By the time they returned to the town, it was nearly dusk, later than expected.
Yet the heaviness in his heart was even more severe than he had anticipated... The townsfolk, busy with their tasks, were overjoyed to see him back, but once they spotted what was on the sled behind him, no one could utter a word.
The residents of Talamian might not have had much education, but their bond with the town ran deep.
That was why so many chose to stay here from birth to old age... Nearly everyone in the town knew each other—childhood playmates who grew up hunting and traveling together, only to return to their homeland to marry and raise children.
Their children would become playmates in turn, inheriting their parents' friendships, and so...
Even in death, anyone could be called by name.
Sorrow and weeping became the theme of the evening sunset...
Sean, seeing the emotions of [Suppressed!] and [Grieved!] hovering over everyone’s heads, ordered Luke to pause his work and prepare dinner for all.
"Sir, all of them?"
"All of them!"
Excluding the elderly, children, and women at home, there were over three thousand people here, including outsiders. Preparing food for that many required quick action.
"There should still be food stockpiled in the warehouse."
"Yes, sir."
As a lord, stockpiling food for emergencies was common sense—even before he came to this world, such work had been done. Now was the time to use it to aid the townsfolk.
"Your concern for the townsfolk is so earnest, sir. I believe they will soon recover from their grief, and all of Talamian will pull through."
Sean noticed that Luke’s [Grieved!] status had suddenly shifted to [Excited!].
Huh?
Sometimes Sean had no idea what the man was so excited about. It was just him treating everyone to a meal—and a communal pot at that, likely not as good as what he usually ate. Was that really worth getting worked up over?!
As Luke left, Sean glanced toward Kerry.
Kerry happened to look back, and they nodded at each other. Just then, Lucille appeared beside him from somewhere.
"Hmm?"
"I’m worried I’ll get knocked out later," she said coldly.
"By the way, is your method even feasible?" Lucille still couldn’t figure out what purpose his approach served.
Kerry climbed a small hill formed by a snowdrift and addressed the crowd sitting gloomily on the ground.
"Everyone, quiet down and let an old man say a few words... My name is Kerry. As for my surname, it doesn’t matter. Like all of you, I was born in a remote northern mountain village, once dreaming of becoming a chronicler."
Kerry began loudly introducing his background, and it worked well.
Sean noticed that the silent people around him suddenly had [Curious!] appear above their heads.
Emotions were contagious. Seeing the tearful grief of the stream village’s loved ones, many felt the weight of the atmosphere, but Kerry’s speech managed to distract them.
"...I’ve seen the unity and kindness of Talamian’s townsfolk. It moves me deeply. Compared to anywhere else in the world, this place is more like heaven..."
Kerry truly had some oratory skill—no wonder he once dreamed of being a chronicler; he was indeed well-spoken.
He opened with a touching speech and finally steered the topic to himself, telling everyone about the snow giants.
Since the guards who went with them had seen it too, and some had returned injured, the story would inevitably spread privately. So Sean decided not to hold back, telling the townsfolk everything, taking all the credit and blaming the snow giants for the disaster.
"It’s our lord of Talamian, Lord Vigor. Under his leadership, we defeated the snow giants and averted all the misfortune that might have befallen us..." As Kerry pointed to Sean, everyone turned to look.
Sean responded with a smile, assuring them that as long as he was the town’s lord, he would rebuild the stream village and restore Talamian to its peaceful, tranquil state.
Sean wasn’t good at speeches, but a few simple promises still became the hope that lifted the townsfolk’s spirits.
Seizing the moment, Sean quickly pulled out a map to examine it closely...
This was the method he’d thought of, relying on his own abilities to pull it off.
When he looked at the map, it was like pressing ‘M’ in an RPG game from his past life—routes and directions appeared, along with one special feature: pedestrians.
Just like when forming a party in a game, opening the map showed dots representing teammates’ positions; his own location was a small dot.
But in the current situation, with thousands of townsfolk gathered here, on his small map, those dots merged into a solid surface.
Still, there were differences. For instance, townsfolk including Luke showed up as white, while Kerry and those with friendly ties were green. Those he hadn’t interacted with, purely neutral, appeared yellow.
These three colors dominated, almost exclusively.
After observing for days, Sean figured the colors were based on friendliness—the snow giants, with their aggressive intent, had shown up as red.
No such color appeared in the town now, so he needed to create a way to lower someone’s goodwill toward him!
If, as Lucille said, a wizard had brought the snow giants, then his public claim of killing those two creatures would surely stir some resentment.
Even a pet’s death would draw complaints, let alone using it to calm the people!
Any wizard would know snow giants didn’t cause avalanches—his claim was just a deception.
That should lower their goodwill.
And sure enough, a pink dot appeared on the map!
Here it comes.
"Lucille, follow me," Sean said quietly to the witch beside him.
Kerry and the others noticed him moving and quickly followed.
The townsfolk kept expressing their gratitude, and Sean smiled and responded to each one.
The dot hadn’t moved. Sean led the group forward...
Slowly closing in,
From the street to the alley, from the crowd to the outskirts.
On an open patch ahead stood several people he didn’t recognize, dressed like mercenary explorers.
"Oh? Are you visitors from outside the town?" He kept a smile on his face, pretending not to know.
There were seven people in front, but not all had markers—most were [Neutral] or [Friendly], except for a young man on the edge.
That was...
When he saw Sean approaching, he looked surprised, then smiled.
"Lord Vigor!"
His face was harmless, but above his head appeared [Contempt!] and [Irritated!] statuses.
[8000/8000 HP, 5000/5000 MP, Friendliness: Hostile].