Everyone is Young Except for Me - Chapter 122

Chapter 122
Many people gathered in the center of a wide area. There was the young man with the fishing rod from earlier, innocent children, and smiling women. All of them were confused to see me standing on the wooden platform.

Kerenos shouted, “He will be the village chief of this place in the future. He is the Protector of Windia and everyone should act according to the etiquette!”

The villagers were agitated by his words.

“Protector of Windia...?”

“What is that?”

“Isn’t he just an ordinary old man?”

“Shh, be quiet and listen.”

At the same time, a knight pulled out a sword. It was Knight Dale who was standing under the platform. “You there! Impertinent! How dare you talk nonsense about the Protector?”

The villagers were scared by the threat. Meanwhile, I sighed and hit him in the back.

“Uwak!”

“Don’t pull out your sword carelessly, you rotten guy.”

“S-Sorry!” Dale put away his sword and bowed his head.

Kerenos frowned. “Dale, a knight only pulls out his sword when protecting someone. They are the people we must protect. Keep this in mind.”

“I’m sorry, Captain!” 

“Later, go around the village in your uniform.”

“Understood!”

Dale sweated and stepped back. I stood up and Kerenos sighed softly. “I’m sorry, I seem to have educated my people wrongly.”

“No, it is fine.”

In fact, Kerenos did hold some blame but I wasn’t his boss. In any case, it wasn’t my style to nitpick. However, I agreed that knights should only draw their swords to protect someone. An army that drew its sword against those they should defend would become a dictatorship. It was like when I was young. I returned home with difficulty only to experience the dictatorship of the Yushin Restoration [1]. I grew up watching the devastation so I didn’t like a dictatorship.

I walked forward and spoke to the crowd, “I am the village chief. I somehow came here to take on an annoying job and I think it would be good to comfortably get to know each other better. Please take good care of me.”

The moment I finished speaking, applause rang out. Then another message appeared in front of me.

[You are the first user to become a village chief.]

[This is an unnamed village.]

[The villagers are looking at you with doubtful eyes.]

[You haven’t been recognized as the true village chief by them.]

Ttiring~

[Village Quest - Village Chief Covered with Mystery]

[Rating: B+

You have been appointed as the village chief of a village that hasn’t been named! The villagers are questioning your ability.

It doesn’t matter what methods you use, but you must gain the recognition of the villagers.

They will keep an eye on your actions.

-Completion Conditions: Recognition of the entire village within a week 0/120.

-Rewards: The loyalty of the villagers.

Failure: You might be expelled from the village chief’s position. The villagers won’t listen to you and the security will become worse.]

I looked closer and saw how it said that the villagers would keep an eye on my actions. If I didn’t gain the recognition of the people within a certain amount of time, I might be expelled from the village chief’s position. Damn. Well, it meant they had to show their recognition.

“I have a question!” Unexpectedly, someone shouted. 

I shifted my gaze there and saw the young man who had sworn at me. He was noticeable due to his handsome appearance.

“What is the question...?”

“The people behind you look like architects. What are they here for?”

I nodded and replied, “I’m going to build the Temple of the Wind here.”

“Temple...?”

The villagers started to murmur again. They all looked amazed.

As the crowd murmured, I opened my mouth, “That is the first thing I’m going to do here.”

* * *

After the speech, I was guided to a shabby house by the young man just now. My group said they wanted to explore the village and went for a walk. Now the only ones with me were the young man who just asked the question and Punghee, who was hiding in my white hair.

He was acting as the representative here and was said to be an ordinary fisherman. His name was Kis.

“You can see the overall village from here. In any case, it is a small village with little development. The documents have all been moved so you don’t have to worry. Then I’ll go first.” Kis bowed his head and calmly turned away.

I looked at his back and muttered, “You didn’t even ask me if you could go, you cropped-haired bastard. Tsk tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and entered the house—a small room with just a bed and a small desk. I was sitting at the desk and looking at the papers when a window suddenly popped up.

[Would you like to see the information of the village?]

“Hrmm. It isn’t papers so I think I can read it like this. Good.”

After clicking on the floating message window, the information of the village immediately appeared.

[[No name][Village]

Military: 76 Economy: 26 Culture: 16 

Technology: 21 Religion: 0 Politics: 0 

Hygiene: 16 Safety: 24% Development: 31 

Local Influences: 12%

-Current Taxes: None

-Village Finances: $1,068,123

-Overall Evaluation: This is a village that is still under development. Depending on how you develop it, the possibilities for development are endless.

The monster attacks aren’t frequent or strong. Taxes can be collected after being upgraded to ‘small town.’]

“Hrmm. It is all low except for the military.”

Perhaps the reason why it was so high was that if I wanted to develop this place, I needed to be ready for monster attacks. It was located in a basin northeast of Windia’s east gate and had its back to a mountain. It was a good location to prepare for attacks. For reference, there was a village of orcs on the opposite side of this place. It was said that in the beginning, this was intended to be a military stronghold in the war against the orcs. However, this was no longer necessary.

“By the way, I should name the village...”

I thought it should be something comfortable. For example, it could be called ‘Soju Village’ after my favorite drink or ‘Longevity Village’ because I wanted to live for a long time.

If not, I could give it my name. However, I was a new person here. The villagers were already suspicious of me. If I gave it a strange name then I might be kicked out of the village chief’s position. Well, it wouldn’t be too bad. Wait a minute, what was this? There was something else under the overall evaluation of the village.

[- You are the village chief. You can gain a new side class for the development of the village.

However, you can’t get a hidden class and can only get a village-related class.

If your skills are outstanding, you can do two side classes at the same time.

Of course, it is very difficult and it is recommended to do something you like.]

“Hmm, a side class...”

Finally, the phrase to ‘do something you like’ caught my attention. After a while, I closed the window.

“I’ll have to look around the village.”

There were things I couldn’t decide right now. First, I had to look at the state of the village and decide what I needed to do. I went straight out of the house. Shortly thereafter, there was a small disturbance.

“Ah, why can’t I go in?”

“I told you no. This is an order I received.”

“Hey, do you need money? Here, take this and let me in. Didn’t you let me in fine the other day?”

“Ah, well I can’t do it today. Many high ranking people came from Windia. It would be troublesome if I get caught. It is my neck on the line so I can’t do it.”

“No, it is just for a minute. It is a request. Eh?”

“I’m sorry, it is impossible today.”

Someone was being stopped at the entrance of the village. He looked pretty young, approximately 30 years old. I approached while wearing a mask. I also didn’t forget to eat the Helium Slime’s Core.

[The Helium Slime’s Core has been consumed.]

[Your voice will randomly change for one hour.]

“What is going on...”

Damn, why was the voice so wrong? I knew that it would randomly change my voice but didn’t know it would be a female voice. The two of them stared at me. Shit. 

“Cough. I took something to modulate my voice. What’s going on?”

They nodded like they understood. It was a completely different look from their previous eyes. 

“This friend kept on wanting to come in so I was blocking him. Sir Kerenos told me to stop the reporters from coming in.”

“Kerenos?”

“Yes, there was a group that tried to come in and I was scolded for not stopping them. However, this friend isn’t leaving. I have a bead that detects Stealth and I caught him trying to sneak in with Stealth.”

Hrmm, I hadn’t thought about this. That Kerenos had a pretty meticulous side. If the reporters had come in then it would’ve been a tiring situation.

I smiled at his quick response. “By the way, do the two of you know each other? It seems that he is familiar based on the way he called you a friend.”

“Ah, yes... in fact, this friend comes here often. He is pretty close to the people in our village. Sometimes, he will come and help me with my work.”

“Hoh, really...?”

I had a bit of prejudice when I heard he was a reporter. They would use the crystal ball for shooting the moment they saw me and there were constant flashes. In fact, I hated it but the young man in front of me didn’t have any crystal balls. I thought for a moment before opening my mouth, “How old are you this year?”

“Huh?”

“How old are you?”

“I-I’m 34 years old...”

Hmm, he was two years older than Sujeong. He was the same age as my youngest daughter. I remembered my youngest daughter who I saw in a video call last night. She had been staying home recently because she just had a baby. I looked at his face and recalled my favorite grandson, Minchan.

“Are you married?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Korean?”

“Huh? I am...”

“Follow me.”

I nodded to the soldier and he opened the way. The young man with a bewildered expression stared blankly.

“If you don’t want to come then leave.”

“N-No! Thank you! Haha.”

The young man started to catch up. He followed me.

“You are kinder than I thought!”

I responded lightly, “Don’t talk like a fortune cookie.”

[1] Wiki Link for the Yushin Restoration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Restoration