Chapter 20: Dragon Cradle, and then to the Beastmen Village – 24
The next day, Karma-san showed us around the Beastmen Village.
Although, as Karma-san herself had said, “It’s just a plain rural village, there’s really nothing special to see,” there wasn’t anything particularly unusual. Wooden houses stood in rows, and several shops lined a street that was a bit too narrow to be called a main thoroughfare. The way the people living there went about their lives wasn’t that different from the towns I’d visited before, aside from the fact that most of them were Beastmen.
However, perhaps it’s a general tendency among Beastmen, but the voices of the people passing by were loud, and we encountered several scenes that looked like fights. According to Karma-san, there are relatively many hot-headed individuals, but conversely, that also means they are deeply passionate. It’s apparently not uncommon for them to be fighting one moment and then have their arms around each other’s shoulders, drinking, the next.
In any case, it was also true that we, the sightseers, ended up being the ones stared at by the passersby. Occasionally, some young men would try to talk to the women of ‘Guidance of Sol’, but after Karma-san whispered something in their ear, they’d exclaim something like, “Uheh! My apologies!” and run off.
“Ah, sorry about that, Soushi-san. There are a lot of guys here who can’t resist a pretty woman,” Karma-san said.
“As a man, I can’t say I don’t understand, so I guess it can’t be helped,” I replied.
“They probably think it’s rude not to approach, which makes them a real handful,” Karma-san grumbled. I see, so those kinds of people exist in this world too. Then again, looking at it from outside certain value systems, it feels like that might just be normal.
Incidentally, when I offered to handle it myself midway through, she said, “No, no, if it’s man-to-man, a lot of them will just want to pick a fight, making it even more troublesome. Besides, if you directly told them you were a Marquis, Soushi-san, wouldn’t that cause problems in itself?” so I had no choice but to leave it to Karma-san.
Anyway, nothing else particularly noteworthy happened that day. After finishing our sightseeing, we returned to Karma-san’s family home and ended up imposing on them for another night.
The next day, we headed to the Dungeon located in the Beastmen Village.
We decided to tackle the E-Class and F-Class Dungeons today, but since Lani-san and Karma-san had already cleared them, we had the two of them relax at home. It was a nine-person delve, but without Lani-san and Karma-san, only the normal number of monsters appeared, making it purely a Dungeon run for acquiring Skills.
In any case, everyone except Geshura gained resistance Skills, and even Geshura said he felt a slight increase in strength, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.
The day after that, Karma-san guided us to Lani-san’s family home—that is, the house of the Wolf Beastmen chieftain.
Incidentally, among the Beastmen, besides the Tiger Beastmen that Karma-san belongs to and the Wolf Beastmen that Lani-san belongs to, there are multiple other tribes, like the Dog Beastmen, Cat Beastmen, Rabbit Beastmen, and Fox Beastmen, such as the couple Gashi-san and Nari-san whom we met in Euron. These groups tend to live loosely clustered together, and apparently, each tribe has a chieftain who leads them. Of course, there’s also something called a Chieftain Council where these leaders gather, and furthermore, after these successive chieftains retire, they become what are known as ‘Elders’.
“That sounds… somewhat troublesome,” I inadvertently let slip, and Karma-san’s ears twitched.
“Troublesome? What do you mean?”
“Well, I just thought having elders around might make things difficult for the current chieftains. Something similar happened at the company… er, merchant firm I used to work for.”
“Ah, I see what you mean. Well, according to my old man, there are good and bad sides to it. But overall, he did say the elders are necessary, I think.”
“Then I suppose they’re managing it well. The best kind of elder is one who only offers advice when needed, but…”
“Haha, my dad said something similar. Oops, that’s Lani-san’s house right there.”
Lani-san’s family home was, as expected, a large house.
Karma-san called out, “Coming in!” and slid open the entrance door.
Just then, Lani-san burst out from the back with a face caught between tears and laughter and threw her arms around Karma-san.
“Ah~ You saved me~! Mom just wouldn’t stop, it was awful!”
“Oh, honestly. It’s not like you were being lectured the entire time, right?”
“The first half-hour was a lecture, but after that, she just wouldn’t let me go, I couldn’t do anything! Honestly, I think it’s about time she let her daughter grow up.”
“Well, Māri-san only has you as a child, Lani-san. And you’re the one who ran off, so maybe you should put up with it a little.”
“Well, yeah, but… Oh, welcome, everyone! Don’t just stand there, come in, come in.”
I had been a little worried, but their exchange gave me a sense of their parent-child relationship, and I felt relieved. Looking over, Freynil-san, Sphenia-san, and the others had similarly gentle expressions, so it seemed they all felt the same way. As expected, only Geshura didn’t seem to quite get it, but since the ‘Twilight Kin’ have different family structures than humans, it couldn’t be helped.
Lani-san led us into the reception room. Soon after, Lani-san’s mother, Māri-san, appeared with tea.
Looking at her again, she was a woman who strongly resembled Lani-san. According to Karma-san’s intel, she was apparently just over 30, but she looked young enough to pass as Lani-san’s older sister. At Māri-san’s prompting, Lani-san brought out something like tea cakes. Seeing her pattering around the house, helping out with little steps, was different from her usual self and quite endearing.
“We don’t have much to offer, but please make yourselves at home. I heard you folks were looking around the village today, Soushi-san, but there wasn’t much to see, was there?” Māri-san asked.
“To be honest, yes, but our purpose was to see the everyday life of the Beastmen. What I want to see is the ordinary lives of the people living on this continent, so I actually enjoyed it. Though I might have caused Karma-san some trouble.”
“You say some interesting things, Soushi-san. Well, I suppose walking through town must be tough when you’re escorting so many pretty girls. Please forgive the rudeness of the town folk.”
“Of course. We’re the ones walking around concealing our identities, after all.”
When I said that, Māri-san seemed to narrow her eyes slightly and smile.
“I heard the whole story from Lani yesterday. It seems you’ve really taken care of her, Soushi-san. She didn’t say it herself, but I get the feeling something terrible would have happened to Lani if you hadn’t been there.”
“Lani-san has sharp instincts, so I don’t think that would have happened. Rather, I believe it was that sharpness of hers that led to our meeting.”
“I see. You really do seem like an unusual person, Soushi-san.”
“Right? Soushi is super interesting, smart, and strong, you know! If he weren’t, I wouldn’t have him put a collar on me!” Lani-san interjected, lightly tugging at the ‘Hellchain Collar’ on her neck. Karma-san looked at me again with that sad expression, so I wished Lani would tone it down a bit.
Māri-san looked at Lani’s proud face, sighed softly, then straightened her posture, her expression turning serious.
“By the way, I heard a little from Zendar-san… Did you do something for us Beastmen, Soushi-san? An official came by a while ago and told us that the ones enslaved in Mekalinnan were freed.”
“Ah, no, it wasn’t that I did it specifically with the Beastmen in mind, but—”
Since she brought it up, I explained how the previous king of the Mekalinnan Country had been gathering slaves, how I had lent my strength to the new king to overthrow that regime, and how, as a result, the new king ascended the throne and arranged for the slaves’ release. I had intended to gloss over the part about lending my strength, but Dorozitte-san was incredibly knowledgeable about that episode and ended up recounting it with great authenticity, even revealing her identity as the Grand Master of the Adventurers Guild.
Actually, I hadn’t told even the members of ‘Guidance of Sol’ about it in such grand detail, so the members present seemed to be listening quite intently as well. Of course, as the one being talked about, I felt extremely awkward.
When the story finished, Māri-san looked up towards the heavens for a moment before speaking again.
“…I see. No wonder Lani fell for you. Or rather, if that story is true, and if the stories Lani told me about your battles are also true, then you must be an incredible man, Soushi-san.”
“Perhaps I am. Thanks to that, I’ve received various things from multiple countries.”
“I heard you’re a noble in both this Kingdom and the Northern Empire. Are there others?”
“We’re heading to Mekalinnan after this, and it’s highly likely something similar will happen then too. Personally, I’d like to decline, but it seems that won’t be possible.”
“I suppose that can’t be helped. But getting back to the original topic, the story is that the ones who were supposed to be freed have gone missing, right? The official certainly said the same thing.”
“Yes. Actually, we are about to head out to investigate that very matter, so if you have any information, we would be grateful to hear it. According to reports, it seems confirmed that the freed individuals reached the Armand Duchy. Are there any places they might have gone after that, other than this village?”
“That’s true…”
Māri-san crossed her arms and thought for a moment, but quickly shook her head.
“No, I don’t think so. Almost everyone taken should have family in this Village, so if they were able to return, they would have come straight back here first.”
“I see. By the way, roughly how many people have been taken up until now?”
“Talking about the last five years, it’s probably somewhere between 300 and 400 Beastmen in total. Half of them were children.”
“That’s quite a lot…”
I said that, but I wasn’t really sure if that number was large or small.
I’d heard that Mekalinnan has long maintained its state structure founded on slavery, so the number of slaves they utilized must have been quite substantial. In that context, 400 people probably isn’t necessarily a large number.
However, from the perspective of those who were taken, whether the number is proportionally large or small is completely irrelevant. Every single one of them must have been someone precious to their family and friends.
“Well, many have also left the Village, and if they were abducted as well, I imagine the number would be even higher.”
“That’s true.”
Either way, a considerable number of people must have been sent all the way to the Armand Duchy. For them to vanish entirely suggests there’s something suspicious going on behind the scenes.
In any case, that day, after we shared stories about our pasts and our journey, it was decided we would stay the night at Māri-san’s house.
Incidentally, during that talk about our pasts, I was able to hear the story of Māri-san’s husband, who was Lani’s father.
His name was Norekka. Apparently, after reaching C-rank as an Adventurer, he returned to the Village and served as its chief for several years.
It seems that one time, while out hunting with several others, they unexpectedly encountered a powerful monster. While trying to protect Māri-san, he apparently fought the monster to a mutual death, falling into a river and being swept away in the process.
“That was over five years ago now.”
Even as she said that, the way Māri-san spoke as if it had happened just yesterday seemed to strike a chord with the members of ‘Guidance of Sol’. Freynil especially didn’t leave my side that night.