This Was an Accident

"Why was Aiven giving them thirty percent of the potion profits?"

Peter froze for a moment. He wanted to say it was because they had provided the Orange Fruits.

But the truth was, Aiven could have simply bought the Orange Fruits to make the potions, which would have earned him more.

"Aiven's trying to help us." Tessi sighed and slowly voiced what he believed.

Peter froze again, then nodded in silence. He had thought the same thing.

So had Aiven also bought all those unripe fruits at a high price to help them?

Indeed, with this income, the impact of this early winter would be minimized, and the fruit farmers would be able to get by.

"Do a good job patrolling. This is all we can do to help Aiven right now." Tessi patted his son on the shoulder and spoke quietly.

Peter took a deep breath and promised his father, "Don't worry. I'll make sure the patrols go well."

Back out on the streets, Peter resumed his patrol, but his state of mind had completely changed. He felt full of energy.

Suddenly, he spotted several fruit farmers from other villages talking about something. After a moment's thought, he walked over to see what was going on.

"Tell me, do you think this Aiven guy might really be an idiot?" Peter said with a laugh to the villagers from his own village.

He had already sold his fruits and was showing off his coins to his fellow villagers.

At his words, they fell silent. Most of them had actually thought the same thing.

The fruits weren't ripe, yet Aiven had bought so many of them. He'd spent a fortune and gotten nothing in return. What else could he be but an idiot?

Daby might be the village chief of Orange Fruit Village, but he must have sunk all his family's savings into such a huge quantity of fruit, right?

"Heh, whether he's an idiot or not, all that matters is that the gold coins I got are real." After showing them off, Peter jingled the coins in his hand and turned to leave.

As soon as he turned around, he saw a young man standing before him, glaring at him angrily.

Peter froze, but before he could react, a sharp pain hit him. Then he felt himself fly through the air.

Bang!

He slammed hard into the ground. Dazed, Peter touched his face and saw that his hand was covered in blood.

His companions finally came to their senses. Seeing Peter's bloodied face and several missing teeth, they hurried over to check on him.

"Who the hell are you? Why'd you hit him out of nowhere?" One of Peter's companions pointed angrily at Peter, who stood there with his fist clenched.

The other fruit farmers gathered around, too, pointing and whispering as they watched Peter.

"You... just said... Aiven was... an idiot?" Peter lowered his head, his whole body trembling uncontrollably as he spoke one word at a time.

At Peter's question, the others froze. Peter had indeed said that earlier.

Now that someone had called him out, they realized Peter shouldn't have said something like that in public.

The other villagers fell silent. They might have thought it themselves, but saying it aloud was another matter.

"That still doesn't give you the right to hit him," Peter's companion said, forcing himself to speak.

After saying this, he looked at Peter and noticed the sturdy young man was trembling, as if he were struggling to hold something back.

A moment later, Peter suddenly roared, "Have you really never wondered why Aiven bought those unripe fruits?"

As he spoke, he angrily strode over to a cart, threw some of the unripe fruits onto the ground, and stomped on them.

"Do you really think he wanted those fruits?"

"He just... wanted to help you. Do you understand?!"

After saying this, Peter suddenly gasped for breath, as if he'd just poured all his strength into those words.

The atmosphere abruptly fell silent. Everyone stood with their mouths open, unsure what to say.

"That's right. Whether he's helping our Orange Fruit Village or yours, Aiven's the one taking a loss. Do you really think he's an idiot?"

Just then, several villagers from Orange Fruit Village came forward. They had been caught up in the joy of the harvest all this time.

But now that they thought about it, wasn't Aiven sharing his harvest with everyone? Everything they'd gained should have belonged to him!

"Aiven's been helping you..."

"That's right. Without him, you'd be in a much worse position from now on!"

More villagers from Orange Fruit Village spoke up to accuse them.

The surrounding fruit farmers shuddered. Their excitement quickly faded, and one by one, they lowered their heads, feeling as if something had gripped their hearts. It was as though everyone had come to their senses at once.

Nearby, Peter's companions had also stood up. After hesitating, they quietly moved away from Peter, who was still on the ground.

Peter opened his mouth. He was so full of regret that he wished a hole would open up before him so he could jump straight in.

Glancing around, Peter lowered his head and quickly slipped through the crowd. He just wanted to get away from there as fast as possible.

Over the next while, order returned to Orange Fruit Village. But compared to before, the villagers' faces now showed clear gratitude.

Aiven had saved them that winter. They would surely remember it for a long time to come.

"Aiven, was this what you had in mind?"

At the farm, Daby had come to hear the news. He looked at Aiven, who was sorting the fruits, and opened his mouth to speak.

"This really was just an accident."

After saying that, Aiven added silently, I was only trying to earn some goodwill and use these unripe fruits to make fertilizer. I just didn't expect it to work so well.

His Rural Cooperative plan would surely go much more smoothly from now on.