Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!-Chapter 414 - Avoiding Trouble

My first 24 hours in Rigden Village was spent with me chilling around, shopping, meeting up with relevant people and doing my work honestly based on the things found in the task list that I got from the palace and based from my recent observations. I tried to minimize my contact with the villagers and I did not go out of my rented home when there are many people outside. It is not that I am suddenly feeling anti-social but I just want to lessen the chances of the matchmaking deities tripping me up again.

For lunch, I bought food from a diner in haste. This is the diner I saw during my shopping time yesterday morning. I brought a lot of packed food from them which delighted the owner. I can just keep them warm in my storage then eat all my meals inside my rented home from now on till I leave Rigden.

I don’t have any intention to eat in a crowded place or meet new people right now. Once the people walking outside are very few and far in between, I finally went out of my house. My next goal was the repair and improvement of the clinic. As a builder, I have to check on the status of the building first to see where I should start.

I visited for a short time since I only need to inspect the inside and the outside real quickly. I went inside the clinic for a bit and got a simple welcome from Helga. I looked up the ceiling and all around the interior. If I should describe it, the design was very simple and functional though right now it is obviously kind of rundown due to years of constant use.

I took note of the things that I needed to fix, replace or improve inside the clinic. I then went out of the clinic and walked around it to see the structure from the outside as well. I am making plans in my head while inspecting. I want to think of ways to complete the renovation more efficiently. As for the work time, I will do all the work late in the evening again once everyone is asleep.

I stayed in the house the whole afternoon after my barely 15-minute check at the clinic. As to why I was in a hurry to leave the premises, I can feel hungry eyes of men around me. They were treating me like a prized prey and I am quite sure that this is the chief’s fault for boasting about my work efficiency and my title to the whole village a.k.a. his clan.

I felt threatened for the first time so I hurried home after that to continue the planning there. What’s even more annoying is that there were also a few of these wolf-like who are lurking outside my house so that in case I come out, they can create an opportunity for themselves. Too bad for them but I do not plan to come out until after the curfew.

For safety reasons, since the village had no walls or permanent guards to patrol, it has been an agreement among all citizens that the curfew for everyone is at 9pm. This means that everybody should be inside their homes on or before that time comes. It does not matter if you do not plan to sleep just yet but you just can’t go out by that time.

Though this place doesn’t have nightly attractions and activities, they have a custom that they call "night visits" which is usually done by unmarried men to the women they fancy as a means to woo them. It happens between 8pm to 9pm.

During that full hour, the men visit and knock at the homes of the women that they have an interest in. Their goal is to convince the woman to let them stay until the start of the curfew since if that happens, it means that they are being allowed to staying for the night.

The chief said before that this only happens when there are non-residents or visitors in the village. It is their way of trying to convince the woman to stay and marry-in to their village. I guess since I am the only visitor, I will be the target of this custom tonight. I just got lucky since on the night I arrived in this village, I came in secretly and I only talked to one person and he was married.

When night came and the time reached the dreaded 8pm, someone really started knocking on the door. I was having thoughts of not opening the door but at the same time, I don’t want them to think that I was rude. The chief said that I did not have to prepare anything and the men will actually be the one preparing gifts when they visit.

I like gifts and freebies and I am quite curious as to how many visitors I will get tonight. Besides, it is not like they will be able to stay in my home for the night anyways. I will be leaving a quarter of an hour before 9pm since I have to work at the clinic for the renovations so nobody’s staying in my house for sure, not even me.

After persistently knocking for about a minute or two, I opened the door and was surprised as to who the person standing outside was. It was the only priest of this village, Clarence. I stared at him with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile on my face. His face turned red as he looked at me with begging eyes and said, "Can I come inside first before I answer any of your questions?"

I stared at him as I try to check how many pairs of eyes are watching our interaction. It was as if they were hoping I would let Clarence in so that they could also try their luck. Well, I find everything amusing anyways so let’s go with it.

I let Clarence in and offered him a seat. He presented his gifts of fresh fruits and vegetables that he said he grew at the backyard of the church. I gratefully accepted it and just stared at him. He eventually cracked and said, "I lied a bit. I was indeed sent to spread out the beliefs of the church here in Rigden but I was also kicked out because I did not want to look for a female partner even if I already came of age five years ago. My father threatened to disown me if I come back empty handed."

I chuckled and replied, "Are you trying to use emotional blackmail on me? I just want to tell you that these tactics don’t work on me."

Before Clarence could respond, a new knocking sound can be heard at my door again. It was exactly five minutes since I have let Clarence in. I guess it is like a sign of respect to rivals so they can at least introduce themselves, present their gifts and ask some questions to set expectations.

As I opened the door, I saw a young man who if I remember it right, works for the diner as one of the attendants. He presented some exquisite desserts that he made for me and he said that his name was Ben.

A few more folks knocked on my door in five minute intervals. The other gifts I received were healing herbs, high quality wood, incense, handmade accessories and bolts of cloth. In the order they arrived and based on the list of gifts, my visitors were Hao (works at an herb shop), Keith (son of the woodshop owner), Merve (works at the fragrance shop), Kiste (works as a woodcarver) and Thay (works as a tailor).

In a span of 35 minutes, the area of my rented home was suddenly used up by 7 men that each had their own beauty and charm. They were seating next to each other but not talking at all. They were simply trying their best to talk to me. I still offered snacks and refreshments to everyone that came to thank them for their efforts.

At exactly 8:40pm, I stood up and thanked everyone for their visit. Much to their suprise, I advised everybody to go home since the curfew will be in effects in a few minutes. I also told them that I will be leaving my home my 8:45pm to work on the clinic.

Everybody seemed to have been stunned at how direct I was in asking everybody to go home. I then proceeded with cleaning up the living room and at exactly 8:45pm, I opened the door to let everybody out. They all obediently went out of my house and lastly, I exited closed the door and started walking towards the area of the clinic.

As expected, a few of them bravely followed me as if not caring about the curfew. This gave courage to the others and all seven of them ended up following me to the clinic. I was like a mother duck with seven ducklings in tow. I could only sigh in helplessnes as to what these men are trying to do because of me.

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