"We're thankful for your help." The village chief lowered his head to Noel. Brad had confirmed the mine, so his words were more credible than both Noel and Anna.
That was the reason why he wanted to bring Brad to the mine. He saw how Anna fought against the bandits too, allowing him to know that lying was not a possible option.
"It's fine." Noel smiled. "Although it's hard for me to ask this, can I ask you to allow these people to stay with you for a while?"
The village chief immediately had a troubled expression. Their village was already full and they wouldn't have enough food to feed these many people. If it was only two or three people, he would agree without hesitation, but it was too hard for him to keep them.
Brad suddenly stepped forward and approached a muscular man among the villagers. They had gathered outside to greet the hero that eliminated the bandits, so all people from the village was here.
Brad lowered his head to this muscular man and asked, "Can you please make them a house? Just chopping the wood and make a big shelter for all of them is fine. There's no need to be that extravagant."
"Well… I can do that. If you just want a shelter to survive… I can make it within a month."
"Thank you so much, even if we need to sleep on the floor, we are grateful as long as we have a roof above our heads." The women thanked him.
Noel was thankful for Brad's help, but to his surprise, Anna also came to the village chief and took out a small pouch filled with coins.
"This should be enough for their living expense for a month. I'm sure that they can help the village after that." Anna smiled and handed the pouch to him.
"This…" The village chief was surprised for a moment before nodding. "I understand. I'll help as much as I can…"
To request the knight's assistance, he gathered the money they had, but to think the knight would even give some of them back to provide assistance for these women.
'One month?' Noel looked at her with his eyebrows twitching as if asking her, 'Eavesdropping?'
'You don't have money, right? I can help too.' Anna wanted to be like Noel, but she knew that no matter how hard she did it, there was no way to replicate what Noel did when he gave that hope to these people. The only way she could do was to use her wealth to help them. However, this was the second step Anna took to change from her past life.
Ultimately, they ended up bringing the women to the village chief house. Although they slept on the floor, none of them actually complained. At least, they felt more secure in this place and wasn't tortured like previously.
…
The next morning.
Anna woke up from her bed, feeling a bit sluggish.
"Ugh." Anna clutched her head and said, "My head hurts. Did I hit something yesterday?"
She looked around her and realized she was looking upside down. In other words, her head fell to the ground when she slept and caused her to wake up.
"Seriously? I thought I didn't move much during my sleep… Was I trying to try sleeping on the floor unconsciously?" Anna asked herself before hearing some noises from the outside. "The sun hasn't risen yet, but they have started working?"
Anna left her room, only to find that there wasn't a single person left in the house. So, her only option was to come out.
The village chief and Noel were standing next to each other, looking at the distance.
In the outskirt of the village, they saw many people gathering.
The muscular man was cutting down the log to make a plank.
"Alright. The first one is done. Now…" The man rose from his shield, but when he was about to lift the plank, one woman approached him, asking, "Are you going to carry it somewhere?"
"Yeah. This will be used as the building's foundation, so I need to carry it to that spot." He nodded while pointing the direction.
"In that case, please let me help you." The woman tried to smile but ended up with an awkward smile due to the trauma. Still, she was eager to help and tried to lift the plank, only to find herself not being able to.
"Ah, you don't need to help me. I can do it by myself." The muscular man pitied her and was about to take the plank, but a few other women came, helping the woman carry the plank.
"Please let us help you too. We are already thankful that you want to build us a house, so we need to do as much as possible."
"O-oh?" Before he could even warn them about the heaviness of the plank, they had carried them to the spot he pointed at earlier. It was hard even for them as some of them walked staggeringly due to the weight, making him worry. But ultimately, they reached the spot and dropped it there.
"Is this the place?" One of them asked out loud.
The man couldn't help but smile and give a thumbs up. "It seems that I can work on the second log with this."
Just like them, the others also started to blend in.
There was even one person that was plowing the field by herself. Her body was shaking when she was near a man, but she was still strong enough to swing the hoe. Although she ended up working a bit farther away from the other farmers, she still helped them.
"She is really a strong woman. Even though she was scared of others, but she still tried to help." One of the farmers commented, praising her determination.
Of course, some women were still scared to the point they didn't want to work, but seeing the others work hard moved their bodies as well.
When Anna saw all this, she shook her head helplessly, impressed.
"Despite having that kind of trauma, they were working hard… When I was traveling in my young day, I saw many women who could only scream and become crazy after the bandits kidnapped them… This is my first time I see something like this."
"They're strong, just need a support," said Noel as these people reminded him of the kids that tried hard dancing to change their fate.
"You're the first noble to be able to achieve that." The village chief looked at him with a solemn expression. "Thank you very much, Sir Noble. I wish that I am someone from your territory… You would have become a great lord."
"Ahaha, I'm grateful for your words. Still, I can't do more than this. The rest depends on them. As such, I hope that you can help them for a while."
"As you said, they're strong. And I also have received the money to buy their necessities. I promise I'll take care of them." The village chief lowered his head.
"In that case, the job is done. It's time for me to leave."
"Y-yes." He handed a scroll as the proof. "I have written everything here. Please let me make a breakfast for you… This is the last thing I can do."
"Is that so?" Noel smiled.
They had a simple breakfast as Noel and Anna packed their luggage.
Even Noel didn't expect that all villagers ended up seeing them off.
The first one to drop to her knee was the strong woman that kept speaking when they were inside the mine. Her forehead touched the ground as she shouted, "Sir Knight. We're extremely grateful for giving us the second chance of our lives."
When the other women heard it, they also did the same.
Even Noel couldn't help but smile as he waved his hand and walked away, saying, "Live on."
