Isekai Nonbiri Nouka

Character Refresher

Nana – One of the Fogumas of Village Four. A spy disguised as a village girl.

Hitoe – Youko's daughter.

-0-

Thanks to Girar slaying the giant sea demon beast, a message of gratitude arrived from the seakins.

Its contents were…

Thank you for the sympathy money.

Thank you for defeating it.

The sea demon beast was delicious.

Incidentally, messages from the seakins are written on clay tablets.

Paper can't be used underwater.

And writing on wooden boards is difficult too.

So, they use clay tablets.

They gather clay underwater and shape it into boards above the surface.

Before it dries, they write on it. Once it hardens, they send it.

……

If they're writing above water anyway, wouldn't paper or wood work just fine?

Clay tablets are heavy and seem hard to transport since they can break easily.

N-no, I mustn't deny their culture.

This must be their traditional method of communication.

I should respect that.

Still, they could make the tablets a bit smaller, maybe.

The one we received this time was about the size of a big television.

-0-

A certain village.

A village that had never had dealings with Village Five contacted them, asking if they could take in a strange demon beast that had appeared nearby.

Take it in, not slay it?

「Apparently, the meat and eggs of this demon beast are considered decent ingredients.」

During dinner, I asked Youko about it. She told me that both the meat and eggs were prized as food.

Still, Youko seemed hesitant.

「I've never heard of anyone successfully raising one. And we'd have to be the ones to capture it too.」

Is it a dangerous demon beast?

「I've heard veteran adventurers don't have too much trouble with it… but it's tough for mid-level or novice ones.」

I see.

If that's the case, raising it might be difficult too.

There's no need to force ourselves.

Let's turn them down.

「Agreed. That was my conclusion as well. But…」

But?

「To put it simply, that village is in trouble because of the demon beast.」

…?

Then why didn't they just ask for help?

Or send a request to the Adventurers' Guild?

「The village chief seems to have too much pride. Apparently, he can't bring himself to ask for help. He did put in a request at the guild, but the reward is too low. No one's accepted it.」

Ah…

「Naturally, this has nothing to do with Village Five, so we could just ignore it. But…」

But?

「The chief's son came to us, asking for help, saying he'll drive his father out.」

I'd rather not get involved in that kind of drama from another village.

「I feel the same. However, that village happens to sit in a perfect spot if Village Five were to expand eastward.」

Are we planning to expand east?

「Not to conquer, of course. As a trade partner. Unfortunately, the west is blocked by Shashaato City. To the north is the Gatekeeper Dragon. To the south is the sea. Only the east is open.」

So you want to help them now to gain their favor?

「If we let the village collapse, it won't sit right with us later.」

What about their lord?

「If he were reliable, they wouldn't have come to us in the first place.」

Hmm.

Understood.

But I'll only act after checking with Beezel and Yuri.

「Got it.」

-0-

When was it that we had that discussion?

Now, I was looking at the demon beasts kept in the temporary ranch built at the base of Village Five.

They say raising them is difficult, but apparently someone still brought them back to try.

The demon beasts were… giant chickens?

Each one was about three meters tall.

Its face looked more menacing than a regular chicken.

Its beak was downright vicious.

Still, I could understand why their meat and eggs were considered decent ingredients.

They were chickens, after all.

There were about twenty of them.

And I had a question…

「What is it?」

I asked Nana, who had guided me here.

The fence around the pen was low. Weren't they going to escape?

They say chickens can't fly, but even so, they can jump several times their own height.

Especially if they were wild rather than raised in captivity.

Wouldn't they escape from a fence like this?

「It's fine. They won't run away.」

Really?

「Yes.」

That tail… is that a snake?

「It only looks that way because of the pattern.」

I see.

So these aren't cockatrices, then.

「No, they're cockatrices.」

…….

The ones said to turn their victims to stone with a bite?

「That's right.」

Isn't that dangerous!?

Are we really okay with just this fence!?

「That turning-to-stone thing is just a myth. It's more like a paralytic venom. It only makes the target unable to move.」

No no, that's still dangerous!

「……」

If you've got something to say, just say it.

「Dragons, Inferno Wolves, and Demon Spiders are generally seen as extremely dangerous creatures.」

…My bad.

It's not good to judge them as dangerous without actually seeing how they behave.

「Even after seeing them, Dragons, Inferno Wolves, and Demon Spiders are still dangerous.」

That's not true.

Sure, they might get a little rowdy, but they're adorable!

「Only Village Chief would describe Dragons, Inferno Wolves, or Demon Spiders as adorable.」

T-that's not true…

「Then please name one other person who calls them cute.」

Ursa.

「That's not fair.」

It is fair.

That pointless argument continued for a little while.

-0-

Back to the topic.

So these cockatrices aren't dangerous?

「Yes. Please take a look over there.」

Where Nana pointed stood an ordinary chicken.

That arrogant posture…

I recognized it.

It was the chicken from the courtyard of Big Tree Village.

「That's right. The chicken from Village Chief's courtyard.」

Now that she mentioned it, I did lend it out a while ago.

「Yes. Youko-sama brought it over… Since then, it's been reigning as the boss here.」

Reigning… meaning that chicken is commanding the cockatrices?

「Yes. When we brought the cockatrices to Village Five, each one was kept in a large cage, but they were thrashing about wildly, almost breaking them.」

So they really were in cages when transported.

「They were so uncontrollable that everyone gave up on raising them. Then Youko-sama brought that chicken over… and it beat the cockatrices into submission. Ever since then, they've been obedient. Even when we let them roam the pasture, they don't run away.」

I-I see…

So those looks the cockatrices sometimes give me, like they're asking for help, weren't just my imagination.

「Until the breeding system we were doing stabilizes, we'd like to continue borrowing that chicken.」

If the chicken doesn't mind, it's fine.

The cockatrices clearly do mind, though…

Still, how did Youko know that chicken would be able to control the cockatrices?

「About that… it seems the chicken volunteered.」

Volunteered?

「Yes. While Youko-sama was struggling to figure out what to do with the rampaging cockatrices, the chicken approached her on its own.」

Huh…

Maybe Youko was venting her frustrations to the chicken or something.

Imagining the scene, I started to reflect that maybe I'd been leaving too much work to Youko.

Also, when the chicken returns to the village, I'll make sure to praise it.

-0-

「I vented to Hitoe. It seems Hitoe passed it along to the chicken… well, it worked out.」

That's what Youko told me when I asked.

So that's how it happened.

In any case, I'm sorry for giving you so much work that you needed to vent.

Take a proper break sometime soon.

Ah, I know I can't fill in for Youko myself.

I won't try to do it alone.

I already have some people in mind to help.

Malbit asked me to find work for some angels who are capable but tend to slack off.

If it's just for the time Youko is resting, I can handle it somehow.

Well, I know it's not easy to just drop everything and take a break right away. So take it when it's convenient for you.

Ah, yeah.

Just try to avoid a time when there's fieldwork.

Sorry about that.