Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Arrival of the Astacidian
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Lost World was home to many different races.
And among them were the crustaceans—more precisely, a race that resembled lobsters.
Their official name was 'Astacidian,' but most players just called them lobsters.
'A race with high physical abilities and the ability to breathe underwater...'
But their intelligence was quite low.
Most individuals had better intelligence stats than ogres, whose stats weren't even displayed, but they weren't easy to control.
On top of that, they had a flaw that wasn't shown in their stats.
'The loathing flaw.'
They had an appearance that was loathed by what were commonly called humanoid races—humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and the like.
Races resembling insects or crustaceans all had this loathing flaw, which made early interactions in civilization stages extremely difficult and was the main reason for the high play difficulty of Astacidian.
'Still, the underwater breathing made for some fun playstyles, so I tried them as a starting race once.'
But Seong-un's question wasn't about the Astacidian themselves.
It was where they had come from.
'There is an island chain to the southeast of the peninsula.'
To be precise, it was an archipelago worth calling as such, with several islands scattered about.
Taken together, they were about the size of the peninsula, and a few of the main islands were large enough to develop their own civilizations.
'Did they come from there? How? For lobsters, walking along the seafloor is theoretically possible...'
Seong-un ignored the lobsters scouting the beach and circled along the coastline.
'As expected.'
There were three ships.
They weren't simple rafts made by lashing logs together.
Rafts like that were still commonly seen among tribes living along coasts or rivers at this point in time.
Such rafts were used more for fishing, harpooning, or gathering shellfish from the water than for travel.
But the ships Seong-un saw had quite a plausible shape.
The finishing was rough, but they were constructed with differentiated prows and sterns, and they had oars and sails.
Proper ships that sailed with the wind when favorable and rowed when not.
'Shipbuilding and sailing tech developing in the southeast archipelago wasn't uncommon.'
But he couldn't let his guard down just because such tech was nearby.
The opponents might be players.
Seong-un figured the odds of players in the southeast archipelago were low, and even if there were, they'd head for the central continent where civilization was more advanced rather than this peninsula.
'Alright. Let's send out some scouts first.'
Seong-un created a few albatrosses via the bird subdomain and sent them toward the archipelago.
In the meantime, the Astacidian slowly headed toward the Lizardman village at the tip of the peninsula, Maganen.
The warrior captain dispatched to Maganen, Tatar, was a stubborn sort.
It was when Tatar had been appointed warrior captain and informed he was being sent to Maganen.
That day, another warrior captain appointed alongside him said to Tatar,
"You're lucky."
"Why do you think that?"
"Maganen is at the edge of the world, isn't it?"
"And?"
"Fewer other races to bother you, and it's far from Orzun, so you'd be called up last even if there was a warrior muster."
Tatar thumped his tail against the ground.
"So you're saying Rakrak sent me to Maganen because I'm useless?"
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Then?"
"Well, in my opinion... You've always fought right beside Rakrak, haven't you? No one doubts you're one of the top warriors."
"And?"
"It's not 'and'! You've worked hard, so maybe Rakrak wants you to live easy now and that's why he sent you to Maganen?"
"What?"
Tatar retorted.
"So you're saying Rakrak sent me to Maganen because I'm getting old and useless?"
"No, how do you interpret it like that? If you were useless, they wouldn't have made you a warrior captain."
"Then I'm the most useless among the warrior captains."
Tatar finally pointed to his missing left eye.
"A one-eyed warrior—how useful could I be?"
"You idiot..."
"Hmph."
Tatar snorted and came down to Maganen without even saying goodbye to that warrior captain.
But now, Tatar wondered if that warrior captain had been right after all.
'It really is a peaceful place.'
The weather was warm, rain fell in moderation, and winters weren't too harsh.
With the climate like that, the Lizardmen's temperaments seemed mild too—no crimes to speak of, and disputes were settled amicably with words.
There was a dwarf band hanging around nearby, but thanks to Tatar's good talk with their new tribal chief, there were no more fights.
Aside from occasional merchants or Orzun tax collectors, there wasn't much to worry about from the outside.
Tatar truly had little to do.
'But even a peaceful place is Rakrak's land. Someone has to guard it.'
The reason Tatar thought that way was all because of Rakrak.
Rakrak had said that even seemingly peaceful places must never be let off guard and must prepare for external threats.
And the example Rakrak gave was Maganen itself.
'But Rakrak... what are we supposed to guard against here?'
For such a Tatar, a warrior running down in a panic was truly a joyous occasion.
"Those guys?"
"Yes."
Tatar armed himself and looked down from the cliff.
There, Astacidian were starting to build temporary shelters, with their ships anchored.
The warrior said to Tatar,
"They scouted around our village and left."
"You didn't fight those lobsters?"
"No."
"Didn't try talking?"
"No."
"Good job."
Tatar pondered what to do next.
The news of a bizarre race appearing along the coast had just been sent to Orzun via messenger.
Being urgent, they'd change cockatoos at every village, so in a few days Rakrak would know about these beings too.
'Until then, what to do with them is up to me.'
The young warrior, seeing Tatar deep in thought, steeled himself for battle.
Stories of cockatoo warriors who'd fought with Rakrak were widespread, and Tatar was one of the famous ones.
The tale of how, while passing through the wasteland on Rakrak's errand, he'd seen trolls raiding a weak band and repelled them single-handedly, losing an eye in the process, was well-known.
The young warrior figured that since Tatar was seen as a loyal, belligerent warrior, he'd drive out these new invaders trespassing on Rakrak's land by force this time too.
Just as the young warrior thought, 'Today must be the glorious day I die,' Tatar spoke.
"Let's go down."
"Pardon?"
"I thought they were just walking lobsters, but seeing them talk among themselves, they might be reasonable. We should go down and talk."
Tatar trudged down the slope, and the Astacidian shook their antennae upon spotting him.
Tatar walked right into their midst and said,
"Who's the leader here?"
One Astacidian stepped forward.
"Me."
He was slightly larger and wore a belt woven from metal.
Tatar crossed his arms and said,
"I'm Tatar, warrior captain of Maganen. Who are you, where did you come from, and what's your purpose?"
The Astacidian buzzed among themselves.
A young warrior ran up beside Tatar.
The young warrior whispered,
"Tatar, the village warriors will be here soon. What if you charge in alone?"
"They're clearly sentient. Bringing a bunch of warriors would just make them more wary. And even if they all attack, I can escape."
The young warrior didn't dare ask what about him. Revealing that much inner thought felt embarrassing.
The leader Astacidian said,
"We are the teal Astacidian tribe. We came from across that sea. And our purpose is..."
"Purpose?"
Seong-un felt relieved seeing the newly appeared status window and the info from the albatrosses.
If they were players, there'd be a warning on the third line, but there wasn't.
And even if they were players, Seong-un thought it wouldn't matter much.
Their civilization development was too slow.
'They've only just started making bronze tools?'
Without player intervention and isolated from the outside, civilization progress was bound to be slow.
Not only bronze-making, they weren't farming or herding anything.
Being southern islands with abundant life, they seemed content with hunting and gathering.
But even their hunting tech wasn't impressive.
'No sign of monstrosities appearing either. Their numbers are the only thing worth noting.'
Seong-un surveyed the archipelago.
Several other races and Astacidian tribes were vying for control.
That conflict seemed to have driven shipbuilding tech for island-hopping.
The Astacidian tribes had united somewhat in their favor, but it wasn't worrisome.
Signs of division were appearing among the Astacidian tribes too.
'Without sharing a god, different shell colors prevent a unified tribal identity.'
So long-term, they weren't a threat.
'They'll probably stay fragmented and fight forever. Suits them fine.'
In this situation, the reason the archipelago Astacidian came all the way to this distant peninsula was, in Seong-un's mind, just one thing.
'That must be it...'
The leader Astacidian hemmed and hawed, but Tatar waited patiently.
The leader finally spoke.
"We..."
"Speak."
"We're shipwrecked."
"Shipwrecked?"
"...Yes."
Their shipbuilding was decent, but since they only sailed between visible islands, their navigation skills were still novice.
Tatar asked permission to check their belongings to verify.
They truly had run out of food.
Tatar realized the leader was too embarrassed to say it outright.
The young warrior thought,
'A golden opportunity.'
Not long ago, another village's warrior captain had led a band to wipe out a threatening tribe.
The news reached Rakrak immediately, who personally went there to encourage the warrior captain and warriors.
'If we drive these off, the king will reward us.'
It was obvious Rakrak would greatly praise expelling those who dared tread his land.
They looked sturdy, but starved for days.
A perfect chance.
'Warrior captains who fought with Rakrak are said to miss the heat of battle. Tatar must think the same as me.'
Just then, the young warrior glanced back to see warriors gathering along the slope.
The Astacidian hadn't drawn weapons but eyed the approaching warriors warily.
Both the young warrior and the leader Astacidian awaited Tatar's next words.
Tatar opened his mouth.
"Alright, then..."