Ryan sent the village chief from his house with the extra spell seeds for sale. When he returned inside, he saw sawdust and broken bricks scattered from yesterday's fight.
Feeling embarrassed, he had to receive guests in a house that was almost falling apart. He decided to buy a new brick house so that he and his grandfather could live happily in the village instead of in an old house on the outskirts.
Next month, when the spell seeds are sold and I get my share of the money, I'll buy a brand-new house or purchase enough land to build a small villa.
Ryan went inside the house, grabbed the cleaning items like a broom and other supplies, and started cleaning up the debris on the floor.
He first took out all the wood chips and bricks that were piled on the ground and then swept the debris with the broom and piled them in the backyard.
Just as he finished cleaning the house, the carpenter and mason arrived and told him that the village chief had sent them to repair the damage from yesterday's bandit attack.
Ryan then took them on a tour of the entire house, pointing out the damaged areas. They were shocked to see the extent of the damage and reluctantly informed Ryan and his grandfather that the house could not be repaired. The structural integrity and core of the house, the pillars, were severely compromised.
They then advised them to move to another house before it collapsed with sad expressions. Ryan asked if they could at least repair it to prevent collapse for a few months so they would have time to find another place to live.
The mason and carpenter promised to do some patchwork on the house to make it usable for a year, but they couldn't guarantee it would stay standing after that.
Ryan noticed that old John was sad, but he eventually agreed with their suggestion and asked them to start the work. They called the workers waiting outside and began patching up the broken walls and pillars.
Then the carpenters started working on the roof and front door, which were badly damaged. Ryan went into the kitchen and made some spiced tea for the workers and served them while they were helping repair the house.
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The village chief who has gone out of the Ryan's house after discussing with him is now walking straight to the village center where the other villagers are waiting for him with the prisoner tightly bond.
"Chief, the horses which were wounded are treated and now they can walk slowly." A village reported the chief.
"Chief, the carriages are being prepared to transport the prisoner to the nearby town, we can start our journey in an hour." another villager reported.
The chief calmly heard all the reports from the villagers and appreciated them for their hard work and said: " good work everyone, as you see we have only few carriages as the injured horses can't work right now, so I decided to take only few hunters with me to the city to transport the prisoner who are heavily injured during the yesterday battle and collect the bounty."
"If you have anything need to be purchased from the town you can give the list to your hunter friends who are selected for coming with me and ask them to purchase them on your behalf."
The villager discussed few minutes and listed a few items to their friends and went back to their homes leaving behind the selected personals and the chief.
Then the chief ordered the hunter to throw the prisoner onto the carriages and guard them properly and started the journey to the town.
They travelled for half a day and reached a town called Black soil town.
It got its name as the surroundings of the town are covered with dense black soil which is useful for farming.
The town was built with a huge wall surrounding it from all side in a shape of rectangle.
It was further divided into four parts: the military area, the nobles' living area, the merchants' living area, and the ordinary residents' area. At the center of the town lies a mansion where the lord of the town stays, and town officials all work from the mansion.
The town has only one entrance, and as soon as anyone enters, they see two contrasting worlds on either side. On one side, there are ordinary houses where regular citizens live, and on the other side, there are rich, two-story buildings where wealthy merchants or citizens reside.
The noble houses and military barracks were situated behind the mansion.
The town's population is estimated to be between 10,000 and 30,000 people, as it is too far from the empire's capital. Many residents migrate to other cities for better living conditions, so the population of the town has never exceeded 30,000, even if all the surrounding villagers come here for shelter.
The village spoke with guards and informed him name and asked him to report the lord that we have caught the bandits while showing the bandits.
The guard quickly ran to the town office and returned with the lord's butler. When the butler saw the village chief, he recognized him as one of the few martial artists who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts at a young age and disappeared suddenly 30 years ago. The butler immediately went forward and bowed respectfully to him.
The village chief waved his hand and asked him not to bow. He had retired from the empire army 30 years ago and was just an ordinary village chief now.
Then the village chief showed the prisoners to the butler which made his face pale and immediately recovered his expression, but chief caught his expression and immediately knew there was a connection between them.
He feigned ignorance and handed over them to the guards and asked the village hunters who has come with him to go and do shopping's as he will talk with lord of the town and meet them at the town entrance in the evening.
The villagers agreed and left to do shopping immediately and the butler led the chief into the town mansion with heavy mood.