Wolves of Hader

Chapter 104

"Hey! What a sight this is!"

Allen exclaimed in excitement as he gazed at the sea.

Ten ships were following behind ours, and the scene looked so grand it was as if a fleet was on the move.

There were 10 people on the large ships and 8 on the small ones.

On ships lacking crew, our crew filled in.

Since all they had to do was follow us, there was no need for navigators.

The era of great voyages had begun anew.

I briefly worried that another storm might come, but it didn't happen.

Maybe because we were far from the Great Devil Island.

Urald asked if we could trust that man Riola, but what could we do if we couldn't?

Even if they turned into pirates, we could just subjugate them.

We headed straight to Ta-iki Island.

We planned to stop by Ta-iki together, then send Donnie and our ship alone to Little Devil Island.

Donnie would stop at Little Devil Island to collect buff materials and then follow us.

Only a few, including myself, would disembark on the Central Peninsula while the rest of the ships would go to Mouk.

I intended to send a message to the merchant guild first, as this time there were quite a few immigrants.

Another monotonous voyage followed.

I wondered if the Elin siblings were starving.

Had they managed to connect with the guardian elementals?

/ / /

At last, we arrived at Ta-iki Island.

There were people waiting for us on the shore.

There seemed to be over 60 of them.

They were all pirates and their families.

As we got off our landing craft, they stared at us with puzzled faces.

"Aren't those Red Beard's ships?"

"That's right."

They were subordinate pirates of Red Beard.

For them, one of the big ships was just like Red Beard's ship from the sky.

No wonder they were shocked.

"So, what happened to those guys?"

"They won't ever pirate again."

"Oh, thank goodness. We were anxious waiting here with our families, but seeing all the ships brought over is astonishing."

Our crew unloaded the fish they'd brought.

The pirates' families stepped forward to prepare a meal.

Though, as for family, there were only two wives—most were elderly mothers.

"So, can we ride those ships too?"

"As I said before, you have to give me your trust. You'll live much better than when you were pirates."

"We'll work hard. There were lots of fights and gossip among us, but seeing so many ships makes me emotional. Like those friends said, meeting the young master must be a blessing."

"Those friends" referred to the former pirate crew members, who had arrived about half a day before us to bring their families from their hometown, Wuda Island.

So they were happily catching up with their families on the pirate ships after a long time apart.

Most of their families were elderly mothers and siblings, not wives.

"Start with a meal! After you finish eating, please board the various ships with your families!"

"Thank you!"

The pirates and their families began their meal.

Meanwhile, the Berserkers and I headed into the forest.

Urald and Wundbark had gone ahead to meet the Elin siblings and were talking with them.

Both Elin siblings had achieved remarkable accomplishments.

Behind them stood 10 other Elin, who looked quite transformed.

"You succeeded."

"Yes."

Lok grinned slyly, then jumped into my arms.

Bellen also smiled shyly and greeted me.

The 10 Elin with them offered graceful bows.

"Which guardian elementals have you bonded with?"

Lok was quick to speak, impatient to share.

"I'm with the elemental of Thunder and Lightning. I'm still a novice, but I think I can cast multiple lightning magic spells with just one arrow. I get along very well with my elemental, so I feel great."

"I'm with the elemental of Wind. It summons strong wind for me, but since my level isn't high yet, that's all it can do for now."

They ended up with guardian elementals of similar nature to their own ones.

Their magic power was insufficient, so the summoning was weak, but that was likely to change in the future.

As for the other Elin lined up, I could guess without asking.

Each of them communicated with their elementals, bonding with those that matched them.

Most had forest elementals.

All the Elin looked radiant.

Perfect healing might be difficult, but I could see hope and anticipation for a new life.

"You may stay with us now, or become independent. But Elin now have only that southern land to call home."

"We know that as well. That's why we want to stay with the young master. Thank you for saving us."

Everyone expressed their thanks with blank faces.

Quite different from the Elin siblings—both in emotion and behavior.

I guessed this was originally typical for Elin.

But the Elin had been murmuring amongst themselves for a while now.

Bellen and Lok did the same.

At first, I thought they just didn't want to come out of the forest because they were wary of humans.

Upon closer look, it turned out they already knew what we were bringing.

They were voicing their requests accordingly.

Through resonance with their elementals.

Countless points of elemental light spun through the forest.

These weren't the elementals originally from Ta-iki Island.

Wundbark asked Bellen.

"Did you already know?"

"Yes, father. I've known for a few days."

"Did you call all of them?"

"We just spread the word. We told them that the beings who once stayed here were returning. We never expected so many would come."

I hadn't expected to meet them so soon, either.

I'd thought they would come naturally as time passed.

Elin really were different from humans when it came to the elementals.

"We brought it just in time. Should we put it down?"

"Yes."

A crew member set the backpack on the ground.

In fact, it had been emitting a faint light for a while.

As the backpack was opened, the glow grew even stronger.

The elemental lights drifting through the forest began gathering above the backpack.

They danced in the air, each then settling into the stone they belonged to.

The stones of the Elin.

Gems extracted from Elin's magical artifacts.

The elementals who had left those stones were now returning.

I'd sorted the stones by artifact, but it wasn't necessary; by resonating with our own elementals, one could sense their abilities right away.

I took out a stone I'd kept separately from the backpack.

Thankfully, the elemental for this stone also returned.

It was a rough, sky-colored stone, now radiating a vivid glow.

Even without me actively calling, my own elemental communicated right away.

The elemental of [Bi-Geom] must have been in the volcanic archipelago.

Most of the other elementals, too, must have been there.

When we arrived at the volcanic archipelago, word must have spread among the elementals through their resonance.

After all, the largest forest nearest the Great Devil Island is the volcanic archipelago.

All the elemental lights lingering in the woods seeped into the backpack.

Upon checking, about 80% of the elementals had returned.

As for those that didn't, they likely faded away long ago—having existed for ages.

Still, this was more than I could have hoped for. I never expected even this many to return.

"Is there anything else to do?"

Bellen and Lok shook their heads.

"There are higher-rank guardian elementals, but we haven't bonded with them yet. It looks like we need three times as much magic power as we have now to commune with them."

"I see. Well, let's go home."

"Yes."

We headed back toward the coast.

Bugs buzzed around us as we walked.

Looking closely, I saw members of the Iki Tribe smiling and waving. Probably the chief sent them to see us off.

/ / /

Another long voyage awaited us.

This time, we encountered several tropical storms, causing some trouble for the sailors among the former fishermen.

Compared to the great storms conjured by elementals, though, these were nothing.

With our food and water running out, we had to dock at islands with fishing villages a few times along the way.

Our number had increased by about 160 people.

Anyway, we safely reached the Central Peninsula.

Donnie, who had stopped at Little Devil Island to collect buff materials, also disembarked at the Central Peninsula.

After that, all the ships set course for Mouk.

When the ships arrived, Russell and my secretary Johnny would come out.

That was to separately account for Red Beard's treasure—since it belonged to the house, not the merchant guild.

For Goose and Count Urke, seeing the number of ships increase to ten would be jaw-dropping.

They'd acquired trade ships without any investment, after all, so they would be delighted.

I had also asked them to take care of the immigrants.

Thanks to the letter I'd sent earlier, construction was already underway on the Central Peninsula.

Those who disembarked on the Central Peninsula included myself, the crew, Urald and Wundbark, and the pirates and their families we'd reunited with on Ta-iki Island.

"Construction has already started."

"So it seems."

Workers were laying the foundations for a dock on the coast.

There were at least 200 men on the job.

The construction manager hurried over.

"It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time, corps leader."

"Has there been any trouble?"

"No, sir. We were worried, but there were no incidents whatsoever. Tak warriors took care of security everywhere—monsters didn't dare come close. This way, please."

It seemed they had even paved a road before the construction.

There were wagons and horses standing on the newly built road.

"Where is the accommodation?"

"For now, everyone's staying in tents. As requested, we're building houses first."

They were building houses in the woods, too.

Even if it was just tents, they had cots and fire pits, so living there wouldn't be uncomfortable.

I spoke to the pirate captain.

"This land will be your new home. There's nothing here now, but in time it'll become a port."

"We've heard."

"Live in the tent for a while, and earn money. The wage is generous—you can eat your fill and still save money. We'll provide the house for free."

"Thank you, young lord."

"A few years of hard work, and I'll return your ship. When you run trade ships, you'll become a hundred times wealthier than you were as pirates."

The pirates and their families bowed.

This place was better to live in than their old village.

Traders go wherever there are workers.

"Immigrants, please follow me. All utensils have been provided, so just bring yourselves. If you need a job, go to that tent. The construction site as well as the kitchen is short on hands—just apply."

The pirates and their families followed the manager.

Some pirates showed dissatisfaction, but most looked excited—especially their families.

No one wanted to live in Tak tribe territory, so I resettled them here; someone had to take the first step.

We set off by wagon and horseback.

The road only covered the area near the construction site, but since the land was mostly flat, the rest of the journey wasn't rough.

After about an hour, Tak tribal villages began coming into view.

Even though we weren't the Vargar tribe, there was no hostility.

Even in Tak tribe villages, there was ongoing construction—huts were torn down and brick buildings erected.

Warriors tossed their weapons aside and worked hard as laborers.

"Living long, you do get to see it all."

"Was it Aktun? Looks like that friend really unified the tribes."

Urald and Wundbark smiled contentedly.

I believed Aktun would succeed.

There was no reason not to follow someone who solved your subsistence problem.

/ / /

After three days of travel, we arrived at our destination.

It was the great tribe village we'd ambushed before. Now, it was where the Vargar tribe lived.

As we got out of the wagon, Aktun came out to welcome us. All their warriors and tribespeople gathered too.

"Welcome, brother."

"It's been a while, Aktun."

I clasped Aktun's hand.

It was just a handshake, but his grip was genuinely warm.

"Your imperial language has improved."

"Makshim taught me."

"Hey, finally you're back."

Makshim, who'd been hidden behind the bulk of the warriors, stepped forward and greeted us.

Then he stared at Urald and Wundbark standing behind me. Wundbark's mouth fell open.

"Who do we have here? Isn't that Wundbark?"

At Makshim's words, Wundbark looked at me.

"They said there was an old man in the Vargar tribe—was it this old man?"

"Old man, you! You haven't lost your manners!"

"What on earth are you doing here?"

"Can't you see? We need to talk."

Makshim immediately grabbed Wundbark by the scruff. He only greeted Urald with a nod.

"Let go and talk like normal people!"

"Let go so you can run away?"

"I've aged, too, you know!"

"Aged? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard."

Wundbark was dragged away by Makshim.

Makshim was Wundbark's uncle and his only family. I hadn't told Wundbark deliberately. If he'd known, he wouldn't have wanted to meet Makshim.

"Let's eat meat and drink."

"Sounds good."

We followed Aktun into the village.

Even at a glance, the village looked transformed from before—much more prosperous. Meat was being grilled everywhere.

"We're never hungry now. Thanks to you."

"I'm glad."

As we entered the plaza, I saw an enormous number of warriors assembled.

There must have been over a thousand.

As I walked into the center—

"For the nobility of Lord Roger!"

"For nobility!"

The warriors dropped to a knee.

Thump—thump—the sound of feet echoed through the basin.

It stirred something deep inside my chest.

This was probably the first time in history.

The Tak tribe was showing respect to a human.