I saw Retze off, then went to Nalluahdid. The others were probably waiting for their swords, so Butler shouldâve handed them out during the night while giving them precautions about them.
Once in Nalluahdid, I went to the market and bought some veggies and wheat before heading towards the boathouse. The owner of the island is on good terms with this boathouse. Moreover, the boathouse ownerâs predecessor came from the island and married into his brideâs family, apparently. Only a handful of boatmen are willing to go through the troublesome waters of this reef-ridden sea, so I requested the retired predecessor to help me out.
I could see people near the wharf, watching the boat Iâm in as it approached. Not sure if they called the others; by the time we arrived, there were around 15 people â wait, isnât that the entire village? â were there waiting for me.
The fishermen who were in the prime of their lives didnât go out to sea, so theyâre also here. The vegetables and wheat I bought earlier serves as their allowance for today.
ăThank you very much for gathering us all today. I am Soleil. ă
I wanted to say some kind of witty remark like âmay you be the Soleil (Sun) of everyoneâ, but I donât think itâs gonna work since this isnât some agricultural society that could get that pun. Theyâre fishermen, after all.
Anyway, I roughly explained my plans to them, then promptly told them the benefits theyâll gain, and that there will be two people coming and staying here as my representatives.
People are steadily leaving the island, so life here was anything but easy. Frankly speaking, itâs not just about living from hand to mouth, but having enough to eat in the first place. Fish is abundant, so as long as the storms didnât continue for long, they wonât starve, but selling fish isnât enough as a source of income.
Well, the fish they can get here are also in Nalluahdid; plus, they can only use small boats, so itâs understandable.
When the topic of income was brought up, everyone, even the children, listened earnestly. They have been bribed pretty well with the candy I brought last time, and the food I also brought for the adults today seems to be working, too.
The first task I request the islanders to do is dig up wells. To be precise, theyâre going to dig the unused and broken down wells in the fortress.
They have to dig deeper or else the water will be too salty, so itâs a relief that we have empty wells, even if itâs filled with sand. Itâs easier to scrape the sand out rather than dig from scratch.
Thereâs only one working well for the entire village, so we need to secure water that we can use freely. Thereâs two more we can work out â one in the fortressâ public square, and one under the building.
Thereâs a bank in Kochi, Japan called âRyoma Inemuri no Tsutsumiâ (lit. Ryoumaâs Sleeping Dike), where a man called Ryoma took a nap under the pine trees while his workers worked diligently on making the dike. Apparently, the work didnât progress well because the folks kept on fighting and being idle, so he divided the work among them, and made them compete with each other and he also gave incentives, too. He then spent the rest of his time as a relaxed sleeping boss, just inspecting their work every now and then. I took a leaf out of his book; Iâll be checking their work every 2nd and 4th day. Those who did the fastest work while doing a great job will be given a bonus. Injuries will result in deduction.
I also repaired Gold and Silverâs temporary residence. Since they only have wells on the island, even if I were to make a drainage system, there wonât be any running water. And so, itâll have to be the old-fashioned manual manure pits for their toilet.
***
The wells are completed 7 days later. By the way, Gold and Silver also arrived at the island.
ăArenât you guys too early? ă
ăPlease speak for yourself. ă
ăI donât get it. ă
They looked like they wanted to say something but they canât â they seem excited for some reason? Theyâre trembling all over. Must be the oathâs effect, huh.
ăAnyway, I prepared a temporary house for you, so you can use it until the house is built, or you can stay in Nalluahdid, your choice, do whatever you want. ă
Iâm not completely done fixing the place, but while giving them a tour around, I consider letting them take over and renovate it as they please..
The one I repaired was a spacious, vacant house at the outskirts of the village, and itâs closest to the fortress. Maybe in the past, the nearer the houseâs location was to the fortress, the better choice they would seem, but since the sea side has easier access for the fisherman, the islanders prefer to live by the shore nowadays.
ăHow did this happen? Itâs unimaginable that you are here earlier than us. ă
ăHonestly, itâs sus. ă
ăSame goes for you guys! ă
Theyâve been quiet the entire time, but both of them fired questions right away the moment I closed the door. I opened the slatted window to let in some light. How on earth did they manage to get here with less than half of the scheduled travel time?
Gold shut the windows right after I opened it.
ăWe went through the Path of the Faeries. We are Changelings. ă
ăHey, is it really okay? ă
Silver asked, obviously taken aback when Gold suddenly confessed.
This place was deserted, but he probably shut the windows so that our voices wouldnât leak out.
ăWeâre mutually bound by the contract, right? ă
I donât have the slightest desire to talk to you about this, but Iâm not really confident about whether Iâm âmutually boundâ or not.
Both parties are bound so that they wonât be able to reveal the secrets of each other. However, if the person revealed his own secret in front of another person, that secret will be âsharedâ with the person he revealed it to.Well, itâs no longer a secret if you reveal it, right.
ăChangeling. ă
Dinosso told me that these changelings are spirits that have a body of flesh, and are considered to be partial divine beasts. He also said that they have been swapped with human children. Partial divine beasts, particularly those with human forms, are frequently called faeries.
Partial divine beasts are different from spirits in a sense that ordinary folks can see and touch them. However, because their vessels are unstable, partial divine beasts will let themselves be taken care of by human parents. They would learn how to mimic the human form until their own forms become fixed.
The Path of Faeries is a road where the Realm of the Spirits and this world intersect. Itâs said that if you go too far on the other side, you wonât be able to return. Even the skilled magicians find it difficult to use despite spending a lot of time preparing. Oh, and you get nauseous when you go in there, apparently.
ăYes. Weâll leave it to you to guess which one of us is the faery. ă
ăNah, Iâm positive itâs you. ă
ăâŚIâm surprised that you know right away. ă
Well, faeries are a talkative bunch, after all. Ah, but spirits are reticent, not because theyâre quiet beings, but probably because we canât hear them. The topic of changelings has been brought up before when we were talking about the heroes, so I looked into that, but I never imagined that info would be useful here of all places.
ăHeh, so youâre not twins, but one faery mirroring the other. â Iâm surprised that you survived. ă
I stared at Silver while saying that latter part.
Ack, I need to remember their names for goodness sake. I saw them when they signed the oath, and already heard what they are for sure⌠Oh, I didnât write my full name. Good job getting past that oath, me.
ăMy parents noticed before I got taken away. Itâs just that they didnât know which one was their child. ă
ăI do believe I did a great job mimicrying, donât you think? ă
Gold put a finger on his lips and chuckled.
Oh dear, I hired a bunch of strange guys, didnât I?
T/N: Ryoma Sakamoto is a famous person in Japan, the last samurai, and with his ability to connect with other people and superb negotiation skills, he helped usher a new era to Japan. The story [éžéŚŹĺą ç ăĺ ¤] Ryoma Inemuri no Tsutsumi, was usually used as an example of how a great leader knows how to handle the people below him. To learn more about him, here are helpful links
By the way, the part explaining Ryomaâs story in the main text isnât in the raws, but I thought youâd get a better idea of what Jean is talking about if I added the background story directly instead of a footnote
And also, inemuri refers to sleeping on the job, or âbeing present while sleepingâ which Japanese find admirable, because for them, itâs proof that the person worked so diligently that he fell asleep while working  Alright, time for me to sleep while doing this translation