ocean-life Book 2: Chapter 1-1: New People
Book 2: Chapter 1-1: New People
Book 2: Chapter 1-1: New People
Impossible! Go home, we cant afford to have 50 more mouths to feed at this point!
Thats right, this is the elf village!
When I returned to the village I saw the Elves surrounding the Fire Fox women and loudly denouncing them.
All 50 of them were young Fire Fox women. Forty of them were in the late half of their teens and 10 of them were in the early half. All of them looked exhausted with battered appearances and clothing.
Fire Foxes looked mostly human but with large ears and a fluffy tail.
Please listen to us. We have no other choice, this is the only place we can go!
PICTURE
Amongst them one of the older Fire Foxes raised her voice.
She was around 160cm tall and slightly shorter than me. She was slim with a rather large chestpractically a grown womans body.
Her face had gentle looking features, but the intelligence and strong will that dwelt in her eyes removed any impression of weakness and replaced it with vigor.
Even the good quality of the fur on her tail set her apart from the rest.
It was a face I knew well. My former fiancee, Kuu the Fire Fox Chiefs daughter.
That doesnt matter! We dont have enough surplus to take care of 50 new people!
Roleau the roughneck yelled. When I wasnt in town he acted as my proxy.
He was physically strong, defended the village, led the hunting party, and was fairly popular.
Adding to that his parents were well respected and he was one of the elves in the village who could read and write. All these combined to make him an obvious choice for me.
If I were to speak honestly if popularity and ability to read and write were the only conditions, then Lucy as a well educated and popular shrine maiden was my preferred choice. However, choosing Lucy would surely be seen as an act of favoritism.
Id forgive any mistake she made and couldnt act harshly towards her. For these reasons I couldnt give Lucy a clearly defined post like that. It was my responsibility as Chief.
I dont expect you to take us in for free. Well work properly and we have brought gifts as well. We wont ask for luxury. We simply want enough food so we dont starve and someplace that we can endure the cold in.
No. Absolutely not. Leave right now! You guys lost to the Empire and came running over here right!? You think we can shelter people like that!?
If we were to forsake them now then I doubt they had anywhere else to go.
For any race without a magic stone within them they were the perfect prey. They could kill them, take their magic stones, and sell them to the Empire for exorbitant prices. Itd be right for the Fire Foxes to think of everyone except us as natural enemies.
Emotionally and logically for the benefit of Erucy I wouldnt leave them in the lurch.
Roleau I thought I told you to reserve final judgment for matters involving Erucy til I arrived. Ill take over from here.
But Chief Cyril
Believe in me and leave this to me.
If you go so far as to say that
I took a deep breath and smiled before opening my mouth. The Fire Foxes and Elves gazed at me.
I extend my welcome to you Fire Foxes. I apologize for making you repeat yourself, but could you please inform me as to the purpose of your visit today?
Cyril-kun?
Kuu looked at me with some surprise on her face.
Its been a while Kuu.
I said and Kuus face slightly softened before quickly returning to her previous tension.
Her expression was filled with a sense of responsibility and grimness. It conveyed to me that, just like I was burdened with the lives of my fellow countrymen, so was she with hers.
You will be conducting the negotiations?
As you can see I am currently the Leader of this villageno this country, Erucy.
Country?
Thats right. Since weve picked a fight with the Empire we are no longer a single village living beneath their tyranny, but a single country working together with common purpose.
Even though we say that we were still only a self-styled country. In order to become a proper country we would need to be acknowledged by another country besides the Empire. Until another country became involved in this we would still be considered an Imperial Village that was rebelling.
But even so we needed to continue to name ourselves as the country Erucy.