CH 100

Chapter 100 – We Made Human Allies!

“Mette. It’s fine if you come out!”

I shouted towards the forest.

And then, Mette’s head poked out from behind the trees.

Iria nodded and then Mette showed herself.

“Mette…and Asuha. You could have told me that you were coming.”

Mette and Asuha looked at each other a little frantically and then said,

“No-no. It was just that Asuha was going on about a horde of monsters in the area. And so we followed after those goblins. It’s just a coincidence!”

Mette answered desperately. Perhaps it was at least half-true, as she did not seem too worried.

Ecleshia was still at the settlement, and since they had hidden in the forest, there was no need to remonstrate with them.

“I see… However, there were also things like Chimeras. You really must avoid leaving the village on your own. Though, I suppose it was fine because Asuha was with you.”

“So-sorry.”

“I am very sorry.

Mette and Asuha apologized.

“Well, in the end, it is true that you two saved us. And because of that, none of the soldiers of the settlement were killed.”

I said, and then Solm approached and bowed his head.

“Yes, you helped us tremendously. Allow me to offer my thanks as well. I was amazed at the ease in which you defeated the Chimera.”

Solm said. But I was certain he would have defeated the other Chimera even without Mette’s help.

Mette looked at Solm with an impressed expression.

“No, not at all. You are quite the swordsman yourself! I doubt any of the men from the village could have done that.”

“It really was impressive swordsmanship. I have never seen such clean and precise movement before.”

Iria joined in praising Solm.

“You honor me, but from my point of view, you are twice as good a fighter… But in any case, you all have my gratitude. And thank you, Sir Joshua.”

Solm said with a deep bow of his head, and Iria and the others looked at each other happily.

I suppose they now understood that there were good humans as well.

The knights also clapped and cheered for Iria and the others.

Before I knew it, the sky had started to become pale. People were returning to the settlement now in order to work. The remains of the enemy army were still in the area, and so there would be plenty of hunting and gathering to be done.

As for us, we decided to trade with the residents of the settlement, in order to acquire grains, vegetables and other seeds.

They all apologized, as we had helped to save them, but they were already barely scraping by. And so I made various tools that they required and traded with them.

“Everyone here is so nice.”

Iria said as she looked back at the children who were waving their hands.

“It’s because you helped them.”

None of the people avoided them because they were demihumans.

Melk then muttered.

“Thanks to that, we received a lot of things I’ve never seen before. Books too.”

As Melk said, we had been given some magic books as well. So you could say that we got everything that we had set out to buy.

After that, I returned to the fortress in order to meet with Solm. Not only to say our farewells, but to discuss future cooperation as well.

However, I saw that there was an extravagant carriage near the entrance of the fortress. That had not been there before.

And on this carriage was a crest of an eagle perched on top of a shield… The crest of the empire.

While there were many countries of men, the one that took up the most space on the map was the empire. It was near the center of the northern region on the continent, and several of the surrounding kingdoms were under its protection.

As for the southern cities, most of them survived through the patronage of nobles from this empire. In fact, many of the lords of those cities were also nobles of the empire.

What business did they have with Solm?

I wondered as I entered the fortress.

And then, near the entrance, I saw that Solm was talking with the other knights.

“Solm. I saw that there was an imperial carriage.”

“Yes. A servant from Duke Jardo of the southern Rejan territories arrived. Apparently, some of his peasants had run away.”

“Ah. And where is the duke? In the north?”

“Yes, in his lands. They are putting together an expeditionary force to take back the southern cities, but due to an outbreak of wild monsters within the empire, they are finding it hard to find support…”

“Monsters?”

Once you moved away from human settlements, there were wild monsters everywhere. It was the same in any country.

However, unlike the Demon King Army, they did not actively seek and fight against humans. In general they would stay away from human settlements unless they were chasing prey.

Could it be that someone was leading the wild monster to go towards human settlements? Just like with the Minotaurs?

Kyuby’s shadow flickered in the back of my mind. Something about there being work to do up north. It must be related to this.

“In any case, so you won’t be getting any support for a while.”

Solm nodded at my words.

“I do not know about the other countries, but the imperial nobles have the biggest fighting force. And if they cannot come… We will have to protect ourselves for some time. So, I have a proposal to make, Sir Joshua.”

“Aye. Fendel will be glad to trade information with you. That way, we will both be able to deal with any attacks from the Demon King Army. As for us, we do not want to provoke any human army that might come from the north. And so I will ask the Tengus to make regular visits to this fortress.”

“Very well. We will offer them any food and water that they may need. As for any other cooperation…”

“I’m sorry, but like I said yesterday, I need to return to the village once and discuss it with the others before deciding.”

“I understand. For now, we will leave it at trading information.”

I nodded at Solm.

“In any case, I will return. Once we have food and supplies to spare, we can trade. I can also make tools for anyone who needs them.”

“I am grateful, Sir Joshua. You already made a wall for us on the southside. If there is anything that we can do for you, please let us know.”

“I’ll be counting on that. Now, we must go. Solm…good luck.”

“You too, Sir Joshua… Also, as I’ve always had to tell you, sleep when it’s time to sleep.”

“You should follow your own advice. You didn’t even sleep last night, did you?”

It wasn’t that he had woken up early. He had been writing letters asking for help.

“Haha. So you could tell?”

“Yes. After all, whenever I used to work in the middle of the night, and I heard footsteps, it was usually you. Of course, I was in no position to be pointing fingers…”

I chuckled and then continued.

“In any case, here, you are like Royg…a captain. So you should take care of yourself. By the way, why haven’t you named this settlement or organization?”

“Indeed. I suppose it would be easier for others if there was a name they could use. Yes… Then I shall call it the Varth Knights Order. And this place can be called Varthburg.”

“Very well. So from now on, you are the leader of the Varth Knights Order.”

I said, and the other knights around us agreed that it was a good name. And they called Solm their captain.

“Hmm… But should I really be captain?”

“There is no one better. You’ll get used to it eventually. Farewell, Captain Solm.”

“Yes. Thank you, Sir Joshua.”

And like that, we started on our journey back to Fendel.