Building a Port (6)

The arriving carriages pulled into the plaza one after another. Once each carriage stopped, its canopy was removed, and the materials piled in its bed were unloaded. I could see pickaxes for construction work, wooden mallets for driving stakes, wedges for splitting stones, and handcarts for hauling earth. Another carriage was loaded with lumber for scaffolding. Then several men climbed down from the next carriage. They had been mining gold at the gold mine in Girie Valley. Their expressions were somewhat gloomy. The gold had not been found in the expected quantities, so instead of earning money, they had apparently ended up in debt.

I felt sorry that their plans had fallen through, but from our perspective, securing a labor force was a blessing. I hoped they would work diligently here and repay their debts.

As I watched the arriving materials and people, everything seemed to be in order. I was thinking that I could leave the rest in their hands when two battered carriages entered the plaza.

The worn-out carriages did not look as though they were meant to carry materials or workers. I wondered what they were for and was about to peer beneath the canopy over one of the beds when children came tumbling out. There were four, six... no, seven of them. The children raced around like spinning tops, darting past me on either side. However, a boy of about five, running at the very back, tripped over a stone and fell.

"Are you all right?"

I hurried over to the boy, crouched down, and looked into his face. The boy got back up, but he was clutching his right knee with both hands. Blood oozed from the kneecap visible between his fingers.

The boy grimaced in pain. I expected him to cry, but he endured the pain, took his hands off his knee, and ran after the children who had gone on ahead. What an energetic child.

"Hey! I told you not to run!"

A sharp voice rang out from the carriage. The woman craning her neck out to scold the children wore loose blue clothing. Her long blond hair was tied behind her head and draped over her left shoulder. Her belly was greatly swollen, making it clear that she was nearing full term.

The pregnant woman in blue noticed me and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry. They wouldn't listen to me."

When the pregnant woman tried to get down from the carriage, I approached and offered her a hand.

"I don't know who you are, but thank you."

"Not at all. More importantly, what lively children you have."

I watched the children running around at full speed. For a child, running at full speed was a virtue.

When I turned back toward the carriage, people were climbing down one after another. Three people came down, followed by another five, and even after I counted ten, they still kept coming. They ranged widely in age. There were a man and woman who appeared to be a married couple carrying an infant, as well as an old woman with a stooped back. Including the children running around and the drivers, there were more than twenty people.

The carriage they had arrived in was not especially large. I could not imagine how so many people had fit into a single carriage.

After getting down from the carriage, the group stretched their weary bodies after the long journey, then removed the canopy from the bed of the second carriage. That carriage was crammed with desks and chests of drawers. Every possible gap was stuffed with belongings, while pots and kettles that could not fit inside had been tied to the outside with rope. They must have brought everything they owned.

"Excuse me, are you perhaps hoping to settle here?"

I spoke to the pregnant woman from earlier. We were currently recruiting settlers for the port. We needed people who would live and work here.

"Yes, that's right. I heard that anyone who came here would be given a house for free. Are you affiliated with this place? Are there still any houses available?"

"Yes, there are still vacancies. Please choose any place you like."

I answered the pregnant woman's question with a smile and a nod.

We had promised to provide newly built houses free of charge to our earliest settlers. Even so, we had not managed to attract any settlers at all. Since Kashu was a frontier region, apparently no one wanted to move here. The people before me must have come to settle as an entire family. I was deeply grateful.

"If I may ask, what made you decide to move here?"

I decided to take advantage of this encounter and conduct an interview. I wanted to hear the settlers' unvarnished opinions and learn what they needed.

"Actually, my son works here."

"Oh? Who is he, exactly? Might I know him?"

Just as I asked, a high-pitched voice rang out from behind me.

"Mom? Polycera?"

When I turned around, Borel was standing there with documents in one hand. As Borel stared at her wide-eyed, the pregnant woman called Polycera gave him a gentle smile.

"Oh, Borel. How have you been?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I've been fine, but..."

Borel looked utterly bewildered. I was surprised as well. The son Polycera-san had mentioned was apparently Borel.

"But, Mother, why are you here with Romelia-sama?"

"Romelia-sama?"

Polycera-san tilted her head at Borel. Come to think of it, I had not introduced myself yet.

"Mother, this is Romelia-sama, my superior."

Borel gestured toward me as he introduced me, then indicated Polycera-san with that hand.

"Romelia-sama, this is my mother, Polycera."

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Romelia."

When I bowed back, surprise flashed across Polycera-san's face. She straightened and bowed her head.

"So you are Romelia-sama. I beg your pardon; I had no idea and was rude."

"Not at all. More importantly, it is an honor to meet you."

"Likewise. Thank you for taking care of my son."

At that, Polycera-san bowed deeply once more.

"But, Mother, what brings you here?"

"I heard they were recruiting settlers here. Besides, our house was getting cramped, you know? We gave it to your younger brother and his wife, and the whole family moved here."

Polycera-san gave a cheerful smile and waved her right hand lightly.

"You should have told me. I wrote to you every month, didn't I?"

"I thought it might trouble you. Don't worry about us. Just focus on your work."

Polycera-san gave Borel a hearty smack on the shoulder. Borel seemed exasperated by his mother's forceful initiative, but I thought she was a refreshingly straightforward person. Just then, the children who had been running around earlier noticed Borel and ran over to him.

"Oh! It's Borel, big brother!"

"Big brother! It's been ages!"

"Play with me! Carry me!"

The children swarmed around Borel. One of the boys even hugged Borel's knee and tried to climb up him.

"Hey, hey, I'm working right now, so I can't. No climbing. Oh, honestly. I suppose I have no choice."

Borel slipped both hands beneath the children's arms, hoisted one onto his shoulders, and held another in his arms. Then the boy who had been clinging to his leg climbed all the way up his back. Seeing this, another boy kicked Borel's knee as he climbed and clung to his stomach. With children attached all over him, Borel looked like a tree bearing children.

I could not help laughing, and Borel gave me a wry smile in return.

"I'm sorry, Romelia-sama. Come on, big brother's working. Go play over there."

Borel set the children down, and they dashed away at full speed again.

"Borel, you have quite a large family."

"Yes, but this isn't everyone. A few years ago, at our great-great-grandfather's funeral, about fifty relatives gathered; that was just the family."

Borel's story astonished me. There were around twenty people here now, and even that was not half of the whole family.

I could only marvel at the sheer size of his family.