The Iroquois League
I have to reflect on how badly I underestimated language.
Is it that I've grown too comfortable with the Daehan Language, or is their tongue just that difficult…?
"I… I was wrong…."
"…."
It was really hard. Take something like 'I give it to him.' One simple sentence, right? They could express the whole thing in a single word.
Verbs morphed with prefixes and suffixes depending on who was doing what to whom — at least I'd had some familiarity with characters in Chinese, but this was another beast entirely.
And then the bigger problem… there were seven major language groups alone.
"I'm only teaching you the parts they have in common?"
That cheerful fellow didn't seem to be doing it to spite us, which somehow made it all the more bleak. So this was him picking and choosing the easiest bits to share….
"Mose?"
"Don't make me talk, my lady. This is hard for me too."
Fine. I'll trust Mose. This was nothing like learning a European language, the kind of thing I'd vaguely heard about somewhere. I gave up. Mose, it's all on you.
* * *
It was so convoluted and difficult that it took a full three months.
"Truly astonishing. The Daehan Language is remarkable! How can you possibly write all of this down?"
All that remained at the end was our language teacher's rapturous admiration for the Daehan Language, and our utterly shattered morale.
We only finally wrapped things up after transliterating the natives' language into Daehan script, sound by sound, and compiling a dictionary.
"You've all worked hard."
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."
I was exhausted….
"Mose? Are you still alive?"
"Whew…. First, I need to turn everything we studied into a dictionary before we go out."
"Right…."
That's Mose for you — a truly excellent aide. She even thinks to organize everything we've learned into a dictionary to bring along.
"Please give me about a week."
"Take a month if you need it."
Time wouldn't exactly be generous, but if the Europeans came across the ocean, things might actually get easier for us. There was no way those guys would treat anyone with friendliness. Seeing natives here walking around with stone axes, all but a few of them would come at us high-handed and contemptuous, force where diplomacy should be.
"Is winter coming? It's getting chilly out."
"…."
Beside me, Mose was busy compiling the dictionary. Hang in there — honestly, I brought you along precisely because you're good at this sort of thing.
Making a dictionary turned out to be far harder than it sounded; it took a whole month.
"It's gotten quite cold, hasn't it?"
"Did you pack winter clothes?"
"Yes. All I needed were outer layers and things to layer underneath, so it wasn't much of a bother."
Right, exactly. Year-round it's skirt and jeogori — something between short sleeves — and when it gets cold, you throw on another layer over top. When it gets colder still, then you start pulling out the underlayers.
"Shall we go before it gets any colder?"
"Let's!"
"You really need to be careful. If a fight breaks out, you run. Immediately. I can't die, so you understand, right?"
"Yes, my lady!"
Such prompt obedience. As if she'd actually do it when the moment came.
Creeeeak.
"My lady, are you certain you don't need an escort?"
The garrison captain asked again as we opened the fortress gate, worry plainly written on his face.
"If a fight breaks out for no reason, it just makes trouble for everyone."
Who knew what could happen out there? If I brought the kids along and they overreacted to something, I was afraid swords would be flying in seconds.
"Still…."
"We'll be fine. Stop worrying and just wait for us."
"Yes, my lady."
"Let's go, Mose."
Mose and I stepped out through the gates. We'd armed ourselves in our own fashion — a sword and a pistol at my hip, a pistol for Mose.
Actually, would it be better to go unarmed? My sword is beautifully ornamented. Maybe they'd go easy on us out of admiration?
"It's so quiet."
"We'll run into them near some tree or other if we keep walking."
Striding out with no bags or packs at all, we were in fact carrying a staggering amount of heavy armament, plus a full truck's worth of rations. Because I have Subspace!
If the talks went well, we'd hand out food, laugh and sing, and come home happy. If not — well, I'd just have to start hurling bombs.
Thwack!
"That startled me!"
We'd barely been walking when an arrow came whistling out of nowhere and buried itself in the ground at our feet. I couldn't see a single soul — just an arrow flying out of thin air.
"This is our territory! Withdraw!"
"Intruders, fall back!"
That was the meaning, anyway — but each of those was a single word. I'd studied living, everyday vocabulary, along with a selection of words for dangerous situations.
Still, I'd studied quite a lot too. I just couldn't speak it well.
"We wish to speak with you."
"Refused!"
"Would you turn away guests?"
"Ugh…."
I'd noticed it long, long ago, back in ancient times when I traveled to Europe. Oh? It's not just there, is it? Wherever you go, one cultural constant follows you: people are kind and generous toward guests.
Ah — except for one place. Those damn Chinese. The only ones without it.
"There are only two of us. Are you afraid?"
"What nonsense!"
"We are warriors!"
Honestly, these fellows would lose even without us drawing pistols. They looked floppier and weaker than I'd expected.
But looks could deceive — with my Real Compressed Muscle, I could throw plenty of power around, and my agility and reflexes were a genuine asset in a fight.
"We've brought gifts as well. Invite us to your village."
"Phew…. Wait here…."
They didn't have much choice. We hadn't even fought a real battle yet, so they couldn't very well refuse us point-blank.
Just as I expected, the native who returned quite a while later led us toward the village with a face full of reluctance. At last — entry into the native village.
"Is it far from here?"
"Moderately far."
Well, considering how long the round trip had taken, it couldn't be that far —
—was what I thought. Are you kidding me? A week's walk? They'd pushed their watch line that far out?
And if it was that far… then how had they found us? Was their territory really this vast?
"Ohh~"
"Impressive, isn't it? Looks like they've raised a palisade and live inside it."
A first for me. In all my long life, I had never once seen natives build defensive fortifications and settle within them.
Their metalwork and such might lag behind, but these were not people to be dismissed.
"Your village is impressive."
"Ahem. We thank you."
One compliment and the guide's heart melted. How beautiful a world it is, where kind words go so far?
They had palisades, but apparently no gates? Without hinges or the like, building a proper gate was no small feat.
"Wow. These houses are really long, aren't they?"
"Oh?"
What were they called again? Hau-DE-no-something? Anyway, as I understood it, they built a house first and simply extended it longer and longer as they needed more space — but how many people lived here for it to stretch that far?
"Most of the villagers probably live together in there."
"In one house?"
"They told us about it during the language lessons. Don't you remember?"
"Huh? I was too busy memorizing vocabulary."
Fair enough. It was hard. So you never had time to fall down a rabbit hole like I did, huh.
Ahem…. I feel a little bad now.
"Wait here for now."
"Thank you for guiding us."
"Think nothing of it."
Talking like this, they seemed remarkably polite people — so why the intense wariness?
There was a hearth, and it was quite cozy and pleasant. I felt it the moment we stepped inside: a warmth utterly unlike the raw chill outside.
"There are bear images everywhere here — painted, carved, all over?"
"Mm. I hear each clan has its symbol. This one must be the bear."
Was that the sleeping quarter over there? They'd woven corn husks into something — cushions, maybe? — and laid them out neatly. It looked rather nice.
"Oh my. They're drying corn. That must be their staple crop."
"Yeah. Their way of eating it probably isn't so different from ours."
Should I stock up on some corn? I'd heard it made excellent animal feed.
Wow, is that a comb? Looking at their household goods, plenty of it would make lovely handicrafts.
"Hello?"
"Oh! Hello there."
I was busy sightseeing and turning over thoughts like these when a voice suddenly addressed us — and there stood an elderly woman. She'd come so quietly I hadn't even noticed her approach.
"How bold of you, to walk straight into unfamiliar land like this."
"I'm confident in a fight, so I came anyway."
"Oh! Do women become warriors in your land as well?"
"Yes! Quite many of us."
Speaking the native language made everything so awkward. I couldn't wait to get them using the Daehan Language.
"How remarkable!"
"I fight better than most men, actually."
"You don't look all that strong, though. Impressive!"
"I make up for it with speed — I fight by turning my opponent's strength against them."
Why was she flattering me like this? Some kind of hospitality routine?
"More importantly, I would like to meet your chief, or whoever holds the highest authority."
"Why is that?"
Had I jumped to business too abruptly? The grandmother's expression shifted. I'd thought her kindly — but there was a sharp edge now.
"I am the highest person of the west. I've come representing them."
I came as the boss, so send out your boss too — that was the gist of it.
"Yes. I am the Clan Mother."
Whoa? So she was the top authority? The natives here were a matrilineal society — male chiefs might handle outward affairs, but it was the women who appointed those chiefs. Or replaced them!
"A pleasure to meet you."
"So in the west as well, women hold the center of power."
Hmm? Weren't we actually pretty similar, in a way? Men might dominate the high offices and travel abroad, but back home they all got bossed around anyway….
"Yes. In some ways, our way of life isn't so different from yours."
"Do you know of us?"
"I heard a little while learning the language. Not in detail."
The fellow who'd taught us wasn't from this particular clan, after all. The natives' languages here apparently overlapped quite a bit, so we could manage a conversation by stringing the shared words together.
"We have questions as well. How did you come to this land?"
"We intend to take possession of it."
"…Wh…."
Some misunderstanding had clearly taken root — her face had gone completely stiff.
"Are you invaders?"
"We do not want war."
Too blunt, wasn't that? I should have softened it….
"Then how do you mean to take the land?"
"We would like you to join us."
"You mean to form a league?"
Start with a confederation, then slowly absorb them over time? No — look how much strife that caused in America even when they did exactly that.
This was something to settle decisively. In the end, us absorbing them was best. I just had to make it something they could accept. The goal, after all, was for everyone to eat well and live well.
"We would like to absorb the Haudenosaunee."
"Absolutely not! Guest or no, that is beyond insolence!"
At her age, too — her face was turning awfully red….
"We mean you no harm!"
"You're telling us to abandon our culture and follow yours!"
"That's not it."
"It is not?"
Ugh, this was exhausting. She was finally calming down a little.
"You may go on living your lives exactly as you have. But we have a reason we must reach that eastern shore."
"A reason?"
"Yes. Soon, people with blue eyes and yellow hair will cross the sea and invade. We must stop them."
Strictly speaking, it'd be the ones starting out around Central America, so blocking that stretch would suffice — except those British bastards would eventually come down from the Canadian north.
"How could you possibly know that?"
"Um…."
How to explain this? Should I say I peeked at the future?
"This person is our god, and you stand before her divine proxy."
"…."
One sentence from Mose, and the grandmother turned to stone.
We're doomed.
"Lies!"
"It is the truth. She has performed countless feats impossible for mortals, and I witnessed one with my own eyes only recently."
Mose, dear — saying that here only backfires.
"Leave at once!"
"You don't have to believe any of that."
I gripped Mose's hand firmly to hold her back and stepped forward myself. Left alone, those two wouldn't get anywhere.
"What is it you want!?"
First — please, calm down, grandmother.
"Joining us will benefit you as well."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I hear that every so often, the land's strength fails, and your villages must move on."
"Yes. You know a little, it seems."
The Three Sisters planting method? All of that is unnecessary. With fertilizer, you could plant nothing but corn forever.
"Our methods of farming can let you live in one place for all time — no moving, no exhausted soil."
"Are you saying… you could restore withered land?!"
Watching the grandmother's stunned face, I began to think that leading with this might have been the right call after all.