Ignor furrowed his brow in confusion, "Are you sure? Although the wood is extremely flexible, considering that Caretaker Shani told me that you would be needing some wood for construction, I don't think that its flexibility would be a good thing," he asked, sceptically raising an eyebrow.
Although Orion intended to use regular wood at first, the sticks were more than enough, so he would happily exchange the wood to be used as part of the fire pit instead. "Yes, they are perfect for what I intend to construct," he responded. "How long will it take you to bring eight more bundles of these sticks?" Orion asked as he looked at the twelve bundles of the same stick that were laid on the ground and evenly stacked up, after mentally counting them.
Ignor nodded his head defeatedly. Since he didn't know what kind of construction Orion wanted to make, he might as well let him do as he pleases. "We can get more of these sticks from other sections of the farm, however, we would first have to take permission from the supervisors or the Caretakers themselves. And that would take us anywhere from tomorrow evening to midnight," Ignor said.
Each Caretaker is held responsible for their sections of the farm, and even their harvest, no matter how big or small, is something they need to be accountable for.
Orion opened his mouth to speak, however, he immediately stopped himself and inwardly shook his head, deciding that it was best to work on this task for now and see how well he progresses before the next bundles arrive tomorrow.
"Okay, just make sure to inform Caretaker Shani so that she can let me know immediately when it arrives," Orion said. He gestured for Ignor to step aside before he held the bundles of wood together and began throwing them to the empty path, one by one.
Once he was done, he told Ignor to inform Caretaker Shani that he would be staying here to start his construction and see how much progress he could make. He also asked Ignor to convey the message to help him inform his family that he would be returning home late today.
Although Ignor was hesitant to leave at first, he had wanted to see if there was any way he could help with the construction, given his experience. However, Orion simply sat down on the ground and responded, "It's not that I don't need any help, however, it would be extremely difficult for anyone else to understand what I am trying to do, and also, the fewer hands, the better," as he began to unbundle the sticks.
Though Ignor didn't fully understand Orion's last sentence, seeing his reluctance, he simply nodded his head in understanding and left the large storage hut.
With Ignor's footsteps fading away, Orion focused on the task at hand. He took out some of the sticks and arranged them as though he wanted to craft a basket. Grabbing and cutting some ropes for the bottom of the basket, he decided to apply some of the 'DIY' tricks he had learned in his former world.
"Let's see how many baskets I can create in a day," Orion said to himself as he started to weave the sticks together, slowly and gently.
….....
The leftward stronghold
"Knock!!" "Knock!!!"
"Come in."
Listening to the gruff voice emanating from inside the room, Caretaker Ivor didn't waste any more time and immediately reached out to pull the door open. Stepping inside, he closed the door behind him and set his gaze on the bulging muscular man sitting on top of a very thick reddish and white carpet, with a raised platform in front of him.
"Is that?" Caretaker Ivor unconsciously voiced his thoughts. However, before he could hold himself back, an answer to his question came, "Yes, it is," said the man with piercing blue eyes, a full rough unkept beard on his chin, along with a faintly visible scar that stretched from the middle of his right cheek, over his nose, and straight to the end of the left cheek, all while wearing the traditional village attire.
"Since the Village Chief decided to get a ta... a table, then I decided to get one myself since I am also as busy as he is," he said, focusing on Caretaker Ivor, who had just walked into his workplace, before gesturing towards the space opposite him. "Although I certainly wasn't expecting your visit, why don't you come and take a seat, and tell me the reason behind your unannounced visit."
Caretaker Ivor shook his head at the man's words, his eyes still wandering around the room filled with various sizes of cutlasses, spears, and shields hanging on the wall.
Eventually, he walked over and settled himself on the thick, stretched-out carpet, locking eyes with the leader of the leftward stronghold, Stronghold Leader Zogar.
Zogar folded the paper in front of him, stared up at Caretaker Ivor, and asked, "Are you going to keep on staring at me like that, or are you going to tell me the reason for your visit early?" He maintained eye contact, adding, "And since you came unannounced, then I take it that it must be something of importance."
Caretaker Ivor nodded solemnly in response to Stronghold Leader Zogar's statement. As he prepared to explain the pressing matters concerning the village, Zogar interjected, his eyes narrowing with seriousness, "Is it about the newborns?" he asked, mirroring Caretaker Ivor's expression.
Hearing the question, Caretaker Ivor couldn't help but frown, "How did you know?" he asked, doubtful of Zogar's apparent awareness of the situation.
Stronghold Leader Zogar smiled at Caretaker Ivor before he folded the remaining piece of paper and spread-out cloth on the table. "You were supposed to send me a report on how many newborns had been arranged for the diversion this time, two days ago. Since you didn't, I figured that something bad might have happened or the Village Chief decided to handle it himself again," he explained, locking eyes with Caretaker Ivor after finishing the task. "But since you are here, it seems like it's the former."
Placing his hands on the table, Stronghold Leader Zogar asked with a firm tone, "Caretaker Ivor, what is going on in the village?".
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