Chapter 45 – I dug up some bird bones!!!
"Ah, it's so nice! So nice!"
Fule said as I followed her off of the iron carriage.
"It does make things easier. But it's so fast too… A 20 minute walk is just a few minutes with the carriage."
At this point, the carriage that Mappa made had replaced the feet of us miners.
There was only one at first, but now there were several of them connected together. And so it could carry many more people at once now.
Furthermore, under Mappa's direction, the tracks were being extended by the monsters.
And while the carriage was operated by several goblins in Mappa's place, it was still very comfortable to ride in.
It had been a little too fast for my liking at first, but it was nothing once I got used to it.
"Now we'll have more time to dig, isn't that right, Lord Heal!"
"Aye, that's right! Let's do our best today too!"
I said, and all of the monsters raised their voices in agreement.
And like that, our day of mining began.
Everyone went to their favorite spots and started swinging their pickaxes.
In spite of working so hard yesterday in order to expand the freezer, they were still digging enthusiastically.
It was the same with me. All the fatigue of the previous day seemed to vanish as I swung.
Maybe it was because of the crab hot pot we ate.
It had completely renewed our energy.
It made me want to eat it every day.
Well, either that or it was because Rienna had fed me… She even blew on it first to cool it off…
"Ehehe… No, I can't think about that now!"
I turned my smirk back into a serious expression.
While I was in the cave, someone might be watching.
And they all saw me as the lord of the island.
…Well, maybe it was too late to try and keep up appearances.
In any case, the only one who was mining nearby was Ril, the kobold baby.
Ril had been awkward at first, but now her movements were quite impressive.
She was able to dig out rocks that were bigger than her. It was admirable growth.
I noted this while watching her. And then Ril suddenly stopped as if she realized something.
"Hmm? Did you find something, Ril?"
Ril's little black nose pointed upward as she began to sniff the air.
Had she noticed some kind of smell?
Whatever it was, it wasn't noticeable for humans like me.
Ril's nose pointed this way and that way until she stopped and pointed me in a certain direction.
I looked, but it was just a normal stone wall.
I didn't even sense any magic coming from it.
"There's something in that direction?"
I asked and Ril nodded.
I guess there must be something there that was unusual.
And so I started digging in that direction.
After swinging my pickaxe a few times, an immense amount of bones started to fall to the ground.
The sudden change was enough to make my skin crawl.
However, upon closer inspection, I saw that they were not human bones.
They were small and thin… And more than anything else, they had distinct beaks on their skulls, showing that they were bird bones.
But they were much smaller than Killer Birds…
They reminded me of the doves that would sometimes fly in the palace garden.
Were they eaten and their bones discarded?
No, their heads, wings and other parts were all intact so that you could easily see that they were birds.
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If they were for food, surely the heads and wings would have been separated.
It seemed more likely that living birds had somehow been buried while they were alive.
But there was no stench of rotting flesh at all. What was it that Ril had smelled?
However, Ril ignored the bones as she waded through the pile. And then she picked up something that was round.
"What is that? A rock… No, an egg?"
To be precise, it was an egg fossil. But it had a white surface, just like a bird egg.
And since it had not shattered when it fell to the ground, it must be quite strong.
Ril picked it up and handed it to me.
"Thank you, Ril."
I patted her on the head.
Whatever it was, Ril had wanted to give it to me, so I was happy.
"Still… It's quite pretty, now that I really look at it…"
The egg sparkled when you looked at it from different angles.
And it was pure white, without a single stain. It seemed more like a precious stone than an egg.
Not only that, but it was smooth to the touch.
Yes, it was the kind of thing that I could see people gathering for its beauty…
And so I continued to search the area in case there were any more of them.
However, I was not able to find any.
There were fragments of what looked like eggshells. But they had been crushed and were as gray as the rest of the rocks.
And when I tried touching them, they were rough like rock. And nearby, there were the small bones of baby birds who may have been waiting to hatch.
"So, perhaps it's just this egg that is special…"
But why were so many bird bones concentrated here?
I didn't know if they were pets or wild birds, but something had caused them to be buried alive here. That was for sure.
I wondered what kind of birds they were… Maybe there was something here that would give me a clue.
"Alright. I guess I should just keep digging!"
Ril barked adorably in reply.
And so I put the fossilized egg into my coat pocket and returned to swinging my pickaxe.
However, I did not discover anything interesting after that.
And when it was almost lunch time, I got a message from Kamyu, telling me to come to the shore.
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Chapter 46 – The ship was completed(kind of)!!
And so I decided to stop mining for now and head towards the reclaimed ground where Kamyu was waiting, before having my lunch.
Now that I thought about it, I had left Kamyu in charge of making the ship…
Of course, she wasn't making it from scratch. The ship that Ashton and the kobolds came in had been taken apart and they were using the parts to make a new ship.
And since I had no knowledge at all on ship building, there was nothing for me to do.
I had seen it from afar during the morning, and it had already been in the shape of a ship. So perhaps she had finished it now.
As if to support this, I was able to see a grand sailing ship surrounded by a crowd of people from the cave's entrance.
It was a two-decker with three masts… This was a great upgrade from the ship that Ashton had originally arrived in.
You could see that Kamyu had indeed spent decades at sea.
She had more knowledge of ships than anyone on Sheorl island… No, she was probably among the top few of the entire continent.
In any case, this now meant that we would have access to things that we couldn't get on this island.
Everyone should be happy… That was what I thought, but the closer I got, I saw that the orcs surrounding Kamyu all had dark expressions.
"…Hm? What happened?"
I asked. And they all turned to me.
Kamyu was folding her arms with a serious expression as she answered.
"…Ah, dear Lord Heal! So you came."
"Uh, yeah. You called me because the ship is finished, right?"
"Um, that's right… But first… All of you, this is for Lord Heal. So how can you complain?"
Kamyu said to them admonishingly.
The orcs listened to Kamyu and nodded somberly.
Apparently, they had made some kind of appeal, and Kamyu was telling them to endure it for now.
As for me, if there was something that was bothering the orcs, I wanted to know about it.
Of course, this was a small island, and not every problem had a solution…
"Wait, Kamyu. There is a problem, right? Then don't hesitate to tell me."
"Lord Heal… The thing is, they do not want to go out to sea anymore."
"In other words… They are now afraid of the sea?"
I asked while turning to them. They all nodded.
"…Well, I don't blame you."
After all, the legendary creature, the Leviathan, had destroyed such a huge fleet in the blink of an eye…
I could feel their pain by just thinking about it.
Not only had most of their comrades died, but many had been turned into undead.
It seemed that Kamyu felt the same, but…
"All of them…were somehow able to accept the deaths of their comrades… And they do not hate working on a ship. In fact, they seem to enjoy going out to fish."
Kamyu said as she stared at the horizon.
"But, when this island… When land becomes far away, their bodies suddenly shake… And they fear that they will be attacked by the Leviathan again."
"I see…"
Thinking of it like that, I too started to feel fear towards the sea.
To think that such a giant creature existed down there…
"However, the Leviathan is dead. And so I try to tell them that it is alright…"
Kamyu said. But then one of the orcs opened his mouth as if to represent the others.
"But, boss… You said it yourself. No creature is born without parents. Nothing in this world!"
"That's why I'm saying that it's no ordinary living creature!"
As Kamyu said, clearly this wasn't a common creature you could find anywhere.
However, the other orcs were right.
There was no insurance that there was only one Leviathan in this world.
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"Very well… We will give up on trade. We currently have enough food and water. There is no need to force people to go out by ship."
"B-but…"
"It's true that there is a danger, and I don't want anyone to do what they don't want to. This ship can be used for fishing."
"Lord Heal…"
Kamyu and the orcs looked both happy and embarrassed upon hearing this.
They were grateful, but slightly ashamed as well.
"It really is a great ship."
"Yes… If only there was a ship that wouldn't sink no matter what happened. Then they would feel safe…"
"Even a ship like this could easily be sunk by the Leviathan… That's why it's scary… This is just wood after all."
I started knocking on the ship to test its strength.
It felt very solid and durable. And yet the Leviathan would still break it easily? …Hmm. Wood?
And then I suddenly had an idea.
"…Hmm. What if we added metal sheets onto this ship?"
Yes. Yes! There was no need to make ships out of wood alone!
I didn't like to toot my own horn, but it was a brilliant idea.
However, Kamyu and the orcs had strange expressions on their faces.
"Huh? Did I say something strange?"
Kamyu nodded.
"The strongest ship that you can think of, I suppose… It's very typical. People who don't know anything about ships always say that."
"Oh… Uh, right."
It was quite obvious now that I thought of it. There was a reason that ships were made of wood.
If you added sheets of metal over the wood, the ship would become heavier.
That meant it would lose a lot of its speed.
Which would mean you were more limited in terms of food you could carry.
There was no point in having a durable ship if it meant a longer journey and running out of food before you arrived at your destination.
We could also try making a ship out of iron from scratch, but it was apparently very difficult to make seamless iron sheets.
"Hmm. In that case, what about Mithril sheets? It's much lighter than iron and also stronger."
"That may be, but is it really so simple? Besides, I don't want to think about how much Mithril that would require."
"I'm sure Mappa can do it… Oh, there he is now."
Mappa happened to be walking near me.
Apparently, there was something he wanted to tell me.
He pointed his thumb behind his back and told me to follow him.
"…In any case, the voyage can be postponed until everyone is mentally prepared. There's no need to rush."
I said to them, before following after Mappa.