Chapter 46
Thanks to Mari’s old notebook, our journey back was incredibly smooth.
Then...
“...Huh?”
The moment the Rock Tribe village came into view beyond the wall of cliffs, Zakan and I stopped at the exact same time.
“Zakan! Izak! There’s smoke coming from the village!”
The moment Malko shouted, my vision went dark.
I didn’t even have time to think.
I immediately sprinted toward the village.
Zakan shot past me like an arrow.
As I chased his broad back, terrible possibilities tangled together inside my head.
Was it an enemy attack?
Did Karga come here for revenge?
Or did a monster like Varg attack the village?
Were the children and Jack safe?
Even Malko’s expression hardened as he pulled out his axe.
Luna and Mari turned pale and hurried after us.
“Ooooooh!”
Meanwhile, the Pink Smilers rolled happily after me with their long arms raised toward the sky.
They were the only ones enjoying themselves in this serious situation.
Finally, we reached the village entrance without even stopping to catch our breath.
“Waaah! Zakan and Izak are back!”
A young voice came from the watchtower.
I raised my head.
One of the children was waving both arms excitedly.
He quickly opened the gate for us.
...What?
I entered the village with a confused expression.
It was strangely quiet.
The wall Jack had worked so hard to build was completely intact.
Nothing seemed different from before we left.
Then we approached the center of the village.
And I doubted my eyes.
Zakan looked around.
“Izak. Was that always there?”
“No. What the hell is this...?”
The land we had cleared for reorganizing the village was completely destroyed.
The ground looked like a giant mole had dug through it.
Holes and uneven piles of soil covered the area.
And strange things were sticking out of the ground everywhere.
I hurried closer.
Then my mouth fell open.
Malko pointed.
“This is an axe!”
Then another.
“And this is a hammer... There’s even a spear!”
He was right.
Axes.
Spears.
Even Jack’s precious woodworking planes and hammers.
All of them had been buried upside down in the dirt.
Only the handles stuck out of the ground.
They looked like seedlings planted in a field.
“Cough! Cough!”
That wasn’t all.
My eyes burned so badly that I could barely keep them open.
Black smoke was drifting from the village square.
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
When we approached the source...
I saw a huge bonfire in the middle of the square.
Fresh, wet branches had been piled together.
So had mountains of damp weeds.
Thick black smoke poured into the sky like poison gas.
So that was the black smoke we had seen from outside the village.
Then...
“S-Shamaaan...!”
Something black crawled toward us through the smoke.
It was Jack.
From head to toe, he was covered in soot and ash.
The moment he saw me, he desperately crawled across the ground.
Then he grabbed my trouser legs with both hands.
“S-Save me! They took everything! Everything was taken from me!”
Tears poured from his eyes.
“My precious tools... Even my hammer! They took my hammer too!”
Jack began sobbing.
Zakan’s eyes sharpened.
“Who took them? Did bandits attack the village?”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“Zakan. If bandits or raiders had come here, they would have stolen everything and escaped.”
I pointed toward the strange field.
“What kind of thief breaks into someone’s village, steals all their weapons, and then plants them upside down in the dirt?”
Zakan frowned.
He had to admit that made no sense.
What kind of lunatic had planted valuable weapons and tools like seedlings?
Jack sniffled.
“T-That’s not what happened! There were no thieves!”
“Huh?”
Jack pointed toward the village.
“The young demo... I mean, the young barbarians!”
Then he cried,
“They dragged out every weapon they could find and planted them in the ground!”
I stared at him.
“The children planted the weapons?”
Then...
“Why?”
Jack sniffled again.
Then he began explaining the nightmare he had endured over the past few days.
Raise front legs.
Meanwhile, the beetles crawled out of Jack’s pockets.
They raised their front legs and jumped up and down as if complaining too.
Why did you come back so late?!
Why only now?!
Anyway...
Jack’s explanation was simple.
The children had created...
A weapon field.
“Cough, cough...”
I rubbed my burning eyes.
“Fine. Let’s pretend I can accept the field.”
Then I pointed toward the enormous cloud of smoke.
“But what is that?”
I coughed again.
“Why did they pile garbage over the place where I planned to build my kitchen?”
Jack suddenly remembered something.
His face paled.
“Ah! R-Right!”
He grabbed my wrist.
“This isn’t the time for me to sit here crying! We need to stop them right now!”
Jack dragged me toward the center of the village.
We reached the smoking pile of weeds.
I was still wondering what the hell was happening when...
“Huh?! Izak is back!”
“Zakan is back too!”
“Big brother is back!”
About fifteen children came running through the smoke.
Their arms were filled with branches, bundles of weeds...
And the potatoes I had given them permission to eat.
Their bodies were completely covered in ash.
Some of their hair had even been singed by the fire.
Yet...
Every one of them looked extremely satisfied.
At the front was Malko’s younger brother.
Yangko.
He threw the branches he was holding onto the smoking pile.
Then wiped his runny nose with the back of his hand.
“Izak! I’m a mage now too!”
He puffed out his chest.
“I made a field just like big brother!”
“...So this was your doing.”
Yangko nodded proudly.
“Yes! I did it!”
Don’t sound proud, you little Malko.
I sighed.
“You made a field?”
Yangko nodded violently.
“Yes!”
Then he grinned.
“But we planted something much greater than you did!”
The other children nodded.
“That’s right!”
“We became even greater mages!”
They proudly pointed toward the weapon graveyard.
I stared again.
It still looked ridiculous.
Blunt axe handles.
Jack’s precious hammer.
Spears.
All sticking out of the ground like young trees.
Yangko raised both arms.
“We planted weapons!”
Another child shouted,
“Now axes will grow from weapon trees like potatoes!”
Then...
“The Rock Tribe has lots of potatoes and lots of weapons now!”
They cheered.
“We’re rich!”
“...”
Zakan and I fell silent.
Their logic was so miraculous that we didn’t know how to respond.
Plant potatoes and get potatoes.
So...
Plant an axe and get axes.
Was this pure innocence?
Or pure stupidity?
Then I heard an impressed voice behind me.
“Amazing.”
I slowly turned around.
Malko.
Amazing?
Did I hear that right?
Malko stared at his younger brother with genuine admiration.
Then walked toward him.
He grabbed Yangko’s shoulders with both hands.
His expression became deadly serious.
“Yangko.”
Then...
“As expected of my little brother.”
Yangko grinned.
Malko continued.
