Chapter 22 - Situation
In the afternoon, I decided to look for work myself since there were no requests at the adventurer guild. The first place I visited was the village chief's house.
"Pard---ouch!" (Fell)
The moment I entered the village chief's house, something charged at me and canceled my greeting. Looking downward, there was a little girl clung to my leg.
This is Anri the village chief's granddaughter, right? Why did she suddenly attack me?
“What are you doing?” (Fell)
“Fell Nee-chan, welcome! I understand. I will play with you!” (Anri)
No,look, I didn’t come here to play. More importantly, about Nee-chan, is that me? I don’t have a little sister like you. To begin with, you’re a human and I’m a demon.
"I'm sorry, Fell-san. Are you hurt?" (Village Chief)
"I was a little surprised, but I'm not hurt. Let go of me, Anri." (Fell)
"No, this leg is a hostage. I don't like studying. I demand a freedom. I will break this leg if you don't listen to my demand. Also, please bring snacks here!" (Anri)
Scary! I'm scared of what's inside this little girl's head. Even the children in the demon world wouldn't think such things.
"You can break it or whatever, but I will still make you study. Come on, take a seat here." (Village Chief)
You should cherish the hostage more! But studying, huh. I'm a little interested in what they're studying here.
"By the way, what lessons do you teach her?" (Fell)
“It’s just basic arithmetic, reading, and writing. I also teach her geography and general knowledge sometimes.” (Village Chief)
I have no problem with arithmetic, reading, and writing, so I don't need him to teach me. However, I'm interested with geography and the general knowledge of human world.
"Anri, why don't we listen the village chief explaining about geography and general knowledge together? I'm also interested." (Fell)
"NO. Let's play hero rather than that. I will become the hero and Fell Nee-chan will become a goblin." (Anri)
"That will be a role where I die first!" (Fell)
I will play it to perfection if my role is the demon king.
"Listen, a good woman is someone who has a lot of knowledge. You will never become a good woman if all you do is playing." (Fell)
"Is that so?" (Anri)
"Of course. You should become a well-educated woman respected by everyone like me." (Fell)
"Okay, I will study then. Let's play after that!" (Anri)
First, release the hostage. The negotiation comes after that.
"I'm sorry, Village Chief. Could you please change today's lesson to geography and general knowledge?" (Fell)
"Yeah, no problem. You sit down too, Anri." (Village Chief)
Anri finally sat down after the village chief prompted her. However, she sat on my lap instead on the chair.
It doesn't seem she will listen even if I tell her to move.
Oh well, there's no helping it.
The village chief spread a map on the desk. It was a very simple map but seemed very valuable.
Looking at the map, there was only a single crescent-shaped continent. I called it a crescent instead of an ellipse because there was a missing section in the southern part of the continent. Then again, rather than missing, it looked more like a semicircle section in the southern part of the continent was submerged in the sea.
"Our village is located over here, inside the Boundary Forest." (Village Chief)
Sodogora Village was located in the north side of the submerged section. If you thought of the continent as a perfect ellipse, it would be a little further to the north from the center point.
"There's Magic Country of Olin to the northeast. This is a country of magic supremacist, so anyone who can use powerful magic gets preferential treatments. The northern region of this country is colder, and the snow doesn't melt all year round." (Village Chief)
Why do they live in such a place? The warmer place is better.
"To the southeast is Religious Nation of Lomon. This is where the Goddess Religion's headquarter located. The top person of this country is the pope. There’s a place called Holy Land, and the believers of Goddess Religion from all over the world would go there to pray once a year. That's right, there's a place called Floating City, too." (Village Chief)
"Floating City?" (Fell)
"Floating City is a city floating in the sky. It's said that the Goddess of Light resides there. However, since only the pope who can go there, I don't know whether this information is true or not. Oh, but the floating island itself can be seen by naked eye.” (Village Chief)
That sounds interesting. Maybe they use an anti-gravity magic to levitate the island.
"Next there’s Ruhara Empire to the northwest, a militaristic state. Be it magic or weapon, they believe that strength is the rules. They’re at war with the neighboring countries, Ugen Republic and Trang Kingdom, all year round. Because of the Elven Forest, no sign of their invasion spreading to the east so far. Then again, I don't know if it will remain unchanged after they successfully defeating and absorbing the other two countries." (Village Chief)
Their line of though almost similar to demons. Speaking of northwest, that's where the Gate connecting the demon world and the human world located. This country might be the first place that was attacked by demons in the past, and that's why they're battle-minded.
"To the west, or maybe I should say further to the west, is Ugen Republic where the beastfolk race lives. This country is led by the council system, with the chiefs of each tribe serve as the council members. In the past, the beastfolk race was persecuted by the human race, and was forced into living in remote areas. Then, a lion beastfolk called Lion King appeared, and led the resistance against the humans. He's already retired from the front line because of the old age, but it's said that his influence is still strong even now." (Village Chief)
In the past, some beastfolks sought asylum in the demon world. In return for our protection, they swore allegiance to us demons. There are more beastfolks than demons in the demon world now. If they hear the information about Lion King, maybe they will want to migrate to this country.
"To the southwest, there's Trang Kingdom. This is a country that develops technology which doesn't rely on magic. Hmm, what was that again.... something like machine, energy, and so on. I don't quite understand myself. They're using the sea route to trade with the Religious Nation of Lomon." (Village Chief)
The technology which doesn't rely on magic? I don't get it. You should use whatever you could use.
"That's all for the big countries. There are other minor nations, but I don't think they can be called country." (Village Chief)
"Which country does this village belong? Geographically, I think it's either Magic County of Olin or Ruhara Empire." (Fell)
"This village doesn't belong to anywhere. Because part of the Boundary Forest is the Elven Forest, no country is able to claim it." (Village Chief)
I don’t know much about human race, but….
“Maybe everyone just live in this forest without permission?” (Fell)\
"Hahahaha. That's right. There's no tax, but there are patron-like things. You can find the adventurer guild and the church of Goddess Religion here, right? They built such facilities in this village as investment. " (Village Chief)
Huh? Is this village so important?
"The only land route connecting the east and west side of the continent passed this village after all. There's a sea route connecting the Religious Nation of Lomon and the Trang Kingdom, but the land route is more accessible and less risky. For the adventurers and the believers of Goddess Religion who are on pilgrimage, this route is necessary. It would be nice if the merchant guild becomes our patron, too. However, it seems they're still going to wait and see the situation." (Village Chief)
"What about the north side of the forest? This looks like a mountain range, but it should be still passable." (Fell)
I pointed further north of the Border Forest, near the edge of the map.
"That mountain range is the domain of Dragon God and his kin, the dragonewt race. It's said that dragonewt is as dangerous as the demon race. However, they're not hostile and won't attack unless we entered their territory without permission. In any case, it's impossible to use it as a traveling route." (Village Chief)
Dragon God and dragonewt, huh. I've never met them, but I'm sure they're strong. I want to spar with them someday.
"I think that's enough for today. You may go play now, Anri." (Village Chief)
"Okay. Then, Fell Nee-chan is Trang Kingdom and Anri is Ruhara Empire." (Anri)
"I don't understand what you're talking about. Does it mean I should not use magic?" (Fell)
In the end, I fought using a wooden stick. The Ruhara Empire was a formidable opponent.