The Vanished Tribe
Just watching my residents put me in an incredibly good mood. How wonderfully eco-friendly it was to feel happy just by looking at them. It was amazing how naturally content I felt without expending any energy at all. Before awakening, there hadn’t been many things that made me happy.
“Does anyone need anything?”
If I was the only one happy, what was the point? Everyone had to be happy. So I asked if anyone needed anything.
“Um… Lord. It’s not that I need anything in particular…”
Lei spoke up cautiously. If it wasn’t a need, was it a complaint? I braced myself to hear anything and asked.
“Go ahead, Lei. What is it?”
“Well… the shampoo and body wash you gave us last time? How many times a day can we use them?”
“Oh.”
Lei asked while looking at her own wings. My brain went into overdrive. How exactly were black-winged tribe wings supposed to be cared for? Human products? Animal products? Was there something specifically for bird feathers? The thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant. The conclusion: I had no idea.
“Have you tried using them already?”
“Yes. Look at this! They’re so glossy and smell like flowers!”
She took a step closer and spread her wings right in front of my face. Just as she said, a faint floral scent rose from the glossy black feathers. Thankfully, it seemed the shampoo and body wash didn’t cause any problems. As long as it didn’t leave their skin dry and flaky, using it a few times should be fine.
“If you use it too often, it’ll strip the moisture and make them dry. Just wash when they start feeling oily or uncomfortable.”
“Got it! We have plenty, so I’ll share with Ruin!”
“Huh? No, I’ll buy a separate one for Ruin.”
I’d get her one with a scent that suited her. Both of them looked delighted and decided to bathe together today. I tried to ignore the image that naturally formed in my head and turned to the others.
“Ung?”
“Miya, do you need anything or want anything?”
“Ung! This is the most abundant and comfortable life I’ve ever had! It’s all thanks to Minsoo! I love it so much!”
Miya answered immediately with a bright, unclouded expression.
“Me too. It’s been a long time since I felt this excited every single day.”
When I glanced at Asne, she spoke first before I could even ask. My heart gave a little flutter. I really was hopeless sometimes. I cleared my throat awkwardly and looked around, eventually settling on staring at the sky. It was overcast, like snow might fall at any moment.
“Looks like it’s about to snow. Let’s head inside before we get caught in it.”
““““Okay~””””
Four voices overlapped in a drawn-out reply. Even so, each one was lovely to hear. Leaving the two black-winged tribe members behind, I moved to another island.
‘It’d be nice if we could come and go without Asne having to use her power.’
The moment we crossed over, snow began pouring down in thick flakes. The sight of snow falling while underwater was something special. The snowfall grew heavier, but thanks to Asne’s power, none of us got wet as we entered the house. I set the temperature to 24 degrees against the chilly weather, took a shower, and came out. Various worries crossed my mind, but no solutions came to me. Still, I didn’t have to force myself to do anything. It was just an old habit from pushing myself hard before awakening.
‘At least if I want to grow stronger, raising my rank is about all I can do…’
I filed the thought away and lay down on the bed with a relaxed mind. The warmth and coziness must have helped, because I fell asleep right away.
In my light sleep, I felt a heavy sensation. It was warm and soft—pleasant, though I couldn’t quite place what it was. I didn’t wake up. Instead, I drifted deeper into a good dream.
“Oh dear… I asked her to wake you, but how could she fall asleep with you?”
A beautiful voice reached me through the haze of sleep. My eyes opened. The first thing I saw was soft white fur. On closer look, it was an animal ear with black spots. The only one around with ears like that was Miya. The weight I felt on my body came from her curled up on top of my blanket. She was purring contentedly in her sleep. Without thinking, my hand reached out to stroke her head.
“Nyaaah…”
The purring grew louder. The touch was incredibly soft, radiating a warmth that reminded me she was alive. Just touching her like this made me happy.
“Asne, did you ask Miya to wake me?”
“Yes. It seemed about time for you to eat, so I asked her.”
“Ah. It’s already that late? I should get up. Miya? You need to wake up too.”
“Ungnya… Mom… five more minutes… just a little longer…”
She’d done this before too. Miya must be missing her family. She’d left her tribe to survive, but unless she had some special circumstance, of course she’d feel homesick. I gently stroked her head with even more affection.
‘Today I should do a resident summoning targeting the snow leopard tribe.’
The snow leopard tribe lived in tribes on snowy mountains. Aside from Miya, they were probably all living well. Most likely, no one would respond to the summoning. Still, something like what happened with Ruin could occur. No one knew the future. I made up my mind and got to work.
After waking Miya and stepping outside, quite a bit of snow had piled up. But we had Asne. We arrived at Heugildo without getting wet at all. We set up a large tent and had dinner together. This time we tried a different cut of the Big-Mouth Saw. Whale meat was rich in fat, so most people ate it as boiled meat.
“Haaah~ Minsoo! The savory flavor just melts away!!!”
“Lord, this part has a different texture from last time. It’s… squishy? Soft? Even without chewing, the concentrated savoriness melts and fills your mouth. It’s wonderful.”
“The skin is so chewy, Lord! But it’s not tough at all. It’s delicious!”
“Thank you for always treating us to such wonderful food, my lord.”
The boiled Big-Mouth Saw meat was delicious too. I’d worried the thick fat would make it greasy, but instead it had a pleasant, concentrated savory flavor that melted in the mouth. I’d never tried it, but I imagined eating wax might feel similar—though it probably wouldn’t taste nearly as good. We tried it with various sauces again. Because of the texture, it started feeling heavy after a while, so the vinegar-based sauce was the cleanest. The other four followed my lead and ended up tearing up, which was quite a sight.
By the time we finished eating and cleaned up, it was completely dark. The snowy scenery from the island was special in its own way. Pure white snowflakes falling endlessly into the sea. On land, it looked like a pristine white carpet. ‘Miya must have seen scenes like this often on the snowy mountain.’ There might not have been an ocean, but there would have been plenty of snow around. I glanced at Miya. She was looking around with a calm expression. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Was she missing home? Her family? I’d never been far from my own family, so I didn’t really know. Even when we were apart, it was only an hour by car.
‘Today’s summoning has to start with the snow leopard tribe.’
Everyone was staring blankly at the scenery. I wanted to make them a little happier. So I bought snow-duck makers from the market.
“Want to try this?”
When I spoke, all eyes turned to me. Having four beautiful women staring at me was quite a burden, but I scooped up some snow into the toy, pressed it down a few times, placed it on the ground, and opened it.
“Like this… ta-da~ A snow duck.”
“Whoa! That’s amazing!”
“It’s cute.”
“Lord, can I try too?”
“Lei… you’re adorable…”
Miya jumped in surprise. Asne crouched beside me, cooing over the duck. Lei wanted to try. Ruin found Lei adorable. I handed each of them a snow-duck maker.
“Kyaaah~ This is fun!!!”
Miya immediately hopped into the snowfield, making ducks one after another.
“Hee… Such a simple structure, yet the idea is so clever.”
Asne examined the toy’s mechanism while making her own snow duck.
“Wow~ Ruin, look at this! It’s so pretty!”
“Yeah. It’s really pretty, Lei.”
Even the two black-winged tribe members were being affectionate with each other. A peaceful scene unfolded. Getting happiness at such a low price was wonderful. Feeling oddly proud, I made more snow ducks myself. I hadn’t understood what was so fun about it before, but doing it together with everyone made it clear. That feeling of being delighted by something small—you could never experience it alone.
By the time night had deepened, hundreds of snow ducks had been made on Heugildo.
“Lord, shall I cast preservation magic on the snow ducks?”
“No. It’d be nice to keep them as a memory, but it’s better to let nature take its course. We can always make snow ducks again next winter. If we see snow and remember this, we can just make them together again.”
“You’re right, my lord. I’ll leave them as they are.”
Even if the snow melted and disappeared, the fact that we made these snow ducks would remain in our memories. That was what memories were. If the objects remained, they might bring the memories back more vividly. But seeing snow would naturally remind us of the snow ducks anyway, so there was no need to preserve them.
“More importantly, it’s almost midnight. I want to try summoning the snow leopard tribe first this time. What do you all think?”
“Minsoo? You’re going to summon our tribe?”
“Yeah. If anyone responds, I’ll accept them as residents. What do you think, Miya?”
“I’m fine with it… but everyone else…”
Miya gave a positive response, though she glanced around nervously.
“Our black-winged tribe won’t come even if you summon them, so it’s fine.”
Lei and Ruin answered that way. Miya’s gaze turned to Asne.
“Miya dear. You know there aren’t many sirens, right? We don’t interact much, but I’ve met them a few times. I don’t think any of them would want to migrate.”
Everyone said it was fine.
“So it’s decided?”
“Yeah!!!”
And so midnight arrived, and I used Resident Summoning.
Residents are available. You may also designate the same race for summoning. Would you like to perform a designated summoning?
Please select the race to designate for summoning from among the Snow Leopard Tribe, Siren Tribe, or Black-Winged Tribe.
‘Designate the snow leopard tribe.’
Performing designated summoning for the Snow Leopard Tribe. Searching for residents.
The Snow Leopard Tribe has been wiped out by human invasion.
‘What? Wiped out? They’re all dead?’
Expanding the time period.
Returning to the time when they were resisting the human invasion. All members of the Snow Leopard Tribe wish to migrate.
Your power is insufficient to summon all members of the Snow Leopard Tribe.
With your current strength, you can summon a maximum of 3 people.
What would you like to do?
‘That’s obvious…!’
I answered the question without hesitation.