Chapter 54: Searching for Building Materials (1)
In the end, the only way for Maeve to find out what kind of talent she had was to wait. Whether it would take days, weeks, or even months, there was nothing else she could do.
"Your body is completely fine now, Goddess," Elder Vax said after finishing his examination of both her and the baby. "And your child is growing well. If nothing unexpected happens, then in three months, you should be able to give birth without any problems."
Maeve wasn’t so sure about that.
She was still convinced that her baby would be enormous, and the thought of giving birth to such a large child was terrifying. Thankfully, Pinky had already given her special potions to help with childbirth, and she also had a twenty percent resistance to pain.
So... hopefully everything would be fine.
"I hope so," Maeve said in a soft tone.
A few moments later, Elder Vax slowly got to his feet and headed toward the entrance of the hut. But just before stepping outside, he stopped and looked back at her.
"I’m sorry for the things I said before, Goddess," he said. "I hope you won’t hold them against me too much."
"I do hold them against you, Elder Vax," Maeve replied without hesitation. Her blunt answer caught him completely off guard.
"You said something that hurt me," she continued. "So you can’t expect me to forgive you right away."
For a moment, Elder Vax simply stared at her. It was obvious he hadn’t expected such an honest response.
"Then... what should I do to earn your forgiveness?" he asked.
Maeve honestly had no idea.
Most of the people who had treated her badly in the past never apologized. They hurt her, moved on with their lives, and expected her to do the same. Because of that, she had no experience with this kind of situation.
How was she supposed to know what someone needed to do to be forgiven?
"I’m not sure," Maeve admitted after thinking for a moment. "Let me think about it first. I’ll tell you later."
Elder Vax took a slow breath and nodded. "I understand, Goddess."
The air between them had become painfully awkward, so he quietly left the hut.
"You have every right to punish people who treat you badly here," Cerus said once Elder Vax was gone. "I haven’t done anything to him because you’re the one he hurt."
In other words, Cerus wanted the decision to be hers. Honestly, that seemed fair enough.
"What punishment do people usually receive for wishing the leader’s mate would die?" Maeve asked.
"Being stoned to death," Cerus answered.
Maeve nearly choked on air. Seeing her reaction, Cerus quickly added, "But that rarely happens these days. You’re the first leader’s mate we’ve had in years."
"Let’s not kill him," Maeve said after a moment.
"Are you sure?"
Maeve nodded. "In our current situation, skilled healers are already hard to find. I think it’s better if we keep him alive."
Cerus thought it over before agreeing. "Yeah, you’re right. Things would be terrible if we ended up with even fewer healers."
Maeve wasn’t a saint. She could hold grudges, she could get angry, and she could even imagine making Elder Vax suffer a little.
But she had grown up in a modern world where executing someone as punishment was unthinkable. No matter how upset she was, having someone killed simply wasn’t something she could accept.
Maybe her thoughts would change in the future. Maybe they wouldn’t. But for now, she had no intention of taking someone’s life.
"Can Elder Vax still move around normally?" Maeve asked suddenly. "Or does he have some kind of back problem?"
Cerus blinked and raised an eyebrow. "He’s perfectly fine. Why do you ask?" he replied.
"Even though I don’t plan to kill him, I can still think of a way to punish him," Maeve said. "Make him build the farm gate by himself, and have him take care of the Clouds for a whole month without any pay."
To be honest, she still felt it was a little harsh, but it was definitely better than stoning someone to death.
Cerus stared at her for a moment, looking completely confused. "That’s it?"
Maeve frowned. "Yes. That’s already bad enough."
"Oh, Wife, you’re truly a goddess," Cerus said in the same tone someone might use when praising a small child for sharing their toys. "That doesn’t even sound like a punishment. And besides, what’s pay?"
Maeve opened her mouth, then paused.
Right.
People in this world didn’t earn salaries.
Everyone in the settlement had their own responsibilities, but they did those jobs because they wanted to protect their home, their families, and their tribe. No one worked in exchange for money.
Instead, the settlement provided everyone with the things they needed to live, such as food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities.
For a moment, Maeve wasn’t sure how to explain the idea of a salary to someone who had never heard of one before.
"Forget about it," Maeve said with a sigh. "It’s not that important anyway."
She had already escaped from the world of capitalism. There was absolutely no way she was going to bring that evil thing into this world too.
Nope. Not happening.
She wanted to enjoy eating meat without having to work herself to the bone like a damn horse.
Was that really too much to ask? Damn it.
"Do you really think I should give Elder Vax a harsher punishment?" Maeve asked uncertainly.
Cerus looked at her for a few moments and immediately noticed her uncertainty.
"If you truly think that’s enough, then it’s enough," he said. "But if he insults you again, I’ll be the one to punish him."
He was smiling as he spoke, but for some reason, that smile didn’t make Maeve feel any better.
In fact, it made her even more certain that whatever punishment Cerus had in mind would be far worse than anything she could come up with.
"I hope he learns his lesson this time," Maeve said. A moment later, she decided to switch to a more important topic. "By the way, do you think we can still gather wood from the dead trees in the dry forest?"
