I Became My Healer Elf Character

After a few days of traveling, they'd finally arrived at the first beach. It was a small tropical island. In total, there didn't seem to be many people. There was just a small and simple fishing village.

Along the coast, there were several wooden huts with thatch roofs. People went out in small wooden boats with nets. The water near the island was extremely clear, so one could see many fishes swimming about, along with the gorgeous plants and rock formations.

Hikari and her crew anchored the ship some distance away from the shore. The maids she summoned would remain behind, while her normal party disembarked. They entered a small wooden boat that they lowered into the water. Kurayami and Mizuko paddled them towards the shore.

Along the way, an eager and curious fisherman paddled towards them. Once he was close enough, he smiled at them. "Good morning, travelers. You've arrived on a big ship, but what brings you to our small island?"

Hikari nodded. "We are on a voyage, and the map showed this as the closest island from that harbor."

"Oh, it's not often people stop here. They usually journey around, since there aren't many supplies to be had."

"I see. Incidentally, is this island a part of the Empire?"

The man shrugged. "It both is and isn't. On paper it is, but they can't enforce their rule since they never come over here. We live a peaceful live, undisturbed by the whims of the Emperor. By the way, my name is Darrin."

"Hikari. These two rowing are Mizuko and Kurayami. The little ones are Nona and Kai. The witch is Ayase. Lastly, this one is Amelia."

"Those are all nice names. Rest assured, this young Darrin never forgets the names of travelers, especially the children." He smiled at Kai and Nona before pointing towards the shore. "Y'all should come with me to the shore. All of the villagers look eager to meet you, and I ain't one to keep them waiting."

"Alright then," Hikari said, "lead the way." She looked towards her two rowers. "Just follow Darrin."

"Yes, Master."

"Yes, Mistress."

As they followed the man towards the beach, Nona was looking over the edge into the water in awe. "Look at all those little fishies! There are so many!"

Darrin laughed heartily. "That's what all of the travelers say when they first arrive, but we're pretty used to this clear water. It remains largely undisturbed by the pollutants of this world."

Ayase looked at Hikari knowingly. "It's just like Earth. At least here there are magical ways of destroying pollution. Imagine if someone became a mage here and went back to our home planet. They'd be able to make a living from simply destroying pollution. But even with magic, people still find ways to pollute the air. After all, magic itself can act as a form of pollution."

"Master's magic would never pollute anything. Her purifying light is much too pure."

Hikari smiled wryly at the dragon. "And who is the one that polluted the water before?"

The dragon could only look away.

Darrin laughed once more from their exchange. "Y'all have an interesting dynamic. I think the villagers will like you."

They didn't have time to ruminate on it because they were soon wading up to the shore. Along the coast, all of the wooden houses were held up by stilts, and behind the village was a lush forest of palm trees. The ecosystem was lively with tropical, colorful birds flying through the air, and along the ground, turtles slowly made their way towards the water.

Hikari was impressed by the size of the turtles. They were as big as the tortoises from the Galapagos islands on Earth, yet they had the flippers of sea turtles. They had long beaks more similar to birds, and they were a light blue in color.

The group beached, and they pulled the boat further onto the island.

"You can tie your boat to one of those trees," Darrin said. He looked towards the crowing villagers and waved his hand. "Move away for a bit, and let them tie their boat."

The villagers obeyed and backed up reluctantly. However, once Hikari's group tied their boat, the villagers surrounded them again. Nona hid behind the elven goddess nervously, gripping her white robes for comfort.

Many of the people looked at them as if they'd never seen foreigners. They inspected the group's outfits with their wandering eyes. They looked at the odd boat, not made of any trees they knew, and some of them looked back and forth between Hikari and the large vessel they traveled on.

"Please, make them feel welcome," Darrin said. "I'm sure their tired from traveling on the open sea."

Another villager tapped Darrin's shoulder. "We can let them stay in that one house. It's been freed for occasions like this."

While those two talked about the living conditions, several kids from the village weren't so shy. They ran over curiously.

"Lady, are you an elf?"

"Oh! It's true! It's really an elf!"

"Look, brother, she carries a staff!"

"Do you think they know magic?"

"There's a witch! I want to be a witch, too!"

A curious little tanned girl reached her hand towards Nona. "Hi, my name is Samala. What's your name?"

"N-nona."

Samala beamed. "I'm amazed you got to ride on a big ship! What's it like to travel on a ship?"

The little girl's mother pulled Samala back. "Samala, don't pester the new visitors with questions right now." She looked apologetically at Hikari. "I'm sorry about all of the children."

Hikari shrugged. "Curious children can only be described as a good thing. When I was little, I was curious about everything."

Ayase chuckled at the elf. "You still are curious about everything. Many of your adventures had been caused by that. I feel like that's what got us here in the first place."

The woman smiled at the witch. "Well, Samala and the other children mean no harm. They're very good kids and usually so well-behaved."

Darrin and the other villager finally finished their conversation. Darrin looked over towards the group and gestured towards the wooden houses.

"Come, let's get you all settled in." He looked towards the children and called to them. "Y'all should leave them alone for now."

"Ahhh, okay."

The kids listened and ran along towards their parents.

Hikari and her group followed Darrin. There were small wooden walkways going between each house, and it seemed that the one they were going to was one of the larger buildings at the end.

"We don't get travelers much, as I said before, but we do reserve this building for such occasions. By the way, there are only this many of you? I would think that a ship of that size would need a large crew."

"Oh, there are more, but they're staying to protect the ship."

"Ain't they tired? Won't it get lonely up there?"

"No, in fact, they insisted upon it. If I didn't let them do this job, then they would probably be sad about it."

"Wow, such hard workers you have. Are you a noble lady, Miss?"

Hikari scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Something like that, but please don't go spreading it around. Also, please keep referring to me informally."

"Hahaha, I understand. I ain't really good at formal speech anyway."

"What about your leader? Is there a village head? Do you have something like a chieftain?"

"Well, you're lookin' at him. I know it might seem weird given my young age, but that's how it is. Anyway, this here is your lodging."

He opened the door to the sizable log lodge. Immediately inside was an empty living room, almost completely devoid of any decorations or furniture.

"Sorry for it being so empty in here. Rest assured, there are several beds in the other rooms. There are four rooms and two beds per room, so it should be just enough for your group."

Nona raised her hand. "I want to sleep with the goddess!"

"The goddess?" Darrin asked, looking strangely towards Amelia. "Oh, I did hear of a goddess called Amelia."

The pink-haired goddess in question shook her head. "It's an accidental resemblance. Besides, she wasn't talking about me anyway. She was talking to Hikari."

"Hahaha, y'all are an odd bunch, but you seem like good people. I'll wait for you to get settled in, but you should come out soon after. We're going to be making breakfast, and Sarrah is the best cook we have. Trust me, you won't want to miss it."

"Sarrah?" Hikari asked.

"Oh, she didn't tell you? She's the one with that little girl, Samala. She always cooks for us, and the other girls usually forage for good ingredients on the island. You'd be surprised the amount of different seasonings we're able to make here."

"We'll look forward to it then."

The chieftain nodded before closing the door and letting the group get settled.

"Can this small island really have so many ingredients?" Ayase wondered.

"We'll just have to see, I suppose. For now, we will just wait. It's not like we really have anything to settle. We all carry our stuff in our inventories."