"Father, what's wrong with this Fishman?" Leo looked at the priest's reaction and asked, confused.
This Fishman seemed very dangerous.
The priest swallowed hard before speaking. "Lord Leo, this Fishman is cursed. It brings disaster. There was once a Fishman with horns who killed an entire Fishman tribe. He killed everyone and brought complete destruction to the area. Finally, a god had to step in and kill that evil Fishman."
"Did that really happen?" Leo was doubtful. He looked at the unconscious Fishman girl, but no hint appeared.
Hints only showed up when you were in danger or found something special.
He looked at the weak Fishman girl and thought she was easy to deal with. She didn't seem dangerous at all.
"Hey, where did you hear that story? It's just a rumor, right?" Anna didn't believe it either.
Plus, she had another idea. Fishmen were natural sailors. If she could get this one to join their ship, they wouldn't get lost during the voyage.
The priest said seriously, "You don't believe me? This Fishman must have been kicked out of her tribe, or she wouldn't be here. I advise you to throw her away. Don't get cursed."
Ava looked a little scared and asked, "Lord Leo, what should we do now?"
She had a kind heart and didn't want to ignore someone in need, but she believed her grandpa and was afraid it would bring bad luck to Leo.
Leo didn't think much of it. He said, "It's fine. I have a strong life. Priest, let's find a place to stay. If you're scared, choose a spot far from the village."
"STOP, Lord! Are you sure about this? Even if you're a god's messenger, you shouldn't get involved with disaster. Only a god can deal with a horned Fishman." the priest still didn't feel right.
"Okay, you take care of it." Leo said without worrying. He looked at the Fishman's horns and felt like he had seen them before.
"Lilia, is there really a dragon in this world?" He asked Lilia, who was standing nearby.
"Yeah." Lilia nodded. "They're powerful and evil creatures. Their bodies are as hard as scales, and they can breathe fire and poison. But they have strong territory feelings, so they rarely leave their own areas."
What she described wasn't the kind of dragon Leo had in mind.
He said, "I'm not talking about that big lizard with wings. I mean the Celestial Dragon."
"Celestial Dragon? What is that?" Lilia asked, confused.
"All right, nothing's wrong." Leo thought there were no Celestial Dragons in this world, or maybe these people had never seen one.
He looked at Anna and said, "Anna, this Fishman is your responsibility now."
"Sure. I'm still pretty strong, you know." Anna said proudly, and ordered Biggy and Secondy to carry the unconscious Fishman to a place far from the barbarian village.
The priest looked worried and tried to say something, but stopped himself.
"Father, has the island been going well lately?" Leo asked about the island's recent situation.
He had been gone for over ten days and had taught the barbarians a lot of survival skills. He wondered how well they had learned.
The priest nodded and said gratefully, "Lord Leo brought us hope. My people have tried to plant crops, but taming wild pigs and goats didn't work well. One pig broke through the fence and ran away, and the goats we caught starved to death."
"Did they really act like that?" Leo was confused. Animals shouldn't be this hard to tame.
He asked, "Did you do something wrong?"
"Uh, does killing the lamb next to it count?" the priest scratched his head and asked.
At that time, they had caught two goats—one big and one small.
The small lamb was accidentally shot and died on the spot.
"That must be it." Leo nodded. "Don't underestimate animals. They might care about family more than we do, even though we're higher beings. From now on, whenever you catch these little lambs, keep them in a pen. Especially the goats that are nursing—they can give milk."
" Nursing?" The priest didn't understand, but he still nodded.
"Ask me anything you don't get. Also, arrange a few barbarians for me. I need to make more gunpowder." Leo said.
"OK, no problem." the priest agreed quickly.
Leo got back to work, distilling nitric acid and burning sulfur stones.
Anna didn't give up. She kept bugging him to learn how to make gunpowder.
But she was clumsy. While distilling sulfuric acid, something went wrong and it exploded.
Thankfully, Leo wasn't there at the time. Anna was a water element mage, and she quickly made a shield to stop the flames. She put out the fire before it got too bad.
Even so, Leo was really scared. He ordered Lilia to watch Anna and make sure she didn't get near the gunpowder again.
"This stuff is really good. I didn't know these barbarians could cook so well." Anna said, hugging a goat leg and tearing into it like a wild animal, her mouth full and hard to understand.
Biggy and Secondy, who were watching, were drooling.
Ava said proudly, "That's what Lord Leo taught us."
"Really?" Anna looked at Leo, surprised. "Leo, I didn't know you were so good at this. Oh, by the way, can I have some more gunpowder?"
"No way." Leo said right away.
These days, Flame Island had been a mess because of her.
Leo was fed up with her constantly asking, so he gave her a barrel of gunpowder. She spent all her time messing around with it and came up with all sorts of crazy ways to use it.
"Uh, does killing the lamb next to it count?" the priest scratched his head and asked.
At that time, they had caught two goats—one big and one small.
The small lamb was accidentally shot and died on the spot.
"That must be it." Leo nodded. "Don't underestimate animals. They might care about family more than we do, even though we're higher beings. From now on, whenever you catch these little lambs, keep them in a pen. Especially the goats that are nursing—they can give milk."
" Nursing?" The priest didn't understand, but he still nodded.
"Ask me anything you don't get. Also, arrange a few barbarians for me. I need to make more gunpowder." Leo said.
"OK, no problem." the priest agreed quickly.
Leo got back to work, distilling nitric acid and burning sulfur stones.
Anna didn't give up. She kept bugging him to learn how to make gunpowder.
But she was clumsy. While distilling sulfuric acid, something went wrong and it exploded.
Thankfully, Leo wasn't there at the time. Anna was a water element mage, and she quickly made a shield to stop the flames. She put out the fire before it got too bad.
Even so, Leo was really scared. He ordered Lilia to watch Anna and make sure she didn't get near the gunpowder again.
"This stuff is really good. I didn't know these barbarians could cook so well." Anna said, hugging a goat leg and tearing into it like a wild animal, her mouth full and hard to understand.
Biggy and Secondy, who were watching, were drooling.
Ava said proudly, "That's what Lord Leo taught us."
"Really?" Anna looked at Leo, surprised. "Leo, I didn't know you were so good at this. Oh, by the way, can I have some more gunpowder?"
"No way." Leo said right away.
These days, Flame Island had been a mess because of her.
Leo was fed up with her constantly asking, so he gave her a barrel of gunpowder. She spent all her time messing around with it and came up with all sorts of crazy ways to use it.
Big bamboo gunpowder, explosive arrows.
She tried everything. The whole island was shaking with explosions. The barbarians were so scared they didn't even go hunting anymore.
But the little girl wasn't completely useless. At least the explosive arrows gave Leo some ideas.
Making cannons was too complicated. Not realistic right now.
But the explosive arrows were good. Just not far enough.
He thought about a compound bow, but that needed pulleys. Too complicated. Not worth it right now.
"Hey, what about that Fishman?" he asked, remembering the girl he had saved.
"Who knows?" Anna said, not really paying attention.
After she treated the Fishman's wounds, she was sure she was fine, so she stopped worrying about her.
Leo was speechless. That kid was a total mess.
Ava quickly said, "Leo, the Fishman woke up this morning. I gave her some soup and she went back to sleep."
"Take me to see her." Leo said, curious. He followed the two girls to a small hut far from the village.
The Fishman was staying there to rest.
She was awake, but still weak, sitting on a pile of dry grass, looking out into the distance. A bucket of seawater was next to her.
Fishmen couldn't stay out of the water for too long.
Creak!
The door opened.
The Fishman jumped in surprise and tried to run away.
"Marina, it's me. Leo wants to see you." Ava quickly said to calm her down.
Marina was the Fishman's name. She had gotten used to Ava by now.
"Human!" She saw Leo and looked scared, pulling her tail close. She had been attacked by humans before, nearly caught.
Ava quickly reassured her. "It's okay. Leo isn't like the others. He's a good guy. You don't have to be afraid."
Marina swallowed hard, still scared, and looked at Leo carefully.
Leo sat down nearby and said, "You don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you."
"Thank you for saving me." Marina said, nervously. She moved closer to Ava.
Leo continued, "You don't have anywhere to go, right? Want to come with us?"
He already knew Marina had been kicked out of her Fishman tribe. She was alone in the big, dangerous sea.
There were humans, pirate ships, and sea monsters that could kill a weak Fishman.
Marina shook her head when she heard that. She had heard stories about how cruel humans could be.
Fishmen who got caught by humans would be treated like toys.
Ava saw the misunderstanding and quickly explained, "Marina, it's not what you think. Leo isn't a noble. We're pirates. No, not pirates."
She thought about how pirates were mean and cruel, then quickly corrected herself. "We're just a group of adventurers. There's elves, minotaurs, and me. If you have nowhere to go, you can join us."
Marina looked down, sad, and said, "I can tell you're not bad people. But I'm a cursed Fishman. I'm an outcast. My tribe kicked me out. If I stay with you, I might bring bad luck. When I'm strong enough, I'll leave."
She could feel that Ava and the others weren't bad. She didn't want to bring them any harm.