The Girl From The Wuran Tribe

Morning sunlight streamed through the large south-facing windows.

It was another refreshingly clear day.

As I gazed down at the castle town, I absentmindedly considered what I should do next.

First, I needed to install some lighting.

It was so dark at night that my eyesight would suffer if things stayed as they were.

After finishing my morning routine, I waited in my office until Karan-san arrived.

“Good morning. I’ve prepared today’s schedule for you. Please look it over. Well then…”

Karan-san hurried off to the toilet.

She was probably going to relax in there again today.

She seemed to have taken such a liking to the place that I could sometimes even hear her humming from behind the door.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Karan-san returned to my office.

“I put out a new mouthwash. Did you try it?”

“Yes, there was a note, so I gratefully made use of it. Thanks to that, my mouth feels wonderfully refreshed.”

Karan-san’s expression softened ever so slightly as she answered.

I handed the schedule back to her.

“So we’re inspecting the castle town this morning. It’ll be my first time going outside since arriving at Gaurea Fortress, so I’m a little nervous.”

The people of this region were afraid of those from another world.

“Allow me to warn you in advance: under no circumstances should you stray from your guards.”

“W-Why?”

“An utterly baseless rumor has spread that hair from people of another world can cure all diseases. You wouldn’t want to end up completely bald, would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

Just imagining having every hair on my body plucked out was terrifying…

“We’ve prepared a carriage near the castle gate, so we’ll travel in that. There’s no need to be quite so nervous. As long as you don’t go wandering off on your own, you’ll be perfectly safe.”

Karan-san reassured me before I could decide to become a complete shut-in.

A dusty, provincial town. That was my first impression of Gaurea.

“How many people live here?”

“The population is approximately two thousand, most of whom are workers at the diamond mine and their families.”

“Diamonds! Aren’t those valuable?”

“They are, but the deposits here aren’t particularly extensive.”

“So that’s why they were willing to make someone like me the Fortress Lord.”

“Well, that is essentially correct.”

Karan-san agreed without the slightest hesitation.

Well, fine…

“Still, can’t something be done about that?”

Every so often, I caught glimpses of Gaurea’s residents through the carriage window, but they were all watching us from behind whatever cover they could find.

Whenever our eyes met, they fled as though terrified…

“As I’ve explained several times, the people of this region fear those from another world. Once they realize you’re a harmless young man, Fortress Lord, they’ll eventually stop paying you any attention.”

“I hope you’re right…”

Suddenly, angry shouting erupted outside.

“Stay out of Gaurea! Get the hell out of here!”

“Yeah, that’s right! We heard you bring misfortune wherever you go! Get lost!”

At first, I assumed they were shouting at me, but that wasn’t the case.

Looking more closely, I saw that a group of residents had surrounded someone and were shouting angrily.

At the center of the crowd stood a short girl.

She had green hair, and bandages were wrapped around her arms and legs. Over them, she wore an oversized, baggy robe.

A strip of black cloth was also wrapped around her forehead.

“What’s going on over there?”

“Ah, a member of the Wuran tribe. They’re a people known for their ability to see the future and their extensive knowledge of medicine. They’re respected in the eastern regions, but here on the western frontier, I suppose they’re regarded with fear.”

Her circumstances sounded rather similar to mine.

“That’s it! We’ll throw you out of town by force if we have to!”

“Yeah! Let’s do it!”

The townspeople began picking up branches from the ground and brandishing them threateningly.

This was getting seriously out of hand.

It was horrible to see a whole crowd ganging up on a single girl.

Before I knew it, I’d jumped out of the carriage.

“Wait! You can’t do something like that!”

The instant the residents saw me, their faces twisted in terror.

“Ahhh! It’s someone from another world!”

“Ruuuun! He’s gonna eat us aliiiive!”

Eat them alive?

Me?

That was a terrible misunderstanding…

I liked meat, sure, but I preferred beef and chicken.

Once all the residents had fled, the only person left was the girl, who was trembling with her face lowered toward the ground.

“Are you hurt? It’s okay now. You’re safe.”

When I spoke to her, the girl raised her face with a strained expression.

“Th-Thank you f-for saving me. Heh, hehe…”

This girl was laughing.

I’d seen something like this in an informational video before.

Apparently, people sometimes laughed when they were frightened because they’d lost control of their emotions or were instinctively trying to appease someone.

She must have been under tremendous stress.

I wished there were some way to help her relax.

“I’m Takeru Kinoshita. Nice to meet you.”

“Takeru?”

“That’s right. I’m eighteen. About the same age as you, I guess?”

“I’m Setia Myusha. I’m eighteen too… sir…”

“So we really are the same age.”

“…………”

Setia gazed at me with a puzzled expression.

“I-I’m from the Wuran tribe, you know.”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard.”

“Um… a-aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Well, you don’t look scary. Besides, everyone’s afraid of me too.”

“Why… would they be? When you’re so kind…”

“Because I’m from another world. Are you afraid of me too, Setia?”

When I asked, Setia shook her head vigorously from side to side.

“Do you live around here?”

“I-I came t-t-traveling in search of medicinal herbs. I’m sorry.”

Hmm, she was certainly demonstrating some impressive social awkwardness.

“Oh, look. There’s blood seeping through the bandages around your hand.”

She must have scraped it when she put her hands against the ground.

“We should treat that. Come back to my home with me.”

“N-N-No, I couldn’t possibly. It would be far too presumptuous, or rather, um…”

“There’s no need to be shy. Here, take my hand.”

When I took her hand and pulled her to her feet, Setia froze completely.

“What’s wrong!? Did I hurt you somewhere? Or are you sick?”

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish pulled out of water, and she seemed barely able to breathe.

Karan-san, who had been silently watching everything unfold, finally interjected.

“She’s nervous because you took her hand, Fortress Lord.”

Setia nodded her head up and down so violently that she looked like someone headbanging at a heavy metal concert.

“Oh, sorry about that. I shouldn’t have grabbed your hand so suddenly.”

“N-N-N-No! I’m the one who should apologize! To have you hold my hand when I haven’t even washed it properly is terribly presumptuous of me, or rather, I don’t know how to… Huh…? Fortress Lord?”

Setia looked up at me with a distinctly apprehensive expression.

“Yep. That’s my home over there.”

The moment I pointed toward the fortress behind us, Setia collapsed on the spot with a thud.

She was even foaming at the mouth.

“Whoa! What should I do!?”

“I would recommend leaving her where she is.”

“We can’t do that! Stop trying to avoid dealing with troublesome situations!”

“Tch!”

“And don’t click your tongue at me!”

We carried the unconscious Setia to the carriage and somehow managed to bring her back to the fortress.