...Didn’t she say that it would be just a simple dinner?
However, in the meantime, other members of the Seawater tribe also gathered around, and the number of bonfires increased, and the atmosphere quickly became like a festival.
“Are you the person who healed the chieftain’s injuries? Thank you so much, thank you! Haha!”
“I apologized for the way we treated you before. And thank you for taking care of the chieftain. You’re a good human being.”
Tribe members passing by me said a word at a time. It was mostly just them saying thank you.
Their attitude was the complete opposite of how they had been before, treating him like an intruder.
Everyone seemed to really appreciate how I healed the chieftain’s wounds. If it’s because of that, I couldn’t really do anything about it.
“Okay, try this.”
Anne held out a large piece of freshly baked fish meat on a skewer with team rising.
I took it and blew on it with my mouth to cool it, then took a small bite.
Her confident smile reflected the blazing bonfire.
“How about it? How does it taste?”
“Good.”
The taste was as expected
Fruits, smoked meats, fish that Anne had caught, as well as other fish dishes, came out, so it became a complete feast.
“I’m glad it seems to suit your taste.”
The chieftain chuckled pleasantly and chewed the fish to the bone.
“By the way, it would have been nice to have had alcohol, but unfortunately, there was nothing here since it’s not our home.”
Alcohol.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t drunk even a sip of alcohol since I came to this world. I wasn’t in a position to do that.
I glanced around.
Once again, I caught the sight of the Seawater people sitting around each seat and enjoying their meal.
Those who cook the meat, those who raise their voices, and the children who were asking when the meat would be done.
And on one side, I could see men walking across the forest with spears, probably wanting to catch more fish.
They were free and unconstrained. It was such a sight to behold.
“We always get together to eat like this. It’s a really fun and rich time.”
The chieftain also looked around at the tribe members.
I asked him.
“Now that you have healed your wounds, are you going to leave this place right away?”
“I think so. Even if not, we have already wasted a lot of time, so we should leave as soon as possible.”
This time, the chieftain asked me.
“I wonder if you found what you were looking for.”
I nodded.
“Fortunately, I found it thanks to your help.”
Anne, who was eating meat hard said while chewing the contents in her mouth.
“That’s right, Grandpa! I almost died when I was caught in the water by a swarm of fish? But blood came out of his palm and killed them all at once!”
“What do you mean?”
“No, I mean, there’s blood on his hands like this, then the swarm of fish just died…”
It was an explanation that could not be easily understood if they didn’t know exactly what Anne was talking about.
But the chieftain only had a smile on his lips.
I suddenly got curious and asked.
“You seem to have understood a bit about me from the first time you saw me, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Is that also an ability of the Seawater people?”
I remember that the Seawater tribe probably didn’t have any special abilities in that way. Was it just because the chieftain’s sixth sense was good?
He chuckled and shook his head.
“I could hardly call it an ability. It’s just that as the time of death approaches, things you’ve never seen before have become visible. The supreme level that is leaking out of your soul.”
Ah, the [Soul of the King]…
I had nothing to say, so I said nothing.
Instead, Anne spoke with a straight and hard face.
“What’s wrong with dying again, Grandpa? Don’t keep saying things like that? You wounds are healed, so why are you talking about death again?”
The chieftain laughed out loud.
“Child, can I go against the rules of nature that you’ve denied? Don’t make me keep saying things I’ve said a few times already.”
“...Even so!”
He must really have little time left, so he said something like that.
The chieftain seemed to be convinced that his lifespan was ending. How? And why?
“Our tribe’s home is the Poluv Sea in the northern part of the continent.”
Before I could ask, he spoke first.
“I left there a long time ago, riding rivers, sometimes walking on land, and roaming the seas extending from the north to the west of the continent until now. As our ancestors did, and as our descendants will, it is our Seawater people who do not stay in one place and wander for the rest of their lives. This is the way we live. That’s the cycle.”
It was a muffled voice, as if reminiscing about days gone by.
I quietly listened to the chieftain.
“When I was a child, the elders of the tribe used to say that when it is time to return to nature, I will miss my home, and all the Seawater people do. I miss my home’s sea.”
...So you were going back to your home?
To meet his last moment in the place where he was born.
“So, I’m really thankful to you. Otherwise, I might have been lying here without ever reaching my home.”
The chieftain patted Anne’s head next to him with a detached smile.
“...”
She had an annoyed face, but she did not avoid the touch with sad eyes.
A chieftain whose life was ending. Reasons to return home.
Then I could understand. Why was she crying so sadly then?
For the members of the tribe, especially for being his granddaughter, she would surely want to fulfill the chieftain’s last wish.
After dinner, it was time to go back.
The chieftain, Anne, and other members of the tribe saw me off.
“Ron, I wish you happiness for whatever path you wish to take.”
I also told the chieftain.
“I hope that you too can arrive at your home safely.”
It wasn’t a pretentious statement; it was what I truly hoped.
The chieftain smiled and nodded his head.
“Hey, you can come back tomorrow and have breakfast as well.”
Anne scratched her nose and said so.
Of course, I didn’t have to answer because I didn’t want to come.
I left the cave and returned to the carriage, not looking back. It was quiet.
Maybe it was because I heard stories about the chief’s home.
Feeling a strange feeling, I turned around and walked through the forest.
***
After tidying up the dining table, Anne was looking up at the night sky in front of the cave.
A member of a tribe her age who passed by and entered the cave asked her.
“What are you doing, Anne?”
Anne waved her hand in annoyance.
Then he laughed mischievously.
“Are you thinking of that person?”
“...What?”
“No, that’s right. You haven’t been able to take your eyes off him since earlier. Wow, is it really like that? I didn’t know you had that kind of taste.”
Her fist smashed into the man’s side.
He staggered back and complained.
“It’s a joke. What are you hitting me for…?”
“Shut up and go to sleep.”
All the members of the tribe entered, and Anne, who was left alone, glanced at the other side of the forest. Then she was filled with regret.
“...The face was indeed a bit to my liking.”
Would he come again tomorrow morning?
She shook her head and tried to enter the cave.
“...?”
Then she heard something slowly approached through the bushes.
Anne’s face lit up with a blush. Maybe it was Ron.
“Hey, why did you come back?”
Anne’s expression, which was about to call him with a slightly excited voice, hardened in an instant. And then it turned pale.
It was a middle-aged human male in a robe who came out through the bushes.
The man calmly spoke to her.
“Is the chieftain inside?”
“...”
Anne couldn’t answer anything.
She could only feel her hands trembling and stare at the man with fearful eyes.
A monster-like human who attacked a tribe passing through the realm of Santea and seriously injured her grandfather.
Why did he appear here again?
“You...!”
It was the moment she was about to squeeze her voice into the cave and shout, footsteps sounded.
The chieftain was already walking out of the cave.
“Hey, Grandpa.”
The chieftain, who found the man, was silent with a hardened face and asked.
“How the hell did you come all the way here?”
The man ignored the question and said.
“Chieftain, hand over the Magic Crystal. At least I will send them all away without pain.”
“...”
“The water isn’t close this time. You can’t run away as you did before.”
Aww!
As the man waved his hand, a gigantic magical energy shot out at a formidable speed and struck the chieftain.
He raised his arms in place to block the attack and staggered back a step.
In the commotion, the tribe members in the cave rushed out.
“What is this!”
“...That human!”
When they found the man, they were terrified.
The chieftain took a deep breath and then shouted.
“Everyone, run away! Gather the members of the tribe that are still inside, and run into the lake without looking back!”
The man said indifferently.
“Do you think they can survive?”
As if the previous blow was just a greeting, an even greater amount of magic flowed around him.
The chieftain, who raised his magical powers with all his might, swung his fists.
A punch, which was shot like an island war, aimed at the man, but suddenly it was blocked by the unfolding shield and disappeared without a trace.
The chieftain swung his fists incessantly and hurled attacks on the man.
In the collision of two huge energies, the surrounding land was turned upside down and the bushes were torn off.
The hesitant tribe members had no choice but to follow his orders and run towards the lake.
“...No! No way! Grandpa!”
Other members of the tribe forcibly grabbed and dragged Anne, who was screaming desperately.
The chieftain was pushing the man away as if burning the last embers of his life. But that was it.
“Argh...!”
The chieftain, who had been moving wildly, stopped for a moment, and then sat down, spitting blood from his mouth.
The effect of moving violently while still having internal injuries came quickly.
“Is it over?”
The man, who was still standing in the same place with his shield wide open, without moving even a single step, said as if it did not impress him.
“...Anne! No!”
Anne got out from the hold of her tribe members and ran towards the chieftain.
“Girl, I said to run away…”
“Shut up! What the hell is this?! Why do you keep doing it all by yourself?”
With tears in her eyes, she struggled to support the chieftain.
The man who had been watching the struggle with subdued eyes stretched out his hand slowly.
A huge flame rose in the air and swept the two of them like a wave.
Whoa!
The other tribe members who were running away watched the scene in vain.
The man turned around. All the other members of the Seawater tribe had to be dealt with.
“...?!”
But soon he had no choice but to furrow his brows and turn his head back.
A man stood where the flames and smoke had gone.
Whatever was blocking the flame, he and the other two Seawater people did not sustain any damage.
Anne, who was sitting down, looked up at him blankly.
“Ron...”
A young human male with black hair and golden eyes.
He didn’t even feel a sign of approaching from where the other suddenly appeared.
At that fact, the man asked with a sense of humility.
“Who are you?”
***
...Ha.
I fixed my gaze on the man in front of me and sighed in relief.
While moving in the carriage, I suddenly felt a huge amount of magical power, so I hurriedly came back. What the hell was this?
I could block the attack by using [Space Leap]s from a long distance away, but…
[Lv. 91]
The situation was absolutely the worst.
I knew who he was.
If I remembered that crazy level and the story the chieftain told me, I could guess it easily.
The chief mage of the Imperial Family of Santea, Rakiul.
Had he been chasing the Seawater people all the way here?
The man who was silently staring at me opened his mouth.
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering, I glanced at the chieftain and Anne, who were lying behind me.
Ahh… this was really crazy.
I couldn’t let them die, so I reflexively took action, and this had become the current situation.
I swore a bit and then stared at the shield surrounding Rakiul.
Fuck.
If he spread the shield like that, there’s no way I could rely on [Instant Kill]. It was a fatal weakness.
If the battle took place like this, the best thing I could do was defend and run away.
“If you don’t want to talk…”
The man raised his magic again.
In an instant, many thoughts ran through my mind.
How about continuing to defend? Or run away? Then what about the rest of the Seawater people? Should I reveal myself as a Lord? Then would he believe it?
It was then that the sound of laughter was heard from the other side of the forest.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the source of the laughter.
“Wow, what the hell is this?”
It was a woman with red hair that came out through the bushes.
When I saw her appearance, I was astonished, and the mage’s complexion also hardened. He murmured in a bewildered voice.
“...Beast King?”
The Fifth Lord—the Beast King.
Her sudden appearance in a chaotic situation made me even more confused.
The Beast King giggled as she looked at the mage’s hand that looked like he was about to attack me.
