97人人模人人爽人人喊谢绝

Vol 6: Chapter 13 (2)

(The Elder Hobbit civilization level does not seem to be that high. So it’s unlikely that I could borrow a magic airship and just fly to a neighboring country.)

As apparent from Janja’s clothes, her lifestyle seems to be quite primitive.

We walked for about an hour while talking—until I noticed cooking smoke in the sky.

My eyes couldn’t discern any difference in the surroundings even after walking for an hour. It was the same forest all around. But Janja was able to walk towards the village without any hesitation at all.

「——Janja! Janja is back!」

A worried voice echoed. Janja spent the night outside the village, after all.

**

The village was created by carving out a section of the forest. It was surrounded by wooden barricades. Bronze and iron spikes were attached to some of them.

Wooden houses with thatched roofs made of palm leaves could be seen around. And the climate is warm all year round.

So I had to change my initial assumption. I may have certainly been sent to “Canion”. However, the place where I fell is incredibly far from any country.

「Are you the one who saved Janja?」

I was guided to the house of the Elder.

The Elder Hobbits were all dressed similar to Janja. Most of them were male, and barely reached 150cm.

I myself am not too tall, but I’m quite tall at this place by a wide margin.

The village mayor was an old man with neatly trimmed white hair.

「Yes. I am Reiji.」

「…………」

The Elder peered at me intently.

A pleasant air breezed in through the space between wooden planks, and a large number of Elder Hobbits’ eyes peeped through the open wooden windows. …Guys, please. Try to be a little more stealthy.

「You’re a resident of the other world, correct?」the Elder said.

Eh? He’s not going to address the peepers!?

There are even voices of astonishment from the audience.

「Umm, are we going to start talking about the Covenant in an open setting?」

「Mu? What do you mean?」

「In my world, only a limited number of people knew about the Covenant and Pledgers…」

「Why would you limit the number of people who know? What if they die?」

And that’s when I realized. In the “Back World”, the number of races that can be called “people” had decreased considerably due to the excessive number of the ferocious monsters.

Thus I decided to convey my knowledge. First of all, I told the Elder that I had been to his world before. As expected, he was surprised at that fact.

「Hmm… It’s quite difficult to believe.」he said.

「I am sure it must be. After all, the knowledge to cross between worlds was lost…」I said.

「Not that. I can’t believe more than one million people live in one city.」

That’s what you find hard to believe? Though, for someone from the back world, I suppose that must be a difficult environment to imagine.

「Can I ask something too?」I said.

「Um, go ahead.」

The Elder’s house was already surrounded by Elder Hobbits—perhaps the entire village was here. They were carefully listening to my every word.

「Reiji saved Janja from a monster!」

The most noisy among them was Janja.

「Janja seemed to know that the Covenant had been revoked. Does that mean you do too, Elder?」I asked.

「Of course. Because I was sent to the place where the goddess was.」

「!! You were also sent to that white space?」

「Does that mean you were too, Reiji?」

My and the Elder’s experience were the same, but the difference was that the goddess and the Elder met one-on-one.

The words spoken by the goddess were the same word for word.

To say “thank you” to the mediator and pledgers.

And the goddess said I was “no longer necessary”.

The Elder thought it was a strange remark, since I wasn’t there in his vicinity.

However, he was kneeling under intense pressure and only briefly saw the goddess.

「I won’t be satisfied until I punch that bitch in the face.」

「……Eh?」

I thought I misheard.

“Bitch” is referring to the “goddess”, right?

「Follow me, Reiji. I’ll teach you the history of the Elder Hobbits.」the Elder said.

We headed to the center of the village. There was a stone monument facing in all directions. The stone monument itself seemed to be quite old. Even World Ruler could only indicate “more than several hundreds of years old”. The words engraved on it, however, were distinctly clear.

「We re-engrave words each time they are worn out. To make sure we do not forget this painful history.」the Elder said while touching the words on the stone monument.

Written on it was:

『Skill Orb does not support the world. If you find it, throw it away.』

『Look for your strengths and use them in benefit of your clan. A path that does not rely on skill orbs. Skill orbs is to corrupt the people and increase the surveillance of the goddess.』

『Do not be bound by the Covenant. If you are bound by the Covenant, your clan will perish.』

『Always think. If you stop thinking, your clan’s progress will cease and you will be wiped out by foreign enemies.』

『Love, be loved, and help each other. Seek an outcome where everyone can survive.』

『Think about what it means to kill your enemy and eating the meat. If you encounter a strong enemy, run away. Subjugation status of the 8 giant species: x Beetle, x Bird, x Goat, x Tiger, Slug, Butterfly, Turtle, Lizard.』

『Don’t believe the mediator. Don’t summon them. They are the goddess’ hounds.』

『We Elder Hobbits will not forgive the evil deeds of the goddess who split the world for her own convenience and separated our clan.』

The last phrase was sung by everyone here.

The voices that echoed were so full of resentment that even the word “long-standing resentment” could not fully convey it.

「Do you know why that bitch broke the world?」

If I could be honest, I was terrified by the bottomless emotions hidden in the village mayor’s heart.

「Because the world was out of balance or something along those lines… it’s a fragmented explanation.」I said.

「Indeed. That’s why the bitch broke the world, but that scattered our clans apart.」

「!!」

I have always thought that splitting the world meant making a copy of it, but apparently that isn’t the case.

As the amount of creatures in the two worlds was added together after the “World Union”, this means that the creatures which originally existed were split in half.

If the density of life decreased in half, it would not be easy to simply restore the number back to normal.

That was the beginning of the history of the hardships of the Elder Hobbits.

「That bitch gave us skill orbs, but she also left the world to the mediator at the same time. The Vision Ogre prepared 8 giants to control the monster population, but what was the outcome?」

「The monster population didn’t seem to be under control.」

「As you say. How many races do you think have been destroyed by the rampaging giants…」

I have met the Vision Ogre, but he didn’t strike me as a person who tried to destroy the races. He did seem to be on edge and felt a little mean compared to the Sage. Still, he hoped that the Covenant would be revoked and that the world would return to its original state.

「Therefore! We scream!」

——Do not forgive the goddess’ evil deeds!!

The voices of the Elder Hobbits shook the atmosphere.

The grudge against the goddess seems to have been the flame that kept these people going. By placing that thought in the center of the clan, they were able to prevent the clan from falling apart and continued to survive in a harsh world.

After that, I talked a lot more with the Elder, Janja, and the people of the village.

It seems that the Elder Hobbit did not revoke the Covenant because they suspected that even that might be a “trap” laid by the goddess. The Elder does not know things that happened long ago, but only that there was strong reluctance towards “revocation of the Covenant”.

It seems that they never once summoned the mediator based on the idea that the Vision Ogre was the goddess’ minion.

(They’re the exact opposite of the underground people.)

The Elder Hobbits have a long history, but the village population has mostly been stable at around 2,000. However, once every few decades, there is a fierce battle with monsters that kills and injures many of the villagers, and each time it strengthens their grudge against the goddess.

Despite that, the reason why there are many bright personalities like Janja may be due to the warm climate. Food running out is a rare occasion, unlike in winter climates.

And I finally come to the most crucial point.

「Elder, which way leads to the exit of this forest?」

The Elder laughed at my question.

「I don’t know!」

What should I do now?