HPDBC Chapter 36 – Doldia Village
Chapter 36 – Doldia Village
Chapter 36 – Doldia Village
— Leon Greyrat —
It had been a week since the rescue operation, and after one day of travel, I had spent the rest of the time relaxing and playing with some children of the Doldia village.
I mean, since we would be spending the next few months here, I might as well make some connections, right?
And a few of the girls seemed nice and the perfect friends for Eris, Norn, and Aisha.
But it had already been seven days... I was getting a bit worried that something had gone wrong with Ruijerd and the rest.
Maybe the ship had already left?
Or maybe they got caught up with the smugglers?
I didn’t know, but I was anxious that Eris was left watching Aisha and Norn by herself for all this time.
I could trust her, of course, but it didn’t mean I wanted to leave everything to her for so long.
And so, deciding that enough was enough, I made the decision that after a good night’s rest, I would head back to Zant Port first thing in the morning to see what was happening, and if need be, offer my assistance.
But rather than being welcomed by the singing of birds or a hesitant knock by one of the kids, I was instead woken by the sounds of screaming and an instinctual churning in my stomach.
Something... something was wrong.
Haa... I knew that something would happen.
Just my fucking luck.
Shooting out of my bed, I quickly grabbed my sword before heading out the door of the residence I had been gifted by Gyes, only to see the nighttime scenery lit up by flames.
A... forest fire?
The rainy season was just about to come when the land and forest would be drenched with water, which meant that right now, the forest was extremely wet, so something like this should be extremely rare.
Unless, of course, it was... not natural.
“Fire!”
“Evacuate the houses!”
“Ansha!? Ansha! Where are you!?”
Beastfolk ran around panicked as armoured humans chased some, trying to grab any women and children they could and cutting down any that provided any resistance.
So it was an attack... that explained the fire.
The sounds of confusion, carnage, and fear entered my ears, quickly snapping me out of my thoughts.
Right. That didn’t matter right now.
There was a fire, and fire was bad, so the obvious thing to do was put it out.
Raising my hand into the air, I summoned rain clouds across the sky before having them converge above me, twisting and churning the atmosphere, I infused the clouds with mana and transformed said mana into water before letting it all fall.
As the rain began to pour down, I noticed a man, a kidnapper, tear a child from a woman’s arms before unsheathing their sword, raising it to bring down on the woman’s neck.
The fire... the death... the destruction... it all reminded me of that familiar nightmare that stemmed from so long ago.
The night I lost Mom... the night I lost that sweet woman that first showed me love...
I wouldn’t let that happen again, not as long as I could help it.
Extending my other arm, I generated a stone bullet before releasing it, accompanied by a blast of wind to propel it toward the kidnapper.
Breaking the sound barrier, the bullet slammed into the man’s head a moment later, instantly killing him before his sword reached the woman.
Tsk. There were more, and from what Gustav said before, most if not all the warriors of the village were gone to rescue the rest of the kidnapped children.
It seemed their weak defences had been exploited, leading these attackers to have free rein on the entire village, and considering the rainy season was about to begin, by the time the warriors got back, they wouldn’t be able to go after them for a while.
The village was completely exposed.
Well... as long I wasn’t here, that is.
While I was prudent not to go chasing after problems to deal with, unlike our justice-loving Ruijerd, when there was something like this happening right in front of me, and where my assistance wouldn’t put my family at risk, there was no need to hold back.
Plus... I of all people knew how horrible it felt to lose your home, but from my experience in my first year of life, as well as what had happened over a year ago.
“It’s raining!? Shit! There’s a magician,” one of the armed men said before looking around and quickly spotting me. “You!?”
Yeah, me.
He then ran forward, drawing his curved blade as he approached.
Intermediate-rank at most... how disappointing.
With one great leap, the man swung his sword toward my neck, prompting me to raise my blade to defend.
But it seemed that I didn’t need to.
“You’re dead- Gahk!”
Before he could reach me, a broad blade was embedded into his chest, sending a splash of blood across the ground.
“It was you who is quelling the fires, right?” Gyes said, flicking his sword to the side and finishing off the man. “I thank you, but if you could please lend your aid once more-”
“Of course I will,” I huffed, interrupting the man.
Still, this guy wasn’t very good at asking for things, considering his teeth were clenched the entire time.
It seemed that his pride was hurt that he would need the help of a human, and one that was a child no less, to help defend his village.
Well, it was the ability to swallow that pride that made a good leader, so maybe he wasn’t as bad as Gustav said.
“Focus on creating a safe zone, and bringing all the villagers there. As for the attackers...” I said, walking up to the recently made corpse and kicking his sword up to grab it. “You can leave them to me.”
Taking a few swings to get accustomed to the weight, I then crouched low to the ground, digging my feet into the dirt as I mapped out my path.
One, two, three... four up high.
Right, let’s do this.
“Don’t order me arou-!”
I then stepped forward, my touki-enhanced leap leaving Gyes’ words behind as I drew both swords.
Reaching the first smuggler, I sliced his throat with the curved blade, and twisting around, I embedded my companion spell sword into another’s forehead, both bodies dropping to the ground as I moved onto my next target.
Efficiently and emotionlessly, I cut through man after man, only stopping to heal any beastfolk that needed it, or if I sensed any trapped in collapsed buildings with my Demon eye.
But even with my assistance, there were still numerous casualties, both from the fire and the human attackers.
The thought made me grit my teeth in frustration, but it didn’t go past that.
After all, in this world, death was a common occurrence, which is why I needed to get stronger... to shield my family from everything that might come our way.
And eventually, if I got even stronger... I could extend my protection to others too.
My spell had been going on for a while, and as a result, the rain was now pouring down over the surroundings, dousing any flames and recovering the beastfolk’s innate senses, allowing them to easily flee or fight.
Thus, our counterattack started, led by me combing through the human numbers, felling a foe with each strike.
The humans, on the other hand, were understandably in disarray.
After all, the advantage they held against the beastfolk had turned against them, and while they knew there was a magician around, by the time they understood who it was, I had already killed them.
This continued as we moved through the village, and before I knew it, I had ended up leading a band of warriors, with some breaking off now and then to take the freed villagers back to the village centre.
Eventually, the figures revealed from my Demon eye dwindled, showing only one last opponent to be dealt with.
“Tch. You guys caught up awfully quick, huh?” he spat, turning to our group.
A familiar scar came into view, with the man holding a child close to his chest with a sword to her neck.
It did feel oddly... comforting.
Anyway, with most of the villagers focused on rebuilding the houses, and the warriors taking the kids back to their original villages, Gustav invited me and our group into his house.
First, I gave a more detailed report on what had happened while Gyes constantly went off on a rant about ‘disgusting humans’ and ‘damn vermin’, as well as telling him about my encounter with Gallus and how he was likely the one who set everything up.
Then, they told me about what had happened on their side, and why it had taken so long for them to return.
With the help of Ruijerd and his third eye, they were easily able to locate the children, and with Gustav and our trusty Judge’s combined power, were also able to rescue every captured child with no issues.
What held them up was what happened afterwards.
Apparently, having run into a bit of trouble with the port authorities, the beastfolk got into a stand-off with them before Zant Port eventually caved under the pressure, deciding to give them ample compensation for any trouble that was caused.
I was a bit confused about why they suddenly retreated, and not only retreated, but also gave compensation, but it seemed like they were worried about a war breaking out with the tribes of the Great Forest.
At least that’s what Gustav was told...
If I had to guess, Gallus and his people probably bribed the authorities to keep the beastfolk occupied for the time required for their operation, and after keeping their promise, the authorities quickly caved into the pressure.
Not like it mattered now, anyway.
Having finished exchanging our stories, Gustav then went down to his knees in front of Eris, Ruijerd, and me.
“Thank you for all your help. I promise that the Deldoldia tribe will not forget this debt.”
Ruijerd simply shook his head. “There is no need for that. Saving children is something every warrior should strive to achieve.”
How honourable.
“Hehe~! N-No problem!” Eris chimed in.
...She had been awfully giddy ever since I saw her, especially when she was holding those two beastfolk children’s hands on the way in.
Must be the Boreas blood.
“It’s no problem,” I said. “After all, for the next few months, we’ll be living together, so it's only right to protect your people.”
Gustav showed a large smile. “Yes, indeed. You are welcome to stay for the rainy season, and even longer if you wish. Should you require anything, you will always have us on your side. I swear that on my name.”
Well... since he asked...
“I actually have a question,” I said. “Have you encountered any victims of the Fittoa Displacement Incident?”
Gustav nodded his head seriously. “Indeed. Some of our people ended up returning to us through that turn of events, and we found some lost humans in the forest that were then guided to Zant Port. And also...”
His face then twisted into a difficult smile, one belying a sense of affection and also exasperation.
“...A human child was teleported to our village. He helped us deal with the monsters and the floods during the rainy season with his amazing magic, but his lust... it was boundless.”
A talented magician? A human child? Boundless lust?
Did... did Rudy teleport here?
“A child with boundless lust, you say?” Ruijerd said oddly.
“Indeed. Luckily he knew our language, so he could explain his situation, but the stench of lust filled our noses so poignantly when he looked at the girls that we had a hard time believing him to be a child,” Gustav explained.
“And did he do anything odd?” I ask.
“Yes,” Gustav nodded. “He had a particular fascination with our girls’ used loincloths.”
So Rudy was here.
What a coincidence!
“...And he also enjoyed peeking during their bathing times,” Gustav added.
I couldn’t help but facepalm.
Rudy... what the hell were you doing?
I was glad he seemed to be okay right off the bat, but couldn’t he have shown a little more tact?
Haa... how was I supposed to break it to them that he was my brother?
“Leon? What are they saying?” Eris asked.
“Ah, my apologies, I had slipped back into my native language by mistake,” Gustav apologizes in the human tongue. “But yes, after the rainy season ended, the boy then took it upon himself to escort my granddaughter, Linia, as well as another promising member of the Adoldia tribe, Pursena, to the Asuran Kingdom of the Central Continent.”
Oh... so they must be those girls that Rudy was feeling up when Kishirika spied on him.
“He did say he was worried about his family,” Gustav continued. “Do you know of a Rudeus? Or perhaps his family’s whereabouts?”
“Ah, that...”
“Rudeus? That’s Leon’s brother!” Eris said, interrupting me.
Both Gustav and Gyes’ eyes widened at this. “Oh... forgive me, you both have very different personalities, but... I suppose you both are similarly skilled at magic. And I can see some similarities in your faces.”
Yes, please compare us with our magic abilities and not our approach to girls, I beg of you.
Rubbing her eyes, Norn then turned to me. “Brother? Can I go to sleep now?”
Now that she said it, it was getting pretty late, and the two of them had spent the day walking through the woods nonstop, so I could understand that they were exhausted.
“Of course,” I said, patting her head as I turned to Gustav. “We can continue talking tomorrow if you wish, but for now, I think it’s time to get ourselves settled.”
He nodded his head with a smile. “Indeed. You can use the residence Gyes gave you, but if you require any more room, don’t hesitate to ask.”
As I was about to get out to go, I was stopped by two girls who had joined the meeting.
One was Minitonia, the strong-willed girl I had rescued, which happened to be Gyes’ daughter and Gustav’s granddaughter.
There was also Tersena, a daughter of the Adoldia tribe’s leader who was also kidnapped, and would have to spend the rainy season here due to the eventual flooding of the roads.
“T-Thank you, for saving us,” Minitonia said, bowing towards me.
“No problem...”
As I was about to walk away, I felt my hand being pulled by Eris.
Looking at her face, I saw that her nostrils were flared as her gaze kept shooting back and forth from the two girls to me.
Did she... want to be friends?
Right... she was kind of an awkward girl, wasn’t she?
I suppose she needed my help here... not that I minded.
“If you want to return the favour,” I continued, “then please come over for the night. I’d like you to meet Eris here.”
Getting up to leave, I was interrupted once again, but by Gyes this time, “Wait.”
Turning to him, I saw his teeth grit before looking at me. “I have to ask... Is Ghislaine... someone to be respected?”
Ghislaine? He knew Ghislaine?
Ah, now that I think about it, they do look kind of similar... did she come from this village perhaps?
Either way...
“Yes, I respect her immensely,” I said firmly.
“Ghislaine is the one who saved my life as a child, and later trained me into the Sword Saint I am today,” I said, my eyes narrowing as I glared at the man. “Do you have anything else to say about Big Sis?”
“‘Big Sis’... so it was like that, huh?” Gyes mumbled, shaking his head in exasperation. “No. It’s nothing. You can go now.”
And with that, I then made my way out, with Aisha and Norn following behind, and Eris taking the other two girls by the hand.
This time, I wasn’t interrupted.
But to think this was how we would spend the first week on the Millis Continent... I suppose fate was strange like that.