It's been ten days now.
I'm so glad I came out here.
Lord Dias helped me build a new yurt for my own use.
He also gave me this spear and armor, both made from dragon materials.
Lord Dias has bestowed on me such gifts I'm not sure even royalty could obtain.
I must honor his trust in me.
Today we're having herb-roasted black ghee.
Klaus, you're in for a treat!
How incredibly delicious!
You'll make a fine wife, Lady Alna.
Right, Lord Dias?
Uh-huh...
Huh?
Feel free to have more, Klaus.
Thank you so much!
Please join me, Lord Dias.
You know, I don't think being called "lord" is ever going to sound right to me.
I must in order to make our positions clear!
He says, "We contribute to the herd by providing wool."
"You be a man who's useful, too."
As captain of this domain's forces, I will do my best
to live up to Francis's expectations!
Klaus is the currently the entirety of said forces,
but I guess enthusiasm makes up for the rest.
Okay!
I don't know what you said, but thank you!
Is something headed our way?
Yes, from the east. Twelve.
They're all human, but...
One of the twelve people she sensed appears to be weak, on the verge of death.
I'll go investigate before it's too late.
Shall I accompany you?
No, you hold down the fort.
If anything about them seems off, I'll send Alna and the baars home.
At that point, I want you to protect everyone here.
You can count on me.
That I do.
That magic is incredible.
The royal capital is to the east.
Right now in the city,
the five princes and princesses are in the grips of a succession dispute.
Princess Diane from the other day
has less military might than her siblings' factions,
so I'm sure she was trying to court Lord Dias.
The fact that he never received his reward
must be because the second prince, said to be a money grubber, appropriated it.
The nobility is split into factions, and the effects of their
bickering and schemes are felt even out on the frontier.
Someday, the conflict itself might make its way here.
But to fight and die in Lord Dias's service wouldn't be so bad.
They're back already?
An herbal infusion.
Thank you.
Drinking that will help with fatigue.
Thank you.
They were driven out?
Yeah. There was a rebellion in a neighboring domain,
leading a destitute village
to expel the elderly women so they'd have fewer to feed.
A neighboring domain?
That's most likely Kasdeks.
I passed through it on the way here, and they were in dire straits.
I'm impressed with these women, though.
Grandma Maya over there is their de facto leader.
She used her fortunetelling skills to find a way to survive,
which is how they ended up here.
We've done it, Klaus!
Huh?
We got twelve new subjects all at once!
Of course he'd say that.
Better build some more yurts.
L-Lord Dias!
Treat the refugees as you see fit, but they won't contribute much—
That's another way they're amazing!
All those ladies are over seventy, and Grandma Maya is ninety!
I hope they can teach us the secret of a long life!
He's not even listening.
I agree with him.
Dias is the lord here, after all.
They're saying we should abide by Dias's decision,
as he's the strongest of the herd.
Gotta hurry and get these yurts built for the elderly women!
That's right. He's always been like this.
I'm afraid we must withdraw!
We're going to run without fighting?!
There's a large enemy force right on our doorstep!
Who's going to protect the citizens still in the evacuation shelter?!
Quiet, you!
Move out!
And you call yourselves soldiers of the kingdom?!
Enemy soldiers already?!
Damn it! Is there where I meet my end?
Hey! Klaus!
Sir Dias!
Where have you been?
I heard a child crying, so I went to look, and sure enough...
Sorry. I need you to take this boy, too.
Don't leave me here!
I'm scared! Don't go!
I'm not going anywhere.
I promise to protect you, so be patient here a little while.
Klaus.
Don't die on me.
Got it.
I don't clearly remember what happened after that.
I thought only of keeping the enemy away from that shelter...
and how I was going to help him.
I was sure it was the best strategy I had in that fight.
He hasn't changed at all since then.
Not even now, as a domain lord.
I've been a fool.
I thought I'd be great and honorable by dying.
I need to live and give him my support...
He's earnestly trying to become a great lord.
Hang on there.
You'll end up damaging the yurt.
Let me lend you a hand!
THE FRONTIER LORD AND THE STRANGE MERCHANT
NEZROSE DOMAIN STATUS REPORT
INFRASTRUCTURE: FIVE RESIDENTIAL YURTS, ONE MEETING PLACE,
TWO STOREHOUSES, OPEN AREA, BAAR PEN, PRIVY, WELL
Thank you for building a meeting place.
We shall use this this space to work as well.
They said when the baar wool piles up, they'll spin yarn and make cloth.
That'll be helpful.
Why the grave face?
Well, with more people here now, I was thinking of declaring this a village.
I just can't think of a good name.
Let's make it Dias Village.
It can't be named after me.
I think Dragon Slayer Village would work!
Rejected.
How about Iluk Village?
Iluk Village?
It means "first village" in the ancient tongue.
Makes sense, right?
Iluk...
Iluk Village, eh?
That settles it.
Meeting adjourned, then!
What a nice name.
I'll say.
Dias, we have ourselves a village. Now we need more subjects.
Yeah.
But as for what Grandma Maya suggested...
You called, young Dias?
Or at least, I had a hunch you had.
I didn't say a thing out loud.
By the way, regarding we were discussing earlier...
If you want more subjects, you can sell those dragon materials and buy slaves.
Why not just do that?
I hate slavery.
I saw enslaved soldiers on the battlefield a number of times,
and they were all treated horribly.
I intend to prohibit the owning and selling of slaves within my domain.
Good. We don't care for slavery either.
Huh?!
Then why did you...
I wanted to know how you really felt.
Had you been on board with it, I would have steered you away.
Do forgive me. There are just too many tragic tales from our land.
You mean Kasdeks?
Yes.
The lord and his eldest son enjoy hunting down slaves.
And his second son, the one who picked a fight with them,
is said to have many female slaves attend him.
This domain and Iluk Village won't go down that road.
I won't allow it.
A traveling merchant comes by the onikin village periodically,
and I sent word for him to swing by here as well.
I wonder what he's like.
A frog?!
Hop!
You mus' be that Dragon Slayer feller, huh!
Mah name's Peijin-Do.
Let's do some nice business togetha, yah?
He's a member of the frogkin race.
He's a frogman!
Let's get down to it.
Reckon I could take a gander at them earth dragon materials?
White, so no hostility...
Here we are.
Is there a problem?
N-Nuh-uh!
I was just expectin' somethin' smaller.
If you'll excuse me bein' impolite, did ya really kill it by yer lonesome?
He wants to know his trading partner isn't lying to him.
There it is! The Dragon Shell Crusher!
DRAGON SHELL CRUSHER
Now do you believe me?
Y-Y-You betcha I do!
Happy to trade witcha!
You guys, get to unloadin'!
Y-Yessir!
Hup.
Good, good! Glad we got enough to trade with.
I know! Now's a good time to bring out you-know-what.
We couldn't offload 'em in the Beastkin Nation,
but yer a human, Mr. Dias. I bet you'll take 'em.
The light has vanished from their eyes.
They must be orphans, like me.
So Peijin is selling orphans?
As slaves?!
Calm down.
Alna...
Don't make such a scary face in front of children, young Dias.
I'm sorry, but we do not wish to purchase slaves.
Y-Ya got it all wrong!
These two ain't slaves!
If I hadn't taken 'em as merchandise, they'd be dead, I tell ya!
In the village where these here twins were born,
the villagers shunned 'em. Said they'd bring calamity!
They were gonna execute 'em after they were born, see?
So their parents took 'em and ran away from the village.
That's around when I made their acquaintance.
But t'was more than them parents could handle, and they both took ill.
They knew their days were numbered,
so they asked me to look after these here girls.
I said no, seein' as I don't do charity work.
But then they offered money and said I could take 'em as merchandise.
Couldn't say no after that.
But the money's all gone now, and they're puttin' me in the red!
Please, I don't mean no harm!
He isn't lying.
Also, the twins are a strong blue.
Fine.
I'll take custody of these two.
And I'll pay in materials to cover what you've spent supporting them.
Ya got yerself a deal, sir!
How old are you? Three? Four?
You're both so skinny, you'd better be ready to eat lots.
My name is Dias.
Could you tell me your names?
What games do you like to play?
We could play together.
If you tell me what foods like you, I'll go get some for you.
Anyway, what are your names?
This isn't a very good way to go about this, but...
Oh, I get it! You don't have names, huh?
Then I'll go ahead and name you myself.
Let's see, what kind of names would be good?
No!
No new names!
Then could you tell me yours?
Not knowing them makes this hard.
Senai.
Ayhan.
Oh, okay! Senai and Ayhan!
Thank you for telling me.
You both have such nice, sweet names.
All right, Senai and Ayhan.
I'd like for you to take a bath with your new big sister Alna over there
and change your clothes.
Could you do that?
Come to me, then.
Later, we'll have some steamed potatoes for you.
Nice work getting their names out of them.
They wanted to protect the names their beloved parents gave them.
I'm surprised by how good you are with children, Lord Dias.
Before the war, I was sort of a father figure to the other orphans.
I hope all of them are doing well.
That's finally taken care of.
Excellent job.
Look how clean you are!
I can't expect them to open up right away.
For now, it's enough that I can call them by name.
Those clothes look good on you, Senai, Ayhan.
These aren't human children.
But I get a sense they'll be good for this place.
I guess I'll watch and see what happens.
This is for you, Senai.
And for you, Ayhan.
Senai, in the ancient tongue, your name means
"one who is beautiful like the moon."
Ayhan, yours means "the holy moon."
Your parents must have had a deep attachment to the moon.
That's why I'm giving you these ahi jewels.
It's said the power of the moon is hidden within them.
"One who is beautiful like the moon"...
"The holy moon"...
Senai, Ayhan, we love you.
We will always pray for your happiness.
You've both been so brave since you left your beloved parents.
But you don't need to hold back anymore.
When you feel like crying, go ahead and cry.
They want to comfort the girls, too.
And they say they're good with children.
Alna, what is this ancient tongue you mentioned?
An ancient language that exists only in legends. No one uses it now.
I don't know if it's purely an onikin tradition,
but these two don't seem to be human.
It's possible their people once had contact with the onikin.
On this day, Iluk Village grew a lot more lively and boisterous.
NEZROSE DOMAIN STATUS REPORT SUBJECTS: ALNA, KLAUS, TWO BAARS,
TWELVE OLD WOMEN DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOME,
THE LONG-EARED TWINS SENAI AND AYHAN
And then, ten days later...
Senai ate my potato!
I said sorry, didn't I?
I was saving it for last!
You can have mine.
I don't want your half-eaten potato, Dias.
Huh?
Looks like someone else has arrived.
A lone human on a horse from the east.
I should probably go and see.
Being away from you won't be easy,
but right now, they want to stay close to Senai and Ayhan.
All right. Look after both of them.
Come back home soon.
We'll be waiting.
Sure. I'll be back before you know it.
Here he comes.
He comes up white. No hostility.
Lord Dias, I presume?
That's right. Who might you be?
Begging your pardon. I am Kamalotz.
I serve Eldan Kasdeks, the new lord of Kasdeks Domain.
Kasdeks Domain...
Lord Eldan wishes an audience with you, Lord Dias.
He is on his way as we speak.
Would it be possible to receive him at your manor—
I'll meet him right here!
A-As you say, milord!
A new lord, huh?
That must mean the second son's rebellion was successful.
I'm not letting a guy surrounded by enslaved women anywhere near Iluk Village.
What's...
all that?