hapter 23 – Something happened!?
While Heal was talking to Fule in the tunnels, a battered ship was anchored near Sheorl's shore.
And from this battered ship, a single boat was sent out towards Sheorl's reclaimed ground.
Ten strong kobolds were rowing the boat.
And at the boat's bow, were two kobolds who glared ahead.
One was thin and had fur the color of ash.
The other was muscular and had fur that was brown.
Both wore light leather armor and had scimitars at their belts.
As if to drive them away, the Golems and goblins waited for them on land.
"Who are you!?"
One of the goblins shouted.
However, the kobolds did not answer.
The gray kobold…whose name was Ash, muttered.
"Why are goblins in such a place as this… Haine, is the child really on this island?"
Haine, for that was the brown kobold's name, nodded.
"Do you doubt me, elder brother? My nose is saying that it is this island and nowhere else. Besides, I can smell the scent of the mother, Her Royal Majesty, as well… No matter how far, I would not mistake it."
"I see. You do have the 'Hunter' crest, after all, so you cannot be wrong. However, from where did these goblins come from? And I see a great stone doll and a spider, and also a half-naked old ma…human. In any case, we must hope that they are not hostile…"
"…Brother. It is difficult for me to say this, but their smell…"
Haine was about to continue, but Ash saw one of the goblins and raised his voice in alarm.
"Is that Ere, the great warrior from the Berdan tribe!? Why is he here!?"
"Judging by their scent, all of them are from the Berdan tribe…"
Haine said with a dark expression. Ash bit his lip.
"…So, it just had to be our mortal enemies. …Ah, young one. I pray that they did not harm you."
Ash said as he tightly gripped his scimitar.
Perhaps the young one that they had been searching for had already been killed.
Yes, that was very likely.
And while they had to find out for sure, the Berdan tribe had been their enemies for centuries.
Not once had they successfully negotiated with them.
"Haine…we must do it."
"I know…"
Ash and Haine made up their minds.
Erevan watched them and licked his axe with a grin.
"Thunder Wind Ash and Roaring Wind Haine… I did not expect to see them here…"
Then Rienna and Baris arrived on the scene.
Baris saw Ash and muttered.
"Is-is that a kobold!?"
Erevan made a fist and nodded.
"Aye. They are Ash and his brother Haine. They are from the Tibris tribe… They killed my sons with those scimitars of theirs…"
Erevan looked like he was about to jump into the water in order to reach the boat as soon as possible. But Rienna and Baris stopped him.
"General. I understand how you feel! But you must not touch them! We must wait for Lord Heal's instructions!!"
"The Princess is right! If we told them that we properly buried the kobolds, they might…"
It was just when Baris had said this.
Ash and Haine disappeared from the boat.
"Both of you. Stand back!!"
Erevan shouted as he raised his axe into the air.
Other than Erevan, everyone else looked up at the sky to see what had happened. That's when they saw the two kobolds with their curved swords.
"Arrgghhhhhh!!!"
The kobolds were quick. But not quick enough to avoid the swing of Erevan's axe.
Ash and Haine were thrown into the air. But they still landed as if they were used to it.
Ash muttered as sweat dripped down his forehead.
"Impressive. But he is Ere, the greatest Berdan warrior, after all…"
"…Brother, what should we do?"
"We have no choice… We must fight so as not to bring shame to our tribe. I will fight Ere. You…you can fight the spider. It will not be dishonorable to die against such a foe."
"…Understood!"
Haine said as he moved towards Taran, the Cave Spider.
The kobolds on the boat had also unsheathed their swords and were trying to land.
Just then, Ash was about to challenge Erevan again.
But Rienna turned to Erevan and said,
"Perhaps it cannot be avoided now…but, General. Do not kill them!"
"I know… It is a difficult order, but I will try!!"
Erevan said as he blocked Ash's attack once again.
Axe and sword clashed repeatedly.
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Next to them, Haine's scimitar was blocked by the four pickaxes that Taran was carrying.
While Haine was fast, Taran was keeping up with expert precision.
And then Taran discharged its webs all over Haine, immediately restraining him.
Furthermore, the other kobolds had fishing nets thrown over them by the Golems and goblins, and then Rienna's thunder magic paralyzed their bodies.
Ash had his doubts upon witnessing this, but Erevan's vicious attacks did not give him much time to consider it.
And so their battle continued for a few minutes longer.
～～～～～
When I reached the entrance to the cave, I saw that everyone was gathered at the reclaimed ground.
Fule was with me and immediately asked,
"Wh-what's going on?"
"There's a boat. Someone must have arrived. Let's go."
Considering the sounds and voices I was hearing, it was possible that they were fighting.
I didn't know who the enemy was yet, but it was clear that we should hurry.
But it turned out my worries were for nothing.
Because when we arrived, the fight had already ended, and most of the kobolds had been captured.
However, I did see a thin, ash-colored kobold being launched into the air by Erevan.
The kobold tried to search for the curved sword that he dropped, but Mappa had already picked it up.
The kobold saw Mappa looking at it curiously, and his shoulders fell.
"Tsk… So this is the end. Ere, you have defeated me. Take my head and offer it to the sons that fought so bravely…"
"I wish that I could. You have no idea how much. …But I cannot."
Uh…
It sounded like these two knew each other?
But the atmosphere was very heavy…
Well, in any case, it seemed that no one had died on our side or the kobolds.
Rienna or Baris must have decided that it would be wrong to kill them.
As I looked around, Rienna noticed me.
"Lord Heal!"
She shouted, and everyone turned to me.
Erevan and the other goblins all went down on one knee.
Of course, the ash-colored kobold looked at my face.
"A hu-human? …The Berdan tribe are kneeling before a human?"
"Ah, umm… I'm Heal. Lord of this island. Who are you?"
"I am… I am called Ash."
Said the gray kobold who clearly did not grasp the current situation.
It was no wonder.
There were goblins on this island. And a giant spider and golems as well.
And then he learned that the lord was a human.
But it would take too long to explain it all…
Besides, I think I knew the reason that they came here…
One of the captured kobolds spoke to Ash.
"Ah, brother. I can smell the young one…from him."
"Wh-what!?"
I opened the top button of my shirt.
And then the kobold baby's head poked out.
The baby looked at Ash with a puzzled expression.
"Co-could it be… Is that…"
"It was trapped in a treasure chest that drifted here. You came here to find this little guy, didn't you?"
I said. And then Ash and the captured kobold stared at each other.
They were crying.
"…The…the little one is alive!! The last child of the Tibris house is alive!!"
The kobolds all looked up at the sky and howled.
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Chapter 24 – I talked about my hopes for the island!!
And so we decided to release the kobolds and listen to what they had to say.
"I see… In other words, his parents were in the battle at sea and…"
Ash the kobold nodded with a pained expression.
All the bodies and remains of ships that floated to the island yesterday.
So they really were from a battle between kobolds and orcs after all.
"The enemy had one hundred great ships…and we only had thirty that were hurriedly put together. We didn't stand a chance against them. This is the only ship that wasn't destroyed…"
And then the younger brother, Haine, continued.
"Seeing that she had no choice, Her Majesty the Queen also joined the battle and used her magic. However, in an attempt to save the life of the newborn young one, she put him in a magic box and entrusted me and my brother with his protection."
"But then our ship was also sunk…"
"And then the box drifted off to this island."
Ash and Haine nodded at me.
On the other hand, the kobold baby just looked at me oddly.
So in other words, Ash and Haine were this baby's real guardians…
After all, the parent had entrusted them with his care.
"In any case, I'm glad that we found you."
I said as I carried the baby with my hands and walked up to Ash and Haine.
"See? They are your friends…uh…"
However, the baby jumped back onto my chest and hid inside of my shirt.
Then it looked up at me and whimpered sadly.
"Oh, boy…"
And so I explained what had happened to Ash.
"…I'm the one who opened the box. And now it seems like he won't calm down without me."
Ash and Haine looked at each other in disbelief.
"Co-could it be…but the magic was cast by Her Majesty…how could he open it?"
"But brother, it's even more ridiculous to believe that it opened on its own… After all, I sense great magic within him… More than Her Majesty even…I do not want to admit it, but it is more than double. More than ten times as powerful… Yes, he may look human. But it is just a disguise."
But I am human!
…I wanted to say it, but they had a point. If you just looked at how much magic I had, it exceeded what humans were supposed to be capable of.
Sweat poured from Ash's forehead as he turned to look at me.
"Um, that box…it was locked with magic by our Queen Noia. Most of us kobolds of the Tibris tribe have low magic and cannot use it. The royal line was the only exception, as they could use advanced magic…and yet, you broke it…"
Ash turned to Hain and the other kobolds as if wanting their opinions.
As if in reply, the kobolds nodded firmly.
Then Ash turned back to me and bowed his head.
"Lord Heal… I understand that this may sound insolent, but I must make this request. Will you please raise the young one?"
"Me…?"
"Yes… Her Majesty said that she wanted someone who was skilled with magic to raise her child in her stead. And that whether or not the person was worthy, would be determined by their ability to open the magic box…"
Erevan heard this and muttered with disgust.
"Tsk… What kind of parent would do that? Even if they can use magic, how many people would take care of someone's child without receiving anything in return?"
"You are not wrong. And so we were meant to offer many treasures from the Tibris tribe as payment…"
Ash looked angry, which made it obvious what had happened to the treasures.
"So that's also at the bottom of the sea…"
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"It's most embarrassing… Of course, you can do what you want with us! Our last boat is yours without question. As for us, you can sell us or take our fur!!"
Ash said as he bowed once again. The other kobolds also bowed with their heads on the ground.
Damn it…
I didn't actually mind.
He seemed very attached to me now, and after hearing everything, I had no objections to being a parent.
However, there were likely to be goblins who would not want to live with the child of a king who had killed their families.
Especially Erevan. It sounded like his own children were killed by them. His hatred would be strong.
What should I do…
I couldn't answer immediately.
However, someone walked beside me and spoke.
"…Lord Heal. We will obey, whatever your decision is."
It was Rienna who said this.
"…Rienna."
"It is true that we Berdans have been fighting the Tibris tribe for centuries. However, that is in the past. We Berdans are now your servants, Lord Heal. The decision is yours to make."
Rienna said as she fell to one knee.
Upon hearing this, Baris and the other goblins followed her lead.
Erevan seemed like he was holding something back, but he too kneeled.
"…We would not be alive without your help, Lord Heal. Besides, this island is yours. We will obey."
"Erevan…"
So I had to decide…
Father…the king of Sanfaris, would have loved this situation. For him, his opinion was the only one that mattered.
However, I didn't want to decide on my own.
I wanted to listen to everyone's opinions… Well, maybe the truth was that I didn't like to think hard about anything that was unrelated to mining…
Regardless, I could tell them the general direction I wanted this island to take.
Now that there were more residents here, it was necessary for it to have something like rules and a philosophy.
"Everyone. Please listen to me. …I have no intention of rejecting any who wishes to live here. And you are always just as free to leave. Furthermore, if there are any in need in this wide open sea, I would like to help them… Just like this island helped me after I was banished from my home…"
And then I continued.
"To me, all the conventions and bonds of the continent are in the past. On this island, everything that happened there is of no consequence."
In the first place, Sanfaris was a kingdom that forbade monsters from entering.
I would not have been allowed to live with goblins like I was now.
But this wasn't Sanfaris.
Well…maybe it was part of the king's territory, strictly speaking… But no one from Sanfaris would ever come here…
I was far away from the bloody battles and rivalries between the princes and princesses.
Living on this island was very comfortable.
But I couldn't just ask them to wash away the hatred either…
"…I would like to welcome not just the child, but all of the kobolds to this island. Even if it is just long enough to repair the ship, you will still have to stay here for a while, after all."
Upon hearing this, the eyes of Ash and the other kobolds filled with tears.
And then they bowed again.
"…Lord Heal. I do not have the words to express… Just know that you have our gratitude!"
And so on that day, new residents joined us on the island.