Those Coming from the Plains (2)

When I went outside with Ragaa, many Scars were sitting in the town square, where Centaur children usually played or napped with Kal. Many of them were injured, and Mikero and several Centaurs were busily treating them.

The children watched from a distance with anxious expressions. They knew about the Scars, but the unusual situation had frightened them. That was only natural.

"Oh, Your Highness! You have finally come!"

When I arrived at the square, Nenashi, who seemed to have been sharing out his own potions, approached while undulating his vines. He had stopped disguising himself as a pelican and was wiggling the multiple vines growing from his body. I was used to it by now, but I did not miss the way the Scars' faces twitched slightly.

He still called me Your Highness, as always. I had given up trying to stop him, but I would never get used to being addressed in such an absurdly grand manner.

"This gentleman has something he wishes to say to Your Highness. Come now, elder. This way, please."

"Oh, thank you kindly."

The one Nenashi led over, supporting him with his vines, was an elderly Scar man. He had let his white hair and beard trail all the way to the ground, and his legs and back were so weak that he needed a cane to walk. At first glance, he looked decrepit and unreliable.

However, the cane he held was splendid, and the other Scars seemed to regard the old man with respect. I was merely sensing the atmosphere, so I could not be certain, but I decided it was best to treat him with due respect.

"My name is Zermus. I cannot thank you enough for accepting our clan."

"My name is Izam. There is no need to thank me for taking you in; it was no trouble at all. Please take your time healing your wounds. There are many unused houses, so feel free to use them. Though calling them houses is generous, given how ramshackle and full of gaps they are."

"That is most generous of you. We, the Deokia Clan, shall never forget this favor."

With that, Elder Zermus bowed deeply. The other Scars—the members of the Deokia Clan—followed his example and bowed as well. It was difficult even to imagine the hardships they had endured after being driven from their settlement and forced to flee as an entire clan. More than anything, they must have desperately wanted a safe place to live.

However, it was Ragaa and the others they should have been thanking, not me. I felt embarrassed whenever they bowed to me. Besides, there was something more important to do now. If there were other clans that might be in danger right now, we had to help them if we could.

"Please raise your heads. More importantly, would you tell me why you called for me?"

"Then I shall ask plainly, though it is shameful to do so. Would you be willing to accept other clans into your city as well?"

Elder Zermus bowed deeply once more as he pleaded with me. The moment he said he had a request, I had guessed that he wanted us to search for missing people or rescue his fellow clansmen. I was not surprised, nor did I have any reason to refuse.

"If our clan was attacked by that monster, the other clans may be attacked as well. No, perhaps they have already been attacked... We cannot bear to lose any more of our few remaining kinsmen. Please, I beg you!"

"If the Scars can get along with the Centaurs we have likewise welcomed, we have no objection to taking them in. However... we do not know where any of the other Scar clans live."

But there was a fatal problem: we did not know where the Scars' settlements were. Without knowing where they were, it was impossible to go and rescue them.

If all our people were here, we could even mobilize Shiratsuki and search with all our strength. However, Jigoro and many of our other companions had already left. We could not solve this with brute force.

"Do you know, Elder Zermus?"

"No, I do not. We do not travel far from our settlements, so we know their general locations, but not their exact positions. However, some of our fellow clansmen know them well."

"The Nadeus Clan, then. You intend to rely on their help? But we do not know where they are either, do we?"

The Nadeus Clan traveled between the settlements of the various clans, so it would not be strange for them to know their exact locations. However, we had no way to find out where the constantly traveling clan currently was. That information would be of no use.

"Yes, we do not know where they are either... But, Izam-dono, how much do you know about our Race?"

"About the Scars? When I met the Nadeus Clan, I only heard what Muno-dono told me. I know that you are a Race exceptionally skilled at manipulating runes, more or less."

The Scars were a Race skilled at creating useful items with runes that produced a variety of effects. That was truly about all Muno-dono had told me. Apart from that, I knew that the Nadeus Clan traveled between the permanent settlements scattered across the land.

After hearing what I knew about them, Elder Zermus nodded broadly. He then slowly drew a single rod from inside his robes. Runes of the kind they used were carved into its surface.

"As Izam-dono says, we are skilled at manipulating runes. We use them to erase our presence and conceal our settlements, set traps for hunting, and encourage the land to yield a harvest. Without runes, we could not live."

"I had heard about the art of concealment, but I never knew they had uses like those as well..."

We had obtained several items that used runes, but, to be honest, I had not realized they were that versatile. Perhaps each clan had runes at which it excelled. That would be interesting, but this was not the time to think about it.

"One of those uses is to send up a signal flare asking our fellow clansmen for help. Please try using it."

"You mean to send it to the Nadeus Clan?"

"Precisely. Just as you surmised."

I took the rod Elder Zermus held out to me. It was about twenty centimeters long, with a thread dangling from one end. Pulling it would presumably cause something to happen.

It looked like a party popper, but apparently it allowed us to contact the Nadeus Clan. I did not understand why he wanted me to pull it, but if he told me to, I would try.

I took hold of the thread and pulled it as hard as I could. The runes began to glow blue, and something shot upward from the opposite end with a small, satisfying pop. It blossomed beautifully in the sky like blue fireworks, matching the color of the runes.

"Oh ho, fireworks in broad daylight. How elegant."

Watching the firework—essentially a distress signal—Nenashi spoke like someone at a fireworks display. The light from gunpowder fireworks would quickly disappear, but this light formed a single shape in the sky and lingered there for a while.

The Centaurs reacted enthusiastically as well. Adults and children alike cheered at the runic symbol blooming in the sky. Their anxious expressions from earlier had vanished as though they had never been there.

The rune floating in the sky remained for more than a minute before fading away like mist. As a signal flare, it was more than adequate, but the current time in the game was daytime. I thought it might be difficult to notice. Had it really reached them?

"It seems the rune we launched reached its destination safely."

"Reached them?"

"Yes. The rune we just sent is designed to disappear once it reaches the person it is meant for. What it delivered was our current location."

"A signal flare that tells us whether it arrived... and it can respond even when the recipient is too far away to see it directly? This is truly remarkable technology."

I offered Elder Zermus a sincere compliment. Players could easily send and receive information using the chat function, but for NPCs, this was revolutionary technology. I did not know whether it was easy to use, but the fact that they could use it at all was amazing.

In any case, I believed we had now informed the Nadeus Clan that the Deokia Clan was here. This was the dangerous place they called the Black Wall, but they should know that we had set out to conquer it. They might not believe we had subdued it, but all we could do was pray that they would come. We would simply have to wait.

"We do not know how long it will take the Nadeus Clan to reach this place. But once they arrive, we shall ask for their cooperation."

"Thank you again and again. However, it would be shameful for us to do nothing but rely on your kindness. I hear that you intend to fight that monster. Once our wounds have healed, we shall join the battle as well."

Elder Zermus said this with his eyes shining fiercely. They were angry that their clan had been so unjustly harmed. Their morale might even be higher than ours, since we were merely trying to keep the flames from reaching us. The men of the Deokia Clan seemed to feel the same way as Elder Zermus, clenching their fists despite their injuries.

It was welcome news for us that more people were willing to fight alongside us. It was only natural for them to join the battle, since they were directly involved, but what mattered was for our forces to concentrate rather than fight in separate groups. The forces gathering to fight the Hellbeasts were already exceeding my initial expectations.

However, I still did not think it was enough. I had yet to fight them myself, but I had heard that although the enemy was of only middling strength, there were simply far too many of them, and they were extremely murderous. Apparently, they would not hesitate to throw away their own lives if it meant killing us. Since we intended to fight such opponents, we should never be satisfied with however much fighting strength we had.

"Hmm... Perhaps I should give it a try."

Having reinforcements appear out of thin air would have been ideal, but that was impossible. That was why I was making meat shields, and why I was pleased whenever more people joined us in battle. I had no intention of sparing any effort, and I intended to do everything I could.

Now that the matter was settled, the first thing we needed to do was bring Elder Zermus along and go speak with Regudus-dono, a leader-like figure among the Centaurs.

Different Races would be living in the same place for a while, so their differences could lead to friction. To prevent that, we immediately set out.