Chapter 27: May We Come Here?

The soil near the entrance had grown harder than before.

No one had widened the road. It was because merchants set down cargo there, villagers gathered, and even visitors from outside had begun spreading out goods in the same place.

Some days were crowded, while on others no one came.

The chief had never set a date, and no single person was organizing it. Still, more people had begun avoiding the southern road alone, so groups who met along the way sometimes reached the village at around the same time.

That afternoon, three men climbed the southern road.

They had no packhorses.

Their baggage was light too, and they didn’t look like merchants.

The man in front stopped when he saw me.

The other two did the same.

I remained lying outside the fence and didn’t move.

After watching me for a while, the three whispered among themselves and headed for the village entrance.

“If you’ve come to trade, there are no merchants here today,” Dario called from nearby.

“We didn’t come to sell anything today,” the man in front replied. “We have something to ask the chief.”

“What?”

“Whether we’re allowed to bring goods here.”

Some of the caution left Dario’s expression.

“Where are you from?”

“Farther south. There are a few houses gathered together where we live.”

Even if they’d described the place in more detail, I wouldn’t have understood.

I didn’t recognize any of their faces either.

Before long, the chief was called over.

“What do you want?”

“We heard that sometimes we can sell goods or buy what we need if we come to Rue Village.”

The man lowered the sack he’d been carrying.

“Some people where we live make baskets and wooden dishes. When we produce more than we need at home, we came to ask if we may bring them here.”

“You’re free to bring them, but that doesn’t mean they’ll sell.”

“We understand.”

“The village won’t buy everything.”

“Yes. We heard that too.”

The chief looked at the three men.

“Who told you?”

“Not one person. We heard it from a merchant returning below and from people who brought beans here.”

The chief breathed out quietly.

“Word travels fast.”

“That’s why we came to ask first. If a large group came without permission and got turned away, we’d be in trouble.”

“How many is ‘a large group’?”

“We haven’t decided. We don’t even know how many people want to bring goods.”

“Then keep it to a small number. For now, you may use the area near the entrance. Don’t wander between the houses, don’t block the road, and take home anything that doesn’t sell. If you can follow those rules, you’ll be treated the same as the people already coming.”

The man looked at the other two.

Both nodded.

“That’s enough.”

I thought the conversation would end there.

But the youngest of the three kept glancing toward me.

Eventually, the chief noticed.

“Is there something else?”

“…May I ask about that dragon?”

I raised my head.

“You mean Val?”

“Yes.”

He even knew my name.

Once, merely hearing my name spoken by someone who’d never seen me would’ve felt strange. Recently, I’d begun to get used to it.

“Is it true that he understands words?”

“It’s true,” Dario answered. “He can’t speak, though.”

“Can you understand us?”

The man asked me directly, so I nodded.

His eyes widened slightly.

“It’s really true…”

“Did you come merely to confirm that?” the chief asked.

“No, that’s not it.”

The man shook his head.

“It’s about people like us, who don’t live in this village.”

“What about them?”

“If magical beasts or bandits attacked while we were here, I wondered whether he’d leave us alone because we aren’t villagers.”

The chief didn’t answer immediately.

Dario looked at me too.

I considered it myself.

Merchants had already visited many times.

Some had stayed overnight.

There was no longer any need to explain that I didn’t regard them as prey.

But no one had directly asked what I’d do if danger arose in the village.

If bandits came here again while a merchant from outside stood at the entrance…

If a magical beast approached the fence while a visitor failed to escape…

Would I abandon someone I could save solely because he wasn’t a villager?

The answer was clear.

I shook my head.

“You wouldn’t leave us?”

This time, I nodded.

The young man breathed out in relief.

Then the chief interrupted.

“Don’t misunderstand.”

“About what?”

“This doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to be safe if you come here.”

The man’s expression tightened.

“Even Val can’t do everything. Sometimes he’s far away, and we won’t know what kind of magical beast is attacking. His willingness to help and your certainty of survival are two different things.”

“I understand.”

“And don’t expect him to protect the road once you leave the village.”

“We heard that too. We’ll watch out for ourselves on the road.”

“Then fine.”

I nodded as well.

I had no intention of watching the entire southern road.

But if humans conducting themselves normally in Rue Village were caught in danger, I had no intention of changing my decision merely because they weren’t villagers.

“Then it doesn’t matter whether we’ve paid money either?” the young man asked to make certain.

I nodded at once.

“Good.”

“What’s good?” Dario laughed.

“That was what I wanted to know most.”

“I thought you came to sell goods.”

“I wanted to ask before bringing the people who want to sell them.”

The man looked at me.

“Some are afraid.”

That was natural.

If, when I still had only my memories from my previous life, someone had told me a dragon lived in a mountain village I’d never visited, I doubted I would’ve approached it casually either.

The three looked around the entrance area, then decided to return home that same day.

Before they left, the chief warned them once more.

“Don’t bring a large crowd from the start.”

“We know.”

“And don’t leave unsold goods in the village.”

“We know that too.”

“Then fine.”

The three headed for the southern road.

Partway there, only the young man turned back.

“Val.”

I looked at him.

“I really will bring them next time.”

Why was he announcing that to me?

But it wasn’t a bad thing, so I nodded once.

The man smiled and hurried after his companions.

◇

Several days passed.

I hadn’t forgotten what they’d said, but I wasn’t waiting for them every day either.

When no one visited, work continued in the village. I flew through my usual range or rested outside the fence.

The danger on the mountain side hadn’t vanished, so the villagers still didn’t force their way in that direction.

Eventually, another group climbed the southern road.

Two of the three men from before were in front.

“They came!” Lina spotted them.

Behind them walked two unfamiliar men and one woman.

No one led a packhorse.

Instead, baskets and wooden vessels were tied to their backs.

“We came, just like I said,” the man in front called to the chief.

“Five people?”

“This many should be fine, right?”

“As long as you don’t block the entrance.”

With only that warning, they headed for the place where visitors had spread out goods before.

A merchant happened to be in the village that day too.

When he saw the baskets and wooden dishes they’d brought, the villagers gathered as well.

Some goods failed to sell because they couldn’t agree on a price. Others were taken sooner than the people who brought them had expected.

Not everything sold.

Even so, by the time they prepared to leave, the contents of their packs had changed a little.

I watched from outside the fence.

At one point, a woman approached while looking uncertainly at me.

They’d already received the chief’s permission to enter the village.

There should’ve been no need for her to come to me.

She stopped a considerable distance away.

“You’re Val…right?”

I nodded.

“That man told me you wouldn’t abandon us if something happened, even though we don’t live here.”

That wording was a little strong.

Before I could respond, Dario joined in from nearby.

“If he’s able to help. It doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to survive no matter what.”

“Ah, yes. I heard that too.”

The woman nodded hurriedly.

“It’s only…before coming, merely hearing that this was a village with a dragon frightened me.”

I couldn’t blame her.

“But you really do stay outside the whole time.”

I tilted my head.

“I imagined you sitting in the center of the village, glaring at everyone.”

What kind of rumor had spread about me?

Dario laughed.

“I wouldn’t want to go in either.”

“Don’t laugh.”

“Tell that to whoever imagined it, not me.”

The woman ended up laughing too.

I breathed out through my nose.

At least, she didn’t look ready to flee in fear.

“I only brought baskets today,” she said. “Would it be all right if I came again?”

That wasn’t for me to decide.

I looked toward the chief.

The woman followed my gaze and quickly understood.

“Ah. That’s something I should ask the village chief, isn’t it?”

Good.

Things would become strange if I started deciding who could visit.

She went to the chief and returned after a while.

“He told me again that he can’t guarantee anything will sell.”

Of course he did.

“But he said I may come.”

She sounded pleased.

I nodded once.

“Then I’ll come again.”

The woman bowed lightly and returned to the gathering.

By evening, the visitors began preparing to leave.

Several baskets were gone, and other goods filled their packs instead.

As promised, they carried the unsold wooden dishes home themselves.

“We didn’t sell everything,” the young man said.

“I told you that from the beginning,” the chief replied.

“But we’ll come again.”

“Do as you please.”

“Can’t you look a little happier?”

“Why should I be happy?”

“People are coming here.”

“And creating more work.”

The chief didn’t seem genuinely displeased.

The visitors entered the southern road in groups of three and four.

The woman who’d brought baskets looked at me from the rear.

“Val.”

I raised my head.

“I’ll come again.”

She’d already told me.

Even so, I nodded one more time.

This time, the woman finally followed her companions.

They hadn’t come to see a dragon for entertainment.

They hadn’t come seeking a place of refuge.

They’d brought things they’d made themselves, exchanged them for what they needed, and gone home saying they would return.

The chief came near me and looked down the southern road.

“I wonder how many will come next time.”

Dario stood beside him.

“Afraid to ask?”

“A little.”

“Will you turn them away?”

“If they don’t cause trouble, we have no reason to.”

Having said only that, the chief returned to the village.

I remained lying outside the fence and watched him go.