Reward Medals.
They were hand-carved by the Village Head himself.
We were told they could be exchanged for all sorts of things, but surely these were treasures meant to be kept and preserved, never to be parted with.
Exchanging them was simply out of the question!
They belonged on display in our rooms!
No, they deserved to be worshipped!
After all, the Village Head was the one who had granted us a place of sanctuary!
He might look human, but he was anything but!
That man was a God!
He was a deity who commanded the likes of Inferno Wolves, Demon Spiders, Vampires, and the Angel Race—mighty beings we couldn't hope to match!
Oh, please forgive my sin of not knowing the proper way to venerate him.
The very least I could do was offer him my body.
If it were possible, I wanted to bear his child.
Ah, no, no, no!
I mustn't harbor such irreverent thoughts!
I was merely the humble recipient of a God’s mercy!
...Ugh, the competition was fierce today as well.
As fellow believers, we didn't resort to physical blows, but we certainly made sure to intimidate one another.
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
They hissed right back at me.
It was terrifying.
But I wouldn't lose.
The following day, Ria gave us a warning.
She instructed us not to hoard the Reward Medals, but to use them as much as possible.
How could she say such a thing?
What on earth was she thinking?
Someone who shared my doubts asked Ria for clarification.
According to her, this was the result of a Preliminary Meeting held without the Village Head.
The Preliminary Meeting.
It was also known as the Top Secret Meeting.
It was a conference held specifically to ensure we didn't engage in unseemly squabbles in front of the Village Head; apparently, the members simply gathered and held it even if no formal call was issued.
I wanted to participate as well, but to do so, I would first have to defeat Ria.
With my current level of skill, that would be a tall order.
Hmph.
I wouldn't give up, though.
I just had to put in the effort.
But I digress.
Ria explained that the Village Head would be saddened if we didn't make use of the Reward Medals.
What a tragedy that would be.
However, since she also understood the desire to keep them, it was decided that we would keep one for ourselves and use the other two.
I suppose it couldn't be helped.
I would exchange two of them.
I hadn't originally intended to trade them at all, but I did have something in mind just in case the situation arose.
A Futon.
I wanted one exactly like the one the Village Head used.
But if I rushed off to exchange them with a big smile on my face, people might think I didn't actually treasure the Reward Medals. I decided to wait and see how things played out for a while.
...
The Dwarves immediately exchanged all three of their medals for sake.
I was stunned.
My jaw practically hit the floor.
I was well aware of the Dwarves' passion for alcohol, and I even held a certain degree of respect for it.
But to exchange every single one right away...
I must have been making a very strange face.
One of the Dwarves pulled me aside to explain.
The representative of the Dwarves, Donovan-san, had given every Dwarf a single Reward Medal of his own for safekeeping and told them they were free to use the three they were issued however they liked.
The Village Head knew all too well how much the Dwarves loved their sake, so this was apparently a calculated move to avoid making him feel uneasy if every single one of them only exchanged two medals.
I see.
That was brilliant.
Ria, please give one to each of us as well... No, that was impossible.
There were simply too many High Elves; the ten medals she received as our representative wouldn't be enough to go around.
It was frustrating, but there was nothing to be done, so I gave up on that idea.
Changing my mood, it was time to exchange my two!
Thanks to the Dwarves, the atmosphere was now perfect for making exchanges.
Now was my chance!
While doing my best to look like I was carefully scrutinizing the list...
"Well then, I'll take a Futon—"
I cut myself off before I could finish.
I had just overheard something that could not be ignored.
"Will the Village Head really make new sets for Chess and Go?"
"Is the furniture also handmade by the Village Head himself?"
...
Right, change of plans.
I'd miss out on the Futon, but if I could obtain something handmade by the Village Head for my very own, then no number of Reward Medals was too high a price.
I now had three treasures in my room.
The first was a Reward Medal.
The second was a Chess Board and its pieces.
The third was a large shelf.
That last one was just an ordinary shelf, but it was one that the Village Head and I had built together.
The Reward Medals were only for this year, and next year was still undecided, but I truly hoped they would continue.
On another note, those Beastman girls...
To think they would actually try to use their Reward Medals to ask for the Village Head's seed... I hadn't even considered such a thing.
Fortunately, their request wasn't granted, but it seemed I couldn't afford to let my guard down.
I would have to keep a very close eye on their movements from now on.
Now then, today was my turn to visit the Village Head’s house.
Heh heh.
I was going to give it my all.