Waking up in the morning, Yuuko saw Kujou Sara exercising outside, so he stepped forward to greet her:
"Yo, Kujou, you're up exercising this early again today?"
Kujou Sara nodded, offering no reply.
Seeing this, Yuuko didn't intend to pester her further and laughed, "Then keep up the good work. I'm going out for a walk first."
After speaking, Yuuko strolled away, heading toward the outside of the village.
At this moment, Kujou Sara stopped, fixing her gaze on Yuuko as she quietly watched him depart.
A look of confusion appeared on her face as she pondered:
"Why does this writer always disappear from time to time..."
"He is a scholar with no power to truss a chicken. If he frequently runs outside the village like this, isn't he afraid of encountering monsters?"
After thinking for a long time, Kujou Sara shook her head, unable to figure it out, and stopped dwelling on it.
She began to continue her daily training. Meanwhile, after leaving the village, Yuuko quickly met up with the Village Chief outside the village.
The reason they met outside was that some time ago, Yuuko had accidentally seen Village Chief Washizu talking with pirates outside.
Why would Washizu, the Village Chief of a small place like Higi Village, be involved with pirates?
At the time, Yuuko was also very confused, so he went up to speak to the Village Chief, who was talking with the pirates.
That time truly scared the Village Chief half to death... He was practically like a child who had done something wrong, feeling guilty after being discovered... After asking, Yuuko finally understood why the Village Chief was talking to the pirates.
It turned out that because the village had taken in many refugees fleeing from Inazuma, Higi Village was currently very short on supplies.
Especially food, which was difficult to supply adequately to every household.
Therefore, the Village Chief contacted the pirates in the northern sea area near the village, hoping to exchange money for some food from them.
The money he had previously received from Yuuko had all been used by the Village Chief to buy food... Because of this, Yuuko instructed the Village Chief to call him whenever he went to exchange food with the pirates again. Arriving in the woods outside, Yuuko looked at Washizu, who was hiding behind a tree, and laughed:
"Village Chief, I'm here."
Washizu quickly made a 'shush' gesture and whispered, "Didn't I tell you not to be so conspicuous!"
"My apologies, my apologies." Yuuko chuckled as he walked into the woods and approached Washizu.
"Alright, let's hurry up and leave. Nobody should see us at this time." Washizu urged.
"Let's go."
Thus, the two began heading north.
The goal was to go to the northern shore to trade with the pirates stationed there.
On the way there, Yuuko didn't forget to ask:
"By the way, Village Chief, why do you have to be so secretive about using money to buy food from the pirates? It's not something shameful, is it?"
Washizu's old face immediately flushed red. "It's nothing! It's just not something worth showing off about!"
It seemed the Village Chief didn't want the villagers to know that he secretly used money to buy food from the pirates every day.
What an Old Tsundere.
After a moment, Washizu spoke again, sighing helplessly:
"I'm telling you, Yuuko, this is so dangerous. Why did you insist on coming along?"
Yuuko laughed:
"How can I let the Village Chief bear this burden alone? Besides, if those pirates decide to turn hostile, wouldn't it be better if there were two of us to look out for each other?"
Washizu thought about it and gave up trying to dissuade him:
"Fine, have it your way. Just make sure you don't tell anyone in the village about this."
Washizu figured that if anything happened, he could always let Yuuko escape first, and having an extra person meant someone could return earlier to notify the village.
So, he didn't refuse to let Yuuko follow him.
After that, the two walked along, and soon arrived at the beach north of the village.
"Yuuko, let me warn you beforehand, those pirates are ruthless. As long as we pay them according to the rules, they won't make trouble for us. Don't say anything reckless later, and don't provoke them."
Yuuko chuckled, "Don't worry. Wasn't I there that time before? I know what those pirates are like. I know what I'm doing."
Seeing this, Washizu nodded.
The two then walked along the beach, and after only a short distance, they saw several tents pitched not far ahead.
That was the pirates' temporary outpost.
The pirates usually rested there.
Upon arriving here, Washizu nervously swallowed his saliva.
Although he had traded with the pirates several times already, every time he went to see those burly men covered in scars, he couldn't help but feel nervous.
Although Yuuko was now by his side, what use was an extra novel writer?
In any case, Washizu was quite worried.
However... upon arriving at the pirates' camp, Washizu noticed something strange.
Normally, there should have been more than a dozen pirates in the camp.
Why were there only a few people today?
Had the other pirates gone elsewhere?
And why did those pirates look like they had seen a ghost when they saw him? Why were they all hiding far away?
Pondering this confusion, Washizu went to find the pirates' Second-in-Command and said:
"Sir Tairan, I've brought the Mora to exchange for food."
The pirate Second-in-Command, who was called Tairan, was originally dozing comfortably in a chair.
As soon as he heard Washizu's voice, his sturdy body trembled, and he immediately jumped up:
"Ah! Exch—exchange! Food, right! No! No problem!"
Washizu felt very confused watching the pirate Second-in-Command's panic-stricken appearance.
Why did he feel like all the pirates seemed quite flustered... At this moment, Washizu suddenly noticed that the pirate Second-in-Command seemed to have a swelling on his head, so he asked curiously:
"Sir Tairan, the injury on your head is..."
"Ah! It's nothing! Nothing! I accidentally fell yesterday and bumped it!"
"Is that so." Washizu nodded, and then asked, "Then where is Sir Song Jian? Why haven't I seen him today?"
The so-called Sir Song Jian mentioned by Washizu was the pirates' First-in-Command, a very fierce muscle man.
The pirate Second-in-Command instantly panicked again:
"Hahaha... Big Brother sailed off to another place... Hahaha..."
Washizu frowned, feeling that the pirates were acting very strangely today.
However, he didn't dwell on it. He pulled out a bag full of Mora from his clothes and handed it to the pirate Second-in-Command:
"This is the Mora to purchase this batch of food."
Normally, this bag of Mora would only buy enough food for a few people from these pirates.
It was a rip-off, but Washizu had no other choice.
As long as it allowed them to get through this period, that was enough.
Unexpectedly... the Second-in-Command took the bag of Mora, then only took a small fraction from it before handing the bag back to Washizu... This left Washizu completely dumbfounded.
Didn't these pirates usually sell him food at exorbitant prices?
Why had their conscience suddenly awakened today?
Although this was great, Washizu was still quite apprehensive, so he tentatively said, "Is such a cheap price alright...?"
"No... You don't need that much! Since you're so compliant, we'll just sell it to you at a cheaper price from now on!" The Second-in-Command seemed possessed by some spirit, barely able to speak clearly.
Just like that, Washizu bought food from the pirates at an extremely cheap price.