"Welcome back!"
"Oh, it seems that village chief and brill are back."
"You have been away for some time, how was the town?"

I'm glad to be back but because of the news the village chief told me, Now I see every weakness of the village. Everywhere I look, I see points of attack, vulnerable defences and blindspots where enemies could sneak in.

My vision is automatically focusing on the worst parts of the village. I don't know if I should be happy or worried about this because while it does show how much in danger the village is, it also shows where I can help improve the defences of the village.

"Brill, please don't tell the others about the news yet. I want to be the one to bring up the news to them, and I will only announce it once I have a possible solution to the problem. I know that I am being selfish but please cooperate with me on this. It won't take a long time, I just need to sort out my thoughts for a bit."
"Don't worry, village chief. I will probably be busy finishing the commissions that I received. I need to clear up my schedule to help fortify our village after all."
"Thank you. Well then, I will part with you here. I'll be visiting your house before I make the announcements."

Now I am actually thankful for that disturbance. I need to be there once the villagers know of the news. I need to be there since I want to participate in planning for the defence of the village.

Actually, it would be great if it takes the village chief a bit more time to announce the results. Even though the bandits are creeping towards this way, No, it is exactly because they are slowly heading to this region that I want to collect more materials.

I'll even take the risk of using my reserves of gold coins. I can't travel to the central island to replenish those from the prince but the bandit tide will eventually subside.

There should be enough material in my storage to finish my commissions, make weapons and armour for the village, repair the village and build fortifications for the village. I don't need them to be expensive but they should be sturdy enough that it can last a bandit siege.

Ok, before anything else, I need to check my inventory.

While I was in the town, more specifically after I dropped off the village elder at the town, I went to a nearby town and managed to acquire some materials. I didn't manage to get a lot but it was better than nothing. At least it was better than nothing at that moment. However, now that I know about what is about to come, it is the same as a drop in a bucket.

For now, I can make some decent gear. I haven't really seen the smiths at the capital but from the quality of the wares of the workshops that I have seen on my way here to the village, I can confidently say that I am somewhere on the lower end of average. This is neither overestimating nor underestimating myself. My judgement should be off a bit because my experience isn't that much but it shouldn't deviate that much.

Of course I am above those so-called blacksmiths that pad their works with gaudy intrusive decorations, like those bakers that make extra thick fillings for their cakes to make up for the lack of taste of their bread.

There are those few that I am on the fence whether they are better or worse than me but the few masters that I saw are truly somewhere far above me. They make simple materials shine and glitter. In perspective from my works, their wooden swords can slice my iron swords. I don't know how they do it but I think it has something to do with their levels in smithing. I should eventually reach their level as long as I keep working.

Now with these current skills of mine, I have to compensate for that weakness by making my work thicker. Thicker walls, thicker armour, and thicker weapons. For now, I intend to finish all of my commissioned works and after that, I will make a complete set of armour for all of the defence force that decides to stay. After that, I will build a tall wall and some watch towers. That should be the basics of our defences. I will build upon that depending on what the village decides.

The only thing I could do now is to clear my schedule and stock up my supplies.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Brill? Are you busy? I am rounding everyone up for a village meeting!"
"I'll just finish this. I will come later."
"Alright, We will have the meeting at the village centre."
"I got it. I'll head there as soon as I finish this."

The day has finally come. The village chief took some time to finish polishing his plans. It took him three days but I am thankful that it took that much time. I finished most of my commissions. The only thing left is that mass order where I barely make money.

"Excuse me, Can I have your attention please. Everyone has arrived, right?"
"This should be everyone, father. Even those that have to leave the village a lot are here."
"Good! Thank you all for coming here. I gathered you all here for something that needs everyone's attention."

Hmm, everyone really is here. From the farmer family that are always working on the fields, to the carpenter family that are always out working at nearby villages. I even saw some people that I only saw once, and I only met them because the village chief helped me go around the village to greet everyone.

"Village chief, I still have a couple more jobs today. I know that you won't gather us all here if it isn't important. Did something happen?"
"Are the volcanoes erupting at the same time again?"
"Is there an attack by a large group of monsters?"

It seems that the village trusts the village chie-, wait a moment. Did he say ‘again’? Are volcanoes erupting at the same time common here?

"I know all of you are worried about possible dangers. And that is precisely why I gathered everyone here today. During my meeting at the jade town, the news about bandits heading in this region was shared by the mayor. We don't know how many they are, how strong they are, or what plans they have by going in our region. The main thing is those bandits can survive travelling from the dragon's road all the way up here in this region. The worst case scenario right now is that they are going to start their base in this region."
"Bandits?"
"It has been some time since village chief returned from the town. This means that village chief already has some kind of plan."

Hmm, I was expecting a bit more panic than that from them. Is it because this village has been through a lot of disasters? The village still calls this village the 'Molten Titanium village'. That just shows how much pride they have for these places.

"We now have few choices right now. The first thing is to evacuate the village and move into the town or city until the bandit tide settles down."
"There is no way we would leave."
"Yeah, what are the other choices, village chief? Of course we are going to fight for the village, right?"
"Of course, I have a different plan. I love this village as much, and maybe a bit more, like all of you. The other plan is to fortify our village to survive the bandit tide. I doubt we can withstand a full on raid by bandits but I plan to make it so that they will bleed hard when they try to attack us. The first thing to do is to fortify the village, like making defences and a wall. The next part is to strengthen the defence force, with the help of our newest resident, Brill the smith."

*Look* *Look* *Stare*

No, no, no, don't stare at me like that. The wall building will need to be done by the carpenter family. The farmer family needs to boost the village supply of food. Everyone needs to help, so don't look at me with those eyes.

"However, even if we already have a plan, I still want to evacuate some of the villagers. I want to evacuate the children and those who can't fight. There is no shame in evacuating. We need someone to help look after the younglings after all. Now, I want the head of each household and the leader of the defence force to come with me to discuss the details of the plan."

Finally, The time has come. I have a lot of ideas that have come to me these past few days. I don't know how they feel about an underground secret panic village but I will try really hard to sell them the idea.