They arrived at the stream. Ragnar stepped onto the muddy bank and observed the state of the water.
The water was dull brown and flowed slowly through a narrow channel about three feet wide. Silt clouded the shallow bed, and broken sticks drifted on the surface. Sparse grass grew at the edge, and a faint, musty smell hung in the air.
Simply staring at the dirty source of water and inhaling its stench irritated Ragnar.
"And people drink this water and even use it for cooking!"
Ragnar began to pity the people even more.
"I will call for a meeting as soon as possible, I can’t accept this," Ragnar concluded with a resolute voice.
"Big brother Ragnar, did you say something?" Robinson looked up at Ragnar and asked.
Because Ragnar was too concerned, he forgot that Robinson was still with him and began to speak his mind out loud.
"I was just humming a song," he lied, and the little kid instantly believed him.
Ragnar returned his attention to the dirty water and resolved to begin the first phase of his plan.
Ragnar and Robinson were still standing at the bank of the dirty stream when they heard footsteps coming from the other side of the stream.
Ragnar held Robinson and both of them hid behind a big tree not so far away from them. Ragnar warned Robinson not to speak and even covered his ears. He pretended he was playing a game to see how quiet he was, and this made Robinson agree at once.
Moments later, a group of three middle-aged women arrived from the other side, each of them had leather water skin slung over their shoulders and they were discussing pretty loudly.
"Those troublesome women from the tenth Hamlet have left already," one of them said with a hint of disgust in her voice.
The other two women beside her scoffed, and one of them replied, "They always think they are superior to everyone, including their young leader. What was his name again?"
"Ragnar," the first speaker answered. "I heard he rejected the peaceful offer of the Iron Hand gang and was beaten to death."
"I heard that as well. The Iron Hand gang has been the one protecting our lands from the hands of those ugly goblins and wandering bandits, and yet those troublesome people dare to reject its rule."
"If only he wasn’t a fool and accepted their rules, he would’ve been alive by now. Who knows, he might have been recruited into the gang," the third woman responded.
"Yeah, three nights ago, one of the surrounding Hamlets was attacked by bandits, but the Iron Hand gang single-handedly punished them and sent them away."
"The Iron Hand gang members are really strong. If they show interest in my daughter, I would willingly give her out,"
"I heard their leader is very young and handsome and is also a talented mage."
"If I was in my twenties, I wouldn’t mind being the concubine of such a talented and handsome young man."
"My husband wasn’t that talented and handsome in his youth."
The women laughed and discussed as they dipped their water skin in the stream and filled it up with water.
They slung it over their shoulders after they were done and left whilst discussing the people of the tenth territory.
Ragnar felt utterly disgusted at their stinky mentality—the fact that they hated the original Ragnar for simply standing up for his people was enough proof of their insufficient brain cells.
Also, when he heard them speaking about giving their bodies and that of their daughters to the gang, he confirmed that they were senseless.
Luckily, he had covered Robinson’s ears from listening to those bullshits.
After confirming that they had left, he grabbed Robinson and both of them started strolling back home.
On their way back, he resurfaced all the information he had obtained from the gossiping women.
Thankfully, he was able to obtain something useful from their discussions, including the name of the gang and the news of bandits attacking.
Although he already heard it from Merlina that the leader of the gang was a mage, the words of the women confirmed it.
"I have to get stronger as soon as possible before a guy like that arrive at the settlement to cause trouble," Ragnar muttered. "I hope the skill from the skill scrolls improves my overall combat strength, if I’m lucky, I might even unlock a magic-related skill."
Ragnar’s mind began to implement several steps in place to combat the gang.
As a gamer, Ragnar tagged the gang as a monster horde and the leader as a monster boss, and his mind processed methods to deal with them properly.
By the time Ragnar and the playful kid arrived at the settlement, it was already afternoon, and the beam of the sun produced more heat.
Ragnar escorted Robinson back home.
There he met his father, who had returned home to take lunch. He recalled seeing him at the farm earlier, he was even the same farmer who offered to give him watermelon.
Robinson’s parents invited Ragnar to come eat with them, but he politely rejected and bade them farewell.
"He acts more matured now," Robinson’s mother said.
"Yeah, he even came to the farm today and greeted everyone," her husband replied.
"It seems the ancestors has really sent him to improve our lives," she replied.
Meanwhile, Ragnar strolled back to his room to rest for the day and also observe his rewards properly.
"Onyx, is it possible for others to use the rewards from sacrifice? Like the skill scroll," Ragnar asked while relaxing on his bed.
|| Positive: anyone can use items from the system as long as they are from your territory and accepts your rulership. For the skill scroll, as long as it is torn by them, the skill in it would become theirs automatically. ||
"That is great," Ragnar smiled. "Merlina and Noah are already good allies, Noah is smart, and Merlina is charismatic and strong-willed. If they obtain certain skill, they would become even more valuable."
Since he might be going up against a gang in the future, he decided to not only raise his combat power but that of others around him.
At the same time, he would focus on his own combat power.