Berrin ignored the discussions of the other nobles inside the hut.
His gaze scanned the job board carefully, a thoughtful expression on his face.
If he wanted a chance to escape from Fruitvale Village, he had to maintain his strength. He couldn't afford to go hungry.
Over time, this once arrogant noble had changed considerably — he had learned to endure.
Finally, his eyes settled on the task of collecting saliva from the Gloom.
After living in the village for so long, he felt he had grown somewhat used to their terrible smell.
Also, this task could be completed quickly.
More importantly, these Gloom lived outside the village, and they were a key part of Fruitvale Village's defense system.
If he ever wanted to escape, he had to understand how these Gloom operated.
This was a perfect excuse to get close and observe them.
After accepting the task, he glanced at the nobles behind him, then pushed open the door and left.
After all this time together, he had lost hope in these spineless nobles.
He planned to escape on his own and had no intention of dragging these burdens with him.
If they could serve as a distraction or decoy, even better.
"I'll take the job collecting Gloom saliva," he said directly to Simon.
Simon, who had a strong impression of this particular noble, was a bit surprised that Berrin was the first to give in.
"Follow me," Simon nodded and led the way.
Berrin silently followed, heading with Simon out of the village and onto the snowy grasslands.
It was still winter, and light snow was falling from the sky.
Looking around, Berrin noticed some villagers already out clearing snow.
Simon brought Berrin to a village auntie in charge of collecting Gloom saliva and briefly explained the situation.
The woman gave Berrin a surprised look, then nodded and handed him a wooden stick and a bucket with small wooden vials.
She told him to go find the Gloom himself.
Berrin froze — he had to find the Gloom himself?
Why was it so hard to earn just two copper coins?
Silently, he took the stick and vials and began walking through the grasslands.
As he walked, he saw other villagers doing the same — armed with sticks and buckets, also searching for Gloom.
One of the villagers, seeing Berrin, didn't recognize him and immediately saw him as competition, quickening his pace.
Soon, the villager spotted a reddish-brown flower on the ground and rushed over.
He crouched beside it and waited.
Sensing someone nearby, the Gloom poked its head out. Seeing a villager, it drooled slightly and watched silently.
The villager grinned, used the stick to scrape the saliva from the corner of the flower's mouth, and collected it into a vial.
Once done, the Gloom ducked back into the ground to rest.
The villager let out a relieved breath, waved the bottle proudly, and fanned away the smell with his hand.
Just one Gloom had filled half the small wooden vial — two to three Glooms would be enough to fill one.
Finished with one, the villager glanced smugly at the dazed Berrin and hurried off to find more.
"Hey, you gonna move or not?"
"There are plenty of villagers doing this job. If you're too slow, you won't have much chance," Simon said, arms crossed.
Berrin nodded and headed in the opposite direction of the previous villager.
Before long, he spotted another reddish-brown flower in the grass and quickly approached.
But as he neared it, a wave of nauseating stench hit him.
Though he'd gotten used to the smell from a distance, being this close made him gag.
Clenching his teeth, he forced himself closer to the Gloom.
The bloom twitched, then slowly peeked out of the soil.
There, on the corner of its mouth, was a droplet of clear saliva — just what Berrin needed.
But the overwhelming stench, several times worse up close, hit him like a wall, stunning him on the spot.
The Gloom waited but got no response.
Confused, it glanced at Berrin, then trotted off — only to be harvested by another villager.
"Hey, are you alright?" Simon couldn't bear to watch anymore.
He walked over and gave Berrin a little nudge.
Suddenly, Berrin collapsed to the ground and began vomiting violently, his eyes dazed.
Simon scratched his head. "Maybe you should try a different job? Like clearing snow — it's tiring but only takes an hour."
Gasping for breath, Berrin sat up and shook his head.
He believed that if he just got used to it, he could manage.
Taking a deep breath, he resumed searching for Gloom.
He found another one shortly after, but this time the flower didn't respond.
And the smell was weak — only Gloom with a strong odor produced saliva.
After several attempts, Berrin began to understand the process.
With great effort, he finally managed to fill one vial.
Meanwhile, other villagers around him already had buckets filled with 20 or more vials.
These villagers, who made a living collecting Gloom saliva, could gather dozens of vials per day.
The gap between them and Berrin was enormous.
Slumped on the ground, Berrin panted heavily.
His stomach growled loudly, and he looked off into the distance.
The sky had already darkened.
"I guess lunch and dinner will be combined now," Simon muttered, amused by how clumsy this former noble was.
Having lost their noble status, these men were now worse off than commoners — even survival had become a challenge.
(End of Chapter)