Newcomers on Duty

That evening, after Roy's persistent pleading, Old Mol and his wife agreed to his request to become an apprentice to the Butcher.

The couple knew their son, whom they had watched grow up, extremely well. In just this one day, his behavior and demeanor had changed drastically from when he had woken up: from a quiet and shy boy, he had become cheerful, lively, and talkative.

However, Roy's words and expressions of deep concern for the old couple were genuine. Thus, the simple parents didn't think too much about it and were instead genuinely pleased with their son's change. They felt that their son had overcome a tribulation and had suddenly matured a lot.

The next day, many villagers of Kaye Village were surprised to find a slender apprentice by the side of the burly and gruff Butcher Fletcher.

"Old Mol's kid was just hit by a horse, is he crazy again? With his sissy temper, how could he possibly come to slaughter livestock?"

"What do you know, country bumpkin? He was almost killed, it's strange if his temperament didn't change. But I bet little Roy won't last a week. The Butcher's job isn't for just anyone! And this job is quite lucrative, why would the Butcher do it for cheap?"

Regardless of the villagers' gossip, Roy focused entirely on working with Fletcher. After a day of working together, he found that the job content was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

When large livestock like cattle and sheep were brought in, Fletcher would first feed them a yellow powder to paralyze their nerves, preventing them from struggling in pain before death.

According to the Butcher, these powders were anesthetics gifted to him by the village Herbal Doctor.

After the livestock were killed, the most difficult part began. To cut the meat perfectly, knowing how to divide the flesh from the bones without damaging the muscle fibers, required an extreme understanding of the body structure of cattle, sheep, and pigs.

The Butcher's level of education was not enough to draw a physiological diagram for Roy to memorize. He could only demonstrate through actions, guiding him cut by cut.

"Ugh..."

Roy watched from the side as Uncle Fletcher calmly skinned the cow, removed its organs, and dismembered the carcass. A strong, fishy stench filled his nostrils, and his vision was filled with steaming, fresh red.

"Ugh..." His stomach churned violently, and he couldn't help but bend over and retch. The first cut to kill the cow was fine, but the subsequent butchering was the real test.

"Heh..." the Butcher teased, "You didn't hesitate when killing the cow yesterday, now you're scared? This craft is dirty and tiring, I'm not just saying that. Otherwise, after so long, there would be no one in the village willing to do it besides the ignorant little Roy. Of course, I wouldn't just give it away to outsiders. Let's see if you have the perseverance and willpower to take over my job!"

Roy recovered from his dry heaving, only feeling a slight dizziness and weak legs. The Butcher didn't give him any more rest.

"Come here and hold the knife, I'll teach you how to apply force, cut along here."

"I told you to cut upwards, where are you cutting with that knife?!"

"Damn it, didn't you eat enough?"

If Roy made the slightest mistake, he was immediately berated.

He sighed inwardly. Being an apprentice Butcher meant not only adapting to the dirty and bloody yard and enduring rough insults, but also wielding a knife for extended periods, leaving his arms sore in no time. His Constitution was less than 5, inferior to that of a normal adult, making him fatigue more easily.

The physical and mental pressure instantly made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm really asking for it, insisting on becoming a Butcher's apprentice."

While complaining inwardly, Roy still meticulously completed the Butcher's tasks. He could distinguish between what was important and what was not.

Of course, the most important reason was that he had snatched the fatal blow from the animals awaiting slaughter, harvesting experience.

"I'm under someone else's roof. Exercising, gaining experience, and getting meat to eat – it's perfect... sob... What more could I possibly be unsatisfied with..."

The first day of apprenticeship passed with difficulty. The Butcher had slaughtered two beef cattle from another village, charging the villagers ten Crowns. According to the Butcher, such good business wasn't an everyday occurrence. Kaye Village had only about a hundred households. Even with customers from other villages, it wasn't every day that someone needed his services.

After finishing the work, the Butcher was not stingy. He generously gave Roy a palm-sized piece of fresh meat. As for wages, the Butcher didn't treat him as free labor. During the apprenticeship, he would only give him one Crown a week, which amounted to a little over ten Copper Coins a day. Roy had no complaints. In the early stages of learning a trade, one naturally couldn't be concerned about income.

"Uncle Fletcher, what should I do with the offal?"

"Throw it away later."

In the Witcher World, customs were similar to those in Central Europe in his previous life. Not everyone accepted animal offal. After beef and lamb were processed, the offal was often taken to the wilderness to be buried or burned, or simply thrown into the small river not far from the village to feed the fish.

"Give me that stuff..." Roy couldn't care less. Having been born in China, where anything could be made into a delicious dish, he had eaten plenty of pork, beef, and lamb offal. This was all meat...

He was in his growing stage and couldn't miss out on this food.

As evening approached, Roy cleaned up the blood in the yard. Carrying a heavy, blood-soaked cloth bag and ten Experience Points, he left the Butcher's house with his eyes darkening.

Kaye Village under the setting sun, with gray and black chimneys spewing wisps of white smoke. Men, tired from a day's work, returned from the fields carrying hoes. Dirty children chased chickens and dogs in the small courtyards in front of their homes. Candlelight quietly flickered on in the small wooden houses.

Roy took a deep breath. "How long can this peace last?"

Still some distance from home, Roy vaguely saw two soldiers in yellow cotton armor, with long swords at their waists, carrying several heavy linen bags to the village entrance. They then boarded a cart and quickly left. The villagers were accustomed to this and showed no reaction.

Roy knew about this. Every month, Kaye Village had to hand over a certain amount of agricultural products to the Lord of Xiabosada as tax. The tax accounted for about thirty percent of the total harvest, which was considered "merciful." Old Mol's family grew Mire Grass and Hops. This month, after harvesting, they handed over two sacks of dried Mire Grass.

Mire Grass was similar to tobacco on Earth. Villagers who had nothing to do in their spare time liked to smoke in their front yards, puffing clouds of smoke with great satisfaction.

Regarding taxation, the Kingdom of Aedirn, including its vassal states, had always imposed higher taxes on farmers than the other three northern countries. Consequently, Aedirn had long been plagued by "peasant revolutions."

Roy learned from the villagers' idle chatter that, around this time, a peasant uprising had broken out in Edessberg in southwestern Aedirn.

"I don't know what the kingdom's higher-ups are thinking. No wonder Aedirn would lose both north and south in the future and become a fragmented kingdom."

"It's too dangerous. I must seize the time."

The urgency in Roy's heart could only be alleviated by food. There was still some of the rooster he killed yesterday left. Tonight, he brought back beef again. Aunt Susie unceremoniously stewed a large pot of meat soup. Although there were no seasonings and the taste was bland with a fishy smell, it was finally some sustenance.

As for the offal and scraps that the Butcher didn't want, he cleaned them without any disgust. Then, he found some Celery and wild vegetables, and begged the old couple for a tiny bit of precious salt, stir-frying everything together.

After stir-frying a plate of meat and offal that carried the aroma of oil and an lingering fishy scent, Roy would never have been able to stomach it before. However, his current body didn't mind at all. On one hand, food was precious and meat was scarce. On the other hand, people here only ate two meals a day. As a growing child, he wouldn't miss any opportunity to eat meat.

However, it was a pity that this meal only gave Roy 0.1 Experience Points. He understood that killing was the best way to level up.

"Even if I killed a livestock every few days, leveling up would be much faster."

Roy was full of anticipation for this.