weeds.
It wasn’t that their land wasn’t big; rather, due to fear of monsters, they only farmed the nearby places.
Also, they hadn’t gotten good crop seeds to use as a base which resulted in this.