159 - - Art. 159 Hospitality In Ditas Village
Spirits of the forest. They are welcoming us.
While we were talking about this, a large light approached us from the depths of the forest. Upon closer inspection, we saw a dwarf-like woman surrounded by a yellow light.
I am Cradle, the spirit who guards this forest. Blessed by God, I welcome you. Please allow us to guide you through this forest.
I am Soleil of the Silures, blessed by the divine Dragon. I ask you to take my word for it and guide me through this forest.
Yes, sir.
Please take us to the village of Dytas. And this is my master, the king of Agartha, Master Linos. And his beloved horse, Ilimo. Please do not make any misbehavior.
"Awe."
The cradle disappeared in a flash, and the spirits of the forest lined up in a row to show us the way to the village of Dytas.
"Soleil, that\'s something... amazing."
"Of course. Since we have made a contract with a divine dragon, the highest of the spirits, it is natural for the spirits to be in awe of us.
"A divine dragon is not just a kid with a sweet tooth, is it?"
"Master...Master Shenlong will be angry with you..."
Soleil was taken aback. It is true that Ferris, who is not easily fazed by a few things, has such a power that he peed himself in surprise. In that sense, I may not have any sense at all, if I don\'t know how great Shenlong is.
"Let\'s go!"
Soleil urged us on, and we made our way through the forest.
It wasn\'t long before we arrived at the village of Dytas. At the entrance of the village, a strong-looking young man was standing guarding the village. When they saw me, they rushed to me.
"Are you the king of Agartha, by any chance?"
"Yes, I am. You can call me Linos.
"Oh, it\'s Mr. Linos. I didn\'t think you would actually come! We\'ve been waiting for you, come in!
A young man from the village of Dytas politely guides me into the village. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be the men who had come to Agartha with Jimbi, the village chief. When he was shown to Jimbi\'s house, he was so surprised that he jumped up and down.
"Oh, Mr. Linos! It is you, Mr. Linos! I didn\'t know you were really coming. When I saw your letter yesterday, I didn\'t think it was possible... I am overjoyed to see you, Jimbi. Thank you very much. Thank you very much!"
Jimbi falls to his knees and breaks his back several times.
"No, please, Jimbi. I came on my own. Don\'t be so afraid. No, I\'m just curious. I\'ll leave as soon as I\'m done here, so don\'t worry about me.
"No, that\'s not how it works! Come on, come on!"
Jimbi suggested that I sit down in front of the hearth.
"I will call the villagers. Please wait a moment!
I sit by the fire and look around Jimbi\'s house. The house is spacious, as one would expect from the chief of a village, but there are no luxuries. Bows and arrows, spears, firewood piled up to the ceiling.... Only the bare necessities of life were there.
"Master... this is a hawan\'s pelt.
Suddenly Soleil speaks up. She looked at the rug on which we were sitting. It was indeed very fluffy and comfortable.
"Howan?"
"They are very warm, light-furred, deer-like creatures. They are very wary and difficult to hunt. This rug... is very expensive.
"I see. That\'s why we\'re such important customers.
While they were talking, Jimbi came into the house with a large group of villagers.
"Sit down, everyone. Here he is, the rightful King of Agartha, Linos! The one who saved our village from a terrible plight. This time, too, he came all the way here out of concern for our village. Please thank him as well.
The villagers were talking and thanking each other. All I see are old men, women, and children. There are some young men, but they are few and far between.
"So, how is the food situation in the village?
Jimbi sighs and shakes his head.
With this heavy snowfall, we can\'t even move," he said. We are almost out of the food we have been given.
"I see... I\'m glad I came. We were worried about you. The food Jimbi brought back must be running low, and you haven\'t sent a single messenger, so I thought maybe you could..."
"I am so grateful that you are concerned about such a small village like ours..."
Tears stream down Jimbi\'s cheeks.
"Well, don\'t worry. We\'ve brought enough food. We won\'t starve for a while. Don\'t worry.
The villagers shouted, "Oh, my God!
"King, can I ask you something?"
I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a girl of middle school age standing up.
"Lilith! Shut up! You are disrespectful to the King of Agartha!"
"Jimbi, look. Lilith... you said? What is it you want to ask me?"
The girl called Lilith looked down her eyes for a moment, but then opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.
"Why are you giving food to our village? There is nothing in this village, okay? What are you going to take from us?"
"Lilith!"
Jimbi\'s voice echoed through the large room. Lilith involuntarily closes her eyes and shrinks.
"...Yes. Lilith, you\'re right. Don\'t you think so? No, you\'re right. I don\'t understand this. I don\'t know why I\'m helping you with the food. Because we\'re your enemies. It\'s not easy to ask an enemy country to give us food, you know? I felt Jimbi\'s desire to protect the villagers as a village head, without any sense of pride or stubbornness. Well, I guess you could say that I wanted to reciprocate Jimbi\'s spirit, right?"
Lilith stared at me for a moment, then nodded her head.
"Okay. I\'m sorry for asking such a strange question."
I send Lilith a smile. Zimbi looked a little relieved, but soon became nervous.
"Mr. Linos, I\'m sorry to interrupt your visit, but we\'d like you to listen to what we have to say."
"What\'s wrong?"
We have had many discussions with Mr. Linos since he gave us the food. We have come to the conclusion that we will serve the nation of Agartha from now on. Master Linos, we would like you to join us. We humbly ask you."
Everyone there, including Jimbi, bowed down to me.
"Oh no, no, no! You don\'t have to do this. I don\'t mind if you take this village of Ditas under your command, but then Ramallon will attack us. If that happens, this village will be overrun. What are you going to do about that?"
No, don\'t worry about that. We will ostensibly follow Ramallon."
"Oh."
"However, we will keep Master Linos informed about Lamaron. Some of the young men are in the Imperial Guard. I will get information about the army from them and pass it on to Mr. Rinos.
"You mean you\'re going to spy on me?"
Yes. It is the only way for us to survive. I have several ideas on how to evade the Imperial pursuit.
"Hmmm."
I groan as I look at the ceiling. Then I looked back at the ceiling and saw that all eyes of the villagers gathered there were on me. That\'s when I noticed a small discomfort.
A young woman was sitting where I was looking. For all intents and purposes, she is a villager. But there is something strange about her. I continue to look at her in silence. She notices my gaze, too, and keeps her eyes fixed on mine.
"... Rinos-sama?"
I restrain Jimbi with my hand. At that moment, the woman runs away, weaving her way through the villagers.
"Don\'t let her get away! Seize him!"
Hearing my voice, a group of young men behind me immediately chased after the woman. Jimbi chases after them. Suddenly, the place is in an uproar.
After a while, the men bring out the woman from before.
"Hey, Jifigure, why did you run away?
Jimbi is saying something to the woman.
"Oh, your name is Ziphiro?"
Yes, I am the wife of a man from our village named Malov. No way..."
"It seems to me, this is no ordinary wife, huh?"
"Jeefiro! You didn\'t fool us, did you? Hey, say something!
"..."
Jifigherro is lying face down and silent.
"Jimbi, it\'s no use. You can\'t be a spy if you won\'t talk."
"Spy... Master Linos... how did you know she was a spy?
Jimbi asks with a curious look on her face.
"Yes, the villagers were breathing hard when I was listening to you. Of course they were. Your lives and deaths depend on it. But this woman wasn\'t breathing hard. It\'s natural to be suspicious, isn\'t it?"
Zimbi continued to stare at Linos with wide eyes.