The Red Lands

With everyone around the fire, Chu got a fresh rock bread and started slicing it. He then took a small wooden box out of a bag. Prising open the sealable cover with the blade of his knife, he unfurled the waxy parchment paper to reveal the yellow color of salted butter. Pasting the precious contents sparingly onto the slices of bread, he held them over the fire to melt.

The drool leaking out of his companions' mouths flowed as they stared hungrily at him.

With the aroma of melted butter barely seeping into the air, he removed the toast and shared it around. The shacks in the area were spaced fairly spaced apart, probably for their owners to reduce social interactions. This worked in his favor since butter ranked as a precious commodity. The sandwich-sized container he opened cost a whopping forty copper coins.

"Eat up, and then we'll talk. Ming, don't stuff yourself. Our body has to become accustomed to solid meals gradually."

Chu knocked Ming, who focused on guzzling down the tasty meal. Out of the way knowledge from his old world spoke of reconditioning the body after situations of prolonged hunger. Steaming bowls of water, mixed with a little salt, another expensive commodity, sat before them all. The situation might have improved, but their location didn't.

He had already experienced a bellyache since his transmigration, and the outdoor experience proved unforgettable.

During his rest today, he contemplated over Lucy's words and figured he had much to do before venturing out into the woods. Holding the meeting, he sought to reinforce this body's previous memories and gain some further insights into his neighbourhood.

The pressing concern he kept hearing from the lips of adventurers, merchants, and villagers when hanging about the well, centered around nature.

"How bad is winter in the slums?"

After everyone had their fill, Chu tossed out the question.

All eyes fell on Ming since he had first-hand experience.

"Winter... the only way to describe it is terrible. No, the word TERROR is what I mean."

Ming shared his experience of the previous winter with them. Trouble began when the snow started to fall. The cold invaded the flimsy-built shacks, causing the unprepared to freeze to death. Even with a fire burning, keeping warm at night proved difficult.

The biting cold instigated a wave of rampant stealing. Precious rags used as bedding changed hands as owners ventured out to return to sleep on the bare, cold dirt.

"But the real horror was yet to come."

When the snow piled high enough to block the trails leading into the forest, the woodsmen stopped for the winter. Free firewood became scarce as nobody risked venturing into the forest. Maybe in the village, and among a few, they shared, but those in the slums outside the walls found themselves hard-pressed.

A neighbour might decide to share their hut in exchange for tearing down theirs. Or, the unfortunate might just end up returning to an empty space. Temporary and fragile alliances sprang up during winter.

In the height of this mess, the wolves came.

Larger wolf packs roamed outside the forest during the height of winter. Late at night, they stalked and raided the village. With no defensive wall, they aimed for the outlying huts, ambushing the owners and dragging them away before the alarm sounded for the village garrison. If hungry enough, they raided across the slums, forcing the inhabitants to flee toward the village gates.

Wolf packs were brazen enough to wontonly attack the outlying farms, and even venture further into the grasslands as far as the town, according to rumors. Many farmers complained during spring about the havoc they caused to their livestock.

Then, scary tales circulated the slums and spread around the village. During snowstorms and freezing nights, folks disappeared, dragged away without a trace. The spooky thing about it was that it occurred not only within the slums, but also inside the village and outlying farms. A rumor of where the garrison patrol found a farm devoid of the entire family and its livestock occurred.

Lucy shifted while nodding,

"I heard about that one. People said the guards only saw blood trails on the snow. Even the hunters were scared to track the trails. An old adventurer back then at the Post mentioned that the trail was made to follow or something. His group high-tailed it out of the village this spring."

Chu glanced at Lucy as Ming continued,

"Old man Rob said he saw it. It was a story of a demon beast that walked on two feet. He died the next week from the cold."

Chu shook his head while listening and selecting the vital information he needed.

As for this piece of urban legend that sparked a chatter among the girls, he boiled it down to a man delirious from a fever and spouting nonsense.

Village people were, as a rule, the most superstitious, no matter the world. An isolated village bordering a forest inhabited by lurking beasts would be rife with spooky tales.

Anyway, the previous memories of this body proved useless in terms of knowledge. Right now, he was trying to get actual facts.

"What about food?"

"We stored up grains and begged in the village when it ran out. Sometimes we scavenged the shacks of those who died to find firewood and food. It all boils down to how long you can starve and hold out."

Chu listened until Ming was finished.

"Don't the Village Chief provide any assistance with food to us out here? What about taking in the slum residents for the winter inside the walls and then letting them out in the Spring?"

Ming blinked and surveyed him up and down,

"You do know the reason we're all out here, right? If you can't contribute to taxes, work, or are deemed expendable or guilty, you are sent here. All it takes is one bad nut to keep us all out here."

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It was the case of survival of the fittest. This place was a brutal zone for snuffing out the weak. If it wasn't for him risking his life, he would be on a slow path to starvation. It could be even worse given his low social standing in the slums.

The ladder rungs of society were definitely too far apart for the lower-standing peasantry. The quotes of living to survive and surviving to live were made for them. It was a one-way, slow spiral down. Only in death did salvation come.

The next level on the ladder is the one where the scales balance, and you are making just enough to feed yourself. Imagine that to reach this level from the bottom meant risking one's life. You either sell yourself or engage in a high-risk venture to escape. Hunting, robbing, and becoming a lady of the night were some of the choices.

A slip from this rung sent you down to hell again.

Chu slowly understood his predicament. He didn't hesitate to curse the previous body's owner for his total lack of foresight and ignorance.

He rounded up the facts from the information gathered and stated them to the others.

"So what you say is that we need security from the cold, people, wolves, and so-called 'demon beast'. None of which can be found in the slums."

Ming nodded his head in affirmation.

"Yes, but I forgot to mention another thing. Sometimes, the men in the village would come into the slums and abduct the girls. Sometimes they might return, but most of the times they disappeared after winter."

The young girls, scared by the previous spooky tales, shivered and shifted nervously. Lucy remained stoic and proceeded to pat and share comforting words. To them, they probably felt scared about being abducted and separated, but Lucy understood the meaning behind Ming's words.

A girl with no power behind her in this world was like a lone hen tossed in a pen of roosters. Sooner or later....well, unfortunately, that was how it was.

Chu weighed his options during the silence.

If he remained in the slums, there was a high probability of any or all of the mentioned disasters happening. If he went into the village and returned home, he might avoid these problems. The setback to this would be that he couldn't do what he wanted. He would also lose out on the chance to make money from killing some wolves.

What he wanted was a place that provided safety yet still allowed him the benefit of acting freely. Like a newborn calf in front of the tiger, Chu was as ignorant of the dangers of the forest. Even though the beasts here were bigger than on Earth, his head was still swollen from the previous battles.

He had not experienced the true fear of the dreadful forest that kept seasoned hunters at bay..

Adventurers and Hunters knew that wolves were not the only creatures roaming a winter forest.

"Are there abandoned farm houses?"

"Huh? You want to start farming Chu? Pretty hard during winter."

"No, what I want is a place for us to shelter during the winter, BUT still close to the village and forest."

"But with what Ming just said, wouldn't that be dangerous?"

He looked at Lucy while answering her question,

"Very dangerous, but I prefer to deal with wild beasts than people. Being isolated from them is one problem gone. If we stock up on food, we can survive on our own."

Chu was confident in this matter.

After all, it was like babysitting a bunch of kids. This was made easy since they all listened to him anyway. Adults would blatantly override his leadership. Bigger kids would simply beat him into submission. In a child's body barely recovering from malnutrition, he could do without experiencing such pain.

"First, find a place and move in secretly before the snow piles up. Buy food to stockpile. If we need any more, we can make a trip to the village."

Griz told Chu that the Trading Post opens during the day. They closed at night, carting remaining dead animals that needed to be handled into their stockroom in the village.

"Will we be hunting in the forest?"

"No need to risk our lives."

Why go into the forest when the beasts are coming to us, Chu thought. He would make use of them if they crossed his path.

"So that's the plan. Tomorrow we are going to look for a shelter in the lands south of the village."

Chu intended to take Ming and Lucy. He chose the south side because he didn't want to accidentally meet up with any hunters. Since most of them were on the north side then the chances should be less. With the Hunters in the village speaking about the greater number of beasts in the north, a residence south proved safer.

"Now to deal with you guys."

Chu looked over the Dyna and Sakura. These girls were still weak-looking and too young to handle hard work. Both of them were only around seven or eight and under the care of Lucy. None of the girls held relations by kin, but treated each other as sisters because of circumstance.

Lucy broke his thoughts,

"Chu....just help them for the winter, after that, then..."

Lucy bit her lip as she begged, but Chu cut her off with a wave of a hand,

"Hold up."

"I never said that I was going to abandon them or anything. I just think that they can be useful."

Chu took out the sewing kits and threads, along with a small knife.

"Tomorrow, they can start sorting through these cloth bundles. Patch the good clothes and make sheets with the others."

Young girls learned these kinds of skills early through circumstance. Chu demonstrated to them what he expected. The first item on the agenda meant creating padded clothes by stitching three or four layers of cloth together. The larger sheets, he expected to be patched and done the same to form thick quilts.

With a little washing and airing, the used clothes should be sufficient and clean for household use. The dress code centered around one-piece clothing, held together by straps and cloth belts. Buttons, fancy buckles, and snap-ons didn't make the invention list yet.

This made his work easier in dismantling the rag clothing and patching up new ones. Securing a defensible shelter and keeping warm occupied a position high on the agenda.

"Three days. We only have three days to find a place and move out. If we wait longer than that with what we have, you can imagine our fate."

Currently, they secretly monopolize the position as the richest residents in the slums.

If word ever got out then their fate would be like a hen tossed inside a pen full of only adult roosters.

After Lucy and her friends left, the two boys began packing and sorting out the equipment.

"Ming, how many pellets do we have left?"

"Ah, about eight or ten."

Chu made a list in his head of what he needed.

If they managed to find a good place, it would be great.

His backup plan to this would be having them all stay with his family for the winter.

This plan he held as a last resort since it would mean exposing some of his wealth. The main reason for not reuniting with his family in the village lay in fact that he didn't want to make any mistakes that would make his family doubt his character. Superstition held a high position among the folks in these parts.

Being burned at the stake for suspicion as a spawn of hell was not on his bucket list.

He raised the fire and started to browse through a book. It was A rough notebook-sized book, with pages made from rough parchment paper bonded by threads between a pair of thin, hardened leather covers. This handwritten publication was commonly used by illiterate adventurers to introduce basic letters and words.

The letters were like symbols that represented what they meant. The numbers were something like Roman numerals and easy to understand.

This aid proved helpful in identifying the words of frequented places by adventurers and mercenaries in this world. It was sought after by the noobs who came from low status and were illiterate. Words like tavern, blacksmith, and the ever-popular brothel were listed. Brief introductions were also given.

Only when his eyes became tired did he fall asleep.

Ming woke him up in the morning. The fire crackled with a pot of boiling water, ready for drinking.

Chu prepared a breakfast of bread and butter, with extras for the expected guests. Lucy and company joined them halfway through the meal.

With a good night's rest, the trio embarked on their self-given quest.

Dyna and Sakura began their work on converting the bundles of rags and unwanted cloth into a product more valuable than gold. Their very lives depended on the warmth trapped by the quilts and thick cloaks.

The older three children made their way south across the grasslands. Preparing for a tiring walk, Chu gazed out into the grasslands that edged the forest to the west and spanned across the south and to the east. Dots of trees, shrubs, and farmhouses, inhabited or abandoned, lay far and few in between.

The hunt for a home has begun.