Graystone Village
After reincarnating into this world, Andrew had lived in Graystone Village for 12 years.
Setting aside Earth, this place could almost be considered his second home.
But Andrew had no emotional attachment to this village.
"Yeah, they say poor lands breed bad people."
As for the people of this era, Andrew didn't feel the need to say much.
Feudal rule and constant warfare had reduced the moral bar to the lowest possible point.
Strangers were always met with hostility.
Bullying outsiders had become the norm, and it wasn't uncommon to just steal their stuff or even kill them.
Graystone Village was especially bad, and Andrew was one of the victims.
Andrew's mother and grandfather had moved to Graystone before he was born.
He wasn't angry about being hated by the villagers; after all, it's the same wherever you go.
The villagers didn't know what his family had done before they moved here.
If they were bandits, the whole village could be in trouble, so it was understandable to be cautious.
It was only after years of proving their "sincerity" that they would finally be accepted.
But that process had its limits.
Even after 12 years of living here, they were still treated as outsiders.
His house was on the outskirts, in the woods.
The reason? They saw Andrew's family as cheap labor.
For the past 15 years, Andrew's grandfather had sold animal meat and leather to the villagers at ridiculously low prices to try to make a good impression.
He'd also helped fend off beast attacks without asking for anything in return.
But what did they get in return? A full 12 years of labor exploitation.
"Ungrateful jerks."
Andrew cursed as he scanned the village.
It was early morning, and the villagers were starting to get up.
Then, a middle-aged man suddenly jumped out from the side.
"Andrew? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Uncle Wylor."
Seeing the man's face, Andrew lowered his head.
Wylor was the village's woodcutter and often went into the forest where Andrew's family lived. They were familiar with each other.
But that didn't mean they were on good terms.
Most of the good wood was in areas inhabited by beasts and magical creatures.
Wylor wasn't brave enough to go alone, so he often asked Andrew and his grandfather to guide him and protect him.
Of course, he never paid for it.
At first, when Andrew's grandfather was alive, Wylor would bring over some simple furniture as a form of thanks.
But after his grandfather died, Wylor couldn't even be bothered to do that.
Whenever Wylor came around, Andrew had to stop what he was doing to "help."
He had a very clear memory of this man.
"Ah, I bagged some game this morning. Thought I'd see if anyone wanted it in exchange for some money."
Andrew tried to keep his face neutral, suppressing the rising anger in his chest.
The most important thing now was to learn what was going on through this conversation.
"Oh, really?"
Wylor's eyes lit up when he heard there was game for sale. His mouth began to water instinctively.
In a small village like this, meat was a rare treat, especially if it wasn't a festival or holiday.
But thanks to Andrew's family, they were able to buy meat at ridiculously low prices.
Some villagers even kept salted meat at home.
"What did you catch? Let me see."
"It's just a pigeon."
Seeing the plump pigeon, Wylor almost drooled, already imagining how he would cook it.
"Just in time, sell it to me!"
"How much?"
"Well..."
When Wylor heard the price Andrew mentioned, he stammered, but his eyes never stopped eyeing the pigeon, desperately searching for any flaw to lower the price.
Unfortunately, the pigeon looked perfect, and he couldn't find a single thing wrong with it. Wylor's eyes were full of disappointment.
"Ugh, you're still just a kid, so how about 7 copper coins? I won't pay more to anyone else."
"Seven copper coins?"
Upon hearing Wylor's "generosity," Andrew couldn't help but flash a bright smile.
If he sold the pigeon at the market, it would easily fetch at least 15 copper coins.
But Wylor was offering less than half that, acting as though he were doing Andrew a favor.
Andrew was left speechless at how shameless this man was.
"Hey, what's going on here so early?"
"Ah, the village chief."
At that moment, an elderly man walked up, and Wylor's face immediately lit up with excitement.
But Andrew's expression immediately twisted. His smile faltered, and his lips twitched several times before he managed to calm himself.
The old man in front of him was a piece of garbage.
On the surface, he looked like a kindly old grandfather, but inside, he was a greedy scoundrel.
In order to keep Andrew's family as cheap labor, this village had pulled all kinds of dirty tricks.
Taking a deep breath, Andrew suppressed the urge to punch the man and said calmly,
"Good morning, Village Chief."
"Mm-hmm, what were you two talking about just now?"
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to buy the pigeon he's holding. It's been a while since I had meat."
Wylor grinned, pointing at the pigeon Andrew held.
"Oh? A pigeon? How much are you offering?"
"We agreed on seven copper coins."
Even though Andrew hadn't agreed yet, Wylor had already made it clear that he had decided.
When the village chief heard Wylor was only offering seven copper coins, his eyes nearly popped out.
"Seven copper coins! Are you out of your mind?"
"Ah? What's wrong with that?"
"Of course, it's wrong!"
Seeing the village chief getting worked up, Wylor immediately understood what he needed to do.
Pointing at the pigeon, the village chief said,
"Are you getting dumber? This pigeon is so skinny, with barely any feathers! And you're offering seven copper coins?! That's way too much!"
Andrew couldn't hold back his anger. Was the village chief trying to lower the price even more?
The old man was blatantly lying, calling a plump pigeon "skinny."
The village chief rubbed his beard, pretending to ponder for a moment.
"I think five copper coins is a fair price."
"Ah, I see. What do you think, Andrew?"
Both of their gazes fell on Andrew.
Though the words were polite, it was clear they were threatening him, knowing he was young and weak.
If he dared to resist, there would be consequences.
Andrew had learned this lesson the hard way in the past.
With a smile, he immediately replied,
"Since the village chief said so, I'll sell it at that price."
"Hahaha! A young man should be more honest! Don't do this next time."
Wylor patted Andrew on the back, laughing heartily.
Looking at the smug expressions of Wylor and the village chief, Andrew couldn't help but sigh.
"Thanks for reminding me of these miserable things."
Before his rebirth, Andrew had wanted to leave this village as soon as possible.
But then, he was too busy with family matters to deal with it. Eventually, he completely forgot about it.
Now, after being reborn, facing this situation again, Andrew had a change of heart.
They say, "Spare the rod and spoil the child."
But he realized that he wouldn't be able to let go without seeing these trashy people beg for mercy.