"Chief Hamsel!"
Cael called out as soon as he arrived back in Bahasturia.
A lot of people peeked at him, wondering how the naked burnt boy earned notes and bought expensive garb.
He has a wide foolish smile plastered on his lips. He looked dumb, waving his hands at them even when they looked at him weirdly.
Hamsel went out of her cabin, stared curiously at Cael, and went back inside.
The smile on Cael's lips froze, his face twitched as he watched the Chief shut the door unwelcoming.
Didn't she recognize me?
Cael quickly approached the cabin and knocked on the door lightly.
"Chief Hamsel? Miss Hamsel? This is Cael!" He leaned his ears on the door to hear any sort of response. But no one answered.
Was it because of his garb? Was she angry because he suddenly became a wealthy-looking aristocrat?
His hand trembled as he knocked loudly.
"I can explain this, Chief! This is not like what you are thinking!"
He swiftly took off his expensive cape, trousers, leggings, and tunic and threw it in front of the house. He rummaged through the pile of clothing, grabbed his straw bag, and put it on top as if it was icing.
He stepped back a bit to see if it would look good.
"Okay! Back to business," he murmured and knocked on the door again.
"Chief Hamsel!!!"
"Why are you naked again?!" Freta yelled in disgust and anger.
The image of a gentle lady disappeared and was replaced with a terrifying lioness.
Hamsel flung the door open only to see a butt-naked Cael with his clothes piled in front of her door.
"What's gotten in you again?" She scolded, picked up the clothes, and threw them on Cael's face.
Cael removed the leggings covering his pretty face and smiled silly.
"I thought… Maybe you forgot me, haha." He awkwardly chuckled and covered his little brother.
The first time they saw him, he was burnt and naked. The only white on him was his teeth and eyeballs.
And at that time, one of the Bahasturia villagers, Helen, yeeted him out of their sight.
He was at fault though. He was smiling widely, asked them questions but whenever they answered his questions, he would force them that they were all joking.
Was he dumb?
Yes, he was back then.
But who would have thought he would take off his clothing and flaunt his caramel butt naked body to them once again?
Who?!
"Why do you think we forgot you?" Freta angrily kicked Cael's butt which was then caressed immediately by the latter.
"C-Chief?" Cael pointed at Hamsel with his trembling fingers and pouted like a retarded duck.
Hamsel tapped Cael's pointer finger with the bloody knife she was holding.
He was one level above Cael, making them almost the same in height. But Hamsel was still a petite old woman in her 80's. An elder.
"Stop pointing at me," she admonished and put down her hand holding the knife.
"And what about me?"
'Why are all ladies so savage?!'
Cael screamed inwardly. His mind went blank for a second.
Chief Hamsel almost cut his hand!
The blood on the knife also added the bone-chilling threat he felt from Hamsel.
'I promise not to tease girls anymore. I don't want to die without figuring out how I died.'
His shaky eyes gaze at Hamsel, then at Freta. Their eyes turned something akin to his predators and he was the prey in his perspective.
He bit the leggings that were on his hand. His legs weakened but remained standing.
Hamsel's knife moved again. She pulled the leggings down to his legs— between his legs where his brother was.
"Get inside and wear your clothes. Let's talk after you change."
Seeing Cael went dumb and in a daze, they could only sigh ruefully. The boy was scared shit of death.
*
All of them sat in front of a square wooden table. They faced each other silently, waiting for one to start talking.
"What about me?"
Hamsel finally broke the silence. Her eyes darted on Cael who was still in a daze.
"Ah… A-ah? What again Chief?" Hearing Hamsel's voice, Cael subconsciously stuck both of his legs together. His hand was on his brother, covering it in case of emergency.
"Why are you pointing at me as the reason why you're "butt naked" earlier?"
"B-because you shut the door and… I thought you didn't recognize me."
Cael sighed in relief as he finally said what was on his mind. But his body still remembered the fear earlier.
"Oh, that?" Hamsel pondered for a while, then replied nonchalantly, "I recognize you. You should just tell me what's the matter rather than just "call" me and then smile retardedly."
Freta's loud, melodious laughter echoed in the four corners of the cabin. She was holding her stomach and breathed a large amount of air.
"Such a fool!" Freta commented while laughing.
"Fool? Then tell me, who's the first man to step on the moon?"
"Moon? No one could reach it. It's far. Stop kidding us." Freta calmed herself and mocked Cael's ignorance.
"It was Neil Armstrong, you fool!" Cael laughed victoriously and teased Freta with his swift victory.
"You dare disrespect your elder?"
Cael stopped laughing and sat silently on the chair.
Based on their reference, he looked around 26 years old. 26 looked like a 13 or 14-year-old teenager back on Earth.
Freta was 51 years old, looking like someone in her late 20s on Earth. Meanwhile, Hamsel was 80 years old, looking around her 40s.
A month ago, Freta left him alone outside the Thirst Forest because he disrespected Hamsel. Now that the two ladies who supported her after all these times were in front of him, he could only stay silent.
"What's your intention for calling me out there?" Hamsel voiced out again and offered Cael a cup of spring water.
Cael reached the cup and chugged the water down to his throat. The water soothes his nerves, calming him down.
"I bought a few boxes of writing tools and they will arrive soon. I named it to you, so they know where to drop it off."
"Parchments, feather quills, and inks?" Freta butted in, curiously. "Do you know how to wri— aw!"
Hamsel stepped on Freta's foot and glanced at her. Her eyes were telling, "Don't ask too many questions."
Hamsel knew what to ask and what not to. Those who were overly curious were now burnt into ashes, out of this world.
Now that Cael suddenly appeared out of nowhere, they could not carelessly speak their thoughts out.
Cael glanced at them, a bit suspicious but brushed the thought out of his mind.
"Is that all?" Hamsel smiled faintly.
"Yes. Please call me once it arrives."
Cael stood up and swept the dirt out of his clothes. He has a natural eloquence and aura akin to a royal member of a kingdom.
*
It was late afternoon. The star painted the sky an orange hue. The wind turned colder whenever the breeze blew.
The Bahasturia ladies gathered in a small cottage with logs as their chairs.
This was their routine every night to exchange necessary information they thought everyone must know.
Only the ladies did this routine. Before, any gender could attend. But since the number of male participants grew less each day, the others had no choice but to let them do it.
Moreover, most of the representatives of the kingdom-based Battle of Strengths were males and a few were females.
After strenuous activity, their energy was extremely depleted and too exhausted to attend a meeting. Thus, every household sent their representative for the meeting.
"Chief, did something happen to that kid again?" Helen asked after they concluded the meeting.
This time, it's time for random chatting.
Hamsel shook her head and denied, "No."
"Chief, are we in danger now?"
A side character raised her hand and asked curiously.
"I don't think we are."
"I'm worried we might have helped our doom."
"Don't think too much about it. If anything happens, I'll take care of it." Hamsel assured them with her firm voice.
Everyone trusted their Chief. Only if they would trust her would they be at peace.
They wrapped up and were about to go home when one of them paused in her tracks.
"I see a carriage going here!"
"Are you sure here?"
"Did you buy something, Chief?"
Hamsel remained silent and waited for the carriage to stop.
"Is Village Chief Hamsel of Bahasturia here?" The porter asked after he got down from his carriage.
"I am," Hamsel announced and stepped forward.
"Where should I put your goods, Chief?"
"Please follow me to my cabin."
The ladies watched their Chief walk away with the porter who brought the goods. They were curious to know what was inside but did not dare to ask.
They didn't want to find trouble.
"Here," Hamsel handed one blue note but immediately denied by the porter.
"I'm already paid, Chief." The porter's eyes darted away from the blue note and replied honestly. He received too much with only this transaction.
Supposedly, he would earn around 100 yellow notes. But this time, the vendor paid 20 blue notes which is equivalent to 20,000 yellow notes.
Hamsel watched the carriage disappear from her view before darting her eyes to the piled boxes in front of her door.
"A few boxes, huh." She grinned and stared in the direction where Cael was staying.
'What are you planning with all of this?