Frontier Lord Starts Out With a Population of 0 - Chapter 4

The girl turned around to glare at me.

「I’ll take you to the Chief!」, she said brusquely.

As a newcomer, I was obliged to meet the village’s senior figure. I felt that the girl’s willingness to bring me there was nice, so I nodded and we continued to walk with her dragging me by the wrist. Walking past the round teepees, I attracted the stares of many people who, just like the girl, had a horn growing on their foreheads.

We then entered a large teepee located in the centre of the village.

Its interior was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. There was a hole in the ceiling that had probably been created to let the sunlight in, covered by a grille made from twigs that glowed in the sunlight and gave off an allure of its own. A jewel-studded rug, which was as unique as it was pretty, had been laid on the floor. On it were pieces of intricately crafted wooden furniture.

I sighed in awe. Though I had also been taken aback by the extravagance of the royal palace, this was perhaps even more beautiful.

「I see you brought an outsider, Aruna… could this man be blue?」, came a hoarse female voice from deeper inside.

I turned my head to see an old lady seated on the rug. She was covered in layers of animal hides, so many that it looked as if a stack of them had come to life. A brown, withered hand peeked out from below her garments, clutching a bejeweled staff.

And how could I fail to mention the glowing blue horn on her forehead?

「Yes」, the girl was saying. 「I found him while he was asleep and tried asking him why he had entered the grassland… but he was full of irrelevant answers… and I didn’t know what to do.」

She, who had grabbed my wrist, and who had been referred to as Aruna, had plopped herself down on the rug. Her head was lowered, and she kept it that way throughout her conversation with the old lady.

「Hmm… you say that question produced a strong blue, aye? And no red at all?」

「Not even once」, replied Aruna. 「It was all blue.」

‘Red’ and ‘blue’… I could make neither head nor tail of what they were saying.

「All? That’s… interesting. The blue man who Aruna brought here… could you tell us your name?」, she asked all of a sudden.

I was caught off guard by the way in which she referred to me, and I struggled to find an answer.

「Eh…? Ah, uh… my name is Dias」, I spat out at last.

「Dias… now that’s a strange name. Dias. You seem to be a friend of Aruna’s… how about you be mine as well?」

「Of course. Anyone who lives in this village is my friend.」

「Wow, I see」, said the old lady after a brief pause. 「Why are you our friend, Dias?」

「Because it’s my job.」

The old lady paused again.

「Who entrusted you with this job?」

「That would be… his Majesty, the king.」

The moment the word ‘king’ left my mouth, the horn on her forehead began to glow and her eyes snapped open. Aruna leapt to her feet and placed one hand on the hilt of her sword.

Did I say something wrong?

Feeling that the atmosphere had soured, I wondered whether I should reach for my weapon only to be met with the sinking realisation that I had left my battleaxe on the grassy plain. My battleaxe usually never left my side, but my sleepy-headedness and the shock of meeting Aruna combined had probably caused a lapse in judgment.

「Don’t panic, Aruna. Aren’t we still talking?」, said the old lady. 「Tell us more about this job of yours, Dias… from the start, if you please. Why did the king entrust you with it?」

Aruna stared at me relentlessly. In contrast, the old lady continued talking calmly. Keeping an eye on the girl’s movements, I told them everything up to how I had met the king. I wasn’t sure how far back she wanted me to go, so I started from the earliest memory I had.

「So that’s how it is…」, mused the old lady. 「I understand. That’s why you’re blue. It was surprising, but… not as surprising as finding a man without a horn.」

This ‘blue’ thing again… what could it mean?

When the old lady uttered that word, though, Aruna took her hand away from her sword. She loosened her unrelenting stare and simply watched me meekly without making a sound. The old lady looked at her, then back at me, and spoke again.

「Blue Dias」, she began. 「I can tell that you’re a reliable Lord-sama who truly wishes to protect your people. But I have a question for you — what if we aren’t your people? What will you do?」

「If you’re not my people…? Nothing… I guess? I don’t know. To realise that my people aren’t actually my people… I’ll be… disappointed, maybe?」

「Even so, will you still be our friend?」

「Uhh…」, I stuttered. 「Though you aren’t my people, I still met you under these circumstances, so I do want to get along. If there’s anything I can help you with, then I will. I’ll still be your friend, I think?」

Her horn glowing, the old lady nodded slowly as if to take in my words.

What was the point of that question, I thought. Hmm… could it be that they really aren’t my people? No way, right? The official had said that this was my land, so the people living on it should be my people…

「That expression of yours… you understand now, don’t you?」, said the old lady deliberately. 「We aren’t your people. In fact, we are the enemies of your king, the people who warred against your kingdom for many years.」

I felt my knees give out, and I fell to the ground. Not only were these not my people, but they were also enemies.

And it meant that I was deep into enemy territory.

While completely unarmed.

Seeing that I was too shocked to muster a reply, the old lady tried to soothe my feelings.

「Blue Dias. We may be enemies of your king, but perhaps not of yours. You are blue… and a rare blue. That makes things easier for us, so pick your head up and listen to me.」

I slowly lifted my head. When our eyes met, I noticed that she was smiling through her wrinkles — smiling with the kindness of a doting mother.