The nervousness that had plagued the old man had been intensified after the things that he had just said. There was a side of him that actually did not want to partake in this kind of situation. But the situation forced him to do this. There was no other way besides bracing himself and facing the hurdle in front of him.

The fear that he had been expecting was not coming. In fact, there was not even a frown on the face of the man in front of him. Alfred still had a smile written on his face, as if he did not even think of the old man's suggestion as an offense.

“Mr. Farmem, you know that we did this for all of us. Me and my men do what we can to maintain order and establish a good trade for not only us, but also for the village also. There needs to be costs and such to keep the maintenance balanced and ordered. So naturally, monetary obligations could not be avoided.” Alfred said while still having a smile plastered on his face. 

He put his hands behind his back which gave him the appearance of a person who had wisdom and good education. Even his mannerism and the way he talked could give it away. At least for first impression, people who just met him, and people that never saw the bigger world. Who could judge a person totally just by the way one talks and behaves?

The old man called Farmem sighed when he heard this. He was the de facto head of the village that he had been staying at. There was no power or authority that he could employ from the small title that had been given to him by the neighborhood alone. 

He hoped that he could at least get some leverage when he came to meet Alvred. The villagers had placed their trust in the head village to convey their problems so that Alfred and his men could do something about it and help them a little.

But hearing from the tone of the man in front of him, it seemed that the chance was not only low, but also nonexistent. From the looks of it, he would be going home and tell the people that he had failed his little mission to decrease the taxes being placed upon them by Alfred and his men.

He felt that all of his feelings of nervousness were for nothing. He had braced himself and expected that what he wanted might not be given to him. He knew that but he still felt the bitterness that his heart felt right now. As if all of his struggles and tries were all in vain.

“So that’s why, I would like to apologize for the inconveniences that you and the others had been experiencing. Because to achieve something better, we need to make some sacrifices, no?” Alfred said while patting the old man’s shoulder. 

Hearing what Alfred said, Farmem felt that his heart ached for some reason. He did not know why, but it seemed that his heart was clenched hard. Was it from the sad feeling? Was it from hopelessness? Or was it because of, anger? 

And what was the reason of that feeling? To whom that feeling was honestly be subjected to?

He felt Alfred’s hand placed on his shoulder. And from that point alone, he seemed to know what was the reason behind all of this. But realizing that reality, he could only clench his fists hard. 

It seemed that hopelessness was the real emotion that he felt right now.

“That’s why I could propose some negotiation with you, village head.” Alfred let go of his hand from Farmem’s shoulder and looked at his eyes directly. HIs smile was there, but it seemed there was something behind it. Something that felt enticing yet smelled dangerous, from the way the momentum had been brought out up till now.

Farmem gulped some saliva when he realized that. He braced himself and asked the question that had been lingering inside of his heart after he heard what Alvred had said. 

“What is it that you want?” Farmem said with a different tone. He himself was a bit surprised when he said that, but he quickly take a hold of himself together. Alvred took a note of Farmem’s quiet different attitude and look away from Farmem’s eyes, looking at the outside window by glancing at the skies that still had the blue color on it, but was about to get brown by a sliver line. 

Farmem thought that he needed to do some deeds to be able to get what he wanted. He did not know why, but he had a bad feeling about this. Was he going to sacrifice to get something in return? Or were the other villagers the one who needed to sacrifice themselves so that they could get some leverage?

It might sound like an overthinking or exaggerated manner, but that was what he really thought. One needed to prepare for the worse so that one would not be disappointed when a bad thing happened to him, he thought. And it was not wrong for him to make assumptions like that. 

That was why he needed to know just what kind of dealing that they needed to pass so that they could get the leverage that the villagers needed. He clenched his fists harder than before, trying to brace himself for what was to come.

A man arrived by slamming the door hard from the main door of the room, just when Alvred was about to answer Farmem’s question. The man looked shocked and disheveled, with an obvious hint of urgency drawn on his face. He was the same man that came out from the meeting first.

“There is a bad news, Boss!” The man said loudly and clearly. He did not even took a glance at the old man who was beside Alfred and stride toward Alvred as if he could not even waste a second.

Alvred had been narrowing his eyes ever since he heard a slam that came from the door. And seeing that it was this man that had come into the room, especially with a bad news at that, his frown could not help but became narrower and sharper. 

Farmem realized what was going on and knew his place that this was not something he could be privy about. So without anyone even gesturing to himself, he excused himself and left the room abruptly. 

The man that just came had a black hair that had a rough treatment. Even his appearance looked like he was some kind of a delinquent. He was sweating a lot which had been dropping onto the ground, which was either from how he had been running fastly to this place ever since he got he news, or it was just that he had been anxious from the news itself.

“So what is it that could make you like this, Arin? Surely it must be something very serious that could even make you look as if you just saw a ghost or two.” Alvred saw that Farmem had left the room just now, and proceeded to walk toward the nearest chair and sat down. He sighed lightly, seemed as if he had just lost an opportunity.

Arin could not be bothered with Alvred’s behviour and proceeded to explain things further. The grim expressioon that he had could not be more clearer than ever, one could take a glance at his face and could easily interfere that something went wrong. And Alfred was one such person that had this kind of premonition too when he saw Arin’s face.

But he thought that it might not be worse than what Arin was going to say, he thought. Sometimes, Arin played some misgiving and such, maybe he also tried to prank him. Did he grow weak these past few days that his authority needed to be affirmed again so that they know when to joke or not? 

He shook his head when he had that kind of thought. It seemed that some plan needed to be adjusted before they march toward the plan that they had just concluded. They could not afford to make a stupid mistake after all, and he as the leader needed to control it from going awry. 

“The Wheatfield Village had been occupied by someone.”