Restart:Untalented Man

Tightly gripping the mission’s details from Gerald in her hand, Audrey embarks on her journey to meet Rogvor’s people.

To ensure her safety, the king graciously provided her with a squad of soldiers. Moreover, because she is a young woman, the king also provides her with a team of what he calls battle maids to attend to her needs.

Riz is worried about leaving a single young woman with a bunch of guys for days. Not that he didn’t trust his soldiers but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

It took her a week to reach the Baroks Province and another few days to locate the Rogvor settlement. They live deep within the forest.

“Huff…huff…huff. Where the hell are they?” Audrey grumbles.

They have been searching for days but still didn’t catch a glimpse of their silhouette. She can’t do her job if she can’t meet Rogvor people.

“Ack!”

A sudden sound attracts their attention. One of the soldiers was shot by an arrow in his thigh.

“We are under attack! Protect Miss Audrey.”

The soldiers take aim with their arquebus. The same goes for the Rogvor. Both sides are eyeing each other.

Tension grew. A battle can happen at any moment.

“Wait! Wait! We are not here to fight.” Audrey shouts in the Rogvorian language. Both of her hands are up in the air, indicating she means no harm. She signaled the soldiers to do the same.

“Girl, you should leave before we kill you. This is our territory.” said one of them to Audrey.

She is the only one who can speak their language which startled them but Audrey can’t see it. All four of them hide their face by wearing wooden masks.

“W-We are here by the king’s order. He has a proposal with the Rogvor people.” Audrey attempts to hold a conversation with them.

“Not in our slightest care who the king is. This is our land!”

“I know. I know. That’s why the king sends me to talk to you. He doesn’t have any attention to snatching your land. It is about cooperation between us.”

“…”

Audrey reaches for her bag which alerts the Rogvor people. She slowly took out an envelope.

“H-Here. This is the letter from the king to your chieftain. Look, there is a royal seal on it.” said Audrey.

She guardedly approached them and passed the envelope to them.

The Rogvor people took it but they really don’t know what to do next. Their job is just to patrol the area. They keep talking among themselves for a few minutes which is incomprehensible to everyone. Even Audrey had a hard time following their conversation.

“Girl, we let you meet the chief but with a condition of only ten people are allowed to enter our village.” 𝑖𝘳.𝒸ℴ𝑚

“Great! We agree with your condition.”

Audrey doesn’t really have to discuss it with anyone for a decision she made. She has full power granted to her.

“Follow us.”

They quietly follow them to their village. The village is in camouflage. From an outsider’s point of view, their eyes only see the greenery of the trees in the forest. Any man-made structures are hidden from their sight. It is impossible to reach it without knowing a proper path. They need to take this one narrow passage to reach the entrance of the village.

While at it, Audrey analysed everything she saw on the way.

‘A hidden village that is hard to locate, a narrow passage that hindered the movement of a large army and guerilla tactics with poison in the play. Unless one decided to burn the entire forest, they have no chance of conquering them with normal means.’

Reaching the entrance, the Rogvor people have a talk with the gatekeeper. Though it is called a talk, it is actually more of them being yelled at by the gatekeeper.

“Girl, as agreed before, only ten people are allowed to enter.” said the guide.

Audrey nods and chooses another four women and five men to enter the village with her.

The scene that enters their eyes is astounding. It is not a village as they expected in their mind but a literal city on the trees located at least three meters high from the ground. Some houses were built on the trees and some were built inside of them. The network of bridges connects the houses together.

Since they didn’t live on the ground, the guide led them to one of the platforms to lift them up using a pulley system.

The village is simple. In the middle is a huge tree towering tens of meters high. All other trees surround it in a circular arrangement.

Audrey notices some differences they have from a normal village. They seem to have very few shops operating.

“What is that place?”

“That’s a collection and distribution centre. We gathered our hunting spoils there. It was managed by the Committee of Resources.”

“Does anyone get to take resources from this place?”

“It runs on a point system. Each person has a point count. The more contributions, the more points they can get. The number of points is given based on the quantity of an item, the rarity of the item and the need for the item. Sometimes the same item can give you a different amount of points.”

“That’s interesting. Can the points be inherited like money?” asked Audrey.

“Yes. It will be distributed evenly among the children.”

“I see.”

Anyway, she was led to a huge tree in the centre. Probably the place where administration takes place. According to the guide, this place was governed by the Council of the Elder. Every five years, the top five who have the most point will get a seat in the council

The person with the most points will become the Head of the Council. To prevent the council member from getting more and more points, all their contribution of resources during their term will grant no points.

They’re meant to focus on governance, not hogging points and getting richer.

Her thoughts stop when she arrives in front of a door.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“It’s not locked. Come in.”

A bald white-bearded man that looks in his thirties comes into her sight. She first analyses the facial expression. He looks like a kind next-door type of uncle except he exerts an air of a ruler around him.

The so-called chief is wearing simple clothing made from animal skin. As backwards as the material may be, Audrey couldn’t help but notice the meticulous craftsmanship in producing those clothes.

‘Am I going to negotiate with him? He feels like a retired veteran warrior.’ Audrey tries to calm herself down.

“Chief Radyn, I bring you the messenger from the Kingdom of Ryntum.” said the guide.

He never heard of that kingdom before but he wishes to find out from this seemingly naive young girl in front of him. His eyes squint.

“Girl, what’s your name? Have we met before?” said Radyn deliberately in the Rogvor language. To his surprise, Audrey replies to his question fluently.

“My name is Audrey. I don’t think we’ve ever met.”

“What’s your mother’s name?”

“R-Raelia. Why do you ask?”

He nods, “Well…She’s my daughter who runs away from this village following that outsider. Technically, it made you my granddaughter.”

The chief just tells his jaw-dropping news to her like it was nothing.

“W-What!? How old are you?”

The chief laughed at her questions, “You heard it right. This grandpa of yours is in his fifties. Why do you think you’re still alive? One of the patrol members recognised the resemblance of your face with your mother and decided to bring you here. What’s your purpose here anyway? I was told you are some sort of big shot working for the king.”

Neither agreeing nor denying, Audrey only passes the letter to the chief.

After a few minutes of silence, her grandfather finishes reading the letter and looks at her again.

“I’ve come to understand your king’s proposal. It’s a good offer but before that, I need you to tell me what kind of person your king is.”

As the head of the council, he can’t agree to this matter solely based on a letter but he is willing to consider it.

“Gladly…” Audrey begins telling her story about the king and all his achievements.

Keenly listening to his granddaughter, Radyn’s mind is considering the pros and cons of the offer.

The kingdom’s offers are to provide technical help and resources to transform Rogvor village into a farming village. This is an important point.

Rogvor people have expanded their range of hunting grounds in the past few years due to the diminishing food sources in the forest.

The king also offers to build the road to connect Rogvar with Csorvar. Their economy could thrive with the arrival of merchants. The handcrafts they made have their own unique design, which can attract people’s attention.

Finishing her story, Audrey sees her grandfather who is in deep thought.

“Uhm…”

“From your story, your king is different from others. Considering the generous offer he made, I have no reason to disagree.”

“Really?” Audrey’s eyes are beaming with light after hearing Radyn’s words. This is basically getting paid for doing nothing.

“Yes, I need you to send a letter back to your king…” said Radyn but his tone changed into serious “and to your mother too. The last time that an unruly girl sends a letter is to inform me about your birth.”

Audrey politely smiles.

She feels her job might end up bringing disaster to her mother but it is not her problem.

At worst, she will run away to the capital and work there..

𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮