Chapter 45

Although I had struck a grand pose in front of Kururu and the others, I had to keep resistance down as much as possible, and the words Marks had spoken kept catching in my mind.

That was the word honor.

I had already failed once with the matter of the magic stone processors, so if I charged in without a plan, I could easily step on another land mine. With the workshop issue, I had the idea of division of labor on hand, so in the end it felt like things had somehow been made to fit.

But for cargo hauling, that sort of trickery would not work, and someone had to physically carry things by force of arm. It was also impossible to increase the number of workers right away, so failure in forming a partnership with the beastfolk was not an option.

To do that, I needed to smooth the ground as much as possible beforehand.

As I thought it through, I realized there was something even Iiria and the others had overlooked.

So before proposing the matter to the company staff and before bringing it to the roughneck bosses of the stevedores, I decided to consult a certain person.

“And you ask me about something like that…?”

The cramped shack was the clinic of a beastfolk bonesetter, where Torun had apparently been looked after for a time.

Doctors at this level of civilization were apparently almost like shamans, and on the shelves were things like charred small reptiles that did not look as though they could possibly have any effect.

And sitting before me were Torun, who had acted as the intermediary for me and was watching the course of events with interest, and Dodol, who looked exasperated.

“From your point of view, Dodol-san, what do you think of this idea?”

After hearing Marks and the others talk about honor, something had suddenly occurred to me.

If humans disliked beastfolk coming into human territory, then I thought perhaps the reverse might also be true.

“…”

Dodol tried to say something, then closed his mouth, then seemed about to open it again before scratching his head furiously.

“…I had thought we and you were enemies.”

When Dodol narrowed his eyes, he looked quite vicious.

But I did not feel afraid, perhaps because the fur on his sturdy tail was slightly drooped.

And there was one more reason too.

“Dodol, I told you already that acting tough and pretending to be bad is your weakness.”

Along with that gentle voice, the door opened and another beastfolk entered.

His thin face, reminiscent of a herbivorous animal, might have been due to his old age.

It was Gorgon, the doctor who owned this place.

“Had you not been grateful that the work at the mine was expanded, and that the children in particular had more magic stone polishing to do?”

“Ngh…”

Dodol had an air about him similar to Kururu.

He was stubborn, but probably not that bad a person.

Standing before Gorgon, who was like an elderly teacher, he looked like a middle schooler.

“Dodol.”

At Gorgon’s slightly stern tone, Dodol gritted his teeth so hard his back rose, then let out the breath he had been holding.

“…You people kept your promise with us and repaid your debt…”

“And now that debts have been given and returned, we are comrades already.”

Gorgon added that with a somewhat mischievous smile and offered us drinks.

It was a yogurt-like fermented drink, something I did not see in town.

“To Lord Yorinobu, who granted light to us.”

When Gorgon raised his cup, Torun, who seemed delighted to be present for something like a tribal ritual, raised his own cup of drink as well.

When I hesitated, Gorgon gave me a gentle smile, so I timidly touched my cup to theirs.

Dodol stared at his own drink for a moment, but as if deciding that whatever happened, happened, he knocked his cup against the ones we had raised.

“This does not mean we are getting all friendly.”

Dodol said that as though glaring at me, but since Gorgon was smiling wryly, that was probably just how it was.

At the word cheers, each of us drank down what was in our cups.

“More importantly, about your strange idea.”

Perhaps Dodol did not like yogurt very much, because after immediately taking a sip of liquor, he spoke in a somewhat tired voice.

“You are not planning to treat us like slaves… are you?”

“Of course not. As for wages, that is, well, something I wanted to discuss…”

Pay was already complicated enough as it was, and when balanced against the humans doing the same work, it became a headache. On that point, it would probably be better to ask Kengo, who worked with beastfolk at the mine.

“Hmph. In that case, we have no reason to oppose it.”

The moment Dodol lashed his tail, clouds of dust rose thickly into the air. Gorgon, who after the toast had started organizing medicinal supplies at his own pace, looked displeased.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

When Dodol leaned forward and said that, Torun, who had been pouring himself another helping of yogurt drink, turned a slightly tense gaze toward him as well.

“Was this something Iiria or Kururu came up with?”

Because those two carried beastfolk blood, they might in fact have more distance between themselves and Dodol than humans like me or Kengo did.

So just as I was about to answer yes, hoping to bring Dodol closer to them—

Torun answered first.

“Iiria-neechan and Kururu-neechan are on the side that says Yorinobu-san is weird.”

“…”

That made it sound like those two were hostile to beastfolk!

As I panicked over that, I heard a muffled sound.

For an instant, it seemed Dodol had laughed.

“The ones coming back from the mine are all strange.”

Showing all his fangs, Dodol looked at the liquor in his hand and snorted.

“But hearing that puts me at ease. Those two should properly remain on the human side.”

“That is…”

Was that rejection, or something else?

As I faltered, Gorgon, who had been adjusting a mortar for grinding herbs, cut in.

“Lord Yorinobu. Those young ladies’ positions are precarious and fragile. It is better for both sides if their place is always made clear.”

Those two were neither completely human nor completely beastfolk.

That ambiguity would probably work in a bad direction when something happened.

If so, then perhaps Dodol’s hostile attitude toward Iiria and Kururu had been intentional.

“More importantly, about the harbor.”

“Ah, yes.”

“How many of our people would be able to work?”

I could not afford to give them excessive expectations.

I had not yet even brought the matter to the stevedore bosses or to the people at the company, and I did not know what would happen.

When I honestly explained that, Dodol once again made a displeased face.

As I shrank in embarrassment, Gorgon said with a laugh,

“Dodol, you understand now, do you not?”

I thought he meant my slight unreliability… but what came next was unexpected.

“Lord Yorinobu brings the matter to us before either of those two groups. Lord Yorinobu never makes light of us. No matter how stubbornly you dig in your heels.”

Dodol had been making that displeased face while listening to me.

But if he really was similar to Kururu, then that look must have been because the whole thing had thrown him off balance.

Because beastfolk were always put last and made only to obey decisions made by humans.

Still, while I was grateful that Gorgon was taking my side, there was one more thing I had to tell them from my side.

“Well, there is one more thing I would like to tell you…”

When I said that, both Gorgon and Dodol turned toward me.

“If the stevedore bosses or the people at the company push back, then I think this matter may simply fizzle out. But even if that happens, from our side we would never—”

“Lord Yorinobu.”

The one who cut off my words was Gorgon.

“You need not say it all. Like the shore, the tide need only come in eventually. Is that not so, Dodol?”

Even if this matter came to nothing, that would not make us enemies again.

At Gorgon’s words, Dodol let out a great sigh.

“I am not a stubborn fool.”

At the way he turned away with a huff, I found myself thinking Dodol might actually be fairly young.

Gorgon gave a small laugh at Dodol as well, let out a breath, and said,

“I drifted and drifted until at last I came to this island, where there seems to be nothing ahead but the sea.”

In his narrowed eyes, I could glimpse the long years he had lived.

“And yet, to think there would be someone this interesting in the final place. One truly never knows with the world.”

Being called strange, all I could do was shrink in on myself, but Gorgon’s words stayed with me.

This beastfolk knew the outside world.

Seeing that, it suddenly occurred to me that using beastfolk connections to advance a plan that bypassed the Bax Company might not be a bad move after all.

They had strong horizontal ties, and because they were socially weak, they were tightly united among themselves, so if one were regarded as a companion, they would probably be highly trustworthy. And since they kept their distance from humans, that would make it all the harder for anything to leak out.

They might be ideal for investigating matters outside the island.

And perhaps for concerns like analyzing the magic circles, or even possibly developing synthetic magic stones as well…

“Yorinobu-san?”

At Torun’s question, I came back to myself from my thoughts.

“So then, next are the harbor bosses?”

Torun had originally made a selling point of how nimble he was, and had been especially good at carrying cargo from ship to ship.

He was familiar with the harbor situation as a whole.

“…What do you think?”

When I asked whether there was any chance, Torun only shrugged.

“I have heard that long ago, our people worked at this harbor too.”

Dodol’s gaze was directed at Gorgon.

“By the time I arrived, it was already human territory. Though, on the other hand, I have seen harbors where no humans worked at all, so each land has its own circumstances. Perhaps it is something like wanting beastfolk to work in the mines rather than at the harbor.”

Even so, if it was human turf in the present, then bringing beastfolk into it would surely mean preparing for some kind of conflict.

Even in my previous world, harbors were full of troublesome issues.

The famous example was the huge uproar over the introduction of containers.

If goods that had once been carried by human hands were changed into standardized containers, logistics could be made drastically more efficient, but efficiency generally ended up taking work away from people.

There had also long ago been the Luddite movement, which opposed the automation of weaving.

If the arm strength of one beastfolk was equal to that of ten humans, then that could easily make those ten humans unnecessary.

“Yorinobu.”

What surprised me was that Dodol had called my name.

“Do not push yourself.”

Those words from Dodol came while he was still looking away.

Torun’s eyes widened, then he shrugged, and Gorgon too laughed as though to say oh dear.

Like the shore, the tide only needed to come in eventually, Gorgon had said.

Sometimes the waves receded, and sometimes they came crashing in.

“Thank you very much.”

When I thanked him, Dodol tipped back his liquor, and once again dust rose thickly through the room.