Azra wondered how much reasoning he should give Lo to make sure he could get as much goodwill as possible from the village. Talking too much might make people suspicious. It might also lead to embarrassment if Azra's conjectures regarding the beasts in the forest and the wilderness turned out to be wrong.
Azra decided to keep it simple.
"I was thinking that you and I could begin restoring the village's livestock. You and Erlo can gather the beasts who survived and are currently in the forest. And I will purify them of the Rage Powder. Although the village is doing fine currently, farming will be easier with beasts to help, right?"
Lo nodded in understanding a few times before his eyes shone.
"That's a great idea! The grannies and grampas have been complaining about how hard their work has been for a while now."
Azra was pleased that Lo received his suggestion with such contagious enthusiasm. However, Mirabelle's addition further strengthened his confidence in being able to charm the villagers into believing in him.
"I agree. And I see no need to waste time. I'll talk to the village chief about repairing the stables and checking the old pastures."
"We also need a way to deal with the waste that comes out. Just dumping on the ground outside the village won't work if Lo finds several beasts."
Mirabelle nodded at Azra's suggestion before she began walking to the luxurious villa in the center of the village that was the village chief's house.
Lo wanted to head into the forest at once, but Azra convinced him to wait and prepare a few things first. Although, Lo would probably have to wait until dawn broke the following day since if he entered the forest now, it would be dark by the time he made it back.
There was also the issue of whether Lo should bring back the enraged beasts or if Azra should follow him into the forest. Azra preferred staying in the relative safety of the village, but if it would hasten the process and make the villagers trust him, he would have no choice but to tag along into the forest.
Lo knew that Azra considered himself physically weak and not very good at direct combat compared to other people, so he respected Azra's wishes to stay in the village despite thinking that Azra was probably only being humble.
Azra's stay in the village also gave Lo a sense of comfort since he would have to venture into the depths of the dangerous forest, and if something happened to him, he would leave his mother and little sister behind. However, with Azra there, he knew his family wouldn't be left alone. Lo didn't have any basis for his thoughts. He trusted Azra to take care of people who needed him, and that was it.
Azra and Lo began compiling a list of things Lo might need in order to bring back the enraged beasts to the village since they worked under the assumption that Azra wouldn't be following them into the forest.
Azra didn't have much experience in dealing with beasts, so he let Lo do most of the thinking as he sometimes added to Lo's ideas. Azra didn't say or do much, but he gave off the impression of being very helpful and knowledgeable, further enhancing Lo's mental image of him.
Lo also knew the resources they had access to and could use in their recapture of the beasts. Azra didn't know what kind of mages or people there were in the village and what everyone could do. However, Lo had spent his entire life in the village, and the village was small enough for most people to know each other's names. And after the war broke out and the kingdom forcefully enlisted a majority of the population into the army, everyone who remained became even closer.
After Azra and Lo came up with a strategy, Lo led Azra to a tiny cottage on the outer edge of the village. According to Lo, the person in the cottage could possibly turn Azra's entire idea into a walk in the park. The person might even be able to help them with the Rage Powder's waste problem.
The only problem was that the person in the cottage was the most reclusive individual in the village. They weren't even originally from the village.
Limn had just shown up one day and, after reaching an agreement with the village chief, hired a few of the villagers to build a cottage on the outskirts of the city. The agreement wasn't a secret, and it took less than a day for everyone in the village to know that the old man with white hair that covered his back and beard that reached his stomach wasn't a walking corpse despite his appearance. An alchemist had willingly settled in their village.
Since alchemists were rare and generally sought-after, people were curious about what he could do and pestered him into revealing his abilities. The old man didn't seem to mind and pridefully displayed his strength at the fourth level. However, since he had arrived before the war when the village still had several people at the sixth level, no one thought much about Limn's strength, and they were more interested in what he could produce.
Unfortunately, Limn wasn't as magnificent of an alchemist as the villagers dreamt of, and interest quickly cooled.
Since Limn almost always stayed in his cottage, the villagers would have forgotten about him if not for the occasional hair-growth potion that appeared in the market.
Things hadn't changed very much after the war.
However, with Azra's idea, Limn might have an opportunity to interact with the village.
Azra noticed that the cottage looked well taken care of as he, Lo, and Erlo walked on the stone path that led to the front door.
Lo walked up to the door and knocked.
"Mister Limn, are you there?"
Lo stepped back next to Azra and Erlo as he waited. He lived in a village populated by older people and was used to them taking their time to answer their doors.
However, Limn seemed to be taking a little too long to open the door. Considering his age, Lo was beginning to worry that Limn had passed away in his sleep. No one had seen him for a while, after all.
Lo was about to knock on the door again, a little harder this time. As an old man, maybe Limn didn't hear the first time. Lo really hoped that Limn was still alive, both because he was a part of the village and because he could potentially lend some incredible help to Azra's idea.
However, right as Lo knocked, the door swung open. Before Lo could react, his hand had already flown forward and made contact with the forehead of an old white-haired man with thick round glasses. Limn was short, to begin with, and his hunched back put his head so low that Lo had to look down to see what he knocked on.
"Oh! Mister Limn, you're alive! Wait, no. Sorry about hitting you."
Lo was a little flustered at the door's unexpected opening and accidentally knocking against Limn's forehead, but Azra's hand on his shoulder helped him calm down.
"Hello, Mister Limn."
Limn rubbed his forehead gently, but it didn't seem like he was upset or mad at Lo, and he pushed his glasses up his nose as he answered.
"Hey there, kiddo. You're the Thorn's boy, Mo, right? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"It's Lo. And I'm here because I wanted to ask for one, possibly two, favors."
"Come on in then. I just made a fresh pot of tea if you're interested."
Limn led Azra and Lo into the house while Erlo waited outside.