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Chapter 15 - Chapter 15 — Why Aren’t These Villagers Having Kids?

Rose had been startled too, but thankfully she'd been standing far enough away not to get buried under the explosion of bread.

Once she calmed down, the sweet scent hit her nose—a warm, honey-like aroma she hadn't smelled in years.

She picked one up, eyes widening. The loaf was soft and springy to the touch, and that sweetness grew even stronger up close.

"Is this… bread?"

Her eyes flew open. She'd lived a long life, but she'd never seen bread this fluffy.

It looked perfect too—far better than the rough black bread they usually ate.

Even the nobles' feasts couldn't compare to this.

She swallowed hard, glancing up at Steve, not sure what the man's intentions were.

But Steve only gave the pile a quick look, seemed satisfied, and walked away without a word.

Was that… a gift?

"This smells amazing!" Jack crawled out of the bread heap, sniffing like a dog.

"You idiot!" Rose scolded, rapping him on the head when she saw several loaves crushed beneath him. "Don't waste food!"

Then she turned toward the others, calling out for help to move the bread.

She remembered the dark loaves Steve had taken earlier, and the farmland he'd modified afterward. Maybe this was his way of compensating them.

The villagers had been worrying about food all morning—this would feed them for a whole day, easily.

Halls, hearing the commotion, came running. He clambered up onto a block of stone and poked his head inside. "What's going on in here?"

Jack recounted the whole thing.

"Wait… you guys can actually touch that floating stuff?"

Halls's eyes widened in shock. It was like lightning had gone off in his brain.

So, only the things Steve threw out could be interacted with? That would explain why he couldn't touch those materials before—Steve still needed them.

His understanding of the mysterious man deepened, and so did his desire to learn how he worked iron.

When Steve returned, the villagers were busy hauling the bread.

He'd noticed long ago that in this world, villagers didn't have proper inventories. The number of items they could hold varied, and food-sharing between them worked differently—apparently with a huge radius.

He didn't think much of it, just stood by watching the breeder he'd built to see if it functioned properly.

The villagers paused for a bit under his gaze, then, as if sensing his silent approval, resumed their activity.

That was a good sign. Maybe his reputation in the village had gone back to normal.

After a while, though, he noticed something disappointing—no hearts. The two villagers just looked at each other blankly.

So the breeding mechanism did exist—there were already child villagers in the village—but it wasn't triggering.

Do I need vanilla beds for it to work?

He'd played plenty of modpacks before—worlds where multiple mods added items with the same name but different properties. It had caused him no end of trouble.

Maybe the beds that came with the village were just for decoration.

With nothing else to go on, he decided to test it.

First, he traded some string from Rose using Emeralds. Then, using Iron Ingots, he crafted a couple of tripwire hooks and a pair of shears. Once everything was ready, he picked a direction and got to work on a string farm.

He hadn't wanted to before—his iron supply was too precious—but it couldn't be helped.

According to the crafting recipes, iron ore in this world only appeared in proper veins, or as iron nuggets obtained from smelting iron-based tools. There were no single loose ores like in the original world, which made iron much harder to get.

Of course, if he ever found a full vein, he'd never have to worry about it again.

He built the frame with stone, set up tripwire hooks, trapdoors, and levers, then poured in some water.

A quick snip of the shears, a flip of the lever, and with a rhythmic "click-clack," strands of string appeared out of nowhere, carried by the water into a corner.

Halls watched silently nearby. When Steve looked away, he sneaked a hand toward one of the floating white strands—it passed right through.

He nodded to himself. "Just as I thought."

Now that he had string, Steve made a fishing rod for good measure, then crafted some wool and several new beds. He replaced every single one in the breeder with these vanilla versions.

The old beds he simply dropped on the ground—villagers had a knack for cleaning up on their own, and he was happy to let them handle it.

Rose touched one of the new white beds. It was so smooth it almost didn't seem real, but she recognized the shape immediately.

It felt soft, but the pillow and blanket looked like they were just painted onto the fabric—purely decorative.

Still, when she sat on it, her eyes lit up. It was way more comfortable than anything she'd ever slept on.

She ran her hand along the surface, wondering what kind of material it was made of. But since the cover wouldn't come off, she couldn't tell.

Steve stood on the wall, quietly watching. Still no hearts.

Did they change the breeding rules too?

He sighed inwardly, deciding to shelve the project for now. He shut down the string farm and stored the extra string in a chest.

Then he grabbed some torches and a stone pickaxe and headed back underground.

He couldn't mine iron, but he could still find gemstones or monster nests. It was something, at least.

This time, Halls didn't dare follow.

He might be a dwarf, but he hated confined spaces—and Steve's tunnels were only one block wide.

"That guy's gotta come back up sometime. I'll just wait out here," Halls muttered, glancing toward Steve's square, boxy house—the "matchbox."

A wide gap under the door caught his eye, and curiosity got the better of him. He peered inside and saw something glowing.

A furnace?

His eyes burned with envy. But remembering how Steve hated people touching his things, he restrained himself. The last thing he wanted was to offend a man like that.

While Steve was underground, Halls went to find Elina, asking her to keep an eye on Steve. "No matter what he does, let me know," he said.

Tom, standing nearby, frowned. "This girl's still recovering! She needs rest!

"And I don't know what you're planning, but that man's our savior. You'd better not cause trouble."

Halls blinked, then noticed the pale look on Elina's face—and the red marks still on her leg.

He sighed, pulled an Emerald from his pocket, and handed it to Tom. "Then how about I commission you to keep watch? That way, you'll know for sure I'm not plotting anything against your savior."

Tom squinted but accepted the gem. It looked like one of Steve's. He planned to ask about it later—if it truly belonged to that man, he'd return it.

He still didn't quite know how to communicate with Steve, but he was determined to try.

Satisfied, Halls dropped off his pack and hurried back toward town.

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Author's Note: 300 powerstones for extra chapter. Leave a review if liking so far!

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