When we told this to the old chief, a lot of the new incoming people started yelling at us. A few even threw their shoes out of hate.

“You can’t do this to us. We’ll die out there!”

“Have a heart!”

The old chief did all he could to try and keep things civil, but his people were desperate. They’d traveled for miles and had been denied by two other villages. Now they were low on supplies.

Some started shouting they weren’t leaving.

I took a step back and tried to drown out the noise with my thoughts. The wells our village built had a decent amount of water, but Craig mentioned a drought in recent years, so I bet most of it’s exhausted.

Wait does that mean we’re gonna run out of water soon, too?

But as I thought it over, water wouldn’t be a problem because of my spellcard. One look at our big lake and no one would believe clean water came from there, with how dark green it is. There was also a river not ten minutes from the village gate, so I could say we got it from there. Problem is, I saw that river and the water there was murky, too. But I’m the chief’s assistant now, so my word is law. Drink up and don’t ask where it came from!

Now as for food… yeah, I was stumped. Did nobody here know how to hunt? Why were they only relying on what they grew from the ground and stuff they bought from merchants? Then again the night I wandered outside the village I didn’t see a whole lot of animals. Actually I didn’t see any animals, just insects. But I didn’t look far. I bet further out, we’d find some prime meat.

That was all the thinking I could do before the crowd started getting more riled up. People were talking over each other now, trying to get a word in about how this place ain’t all that great; or how we all need to get off our high horse and let ‘em in and yadda yadda.

Elfindor started to stutter and his voice was shaky. “H-hey. You a-all need to calm—"

No one even looked in our direction. Trent cringed. All hope felt lost. I pulled Elfindor aside and whispered, “Get it together, man. Make them listen to you.”

“I—can’t. There’s so many.”

“Listen, you’re not Elfindor anymore. You’re the chief. You look and sound big. So step up and show these people who they need to respect.”

At that, Elfindor got a look of resolve in his eyes I could actually respect for once. He shouted to quiet down and the crowd listened. Even I found myself immediately looking his way in silence. The body he’d taken over just had that kind of voice. Back on Earth, he could’ve taken the lead role in an action movie and people would be calling him a badass.

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“Everyone. I am very sorry you came all this way. But there isn’t enough for anyone except strong individuals who would work to earn their keep. Many of you looked to this place with hope. But if we share what we have, there won’t be enough for anybody. Unless any of you have suggestions for getting food.”

There was silence.

I’ll speak up.

“Chief, why don’t we have ‘em hunt? We’re giving them a place to stay. Doesn’t mean we have to feed ‘em too.”

More shouting ensued.

“Are you crazy?! You want us to hunt monsters?”

“Do we look like adventurers to you?! Go away, kid! Adults are talking here!”

I thought the village guards were just making it up to scare me, but were there actually monsters in this world?

I almost wanted to take back my suggestion, but Elfindor was surprisingly cool about it, nodding silently. He then walked up to me and put his arm around me. “I’d like to introduce you all to my newest assistant, Alster. And I agree with his plan. You hunt meat and we take half. That’s how you’ll earn your keep. We’ll take a chance on you. You get two weeks here to build up your strength. Then take your strongest men and make a hunting party. If you fail, you’re out. That’s my condition, and I won’t budge.”

I was pleasantly surprised by Elfindor’s performance. I didn’t know he had it in him.

Nice job, nerd.

Despair filled some of their eyes, but others took it in stride, gleaming with the opportunity to make a name for themselves. Some ambitious young men quickly started getting everyone’s attention, saying they could do it.

Trent asked Elfindor if he was sure about this, to which Elfindor nodded. Trent felt that was the same as sending them to their deaths, but at least they’d have a chance.

A young man who led the enthusiasm in the hunting party idea raised a fist. “Maybe if we’re lucky, one of ‘em will drop a spellcard!”

There was some laughter and a small ease to the tension.

“Yeah, then the margrave would buy it and our problems would be over.”

“Hey, it could happen!”

Elfindor and I immediately looked at each other.

“Hey you,” I shouted. People turned to me. “What do you mean it will drop a spellcard?”

“You don’t know? It’s very rare, but some monsters drop spellcards. The stronger the monster, the better the card.”

“Is that so?” I said with a grin.

“Don’t even think about it, Alster,” Trent said with a hand on my shoulder. “I’ve already lost Ella. I’m not losing you, too.”

The old chief got everyone’s attention. He stepped forward, looked back for a moment at his people, and cleared his throat. “People of Little Rock. As the chief of Big Tree village, I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re grateful for this opportunity. We accept.”

* * *

After inspecting the villagers and confiscating anything that could be considered a weapon, the chief and his assistants moved to get the word out. He asked them to wait there while we broke the news to our folks. For the first few minutes, there was staunch opposition. People were opposed to sudden change. I guess that was true in any world.

But as we explained more, they warmed up to the chief’s decision and thought it was a fair compromise. Many were excited by the prospect of getting to eat meat and complimented the chief’s foresight.