Chapter 41: Choosing a Delivery Helper
When Chu Feng returned to Ilya’s place, he was still busy organizing supplies.
Seeing him, Ilya was a little surprised. “You’re back already?”
“I figured it’d be better to return early. If I waited too long, I might not be able to make it back.”
Ilya frowned slightly. “Did something happen?”
“There was a blond guy at Duvean’s place.”
Ilya thought for a moment. “Sterling? He looks a bit fierce, but he’s actually a good guy.”
Chu Feng gave a sheepish smile. “You sure he’s a good guy?”
Ilya nodded. “He’s been helping Duvean a lot.”
Chu Feng: That doesn’t prove he’s a good guy—just that he might have feelings for Duvean.
“You planning to deliver that rice to the castle site?” Ilya asked.
Chu Feng nodded. “Yes.”
He sighed inwardly: The road to the construction base was already tough, and now I need to haul rice over there? Not easy at all. He figured he should probably get a handcart.
Chu Feng thought to himself that the teleportation tunnel seemed to be widening. Given time, maybe even bringing over a tricycle wouldn’t be impossible.
Ilya looked at him and asked, “Are you worried about moving all the rice?”
Chu Feng gave an awkward smile. “Yeah.”
Ilya smiled. “Actually, you don’t need to do everything yourself. While you were gone, a lot of people came asking if there was anything they could help with. There are plenty who can help deliver things.”
Chu Feng: …When did I become this popular? This is actually kind of touching.
“So who do you think I should ask first?” He didn’t know the villagers well or what they were capable of.
“You can try Shaya. He’s been here a few times already.”
Chu Feng: Shaya… That name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.
“You know Shaya?” Ilya asked, watching his expression.
Chu Feng shook his head. “No, I don’t.”
“Shaya’s a half-beastman from the Violent Bear Tribe. Very strong.”
Violent Bear Tribe? Chu Feng rolled his eyes and suddenly remembered who that was—the big dumb brute that Gray said got tricked by humans into doing manual labor. He’d even tried to sneakily spy on Chu Feng before.
According to Gray, plenty of people had been secretly watching Chu Feng, but they were better at hiding—Shaya was the only one he’d managed to spot. That big bear really didn’t seem very bright. No wonder he got tricked.
Ilya noticed the change in Chu Feng’s expression and asked suspiciously, “Have you heard of Shaya?”
“I may have heard a bit…” Gray had mentioned that guy didn’t like humans and said he could punch Chu Feng into oblivion.
“Would he really be willing?” Gray had said the guy swore he’d drive him out of the village.
Ilya nodded. “He would. But he wants candy as payment.”
Chu Feng nodded and said with meaning, “Ohh, candy, huh?”
Ilya noticed something odd in his tone. “Is there a problem?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Nope. Not at all.”
So what if that dumb bear is strong? He still can’t resist candy. The thought wasn’t very kind, but it felt oddly satisfying. He wasn’t even sure why.
Ilya glanced at him and said, “While you were gone, Shaya came by every night. I ended up giving him some of the candy you left—it’s sort of an advance payment.”
Chu Feng waved it off. “I told you, you could handle those things however you liked. If it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Ilya nodded. “Alright.”
“How much of that box of candy do we have left?”
Ilya shook his head. “Not much.”
He looked a little embarrassed. He’d been trying to ration it carefully, but so many people came asking for candy that it was impossible. While Chu Feng had been around, everyone probably held back to save face, but the moment he left, their true colors came out.
During his absence, a bunch of people had stopped by and even rummaged through his stuff. Ilya could barely fend off the villagers’ overwhelming enthusiasm on his own.
He could understand their behavior, though. The things Chu Feng brought were simply too tempting.
It seemed like everyone in the village envied him. If Chu Feng had been brought here by someone else, he probably would’ve envied that person too.
“Not much left?” Chu Feng asked, puzzled.
Ilya looked embarrassed. “Sorry. There’s just a little bit left now.”
“No worries, I just wasn’t expecting it.” Last time Chu Feng left, there had still been quite a bit of candy. He’d thought bringing too much over would be pointless since he couldn’t eat it all, so he didn’t bring more. Now he was thinking: next time, definitely bring more candy!
“Are we heading to the castle construction site now?” Ilya asked.
Chu Feng shook his head. “No rush. Let’s visit the shaman first. That medicine last time worked pretty well.”
If possible, he wanted to drink another dose. This time, he’d bought a strength-testing machine back home, so every time he returned, he could check whether his strength had truly increased.
Ilya nodded. “Alright, let’s go.”
