Episode 40. Sori, the Myo Tribe Warrior
As Jilph fell asleep, a silence settled over them as the tension finally snapped.
“Binaeril, are you alright?”
The party rushed to Binaeril, who had finished his confrontation with the spirit.
They had not heard Jilph’s voice.
Just as they had been unable to hear the conversation between Binaeril and Veritas.
Binaeril’s shoulder was a complete mess, hastily frozen over to treat the wound.
Rike examined his injury and turned pale.
“The wound is severe.”
Simon, who had been bombarding them with tactless questions about their conversation with the spirit, heard her and replied.
“Right beyond here is our village.”
“Can we go there now?”
“If the spirit has permitted it, shouldn’t we be able to?”
Fortunately, before falling asleep, Jilph had arranged an exit for them.
The path to the Myo tribe’s village lay clearly open.
“Ugh… ah….”
“Stay still. Don’t squirm.”
Binaeril once again found himself riding on Silvia’s back.
“Somehow, I feel like I’ve been getting on your back a lot lately.”
“Well, who told you to be so rough on your body? You reap what you sow.”
Though she grumbled with her mouth, she knew the truth.
Binaeril invited danger upon himself so that others would not get hurt.
That was why he always threw himself so recklessly into danger.
Though Silvia was always grumbling on the outside, she too trusted and relied on Binaeril.
After going up the valley a short distance, the view suddenly opened wide, revealing the scenery of Hohenberg.
“Haah….”
Rike, Silvia, Simon—the Myo child—and Binaeril, too, took in the vast, green landscape over Silvia’s shoulder.
“It’s humans! Humans!”
“How are humans here?”
Murmuring voices rose from beneath their feet.
It was the Myo tribe.
Because Binaeril and the party were on the mountaintop, from the lower ground the Myo could only see two girls carrying a boy on their backs.
“Call the warriors!”
To demi-humans, humans were targets of caution and rejection.
The Myo who realized they were humans grew restless.
“What business do you humans have here!”
Soon Myo warriors emerged, gripping their weapons tightly, and warily confronted them.
The Myo warriors wore no tops, only pants woven from leaves and leather.
The warrior who came to the forefront flexed his magnificent pectoral muscles.
Even compared to the surrounding warriors, he was the largest.
His pecs were so massive that a person’s face could fit on each one.
“Leave at once, or the spears of the Myo tribe will not forgive you.”
“No, we aren’t here to—”
“Dad?”
When Simon heard a familiar voice, he poked his head over the rock ledge.
“Simon?”
“Dad!”
“Simon!”
“Daaad!”
Simon let out a tearful cry and ran into the warrior’s arms.
Simon's father dropped his spear and hugged his running son with a mixture of joy and awkwardness.
“How are you with humans?”
“They’re mages crossing Hohenberg, and I guided them.”
“But the Wind Valley is still….”
“We met the spirit. Those mages solved the Wind Valley’s problem.”
The explanation omitted all details of the blood-curdling battle that had unfolded during the encounter with the spirit.
“You… persuaded the spirit?”
“Uh, um. Yes.”
Simon seemed to have the sense not to explain that they had beaten it into submission and put it to sleep.
The Myo warrior’s expression was complicated.
Should he be happy that his son had returned?
Or should he scold his son for guiding humans to the Myo village?
Meanwhile, Rike and Silvia approached them.
They wore tired expressions, careful to appeal that they were as harmless as possible.
“These mages helped me. They solved the problem in the Wind Valley too. Dad!”
“Yes, what is it?”
“There’s an injured person among the humans. Please help.”
Only then did the Myo warrior spot Binaeril on Silvia’s back.
Still wary, the warrior pressed them.
“…Humans, for what reason have you climbed Hohenberg?”
Instead of Silvia, who was uncomfortable with Binaeril on her back, Rike stepped forward and explained.
“Hello, Myo warriors. We are travelers heading west. We were attempting to cross the mountain range with your son’s help. We harbor no ill will toward the Myo tribe, so we humbly ask that you not be angry.”
Rike conveyed their position politely and clearly.
Her crisp manner of speaking left the Myo warrior with little room for rebuttal.
Meanwhile, Silvia, watching from behind, felt tears welling up for no reason.
“The princess… the princess has grown up….”
As Silvia shed tears of emotion and trembled, Binaeril on her back felt like he was dying.
“Stay still. Someone’s dying back here….”
“Lord Sori, what should we do?”
“No matter that they are humans, we cannot ignore the grace of saving a Myo child. The Myo tribe does not forget its debts. Guide the humans to the village.”
“Yes, sir!”
And so they were led into the Myo tribe’s village.
The Myo village was a wondrous sight.
Most of the houses were built in trees.
In the Myo village, regardless of age, everyone lived moving through the trees like flying squirrels.
Stretching branches served as their roads, and the tree trunks were their playgrounds.
However, even with this exotic scenery, the party could not look around the village with ease.
Because the Myo villagers regarded them uncomfortably.
“Sorry. Everyone harbors resentment toward humans.”
The Myo warrior who had greeted them seemed to be quite an influential figure in the village.
His name was Sori.
“Sori?”
Binaeril was able to recall that name without difficulty.
“The mage Sorisimon.”
“The mage name that Simon falsely claimed was Sorisimon.”
“Ah, right.”
He had created a fictitious character by combining his father’s name and his own.
“So. Where are you humans from? And how did you meet our Simon?”
Seen up close, Sori’s physique was even more massive than expected.
Binaeril thought it would be quite a sight to see Dean Yulio and Sori standing side by side.
Rike briefly explained their meeting with Simon and their purpose.
Sori stroked his chin and listened carefully.
“Hmm, so you’re going to the empire’s capital… There is a path that goes down along the ridge from here. It connects directly to the humans’ city.”
“Is that city called Edenbere?”
“I don’t remember well, but I believe so.”
Fortunately, Simon had not deceived them.
“I do not mean to let you leave this place so easily. If I heal you and send you off, I have no way of knowing whether you will return leading an army.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Leave the injured one here. He is a hostage.”
“What? That won’t do!”
“After a month or two has passed and you are judged not to have betrayed us, we will release him. I cannot simply let you go.”
Binaeril was essential combat power for their journey to Albrecht.
They could not afford to delay that long.
“This is the Myo tribe’s decision. Or will you subjugate the Myo tribe by force, as you humans have always done?”
Sori looked down at the three young mages with icy eyes.
Binaeril lay down after applying Myo medicine to his wound.
He raised his upper body and thought:
‘Will a fight break out? If we fight, can we win?’
Sori looked like an outstanding warrior.
Judging by how the other warriors treated him with respect, he was likely a chieftain or captain.
Outside the house where they were staying, there were other Myo warriors as well.
Not to mention spirit priests of unknown strength.
The Myo tribe’s full strength was not easily estimated.
In the worst case, they would have no choice but to do as Sori said.
Then Rike stepped forward.
“I am the imperial princess.”
With resolute eyes, Rike met Sori’s gaze.
“I am the princess of the human empire that you detest.”
“What now, are you threatening me?”
Rike shook her head.
“Soon, the empire will be embroiled in a silent war over the imperial throne.”
“We are heading to the capital because of that.”
Sori listened to her calmly.
“I saw how Simon was living in Bruno. He was buried in an old tent. I heard that people ostracized and treated him cruelly.”
“A common occurrence. It is also why we live in this barren mountain.”
Rike shook her head once more.
“It is not right.”
“If we win that war, I will strive to ensure that demi-humans are not discriminated against.”
“Ha! Honeyed words. That is also a promise that cannot be guaranteed. We are still back to square one. Tell me. How can we trust you?”
“There is no proof.”
“All you have is my word.”
“But that is a word given as the princess of the empire, and as a mage.”
A mage’s promise, sworn upon their words, carries great weight.
Because they are people who perform miracles through language.
Binaeril glimpsed the will contained in her words.
But had Sori as well? Would a Myo warrior believe a mage’s verbal vow?
“…Very well.”
Sori accepted Rike’s promise far more easily than expected.
“Truthfully, I had no intention of keeping you here by using the injured one as a hostage. The Myo tribe is not so cowardly.”
“Mister, then what was that threat just now?”
Silvia latched onto it incredulously.
“I was merely testing you for the safety of the Myo tribe. I could not risk the entire tribe’s safety for a simple debt.”
“…I understand.”
“If you are tired, rest. The spirit priest has gone to the valley to ascertain the truth. When he returns, he will tend to the injured.”
“Thank you, Lord Sori.”
Rike smiled brightly, as if she had not been so solemn just moments before.
Her smile had a disarming quality.
Sori too looked at that smile and smiled wryly.
“Hah. To think I’d live to meet an imperial princess. Though whether it is true or not, I do not know.”
He moved aside so as not to disturb them any longer.
“Princess, you’re starting to resemble someone more and more.”
“Me? Who?”
“A very reckless someone. A human who’s always getting hurt like a punching bag.”
“…You lost to me, you know….”
Binaeril quibbled with Silvia in a deflated tone.
“But Rike, that really was reckless. What if the Myo tribe had held a grudge and yelled ‘Die, imperial princess!’ or something?”
Rike shrugged.
“Lord Sori didn’t seem like that. I have quite a good eye for people.”
“Oh, please, the nerve.”
“And even if things had gone wrong, Binaeril and Silvia are here, so what would I have to worry about? I trust you two.”
Silvia made another deeply moved expression.
But Binaeril felt slightly slighted by those words.
“Guys, I’m a patient right now. You’re supposed to protect me….”