The next morning, we, the "Fifth Settlers", were ready to leave the "Grave Keeper's Village".

　We're all gathered in front of the village.

'What?　Is Turkia going with you?

　I was greatly surprised when I was informed of this fact.

'Un, sodayo.'

　Turkia is laughing in front of me, cloak on and a big backpack on his back, all ready to go.

(Are you sure?)

　I look at Kilt next to me.

"Both he and the chief insist. Well, we, as a settlement group, are always happy to have a Toluga-speaking interpreter on hand to help us out.

　He replied.

　But Quilt himself seems to be a bit confused.

(...because it's a dangerous journey.)

　I can't help but wonder if it's right to involve this girl when we can't even guarantee our own safety.

　But.

We're going to be together for sure!

　And Torchia.

(Why so much?)

　That's what I thought, and I asked him why.

　Turkia looked up at the blue sky.

The World's Out There Is Here.

　I replied.

　She had never been anywhere else in her life but this village.

　It wasn't that she wasn't interested in other villages and towns. But it was very dangerous to go there, and at the same time, there was no reason for her to do so.

　There was also the matter of her grandfather.

　Turkia's parents had been killed by the 'Black Great Ape' when she was very young.

　Her grandfather was her only flesh and blood relative.

　She couldn't leave the village without him.

　She couldn't leave her grandfather and couldn't leave the village, so she kept that feeling in her heart for the rest of her life.

　But.

"Maarni kara.

　The white haired girl said.

　Suddenly, I met a boy from a different country.

　He was about his own age, and he'd met a being who was traveling the world.

　It lit a fire in Turkia's suppressed heart.

　And, to her surprise, it was her grandfather, Mr. Mohaini himself, who encouraged her to do so.

　Mr. Mohaini knew that his granddaughter was longing for the 'outside world'.

　The original Turkia is such an active girl that she would go out to collect for her village alone.

　This village is too small a world for her granddaughter.

　That's why Mohaini told Turkia to 'go with us as an interpreter, a bridge between the two countries, to repay us for saving her life'.

(............)

　Maybe Mr. Mohaini wanted to go with Jess, who was leaving the village 30 years ago.

　Maybe he also wanted to leave that thought with his granddaughter.

　Suddenly, it occurred to me.

　When I looked around, I saw that Mr. Mohaini was watching me and Turkia from a distance.

　Our gazes met.

　Mohaini-san bowed his head to us deeply.

　............

　I look at Turkia again.

It's a good idea. Turkia, it's good to see you from now on.

　He held out his right hand.　

　Turkia is surprised and smiles a radiant smile.

'Un, here koso!'

　I laughed too.

　Then the white haired exotic girl and I grasped each other's hands tightly and firmly.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


It's gonna happen!

　The cheerful voice of Turkia is echoing in the village in the valley.

　With many villagers seeing us off, the 400 members of the Fifth Pioneer Group left the grave keeper's village.

　The sky was clear.

(Yes, a good day to start our journey.)

　Squinting my blue eyes, I smiled.

　Our destination is the city of the Toluga Empire, about 20 days south of here.

　From there, I heard that they plan to contact the government of the Toluga Empire and ask for their help in finding the 'Spirit Stone'.

(...........Can you help me?

　I'm a little nervous.

　But if I don't, the world is at stake.

　I'm sure the Tolga Empire will be included in that, so I'll have to convince them somehow.

(Yes, we'll do our best!)

　I will regain my spirit.

　By the way, the "Exploration Stone Disk" that responds to the "divine spirit stone" is hung from my waist belt with a string.

　I've made sure that I can check it at any time.

　.........but so far there has been no reaction.

　And so we walk through the land of the Dark Continent, heading south.

　Unlike the previous 'exploration', this is a 'movement' with a fixed destination, so we won't be split up into two units, but all 400 of us will be moving together.

　Zushin, Zushin.

　Even the dragons of the Dragon Horsemen, one horseman is flying in the sky to monitor the surroundings, while the remaining three horsemen are walking on the ground with us.

(That's powerful.)

　It's kind of impressive to see a dragon walking up close and personal.

　Turkia, too, was impressed by the horrified look on her face at the sight of the giant dragons.

　And so our journey continued for a few days.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　The landscape around us has changed from forest and rocky earth to an arid wilderness.

　The wind was a little sandy.

The land around here feels like a desolate place.

　Solstice, walking next to me, let out that impression.

　Then.

It's from the Black Land of the Dead.

　And Turkia.

　She explained that 400 years ago, the Black Giant's rampage was centered in the northern part of this continent.

　In other words, the area we are walking in now.

　That's why there are not many people in the northern part of the continent even now, and it's considered a remote area even within the Empire.

(Hmmm?)

　So the Tolga Empire is more prosperous in the south.

　Another reason why there are fewer people in the north is that the Black Great Ape breeds around the Demertus Mountains.

I've heard that many towns and villages have been destroyed by the Black Great Ape.

　And in order to prevent the Black Great Monkeys from increasing in number and expanding their influence to the south, Leda, the imperial capital of the Toluga Empire, is located in the northern part of the city so that they can quickly dispatch their warriors.

(I see.)

　The idea of an empire that prides itself on its 'strength' is evident when it doesn't build its capital in the safe south.

　To Torchia's explanation.

Ho-ho, that's right!

　Solstice's eyes twinkled as she tried her best to take notes on what was going on.

　And so the pioneer group walked through the wilderness.

　Then one day.

(Hmm?)

　We found something strange in that wasteland.

　Bones.

　What looked like animal bones were lying on the ground.

　But it was a strange size.

　It was about the size of a 300-medium sized bone.

(What is this...?)

　Everyone in the pioneering group looked up in stunned amazement.

''This........is the bone of a great king species.

　Iltimina spoke up, as if surprised at what it was.

　A great royal species.

　It was a supermassive creature that was said to have fought with humanity for supremacy on earth during the time of the ancient Thanatos magic dynasty, before the Divine Demon War.

''So........there was one in the Dark Continent too?''

　I mutter.

　In ancient times, I'm sure they fought the warriors of the Toluga Empire as well.

　A true ancient romance.

　I was a bit excited.

"Whata...

　Even Turkia, who had left the village to get to know the outside world, sighed at the enormity of the bones of the great royal species that she had never seen before.

　That night we camped out in its massive ribs.

　We sat around the fire and ate our dinner.

No, no, I'm not going to eat my own food.

　We all burst out laughing at Turkia's amused words.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


The Fifth Settlers' journey continues.

　During a break in the journey, we also learned about the Toluuga language from Turkia.

Rupa, Ruta, Lutto, Luga.

　Turkia pronounces the words written on a large wooden tablet that is five meds long.

　Incidentally, the wooden tablet is supported by a dragon of the dragon cavalry.

　We repeated the words as Turkia pronounced them.

　There are 39 letters in the Tolga language.

　Some of them are similar to Thanatos, and some of them are pronounced the same way.

　Solstice, the erudite girl, was

It's possible that before the war, there was an exchange between the Toluga Empire and the ancient Thanatos Magical Dynasty. Or, it's possible that the two countries were the ancestors of the same civilization in earlier times.

　That's my prediction.

(This one's a historical romance.)

　Solstice's eyes sparkled.

I don't have the time right now, but someday I'd like to take a closer look at it.

　He muttered.

　And so Torchia's lessons would go on, every day.

'Ohayo, ha, rata pata,'

　Hmmm.

"Konnichiwa, ha, lataruto.

　Hmmm.

"Kombanha, ha, Rataporf.

　Hoho.

　I frantically run through my notes.

　Torchia looks at me.

Jaaaah, Merle?　What's the greeting now?

　And, in front of everyone, he put in his appointment.

(Well, um, I'm on a lunch break now...)

　I said.

"La Tarute!
"Yes, that's right.

　Torchia laughed.

　Crackle.

　As the girl applauds, everyone in the pioneer group claps as well.

　I'm a little embarrassed.

''That's great, Marle,''

　Iltimina also laughs and pats me on the head.

　Soltis looks dumbfounded.

　Tolkien's lessons are kind of like praise and extension.

　By praising them, she tries to build their confidence, make them enjoy learning and make them more self-motivated to learn.

'I'm a mother, O'mma-sanni, I'm a souyatte teacher.'

　And Turkia.

　In fact, this is the way Torquia's mother, now deceased, taught Torquia The Common Language of Albac.

　Grandfather to daughter.

　Daughter to grandson.

　From generation to generation, the Albak lingua franca was passed on.

　As a result, we are able to communicate with Turkia today.

And thanks to Turkia's mother.

　When I said that, Turkia smiled happily and said, "Unh...

　But still.

(Turkia is a very smart girl.)

　To be able to teach people means that you understand the thing well.

　Turkia understood the Albac Common Language perfectly.

(Being able to speak two languages later is really amazing.)

　I couldn't be defeated either.

　I took those classes in Turkic, and desperately learned the "Turuga language".


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　Seventeen days had passed since we left the village.

　It was about time to see the city we were aiming for.

　And by that time, some of the pioneer group members had appeared who could converse to some extent in the Toluga language.

　One of them, in particular, was

Apa, Kalua, Rutolt, Arga?
'Tatakka, Anne. Luthi.

　Sometimes it was that older sister who could do anything to converse with Tolkien in fluent Toluga.

　Turkia was also surprised.

'Awesome, Iltimina!　Moe, perfect day!　

　After receiving such praise, Illtimina-san smiles calmly, "I see.

(Say, that's as good as it gets, Iltimina-san.)

　I, on the other hand, am still only able to say hello and converse in simple words.

　Kilt and the other pioneer group members are like that too.

　Soltis has learned 39 letters and a lot of words, but his pronunciation and listening skills still seem to be poor, and he blurts out, "I guess I can do some written communication, though.

　Kirto laughed.

'Now we have one more interpreter.

　Yeah, that's right.

　At the respectful look I give her, Illtimina-san was smiling a little shyly.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　It was that afternoon when things moved.

(Hmm?)

　The dragon of the dragon cavalry, which was flying above us as we were walking, suddenly flew forward.

''What's going on?''

　I ask Mr. Kilt.

　Mr. Kilt says, "Hmm? He turned his head.

　While doing so, the dragon of the dragon cavalry team went far away and made a cruel U-turn and flew towards us.

　It's slowly losing altitude.

　It's going to descend to the ground.

''All pioneers, halt!''　

　Our steps stopped at General Roberto's direction as he noticed.

　Zuzun.

　With a cloud of dust, the dragon landed on the ground.

　The dragon knight leaps down from the saddle at the head and heads down to General Roberto.

　They are talking in an inaudible voice from here.

(............)

　Did you see something from above?

　It looked like he had approached it, checked it out, and came back to report back to us.

　And then.

What?

　Upon receiving the report, General Roberto's expression becomes grim.

　Seeing his expression, we realized that something bad had happened along the way on this journey.