Meanwhile, not far from the village chief's house. Just a hundred meters away, towards the west,
There's a wide and spacious lot filled with men currently working all around.
Lifting stones and pail dumping full of sand into the designated area where another group of men wait.
In their hands was a wooden tool in the shape of a hammer. This form is created as such to pound the land hard.
It's for hammering the loose soil into a good foundation for the building to be constructed soon.
"How about it? You should have calmed down by now, right?" Garu suddenly said to him.
Taking Juan a back. But then he noticed Garu had glanced around him and at the bustling work atmosphere right now.
"I see." Juan soon understands what he means.
"People's enthusiasm can affect one another. Is this what you mean, Village Chief?"
Garu nodded and laughed.
"You got it right. So don't worry and leave it to me! The Villagers Chief!"
"Well, seeing I see no worry in Village Chief's face. Looks like I really did make a fuss over it too much."
Juan sighed softly and said,.
"That's because you're new here after all. There are things you still don't know. Anyway, you will be living here with us for a long time; you'll know more with time."
With the village chief's affirmation and guarantee, Juan felt like a heavy load had just disappeared from his shoulder.
It made him relax and let his perception of his surroundings become much brighter.
"For now, just follow Menmo's order during work. I'll leave this to you two for a while."
After sending Juan to Menmo's side with a little bit of conversation, Garu soon left with some people somewhere.
As for Juan, he said nothing about the monster to others and just followed Menmo as he organized the construction.
There's a curiosity in Juan's heart, but he forcefully suppresses it to avoid any reckless behavior that might arise at some given event or time.
'I'm nothing here, so why should I even care? The most important thing is survival. If this village falls, I should prioritize running at all costs.'
As for where he will go after. That's for fate to decide where to send him next. Because, he might not even survive after that.
...
At the entrance of the village.
The two guards, who usually doze off most of the time, were currently wide awake and seriously looking at the far-off forest right now.
"...brother, go and call over the village chief. Something's not right in the forest."
Looking at the bright sun above in contrast to the shades and shadows seemingly dancing under the eaves of the peaceful forest.
There's no breeze passing by, and the grass on the land isn't moving or rustling with the wind sweeping around.
"Even the shades under the trees weren't that dark and eerie like usual. Inform cand call him immediately, Sandre!", the guard chilled up for some reason.
His expression slowly change from the initial calmnesd into a very grave one as he seems to have thought about something bad in his mind.
"Yes! Be careful, brother!"
Sandre immediately nodded and ran inside the village with a serious face. Sweat subconsciously trickles down his cheeks as he ran in confusion.
"What's going on, Sandre? Is it the call of nature?"
"Ha ha ha, Sandre, don't run too much under this time. You'll just sweat more faster."
"Isn't it Sandre? Where are you going to? Can you buy some vegetables from my stall today?"
However, Sandre just smiled at their call without slowing down.
For his brother older than him, who usually dozes off like him at work all the time, to say such an order with seriousness.
Even going as far as to call the village chief directly, which is very rare to happen.
"No doubt about it; this is a matter of importance. I need to hurry up."
The villagers who called on him on the way couldn't help but stop and look at each other confusedly.
"Is it really the call of nature?"
...
"Gather around and take arms. I got two reports signs of sightings of monsters just this lunchbreak. And so we're going to go and investigate first."
"But do be careful and don't let your guard down. We might enter into an inevitable battle. Do you understand?"
Garu stood before a group of veteran-looking men wearing leather armor and an iron plate on their chests.
They were equipped with bows, arrows, spears, and axes. They also had some unknown pouches hanging from their belts and bags.
"We understand!" The hunters said in chorus.
Soon, Garu led the hunting team out of the village.
The two brothers guarding the village entrance followed their backs with their eyes.
"Brother, I just heard from Village Chief just now. Signs of monsters have been sighted. I'm the second person to report to him."
Sandre couldn't help but speak up. His brother thought about it and nodded as he replied.
"That means someone has just confirmed our guesses about the forest strangeness. That's the only reason why the village chief and the hunters were mobilized immediately."
"This might be more dangerous than I've initially thought." Sandre's brother turned solemn as he continued.
...
The construction of the new building has attracted the attention of the many villagers in the vicinity.
Most of them are housewives who have nothing to do but gossip about what's interesting around them.
Some are children playing with the others to attract their parents attention, or they were just indeed fooling around.
Under the heat, the men were full of energy, despite the sweat dripping off their skin and drenching their clothes wet.
Adding to that are the woman's eyes and their children looking not far away from them. It suddenly made them feel a bit heroic.
Making them want to show off their muscles and manliness. So they took off their upper clothes and started the heavy work under the sun shirtless.
As for Juan and Menmo, they wore expressionless faces the whole time.
They had long since passed the age of showing their proud feathers. People gradually changed, and so did their mentality and thoughts.
Juan was not interested in showing off his meager flesh and meat.
As for Menmo, it can be seen from how he behaved. Carpentry is much more interesting in his life.
"I wonder what they're doing now," Juan muttered subconsciously while working.
He looked up and saw the blue sky with faint clouds drifting everywhere. Nobody knew what he was thinking, though.
"Juan, we are running out of water." A worker's voice made him turn over.
"Go and fetch some in the river. Take some people with you too." And Juan answered without much thought.
"Got it!"
He shook his head after that, and then he continued with his work without thinking about other things anymore.
The foundation has been dug, flattened, and filled with rocks, sand, gravel, and mortar like cement.
Although not perfect, it is already a good replacement for the cement Juan knew of.
"Let the foundation dry first till tomorrow. Build some fences first; don't let others mistakenly step on them," Menmo ordered after seeing the work done today.
"Yes." The men immediately moved and built a waist-high crude fence around the area.
"Juan, take the woodcutting tools from the smithy and give it to them. The logs need to be processed and turned into suitable pillars for tomorrow's use," Menmo calmly said.
Juan nodded upon hearing Menmo's instructions. And then he left with some people with him.
Time passes slowly from what he could tell, and yet soon it's already nearing sundown.
"They aren't back yet?" Jura asked casually after putting down a woodcutting tool in hand.
He sat down on the ground and leaned back against a big log behind him. Letting his two arms spread and his back support his whole upper body's relaxation,.
'I wanna sleep.'
"Not yet. But it shouldn't be too long since the sun is also about to set," Juan replied by his side, sitting his butt on top of the log while holding onto the records.
As for the Menmo, he was talking with the men not far away.
"What to do?" Jura asked suddenly. Unsure what to do next?
"Stay. I don't want to move a muscle right now." Juan didn't hide what he really thought right now because there's no need to.
"Indeed, let others cook the mutton first. We'll just wait and eat." Jura's eyes lit up at the thought of that.
Juan didn't react or answer; actually, he wasn't thinking about the mutton skewers tonight.
He was more concerned about the hunters and village chief's whereabouts and their current situation.
However, judging from how even his little brother wasn't the least bit affected, Juan reined in his worry much more calmly inside.
A few minutes later, Menmo came taking Juan's records before the former said.
"You two...go. Work for today is already done."
Juan and Jura nodded; they didn't say anything, nor did they move immediately away.
Instead, Menmo didn't bother, as he left to return to his house. His and the other men's backs were clearly reflected in Juan and Jura's eyes.
"..."
"Let's return first; we can't eat without a bowl after all." Jura left after saying that jokingly to Juan.